Zvika Fogel’s words are reminiscent of a 2011 comment by Newt Gingrich that caused a flurry of attention when Gingrich was Republican presidential hopeful. Gingrich “declared that the Palestinians are an ‘invented’ people who want to destroy Israel.”
History proves this statement, which was deemed inaccurate and harsh by Gingrich’s opponents, to be correct. The original Palestinian National Charter, the Hamas Charter and PLO mandate all bear truth to the intention of the Palestinians to destroy Israel utterly.
Gingrich continued: “Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire.” According to Palestinian historian Muhammad Y. Muslih:
During the entire 400-year period of Ottoman rule (1517-1918), before the British set up the 30-years-long Palestine Mandate, “There was no political unit known as Palestine.”
The Palestinians were dispersed migrants of the Ottoman Empire, typical “of the Middle East as a whole, and in this regard, the Palestinian tribes were no different from the region in general.” They were also known as Ottoman South Syrians.
From the moment Israel was declared a state, and before then as well, the surrounding Arab countries have tried in vain to obliterate it. Now jihadist efforts, which continue to try to erase Israel from the map, are being portrayed as a “resistance.”
Zvika Fogel’s words are sure to stir things up, and escalate the outrage of Palestinians and their supporters. His words also remind us that some things never change, such as the Palestinian jihad against Israel that most people hope will stop if Israel stays quiet and appeases the Palestinians. The barrage of Hamas rocket fire into Israel in 2021 necessitated Operation Guardian of the Walls, intensified Palestinian rage globally, and fed an already surging evil of global antisemitism. It also demonstrated the inconvenient truth about the inevitability of escalation of the Palestinian jihad no matter what Israel does, except disappear. In their own words: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” It’s a vicious cycle: when Israel appeases, jihadis see opportunity to escalate. When the jihadis attack, Israel defends itself, and the Palestinians scream victimhood.
According to a statement released by the Israel Government Press Office, the new Minister of Tourism, Haim Katz, upon officially taking up his position at the ministerial handover ceremony, stated:
We will invest in new areas, such as the local Tuscany, in Judea and Samaria….Every Israeli family should be able to enjoy the beauty of our country and find accommodation options that suit their economic ability.
This view is in sync with Fogel’s view that the so-called “occupation” is really no occupation at all, but an ancient claim that began to be violently challenged long before 1948, as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, led an Arab Muslim revolt to stop Jewish migration.
“Otzma Yehudit MK: Israel’s ‘occupation’ of West Bank is permanent for now,” Jerusalem Post, January 1. 2023:
Israel’s “occupation” of the West Bank is “permanent” amid hopes to establish sovereignty over as much territory as soon as possible, Otzma Yehudit MK Zvika Fogel said on Sunday.
A former IDF brigadier general, Fogel is a member of the party established by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and is a strong supporter of Jewish control over Judea and Samaria as well as an opponent to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
“As of this moment – the occupation is permanent. I want to continue to exercise sovereignty over all those territories where I can exercise sovereignty,” said Fogel. “I understand the right that Israel has which is to stop surrendering to different kinds of people that never existed and suddenly popped up.”
Fogel was referring to a longstanding claim by Israel’s Right that the Palestinians are a made-up people and therefore do not deserve independence.
This is not the first time Fogel has made controversial statements. In an interview last month with the British Channel 4, Fogel said that the IDF was too merciful in its operations against Palestinian terrorist groups.
“Anyone who wants to harm me, I will harm him back and as far as I am concerned, the concept of proportionality needs to stop to exist,” Fogel said at the time…….
somehistory says
He’s right. More people should recognize that fact and then say it.
Daniel Bielak says
+1
Walter Sieruk says
Most of those those people who call themselves the “Palestinians” are in reality Arab/Muslims and few others.
Originally,the that term Palestinian” applied to anyone Arab of Jew was living in that area of the land on the Middle East that is now the State of Israel.
That word “Palestinian” was later stolen By the Muslim/Arabs, who ten applied in only to themselves after the restoration of the nation of Israel because they felt that by giving themselves that word that in the eyes of the world that title would give them some kind of valid claim to that land of Israel
.
Israel it ,indeed is, and not “Palestine.”
In addition in the view of history there never was a “Palestinian State.”
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Fully agree w/ Fogel. He’s not likely to be a prime minister of Israel, but he should!
Burnaby Lad says
once that boil pops we’ll all be expected to take in the parasites/puss
cardbank16 says
Arabs from all over North Africa travelled to the British Mandate of Palestine after the end of WW1. The attraction was the burgeoning Jewish economy based on long term Jewish residents, plus an increasing number of Jewish migrants from Europe. Simply put, it was the Jews that brought the Arabs to Palestine, not the other way round.
In an analysis for his book ‘1917’, Barry Shaw shows popular Palestinian Arab names that attest to their far-flung origins, including Al-Masri (the Egyptian), al-Djazair (the Algerian), al-Yamini (the Yemenite) and el-Mugrabi (the Moroccan). Other names show origins in Jordan, Lebanon and Afghanistan.