Thinking the Unthinkable: A Sovereign Palestinian State
01 Jul 1978Summary: Every time the Palestinian resistance is clobbered, or appears to be so, there is new hope in some quarters that the Palestinian component of the Arab-Israeli conflict will somehow disappear from the Middle Eastern scene. Such was the case after the showdown in Jordan in 1970-71, and the Syrian intervention in Lebanon in 1976; such is the case today after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. However, the hope will remain elusive because it is based on a fallacy. This is that the salience of the Palestinian component of the Arab-Israeli conflict is necessarily a function of the organizational strength or military prowess of the Palestinians.
Walid Khalidi, who was born in Jerusalem, Palestine, is a Professor of Political Studies at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Harvard Center for International Affairs, which is publishing his forthcoming book:” Conflict and Violence in Lebanon: Confrontation in the Middle East.” He is the Editor of ”From Haven to Conquest,” and Co-Editor of “The Palestine Problem and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: An Annotated Bibliography”.
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6- Jewish property within the municipal boundaries of pre-1967 East Jerusalem did not exceed five percent of the area of the city. Most of the Jewish quarter inside the Old City was Arab-owned - the pre-1948 Jewish residents being largely tenants of Arab landlords. In Western Jerusalem whole quarters were Arab owned, e.g., Talbiyeh, Katamon, Musrara, Upper Baka, Lower Baka, El Turi, the "Greek" Colony, the "German" Colony.
7- The resolution has been repeatedly affirmed by the United Nations and supported by the United States. One of the last direct American references to it was made by Harold Saunders (then Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs) on November 12, 1975. Department of State Bulletin, November 1975, No. 8.
8- See Ann Lesch, "Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories," Journal for Palestine Studies, Autumn 1977.
9- See Nabeel Shaath, "Palestinian High Level Manpower," Journal for Palestine Studies, Winter 1972.
10- A Palestinian refugee from Jaffa, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, who made good in the Diaspora, was recently reported to have donated $10 million to his alma mater, the American University of Beirut, in Lebanon. New York Times, May 2, 1978.
11- This includes one submarine (two under construction), 18 naval vessels with surface-to-surface missiles, 40 patrol boats, and 12 landing craft. Military Balance, 1977-78, op. cit.
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