I came across this article, written by an Israeli Arab, in my perusing of some sites. It is very helpful in understanding where the refugee camps of today came from, and why.
I found the authors plea to be heartfelt, and his contempt for his fellow arabs to be almost palpable.
In a nut shell, the palestinians were lied to and were and are bring used by the other Arab nations in the Middle East. When Israel was formed, the Jews Asked all to stay. But the Arab world instilled fear and loathing into the Arab people of Israel and told them to flea. To a better life?
No. For almost 20 years, the Arab countries did nothing for the Palestinians, except use them as a whipping boy to whip up anger and hatred against the Jews. While there is no question that there have been many deaths on both the Israel and Palestinian side, the ugly truth is that none of it had to happen. The whole sordid mess could have been avoided if, instead of trying to isolate the Jews in israel, the Arabs had worked with them to establish a second country called Palestine.
What is even more grotesque is that some of the militants now are using children as human bombs. Children who will never have a chance for a life due to an old hatred that probably none have any clue of where it came from.
It is a sad testament to what happens when a people start eating their own for the simple reason of getting at a perceived enemy. I think it is time that these countries who basically enslaved and sacraficed Palestinians for their own agenda, come forward and start making amends with the people they so wronged.
Even if this new peace initiate between Sharon and Abbas thrives, any new nation is going to need some help establishing an infrastructure in order to create a viable country. If The other Arab nations are serious about helping the Palestinians, now is the time to show it.