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דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
That is their homeland.
They sold part of their homeland to jewish immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They surrendered another large part of their homeland in the armistice agreements of 1949. They are continuing to lose the remaining parts of their homeland by breaking these and other peace treaties.
They're still selling their land to jewish immigrants. The eviction of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem in 2020 was the result of the owner of the homes that were being *rented* by Palestinians being sold to jewish developers.
The founder of Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, argues that he would wage war against his own brother if his brother steals his home. However, the Sheik's home was not stolen. It was surrendered in the 1949 armistice agreements.
Why should they leave
First, they can't leave because no other country wants them. They are a population embedded with violent extremists who have been systematically eliminating moderates either by killing them or by indoctrinating the children from the UNRWA schools. The moderate governments of Jordan, Egypt certainly don't want them. The others are fully aware that the Palestinians as they are now would bring destabilizing hostile elements into their countries.
Second, the majority of israelis simply want them to stop attacking. That's it. They're not being told to leave. Israel is trying to create safe spaces from them. Palestinians consistently attack. Land has been acquired throughout the repeated and consistent military victory by israel. The acquisition was important not only to setup secure borders for itself, but also because the land has been used as currency for negotiating peace with its neighbors. For the Palestinians, Gaza was returned to them in 2005. They were granted sovereignty. The West Bank was also in the process of being returned to the Palestinian people, but, that has been interrupted by ... drumroll ... Palestinian violence culminating in the 2nd intifada.
Why should they leave
If they are renters, and the land owner sells the land, then the renter should leave if that is what the new owner desires.
That's where the conflict began in the early 1800s. The first attack occurred in 1886, Petach Tikvah. It's a long story, but, approx. 3400 acres of what was then referred to as Palestine was purchased by jewish immigrants. The jewish immigrants didn't need the entire parcel at first.., so, they permitted the previous tenants to stay for two years. After sukkot ( the harvest season ) of the beginning of the third year the jewish immigrants gave the Arab renters an eviction notice, more or less. ( They asked them to leave ). The Arabs refused invoking a local custom. The jewish immigrants deferred to the local custom. They, the jewish immigrants, chose to make peace with their neighbors. The Arabs did not.
A jewish immigrant was riding a horse and crossed into the Arab's land. The Arabs attacked and stole the jewish immigrant's horse. Then, a little while later, a group of the Arab's donkeys wandered into the jewish immigrants' fields and were grazing there. The jewish immigrants took 7 of those donkeys to compensate for the stolen horse.
The Arabs gathered approx. 200 people and attacked the jewish immigrants. They vandalized their property and physically beat the immigrants. No one was killed, and eventually a truce was negotiated by the authorities between the two parties. They jewish immigrants had deferred to the local Arab customs, but, this was not acceptable to the indigenous people. These jewish immigrants had risen above the Arabs by legally purchasing the land and gaining power over them. The reaction to this by many was, and still is: violence. This was codified in the Hamas charter in 1988 and reaffirmed in the 2017 update:
"Resistance and jihad for the liberation of Palestine will remain a legitimate right, a duty and an honour for all the sons and daughters of our people and our Ummah."
Of course, Hamas ignores that the land they are referring to was purchased legally and/or surrendered as part of armistice agreements. They reject any and all peace agreements which are cooperative with the jewish people who purchased land legally because we are not part of the their "Ummah" ( in general, a religious community in arabic ).The attack on Petach Tikvah was witnessed and documented by two individuals in hebrew in the books: "פתח-תקוה אם המושבות" and "זיכרונות של חנה לאה סגל" published by the Frumkin Foundation. The attack is also documented by Dr. Ian Black ( pro-Palestinian ) journalist, and Dr. Gerson Shafir ( israeli moderate ). That's 4 sources confirming the event. It's cause, consequences, and resolution was documented by the courts and reported in the local newspapers.
It's significant because the war that is ongoing between israel and the violent extremists is still a matter of the Arabic Islamic sovereignty. Jewish purchase of land and thriving there undermines the Arab Islamic vision/dream of their own complete sovereignty of that region. Again from the Hamas 2017 updated charter:
"There is no alternative to a fully sovereign Palestinian State on the entire national Palestinian soil, with Jerusalem as its capital."
Notice: Entire. And:
"Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine. Its religious, historic and civilisational status is fundamental to the Arabs, Muslims and the world at large. Its Islamic and Christian holy places belong exclusively to the Palestinian people and to the Arab and Islamic Ummah. Not one stone of Jerusalem can be surrendered or relinquished. The measures undertaken by the occupiers in Jerusalem, such as Judaisation, settlement building, and establishing facts on the ground are fundamentally null and void.
The blessed al-Aqsa Mosque belongs exclusively to our people and our Ummah, and the occupation has no right to it whatsoever. The occupation’s plots, measures and attempts to judaize al-Aqsa and divide it are null, void and illegitimate."
Notice the conviction against "Judaization". There cannot be any sharing. Not a single stone can be shared. That means the western wall which is an artifact proving the existence of Jerusalem as the capital of a jewish nation pre-dating Islam by over 1000 years is not to be shared. Hamas and the violent extremists oppose any cooperation and sharing. Their dignity requires supremacy. Nothing less is acceptable.The jewish people have a history of working within the system to establish peace with their neighbors and cooperate with the Arabs who live there. The violent extremists label this "Judaization". But really, all it means is that jewish people are skilled at negotiating power structures to advance our objectives. There is nothing immoral or unethical about this. A great deal of this "Judaization", negotiating power structures, involves compromise. The violent extremists will never compromise. Judaization = compromise.
TLDR?
The first step in establishing peace in the region is compromise. That will include the "leaving", departure ,from land which was legally purchased past and present. That will require the "leaving", departure, from land that was surrendered during failed military operations, war, waged against israel. That will require enforcing the peace treaties and territorial boundaries that are agreed by the representatives of both parties. Israel is doing this. The violent extremists are not.
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