Rock-throwing Palestinian youth pelted Israeli police at Temple Mount housing Islam’s third holiest Sunni shrine, Al-Aqsa Mosque. Palestinians protested Israeli plans to evict Palestinians in East Jerusalem over homes Israeli settlers claims for settlements in historic Samaria and Judea, lands mentioned in the Old Testament. But whatever claims Israeli settlers, or more accurately, ultra-orthodox political parties, staking claims to what was known as Trans-Jordan, territory ceded to Jordan after the Nov. 1, 1922 end of the Ottoman Empire. When allied nations signed the Treaty of Sevres Aug. 10, 1920, only two years after the end of WW I, Trans-Jordan was re-configured allowing Jordan to control the West Bank of the Jordan River, extending into East Jerusalem. Jordan’s control over the West Bank and East Jerusalem lasted until the 1967 Six-Day-War, where Israel seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem as buffer zones.
Palestinians were named by the late Yasser Arafat in 1964 when he formed the Palestine Liberation Organization, designed with only one intent to return Arab control of Trans-Jordan and the British Mandate of Palestine. From the Treaty of Sevres, the U.K. took possession of Ottoman-controlled so called British Mandate of Palestine that included what’s known today as Israel. British controlled post-Ottoman territory from 1920 to 1948, surrendering the territory to Zionists living in the region but fighting, in the wake of the Nazi WW II Holocaust, for a Jewish State. Israel won its war of liberation against widespread Arab opposition in 1946. After First Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared Israel a state May 14, 1948, Arabs battled Israel in the war of Independence until July 20, 1949. For the next 25 years, Arabs collectively worked behind the scenes to destroy the Jewish state.
Arafat worked secretly with other Arab states, especially Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, since he formed the PLO May 28, 1964. Arafat coordinated the Six-Day-War, assured of victory by Egypt’s Gamal Abdul Nasser, President of Egypt and chief of the Arab world’s most powerful military. PLO, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon started the war June 5, 1967, ending June 10, 1967, with the destruction of Egypt’s military and five other Arab states. Arafat continued to fight until his death Nov. 11, 2004, going along with U.S.-brokered peace deals but, in the end, still working to destroy Israel. Without the Six-Day-War, Sunni Arabs living in the Holy Land would have kept Trans-Jordan [West Bank] or East Jerusalem in their control. Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip wouldn’t be dealing with Israel settlements had the 1967 Six-Day-War not occurred.
All of Arafat’s peace proposals included allowing Sunni Arabs to return to the former British Mandate of Palestine, what’s known, without spoils of the 1967 War, as Israel proper. Returning to land inside Israel was always a non-starter, believing Israel legitimately annexed territory in the 1967 War. All subsequent U.N. proposals, including U.N. Resolution 242, offered Israel peace in exchange to returning to the pre-1967 borders. That demand was always made by Arafat, refusing to compromise with Israel. After the Six-Day-War, Israel administered Jordan’s Arab East Jerusalem, including Temple Mount with Al-Aqsa Mosque, the West Bank, Egypt’s Gaza Strip and Syria’s Golan Heights. Israel returned the Gaza Strip to Palestinians Sept. 22, 2005 but retained partial control of the West Bank and the Golan Heights, where periodic land disputes take place with Palestinians and Syria.
When former President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital Dec. 6, 2017, it causes riots for months on the Israeli border with Gaza. While Israel signed peace treaties the United Arab Emirates [UAE] and Bahrain, many thought Saudi Arabia would follow. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Nov. 23, 2020, they were hopeful a formal peace treaty would follow. “Saudi Arabia rejects Israel’s plans and measures to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem and impose Israeli sovereignty over them,” said Saudi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Saudi Arabia has maintained secret trading and diplomatic relations for years with Israel. Israel’s Mossad Security Service provides intel to Bin Salman over radical Sunni elements like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State [IS] that threatens the Riyadh government.
No one in the Arab World takes Israel’s side publicly when it comes to Israel’s decisions on the Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights. Gulf Arab states pay lip service to the Palestinian cause but don’t do anything to rock the boat with Israel. Managing East Jerusalem including the Temple Mount hasn’t been easy for Israel since taking over the responsibility in 1967. Palestinians lost control over East Jerusalem and the West Bank when six Arab state lost the 1967 Six-Day-War. U.N. officials have condemned Israel for the last 50 years, demanding that Israel end its occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Arabs living in the Holy Land didn’t complain much for 600 years of Ottoman Turkey rule. When the British took over in 1920 there were more complaints but nothing like Palestinian gripes under Israeli rule. Israel needs to show more sensitivity when it comes to Al-Aqsa.
