Palestinians say West Bank not theirs

Regarding “Land for Peace” (August 11), in December 2016, the lame duck Obama administration allowed UNSC 2334 to pass, claiming that all of Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem (including the Old City, the Jewish Quarter, Temple Mount and Western Wall) are “occupied Palestinian territories.”

Yet the Palestinian National Charter of 1964 defined Palestine as the pre-1967 territory of the State of Israel – specifically excluding the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, claiming they belonged to Jordan. When the area was part of Jordan, the Palestinians affirmed they did not want that land.

In 1967, Israel ended the Jordanian occupation of Judea and Samaria (that had started in 1948). In 1968 the Palestinians changed their charter to claim Judea and Samaria (besides, of course, the rest of Israel).

Because the Palestinians themselves positively affirmed in 1964 that Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem were not part of “Palestine,” UNSC 2334 is flawed in calling those territories “occupied Palestinian land.”

The Palestinian claim that what they previously considered to be Jordanian land now is Palestinian shows that Jordanian and Palestinian land are the same – they just draw the borders wherever they want. As long as the land was controlled by Arabs the Palestinians did not care that the land was not Palestinian. They only started claiming the land when it was controlled by Jews.

This proves there is no difference between Palestinian Arabs and Jordanian Arabs. They are the same people. What matters to them is Arab, not Jewish rule. If the Palestinians were happy that Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan and did not demand independence before 1967, that means they should be happy to live under Jordanian rule today.

Any just solution to the conflict should take this reality into account and not be fooled by manufactured narratives. EZEQUIEL DOINY Maryland