Zuheir Mohsen was a senior PLO leader

Dr. Eldad Kollenscher, a professor of organizational leadership, a colonel in the IDF from the prestigious 8200 intelligence unit, and a recipient of the Israel Defense Prize was interviewed by Israeli Channel 7 News in regard to his book; โ€œThe Palestinian Bluffโ€ which comes to point out that Levantine Arabs cannot even pronounce the name "Palestinian".

"The book deals with one of the great lies of the 20th century, the alleged existence of the Palestinian people. I will start with a simple question: Is there a people in the world who cannot pronounce the name of their people and their country? The Arabs of Israel have adopted the Philistines as their origin and name, but are unable to pronounce the  โ€˜paโ€™  emphasis on the word Palestine, with their accent it comes out as โ€˜Balestine'.โ€

In his words, Dr. Kollenscher notes that his partners in the book are the Orientalist Dr. Mordechai Kedar who deals in the book with the aspects of the Palestinian identity, Major General Gershon HaCohen who writes on the security aspects, the journalist Erel Segal and attorney Yoram Sheftel who adds legal and economic aspects to the book.

When asked by Channel 7 interviewers why he is so sure of his claims, Kollenscher says: "First of all, it is based on the admissions of prominent leaders of the Arabs of the Land of Israel that there is no Palestinian nation. Ahmad Shukeiri, the first chairman of the PLO, said in 1956: โ€˜Such a being as Palestine does not exist at all, this land is nothing but a piece of southern Syria. Yasser Arafat himself said in 1970: โ€˜The question of borders does not interest us. Palestine is but a drop in the great ocean, our nation is the Arab nation that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea and beyond.โ€™โ€

As a second point, Dr. Kollenscher mentions that there is no Palestinian history before Zionism, not before the establishment of the State of Israel and the beginning of Zionism. This is as can be learned from the fact that until 1967 there was no hint of a claim to their demand for nationality or self-determination, even though they were under Jordanian administration. Such a demand arose only after Israel entered the territory. 

"The matter of identity is very important and there is no Palestinian identity that distinguishes them from the rest of the Middle East," Kollenscher states and points out that they have "no race, no religion, no language, no culture, no heritage" that are unique to them, and for his words he brings a reference again from the leading Palestinian figure Yasser Arafat who said in 1984: "The Palestinian people have no national identity. I will give them an identity through the struggle in Israel."

Kollenscher concluded by citing the words of Zuheir Mohsen, the leader of the terrorist organization "As-Sa'iqa" and the head of the PLO's military department, who said in 1977: "The Palestinian people do not exist. Its creation is a means of fighting against Israel for Arab unity.โ€

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