Page 6 - TORCH Magazine #23 - July 2023

again had to defend itself from invading Arab armies). Jordan gained control of the “West Bank” of the Jordan River, also known as Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland of Israel. These new areas were never formalised into permanent borders or recognised by the UN. It simply represented the facts on the ground between 1949 and 1967.
Arabs also suffered as a result of the War of Independence, but not for the reasons that the present Palestinian leadership wants you to believe. Many Arabs were displaced for various reasons: some followed the instructions of Arab leaders who told them to leave their homes in Israel to “make
way” for invading Arab armies, believing
their promise that they would be able to return when Israel was defeated. Some were displaced because of the many battles that took place. Some of the Arab refugees chose
Egypt and Syria refused to accommodate Arab refugees. This is how the Arab (later named Palestinian) refugee crisis was created. Even to this day, 75 years later, the United Nations Relief & Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), which was formed in 1949, still calls the Palestinians and their children and grandchildren, “refugees”. Also, unbelievably, many Arab nations have refused to allow Arab refugees of the 1948 war to settle or be granted citizenship. The reason
is simple: allowing ‘Palestinian refugees’ to settle in Arab countries would weaken the optics of the Palestinian cause. As a result, there are now millions of Palestinian Arabs classified as refugees and they are rightly angry about their situation. However, they are wrong to blame Israel instead of the Arab nations that caused their predicament. Israel is not to blame. Israel did not force Arabs out
to remain in the Jewish state and would later become part of Israel’s Arab population. Many Arabs sought refuge in surrounding nations. Jordan absorbed many, offering
full citizenship. But other countries such as
of the land. Even though there were tensions, many Jewish people tried to persuade their Arab neighbours to remain, and those Arabs that did remain are living freely in Israel as Israeli citizens.
6