The Palestinian Arabs and many of their supporters in the progressive world have pursued a narrative based on one major false idea depicted as truth for over a quarter of a century; that unless Israel first concludes a peace agreement with the Palestinian Arabs, and their mendacious claims to be an indigenous people to pre-mandate Palestine, no other Arab state would normalize its relations with Israel.
During this past quarter of a century, the Palestinian Arabs and their leadership have conducted a never ending war of terror against the people of Israel culminating in tens of thousands killed and injured over the years, with no end in sight, till now. Despite the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas continuing glorification of home grown terrorists by continuing his official policy of pay-to-slay; giving stipends and payments to Palestinian Arab terrorists convicted for the murder of Jews, Israel has forged ahead with peace agreements with leading Arab nations; Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Dubai, and the eminent agreement in the coming year that will change the course of the Middle East and Israel’s relationship with the whole Arab world; Saudi Arabia.
For peace to prevail the Palestinian Arabs must stop spewing Jew-hatred and finally reconcile themselves to the Jewish state. Not only to the existence of the Jewish state but to the right of the Jewish people to have a state of their own in their historic homeland, the Land of Israel. We have finally arrived to that historic crossroad where not only Israel, but also leading Arab countries have publicly rejected the Palestinian Arab veto over new peace treaties with Arab states thereby exposing the false Palestinian Arab narrative that they are an indigenous people of pre-mandate Palestine. "Palestine" is a geographic term. There are Palestinian Jews and Palestinian Arabs. For example, the Jewish newspaper preceding the Jerusalem Post was called the Palestine Post.
Olive trees play a dominant role in Palestinian Arab society and culture and are a constant near any Palestinian Arab home. The “Palestinian Olive tree litmus test” can be used to accurately assess how long a Palestinian Arab has been living in the home or plot of land that he claims has been in his possession for hundreds of years, so they claim.
The majority of Palestinian Arabs living in the "West Bank" (Judea and Samaria) live in private homes that they constructed and built themselves. The very first thing that a Palestinian Arab does when he begins the construction of his new home is plant olive trees in the backyard adjacent to his new home. This is a given and can be observed throughout the hundreds of Palestinian Authority as well as Israel-controlled villages everywhere in the "West Bank" with olive trees in their backyards and in the areas adjacent to the villages where they live.
A Palestinian Arab can easily claim that his home is hundreds of years old, but the life span and age of an olive tree in his backyard is easily measured. From discussions with botanists and plant biologists, the vast majority, if not close to 100% of the olive trees in the "West Bank," no matter how old the homes look, are less than 80 to 90 years old. Why is that?
The answer is obvious. The Palestinian Arabs are not and have never been indigenous to the area of pre-mandate Palestine. Prior to 1948 the vast majority of Arabs in Palestine were mainly foreign workers who had migrated to the area prior to the establishment of the State of Israel seeking employment; only because of the prosperity the Zionists brought with them as they built the nascent State of Israel by providing menial jobs.
Mark Twain’s known journey in 1867 to the Holy Land and the Land of Israel, explicitly stated that the area was desolate and almost devoid of inhabitants. His group entered the land from the north, passing through such sites as the Sea of Galilee, the Banias, Nazareth, Jenin and Nablus.
Riding on horseback through the Jezreel Valley, Twain observed, “There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent – not for 30 miles in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation. One may ride 10 miles, hereabouts, and not see 10 human beings.” “The further we went the hotter the sun got, and the more rocky and bare, repulsive and dreary the landscape became…There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country”. Twain was not alone in his poor impression of the land of milk and honey. Less known historians, pilgrims and travelers alike made similarly dreary observations over the centuries.
Keeping this historical testimony in mind, refuting the false claim that the Palestinian Arabs are indigenous to the area and have claims against the state of Israel, involves showing that they are not only based on a false historical claim but are fueled and financed by the progressive world out of Jew hatred and anti-Semitic sentiment. The Palestinian Arabs can no longer depend on the Arab world to support their false claims against Israel and they cannot sweep the age of the olive tree in their backyard, the olive tree never lies.
The Palestinian Arabs are only 2% of the Arab world. As long as they believe that the other 98% will remain in a war-like state with Israel, they will continue to be the vanguard of the larger Arab world that would eventually succeed in dissolving and destroying the Jewish state. When the Palestinian Arabs acknowledge that most of the Arab world has reconciled itself to the Jewish state, they too will be more likely to abandon the fantasy of destroying Israel and finally embrace a path of genuine peace as have other Arab nations,