bchange. Ben Zvi insisted that the Arabs of Eretz Yisrael could
bnot even be part of the Arab general national movement, let alone
ba “Palestinian” one, since he had reached the scholarly conclu-
bsion that they were really descendants of the Jews who had re-
bmained in the land after the Roman conquest and who had later
bembraced Islam. Clearly, “ex-Jews” would not challenge the
bright of Jews to the land, reasoned Ben Zvi. It was his opinion
bthat they were not a nation but rather eleven “communities-
bpeoples” and numerous smaller sects. Unfortunately, intellec-
btual dialectics had little impact on the inhabitants of the land,
bwho ungratefully persisted, despite Ben Zvi’s research, in re-
bgarding themselves as Arabs and “Palestinians.”
bThe socialists continued to cleave, with a religious fervor
bthat would have made the Hasidim of the Mea Sh’arim district
benvious, to the catechism that social and economic benefits
bwould make the Arab “our friend.” In itself that should have
bbeen perceived as a ludicrous concept, but the Zionist laborers
badded yet another astonishing touch to their pilpulism. Not only
bwere they planning to make the land a Jewish homeland, but
bthey also embarked on a desperate struggle to get Jewish em-
bployers to hire only Jewish laborers. Clearly, the need to create
ba solid, employed Jewish working class was vital to creating the
binfrastructure of a normal Jewish homeland, but just as clearly,
bit did little to make the Arab worker and peasant love the Zion-
bists.
bWhat was really at work was a process of dual delusion.
bThe Arab would be told that, somehow, Jewish laborers, Jewish
bimmigration, Jewish land purchase, and the ultimate Jewish
bhomeland would not really rob him of any rights. And the Jew,
brepeating this to himself enough times, would persuade himself
bthat it was true. Thus, the first postwar Zionist Congress (1921)
badopted a resolution of “friendship” toward the Arabs, stressing
bthat Eretz Yisrael was the common homeland of two peoples. It
bnever explained how the Balfour promise of a Jewish homeland
breally meant a “common” homeland for Jews and Arabs.
bIn describing the muddled views of Achdut Avoda in the
bperiod between the two world wars, one writer said: “it recog-
bnized the existence of an Arab people in Israel but demanded of
bit that it renounce its rights. It proclaimed the right of the Jewish
bpeople to Palestine but recognized the need for coexistence be-
b