What The Mural "Palestinian Loss of Land 1947 to Present" Doesn't Tell You

 

Yesterday afternoon, I went to my old neighborhood of Jamaica Plain to attend Spontaneous Celebrations' 46th annual Wake Up The Earth Festival.

Like many festivals there is food, music and face painting for the kids. However, the Wake Up The Earth Festival has long been a hodgepodge of left-wing causes though mostly environmental in nature. 

However, with all which has transpired since October 7th, I had a strong feeling there would be a more visible support for the Palestinians. Indeed, there were several signs such as "Free Palestine", "Over 14,000 Kids Killed in Gaza" and even one for the "Birds of Gaza". In case you're wondering, there was no sign calling for the hostages held by Hamas to be released let alone any condemnation for their actions on October 7, 2023.

There was one mural though that did pique my interest. The mural which was adapted from this map was called "Palestinian Loss of Land 1947 to Present". The mural struck me as much for what wasn't there than what was there. 

In the first mural, we see "Palestine 1947". What the mural doesn't tell you it was British Mandated Palestine, not an independent Palestinian state. British Mandated Palestine came to pass in 1920 following the demise of the Ottoman Empire after WWI. It is interesting that Israel is decried as a product of "settler-colonialism", but if British Mandated Palestine isn't settler colonialism, then what is?

In the second mural, we see "Israel Partition Plan 1947". What the mural doesn't tell you it was the United Nations Partition Plan which established both a Jewish and an Arab state through UN Resolution 181 which was passed by the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947. In other words, a two-state solution. The Jews accepted the UN mandate, the Arab nations did not, and they soon invaded Israel only hours after its formal independence on May 14, 1948. 

Which brings me to the third mural titled "Israel 1949-1967". We see that Israel has more land, but the mural does not tell us this came about as a result of the failed attempt of five Arab nations (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon) to obliterate the Jewish state in the War of Independence or the Arab-Israeli War, 1948-1949. Had the Arab nations had accepted the UN Partition Plan not only would this loss of territory not taken place, but the Palestinians would have celebrated their 75th anniversary of statehood last year. But as it was between 1949 and 1967, the land described in the mural as Palestine was administered by Egypt and Jordan.

The fourth mural jumps all the way to "Israel 2024". Curiously, it skips over the 1967 Six-Day War in which Israel captured even more land following yet another invasion by Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq as well as Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Indeed, Israel captured the Sinai from Egypt but would return it under the terms of the Camp David Accords of 1978. When I see the "Palestinian Loss of Land" I see the consequences of the Arab failure to accept the 1947 UN Partition Plan. 

The final mural is simply titled "Freedom Equality Justice Diversity for All". What this mural doesn't tell us is how the map is to be divided in the future. Is it a two-state solution along the lines of the 1947 UN Partition Plan? Or is it Palestine from the River to the Sea? It is curious that whoever made this mural chose not to tell us. But given that the mural objected to a two-state solution from 1947, I highly doubt they would be amenable to a two-state solution now.