PA daily op-ed: Jews “have no right to be here” and are “nothing but an ephemeral occupying force”
Op-ed by Baha Rahal:
“My uncle Salah spoke to me this morning, and said, ‘recognizing the Jewishness of the state is not all I fear; what I fear even more is what will [come] after this declaration, if it ever happens – because they won’t be satisfied with this, and will demand more of us; for example, that we testify in their favor that they are the sons of Sarah and that we are the sons of Hagar, and that our mother was her mistress’ maid, and that we agree to their narrative and recognize it for them.
But then, they will say to us, ‘you are the maid’s sons, and the maid cannot bequeath [property] nor can [her property] be inherited…’ And the truth is clear and there is no need for too much analysis. Deep down, they understand that we are the true owners of the land, and that we were born here thousands of years before them; that they have no right to be here and that, in the eyes of the world and history, they are nothing but an ephemeral occupying force – no more, no less. Therefore, they want to extract a legitimization of their presence from us, which will protect them and grant them a right they don’t have, from those with the original right.”
“My uncle Salah spoke to me this morning, and said, ‘recognizing the Jewishness of the state is not all I fear; what I fear even more is what will [come] after this declaration, if it ever happens – because they won’t be satisfied with this, and will demand more of us; for example, that we testify in their favor that they are the sons of Sarah and that we are the sons of Hagar, and that our mother was her mistress’ maid, and that we agree to their narrative and recognize it for them.
But then, they will say to us, ‘you are the maid’s sons, and the maid cannot bequeath [property] nor can [her property] be inherited…’ And the truth is clear and there is no need for too much analysis. Deep down, they understand that we are the true owners of the land, and that we were born here thousands of years before them; that they have no right to be here and that, in the eyes of the world and history, they are nothing but an ephemeral occupying force – no more, no less. Therefore, they want to extract a legitimization of their presence from us, which will protect them and grant them a right they don’t have, from those with the original right.”