The Zionist Freedom Alliance of California has been circulating a video on the internet this past week exposing former Member of Knesset Azmi Bishara denying the existence of a “Palestinian” nation. The video was recorded years prior to Bishara entering Israel's parliament in 1996 as head of the Arab Balad party.
Bishara, who resigned from the Knesset and fled the country in 2007 just when Israeli Security Services were ready to arrest him on charges of treason and espionage, is shown in the video reiterating his Arab nationalist position that there is no such thing as a “Palestinian” people.
Yehuda Katz, who leads ZFA in the largely anti-Israel Bay Area of northern California, told Israel National News that people should really investigate the basic claims of the Middle East conflict before expressing strong opinions. “History did not start in 1967. We, the modern day Hebrews, have almost a 4,000 year old history and an uninterrupted presence in our homeland for over 3,300 years. The Palestinian nation was invented in the 1960s by Yassir Arafat and Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu in an attempt to erase our history and steal our land. These facts cannot be ignored any longer. ‘Palestine’ was initially a foreign colonialist concept invented by the Romans who massacred, exiled and enslaved the Jewish people. It is not an authentic Arab identity.”
Translation: “Well, I dont think there is a Palestinian nation at all. I think there is an Arab nation. I always thought so and I did not change my mind. I do not think there is a Palestinian nation, I think its a colonialist invention - Palestinian nation. When were there any Palestinians? Where did it come from? I think there is an Arab nation. I never turned to be a Palestinian nationalist, despite of my decisive struggle against the occupation. I think that until the end of the 19th century, Palestine was the south of Greater Syria.”