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Palestine is a Region, Not a People

It is way beyond time that we discuss facts — history — and stop playing in a sandbox of delusion and make believe. During last week’s NATO press conference, Joe Biden said that the only solution in the Middle East is a two-state solution. This is a surrender and acquiescence to a false narrative.

First, let us agree, there has never been a kingdom or country called Palestine. There has never been a King, Queen, Satrap, Emir, Prime Minister, or President. There is no separate and distinct culture called Palestinian, no language, currency, or history. If we are to make a new nation, then let it be for the Kurdish people, the Assyrians, Chaldeans, who all have a distinct history, culture, language. Palestine is a region, and here in America we have certain regions such as Appalachia, based upon the Appalachian Mountains. The people there are not a separate country, they are Americans who live in that region. The same littoral region where the Mediterranean Sea touches the Middle East was called the Levant by Italian and other sea merchants. The reference goes back to Latin meaning “rises from the sea” referring to the image that as you approach, it appears as if the mountains are rising from the sea, however, we do not call the people in the region Levantinians. 

The term Palestine has an interesting origin, and this is why studying history is important. It was during what has been called the Second Jewish revolt, or the Simon Bar Kohkba revolt, 132-135 AD, against the Roman Empire that the derivative of this designation was introduced. The Roman Emperor Hadrian, after soundly defeating the Jewish people, decided that the impetus behind the Jewish revolt was Judaism, their religion. He was therefore intent upon eradicating, eliminating, exterminating any semblance of Judaism, its history, its existence. Sound familiar? Hadrian decreed that Jerusalem would be renamed Aeolia Capitolina. He also decreed that Judea would be renamed Syriac Palaestinia. These actions taken by Hadrian brought forth the first Jewish diaspora, fleeing what had been their ancient and historical homeland. 

The word Palaestina comes from the root word Philistia, yes, the ancient Philistines. However, in a study of the ancestry of the Philistines, one finds that they were seagoing people from the Greek isles, namely Crete, nothing to do with Arabs. So, the modern day reference of Palestine has everything to do with the Roman Emperor Hadrian punishment of the Jewish people for revolting against the empire. You want to “Free Palestine?” Okey dokey, that means returning it back to the Jewish people, Judea and Samaria.

Even after World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman Turks, the British became the stewards of the region and all occupants — Arab, Jew — had a passport that said Palestine, a region.

After World War II there was a united decision about a two-state solution, Israel and Jordan. But, it was rejected by those aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, born in Egypt, and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Yasser Arafat’s uncle, an ally of Adolf Hitler, who rejected this. Once again, it was not about a people, it was about eliminating the Jewish people and denying them their historical homeland. It was not until Yasser Arafat that the brilliant marketing and propaganda strategy took hold: align a people to the region and give them a name in order to deny Israel’s existence. Arafat was the father of the Islamic terrorist organization called the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). And if you want to know about brutal tactics, read about how the King of Jordan bombed refugee camps that were harboring PLO sympathizers. We should never forget, since the Olympic games are about to begin, that it was the PLO in 1972 who kidnapped members of the Jewish Olympic team in Munich, executing several of them. Some things never change.

So, here we are today, with the “stuck on stupid” mindless lemmings shouting support for another Islamic terrorist organization, Hamas, whose charter calls for the elimination, eradication, and extermination of the Jewish people. Just as Hitler’s final solution called for exterminating of the Jewish people, we have dumb Americans shouting that Hitler should have finished the job. Hitler put Jewish people into ovens. Hamas did the same with Jewish babies on October 7, 2023. Why are we arguing about not destroying the governing authority of Gaza, a place that Israel turned over in 2006, a designated Islamic terrorist organization? Israel is a sovereign nation that was attacked, brutally so, by a non-state, non-uniformed belligerent organization that is not protected by the Geneva convention. An entity that sacrifices its own people.

Recently, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) rescued several hostages who were being kept in the private residences, homes, of civilians in Gaza. Talk about a violation of the rules of land warfare. It is Hamas that hides in tunnels under civilian structures, including hospitals. It is the IDF that goes through painstaking efforts to warn and alert civilians of potential actions to avert collateral damage. It is Hamas whose leadership lives in the lap of luxury in Qatar while sacrificing their own people to die.

No, the two-state solution, as the progressive socialist leftists define it, is not a solution. It is quite disconcerting to witness the alliance and collusion of the American Marxist left with Islamic jihadism. The “solution” Joe Biden spoke of would only provide for the establishment of a new Islamic terrorist state; something Biden revels in doing when considering his Afghanistan debacle.

As a retired career US military officer, former member of Congress, and current Dallas County GOP Chairman, I reject any notion of a cease fire against Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic jihad, the Houthis, any Islamic terrorist organization, and that includes their number one state sponsor, Iran. We can use economic sanctions, restoration of our energy independence, but always remember that sometimes there are those who just need to have their asses kicked.

Hamas killed Americans on October 7, 2023, and still holds some hostage. Hezbollah killed 234 US Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers on October 23, 1983. Leon Klinghoffer was an American of Jewish heritage confined to a wheelchair on a cruise ship called the Achille Lauro, Islamic terrorists shot him and dumped his body into the Mediterranean Sea.  Those Americans supporting Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in our streets should be charged with aiding and abetting a terrorist organization. Those who are not citizens should be deported.

It is time we end the delusion and compliance with this abhorrent, and barbaric, behavior. If this offends you, well, it sucks to be you because I ain’t gonna stop telling the truth.

Steadfast and Loyal.

Chairman West's #MondayMessage

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