Destiny Disrupted

THE CRISIS OF MODERNITY

Mediterr·anean

Sea

Israel and Palestine

Pa lestine: U.N. P;utitio n Plan ( 19 4

• Arab State
  -Jewish State


• lnternalional Uerusalern anZone d suburbs)

Beirut SYRIA

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JORDAN

SAUDI ARABIA

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keeper from prospering in his business-yet most Arabs and indeed most
Muslims could wax passionate about who got Palestine. Why? Because the
emergence of Israel had emblematic meaning for them. It meant that
Arabs (and Muslims generally) had no power, that imperialists could take
any part of their territory, and that no one outside the Muslim world
would side with them against a patent injustice. The existence oflsrael sig-
nified European dominance over Muslims, Arab and non-Arab, and over
the people of Asia and Africa generally. That's how it looked from almost
any point berween the Indus and Istanbul.
On May 15, 1948, Israel declared itself born. Immediately, Arab armies
attacked from three sides, determined to crush the new country before it
could take its first breath. But instead, Israel did the crushing, routing the