Turkish Jew-hatred is ruinous for Palestinian Arabs 
Turkish Jew-hatred is ruinous for Palestinian Arabs

US President Donald Trump announced a peace plan entitled “Peace to Prosperity - A vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People” on January 28. 

Turkey’s President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded by saying that Turkey will never recognize or accept the plan. "This plan aims to annex the occupied Palestine territories," he told at an AKP meeting in Ankara. 

"Leaving Jerusalem entirely in Israel's bloody claws will be the greatest evil for all humanity," he added.

Despite Erdogan’s furious, antisemitic explosion, the peace plan actually aims to better the lives of Palestinian Arabs. The 181-page document, in which the US president has presented his “vision for a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians” and calls for a “realistic two-state solution”, that is, to help Palestinian-Arabs establish an independent state of their own. 

The peace plan, according to the White House,

“Delivers significant territorial expansion to the Palestinians; Avoids forced population transfers of either Arab or Jews; Enhances mobility for both Israelis and Palestinians within their respective states;… and “Facilitates the integration of the State of Palestine into the regional and global economy.”

According to the peace plan’s political framework, “Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve a future of peace and prosperity. A realistic two-state solution will protect Israel’s security, fulfill the aspirations of self-determination for the Palestinian people, and ensure universal and respectful access to the holy sites of Jerusalem,” among other goals.

“Palestine” seeks to become the only country in the world to gain independence with institutionalized racism.
Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, released a written statement regarding the plan, asserting that it aims to "to destroy the two-state solution and seize the Palestinian territories." It added:

"The so-called US peace plan is stillborn. This is an annexation plan aiming to destroy the two-state solution and seize the Palestinian territories. The people and the land of Palestine cannot be bought off.

"Jerusalem is our red line. We will not allow any step seeking to legitimize Israel's occupation and atrocities. There will not be any peace in the Middle East without ending Israel's occupation policies."

The Erdogan government condemns Israel’s so-called “occupation”, yet Turkey has long intervened in Israel’s internal affairs and endangered its security by aiding Hamas. Erdogan has called Israel “a terror state,” likened Israel to Nazi Germany and accused Israel of “committing genocide.” In his speech at UN in September of last year, he accused Israel of land theft and asserted “Israel's seizure of Palestinian territories is not legitimate.” Khaled Mashal, the head of Hamas, “sent a letter to Erdogan, thanking Erdogan for bringing the issue to the U.N. agenda,” according to the newspaper Sabah.

Let us clarify if Israel is really implementing some “occupation policies” or if it is acting in self-defense in the face of annihilationist aggression from the Arabs.

“Palestine” was never an independent state. In fact, its Arab residents rejected the opportunity that was presented to them by the UN General Assembly in 1947 to declare a state. That was because in doing so they would have had to recognize a Jewish state, which they rejected. That's their fault, not Israel's. And since a General Assembly resolution only carries the status of a recommendation, it was a one-time deal that is no longer en force today. 

On the day it declared its independence, Israel was invaded by five Arab countries. Since there was no causus belli under international law, their invasion was illegal and they alone are responsible for the results of their illegality. The war ended with armistices signed with Egypt, Transjordan (as it was then called) and Lebanon (neither Syria nor Iraq agreed to one). An armistice line under international law is the line at which two armies agree to stop fighting. It is not a border, which can only be negotiated between the countries involved. An armistice is meant to be temporary, not permanent. 

When the armistices were signed, Transjordan found itself possession occupying what it called its “West Bank” (and, therefore, changed its name to Jordan). Egypt found itself occupying Gaza. At no time for the next 19 years neither Jordan not Egypt granted independence to those territories. Jordan annexed the 'West Bank', but that annexation was only recognized by Britain and Pakistan. Egypt maintained a military occupation of Gaza. The permanent status of the 'West Bank' and Gaza was undetermined, since neither Jordan nor Egypt had any right to be there. 

In 1967 Egypt violated international law by blockading an international waterway (the Straits of Tiran) to Israeli shipping. That, according to international law, is a causus belli. Egypt next threw out UN supervisors from Sinai in order to clear a path for its tanks to invade Israel. Finally, in preparation for a war of aggression, Egypt united its army with those of Jordan and Syria. That forced Israel to initiate an air attack to destroy the Egyptian air force while it was still on the ground. Israel sent messages to King Hussein pleading with him to stay out of the conflict but by then he was no longer in control of his army. Jordan initiated hostilities against Israel when it shelled Jerusalem. In self-defense, Israel moved to expel the Jordanian army from the West Bank, in addition to tackling Egyptian tanks in the Sinai. 

Unlike Cyprus, whose territory was recognized internationally, the sovereignty of the 'West Bank' and Gaza had never been determined. There was no independent “Palestine”. There was no clear-cut sovereign
The result of the Six-Day War in 1967 was that Israel was now in possession of the entire 'West Bank,' Gaza, Sinai, and the Golan Heights (from which Syria, which had no armistice with Israel, had constantly shelled Israeli farms below for 19 years). The sovereignty of the 'West Bank' and Gaza had never been determined. There was no independent “Palestine”. There was no clear-cut sovereign. No country has any right to hold territories seized in a war of aggression. Not Jordan, not Egypt.

Israel, in contrast, entered these territories in a war of self-defense, probably the 20th century’s best example of a war of self-defense. For that reason, Israel has the best case of all the original parties to the conflict to emerge as the sovereign.  

Moreover, the League of Nations' Mandate for Palestine granted Jews “national” rights, including the right to settle anywhere between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The Mandate granted Arabs “civil and religious rights,” but not “national” rights. Since Jordan invaded and annexed the West Bank and Egypt invaded and occupied the Gaza Strip in a war of aggression, the sovereignty of those lands was never settled. That being the case, the national rights conferred solely on Jews in those vestigial territories of the League of Nations Mandate – it being the last internationally-recognized instrument that defined their status – remain in force today.  

Nonetheless, laws instituted by the Palestinian Authority (PA) since it was established following the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1983 prohibit Jews not only from residing in “Palestine” but also from buying land in “Palestine” (the punishment for which is death for both the buyer and seller). These are Nuremberg Laws.

“Palestine” seeks to become the only country in the world to gain independence with such institutionalized racism. Imagine the reaction if Israel were to adopt parallel laws against Arabs.

Moreover, both the Fatah-controlled PA and Hamas, which rules Gaza, repeatedly announce that they reject Israel's right to exist and say they will never sign any “peace” agreement that would put an end to the conflict and recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The Palestinian-Arab leadership demands the establishment of an exclusively Arab state of “Palestine” – the only country in the world in which Jews would never be able to reside by international agreement simply because they are Jews. That's a Nuremberg Law. That's racism. Israel has a 20 % Arab minority. There is no reason why an independent “Palestine” shouldn't have a 20 % Jewish minority, other than antisemitism. Which is why Turkey is such a strong ally of the Palestinian-Arabs and Hamas in particular.

If it becomes independent, “Palestine” under its current leaders will be just another Muslim or Arab dictatorship where homosexuals go to jail, Christians are persecuted and human rights are systematically abused. Many gay men fled Palestinian Arab Territories and now live in Tel Aviv. President Trump’s plan includes that there will be civil rights for citizens who live in “Palestine”, including Christians and gays. 

President Trump is trying to give the Palestinian Arabs more rights than their own government is giving them. But sadly, so many Arabs and Turks – including the government of Turkey - are too blinded by their Jew-hatred to even see that. Their hatred and unwillingness to live side by side in peace with the Jewish state is the very reason why Palestinian Arabs will remain stateless. 

Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist; political analyst and Muslim affiars expert formerly based in Ankara. Her writings have appeared in various outlets such as the Washington Times, Christian Post, Arutz Sheva, Jerusalem Post and Gatestone Institute.