Egyptian Researcher Osama Ghazali Harb: Arab Rejection of the Partition Resolution Was an Historic Mistake

In a recent TV interview, Egyptian researcher and politician Osama Ghazali Harb said: "If the Arabs had accepted the Partition Resolution in 1948, this entire problem would not exist today... Today, after 60 years, we are striving to achieve this solution, this resolution, and if we manage to accomplish this, it will be an amazing thing." He was speaking on the Rotana network on July 10. For additional statements on this issue by Harb, a prominent liberal in Egypt and one of the co-founders of the Democratic Front Party, see MEMRI TV clip 5315.

Osama Ghazali Harb: I believe - and this may be my own personal opinion - that the historic mistake made with regard to the [Palestinian] cause since 1948 is the rejection of the Partition Resolution by the Arabs. That's my opinion. This was the beginning of the disaster. If the Arabs had accepted the Partition Resolution in 1948, this entire problem would not exist today. A Palestinian state and an Israeli state - the two-state solution was embodied in this resolution. Today, after 60 years, we are striving to achieve this solution, this resolution, and if we manage to accomplish this, it will be an amazing thing.

Interviewer: But the circumstances and the balance of power in 1948 were not the same as today.

Osama Ghazali Harb: Unfortunately, we missed that opportunity, and today it is much harder. But back then, it wasn't an opportunity. It was a concession.

Interviewer: When 21 or 22 major countries allow a bunch of gangs to rip away part of Palestine...

Osama Ghazali Harb: No, the Partition Resolution was a UN resolution... But the Arabs viewed it as a concession... Nevertheless, I can't say that the Arabs' perspective was... My assessment, as a politician who has studied the Palestinian issue, is that this was an historic mistake. For your information, some Egyptian politicians back then were in favor of accepting the Partition Resolution.

In my view, because of competition over leadership in the Arab world, and because every Arab leader wanted to show that he was more of a pan-Arab patriot than the other, they got into this contest of meaningless one-upmanship, and ultimately, the Partition Resolution was rejected. This led to the catastrophe known as the Palestine war, and to the myth, which spread worldwide, that Israel defeated eight Arab armies - although the Arab forces were much smaller than the Israeli army at that time. That's how the problem began, and it has continued to this day. This is my own take on it. I believe that if the UN Partition Resolution had been accepted [by the Arabs]a resolution accepted by the entire international community - the entire [Palestinian] issue would have been resolved. Unfortunately, this is not what happened.

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