Lessons From 1936 Palestine For 2026 Canada!

By Matthew Clark

I reside in a large town (not yet large enough to be classified as a city) roughly forty-forty five kilometres (24-27 miles) from the city of Ottawa, Canada's national capital. My (now) hometown is in the province of Ontario. It is a fine community, with many impressive 19th century stone buildings (as someone of proud Scottish heritage I relish stone structures), a thriving downtown core, as well as a variety of architecture in the residential houses. Unlike many other communities in Central Canada (Ontario and Quebec) it's local government supplied services still function at a high level of efficiency. One of those services, one which I regularly indulge in, is the local library. My choice of literature tends towards history covering the period 1750-1815. Most of my withdrawals are on work covering The Seven Years War (otherwise known as The French and Indian War, or The Wars for Empire), The Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), or The War of 1812. Recently I broke my habit and took out a book from the library entitled, "Palestine 1936, The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict."

Authored by journalist Oren Kessler, who was raised in Rochester, New York, as well as Tel Aviv, Israel, "Palestine 1936," is a disspassionate analysis of how the Arabs and Jews evolved into such egregious adversaries. Kessler has the academic skills to make such a study, although given the contemporary state of academia that appears to be declining into a liability. After obtaining a B.A. from The University of Toronto, and an M.A. from Reichman University, Oren Kessler laboured at his craft in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., London, England, and Jerusalem, Israel. "Palestine 1936," covers the historical events of the Palestinian Revolt in that year against British rule, as well as the Pro-Jewish policy (Belfour Declaration) of that rule. Kessler discusses, and gives examples of, policies initiated by the Britsh which were decidedly pro-Jewish. An example would be the application of partition which gave the Jewish community an equal portion of the land, similar to their Arab peers, even though Jews at that time made up a smaller segment of the overall Palestine population. These actions were/are persuasive, effecting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into contemporary times.

Despite this criticism of the Brits I actually have a lot of sympathy, as well as admiration, for the land, and it's peoples, of my ancestors. Managing history's largest ever empire was a daunting task. As empires go the British, in my opinion, did it better than anyone else. That includes the Americans and the Chinese. Nevertheless empires tend to often devolve into implimenting nonsensical actions and policies. Such was the case with the United Kingdom in Palestine between the World Wars.

In order to fulfill their League of Nations, Pro Balfour Declaration mandate, the British authorities in Palestine followed a strategy of mass migration by Jews into Palestine. Both the Empires governing authorities, and the Jewish political leadership in the Holy Land, sought to make Jews the majority population in Palestine. This was seen as a desired goal. One obviously which was eventually successfully executed.

A consequence of this action was that Arabs were moved out of large segments of the colony (given the greater income of Jews arriving from Europe), and as this development continued, became second class citizens within their own nation.

Large scale Jewish immigration overwhelmed services in Palestine. This created a dysfunction which undermined British rule amongst both Arabs and Jews. British authorities reacted to this development by becoming more authoritarian with both Jews and Arabs. As each group tried to stabalize within this situation all of them started to view any dissident as an adversary. Arab Moslems, for instance, began to see Arab Christians as a fifth column. Hostile measures caused Christians to literally distance themselves from other Arabs. Under Ottoman and early British rule Christians represented 10% of the Palestinian/Israeli population. Currently that number now stands at 1%!

By 1939-40 the stage was set for military conflict within Palestine. Only the malevolent circumstance of WWII, and the heroic British resistance to Hitlerite Nazism aggression, saved the integrity, at least temporarily, of British rule over Palestine. Nevertheless the malfeasance of British and Jewish action in the Holy Land was fully revealed in 1948. Arguably the consequences are ongoing in current times.

So what is at least one lesson Canadians can learn from past experiences in Palestine/Israel? First and foremost mass migration is a strategy to be avoided at all costs. What transpired for the Palestinians is similar to what occurred to the North American Indians in the 18th and 19th centuries. We do not want to repeat those mistakes and thus cause an existential threat to our own way of life. Large scale migration has already overwhelmed the Canadian nation's infrastructure. Health, education, social services, all are increasingly stressed within the Great White North. Housing within Canada has become financially unaffordable for most of the nations citizens. This is the result of allowing a large number of newcomers into the country.

Meanwhile the average Canadian is becoming impoverished as public funds (taxes) needed to pay for immigration services and inducements (in the form of government wage subsidies to companies employing newcomers) become due. Furthermore these government expenditures have not resulted in a good way of life for newcomers to Canada. Indeed immigrants are increasingly becoming indentured servants in a land which at one time was an individual liberty adoring nation. Even the United Nations has cited Canada for it's malignant treatment of newcomers to the Northern Kingdom.

Those parts of Canada, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Quebec, most resistant to mass migration and it's bedmate multi-culturalism, are contemplating permanent separation from the rest of the country. Political division within the nation is accelerating as Albertans, Saskatchewanians, and Quebecers/Quebecois appear to be looking to form their own nationality, separate from their traditional alliance with other Canadians. In reaction to this political development the Canadian federal government has conducted political strategies, particularly within First Nation groups, to thwart this effort at partition. These actions, highly dubious in that they are attempting to give a grievously small portion of the population a political veto over a larger number of citizenry, could well deteriorate into civil conflict, including violence, such as what is starting to occur in the U.S., U.K., France, and Ireland. Long term there is a danger Canada could evolve, or rather devolve, in a manner similar to what has historically happened in Palestine/Israel!

Mass migration must be terminated immediately. All accomodations to it, such as multiculturalism, or government public financing to assist immigrants must cease. Only private finance should exist for aid to immigrants.

Those entities, and individuals, who learn from history prosper. Peoples which ignore the past fail, usually they fail quickly. Canadians must learn from the past. Otherwise they will lose all the benefits that their ancestors so generously supplied them with.