By Yashiko Sagamori

If you are so sure that "
Palestine
, the country, goes back through most of recorded history," I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of
Palestine
:

1. When was it founded and by whom?

2. What were its borders?

3. What was its capital?

4. What were its major cities?

5. What constituted the basis of its economy?

6. What was its form of government?

7. Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?

8. Was
Palestine
ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?

9. What was the language of the country of
Palestine
?

10. What was the prevalent religion of the country of
Palestine
?

11. What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximat exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date.

12. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?

You are lamenting the "low sinking" of a "once proud" nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that "nation" proud and what was it so proud of?

And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call "Palestinians" are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over -- or thrown out of -- the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?

I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day "Palestinians" to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won't work here.

The truth
should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying
Israel
; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight
Israel
by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it "the Palestinian people" and installed it in
Gaza
, Judea, andSamaria
. How else can you explain the refusal by
Jordan
and
Egypt
to unconditionally accept back the "West Bank" and
Gaza
, respectively?

The fact is, Arabs populating
Gaza, Judea, and
Samaria
have much less claim to nationhood than that Indian tribe that successfully emerged in
Connecticut
with the purpose of starting a tax-exempt casino: at least that tribe had a constructive goal that motivated them. The so-called "Palestinians" have only one motivation: the destruction of
Israel
, and in my book that is not sufficient to consider them a nation" -- or anything else except what they really are: a terrorist organization that will one day be dismantled.

In fact, there is only one way to achieve peace in the
Middle East
. Arab countries must acknowledge and accept their defeat in their war against
Israel
and, as the losing side should, pay
Israel
reparations for the more than 50 years of devastation they have visited on it. The most appropriate form of such reparations would be the removal of their terrorist organization from the
land
Israel
and acceptingIsrael
's ancient sovereignty over
Gaza
, Judea, and
Samaria
. That will mark the end of the Palestinian people. What are you saying again was its beginning?