We went to Jericho two days ago, and then on to Qumran, where they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls. In Jericho we visited a school run by Franciscan monks for the local kids, who are predominantly Muslim. In the main hallway, a Palestinian flag. On closer inspection, you notice that the flag is drawn inside the borders of greater Israel, including the West Bank and Gaza, without any sign of borders. Hmm.
In Qumran, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority manages an excellent archeological site of an Essene community that perished 2000 years ago, but not before burying their manuscripts in nearby caves. The brochure has a map of the sites the Authority manages. it’s a map of greater Israel, including the West Bank and Gaza, without any sign of borders. Hmm.
There is a difference between the two maps, though. The Palestinian outline of greater Israel does not include the Golan.
The borders you saw on the Palestinian flag are the pre-1945 borders of Palestine, before a State of Israel was delcared and recongnized by Harry Truman. And, of course, what you saw on the Israeli Parks Brouchure is what the State of Israel considers to be it’s borders; and by a combination of international recognition and military occupation, they are.
Allow me to correct myself. I meant to say the pre-1948 borders of Palestine.