Gareth Smith is right about one thing, yes, we along with Australian diplomats and politicians are celebrating the amazing country that is Israel. Allow me to give you some very, very basic facts about the region that was known as Palestine.
Never in history has there been an independent country or state known as Palestine, as it was simply the name given to the region by the Romans when they finally defeated the Jews in battle.
Jordan was established on 78 per cent of mandatory Palestine, so why is there no mention of Jordan as ‘Palestine’ or a ‘Palestinian’ Jordanian identity?
In November 1947, the UN voted and agreed to partition the remaining part of the region of Palestine into two states, a Jewish state and an Arab state (up until this point in history, the people the Arabs referred to as Palestinians were the Jews of the land and the Arabs simply called themselves Arabs, as they found the title beneath them).
The Arabs completely rejected this resolution as they did not want one inch of the land to be shared with the indigenous Jews, whilst the Jews gladly agreed, and on 14 May 1948 Israel was declared an independent state.
One day later, on 15 May, five mighty Arab armies from the surrounding countries invaded Israel and were intent on completely annihilating the newly-formed Jewish state. The invading armies instructed the local Arabs to temporarily leave the land so it would be easier to kill the Jews, and return once the massacre was over (the plan was not to create an independent Palestinian state but to absorb the territory mainly into Egypt and Syria).
Most Arabs were happy to do this whilst a small percentage were in fact forced to leave by the newly-formed Israeli army.
Israel, by pure miracle, and having no choice but to fight for their lives, survived, and the Arabs that left the land were cast aside by Arab states, and refused citizenship by these same Arab leaders that encouraged them to flee. The claim that the ‘Zionists’ forced the bulk of the Arabs to flee is a complete and utter lie.
In fact, 150,000 Arabs chose to remain in Israel after the war, were granted full citizenship and were welcomed by the newly-founded Jewish state. Today these citizens have flourished and comprise 20 per cent of the population.
On the other hand, after the establishment of the state of Israel, Arab countries stripped 750,000 Jews of citizenship, froze their assets and forcibly expelled them from their homes often after murderous pogroms against their Jews.
Palestinians and Israelis both deserve good lives and to live in peace. It is time to stop the lies, brainwashing and propaganda against Israel and finally create two states that live side-by-side in peace and harmony, otherwise we will be having the same stupid debate in another 75 years.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
