Don't Tell the Martyrs

Some honest Palestinian voices speak about how they feel about the idea of returning to Palestine and Israel if they had the choice.

A large and growing number of young Palestinians born abroad have no interest in coming to the Palestinian Authority or Israel, Palestinians in London have told Ynetnews.

They expressed anger at Palestinian leaders for continuing to trumpet a "right of return," a call which is neither desirable nor realistic, the men said, adding that the demand is merely an attempt to force concessions out of Israel during peace talks.

Is that so?

"If we returned to the Palestinian territories, we would feel like second class citizens," he added. "We have different accents,"

But aren't they are your Palestinian "brothers"?

"We don't have any homes in West Bank and Gaza. For us, it will be more desirable to live in Arab countries and Europe," he explained.

So much for the "We will redeem our homeland with every last drop of our blood" chants we hear from them on TV all of the time.

"No one wants to live there, not because we don't like our country Palestine, but because we can't live there," Rahim added. "If we all went, it would destroy the Palestinian economy. If we got an opportunity to live in Europe, we would enjoy a good standard of life. We can visit Palestine," he said.

This isn't going to sit well with the martyrs.

"I'm Muslim and I practice my religion and pray every day. I don't feel that talking about where refugees prefer to live will make me a traitor or that I'm working against the Palestinian case," Rahim said. "We want to have an independent Palestinian state, but a lot of refugees will prefer to live in the West if they got that opportunity. Actually, all of the second generation Palestinians born in Lebanese refugee camps don't think about returning to Palestine or living there permanently… from a religious point of view, we have the right to choose what we want if that will make our life better, including living outside of Palestine," he added.

Apparently this guy didn't get the memo.

"They [Arab and Palestinian leaders] want more from Israel - more land, and Jerusalem. We know and they knew that we will not be able to return to Israel or Palestinian territories. They are just using this issue to get more compromise," he argued.

In other words, it's not about peace (hence the formula "Land for Peace" - they want LAND).

"Palestinians do not love Lebanon, and Lebanon does not love us," he said. "We have no right to work, or access to schools and hospitals. We get no citizenship or passports. They do not want us in Lebanon," he said.

Arab brothers treating Palestinians worse that the evil Zionists? No way!

"The leaders of Palestinian factions in the Lebanese camps are the only ones speaking," Ali said, but added that they were not representative of the views of many Palestinians. "Our leadership is corrupt... The Palestinian leaders just say what they say because they don't want to admit that the refugees don't want to return," he added.

I'll bet that whatever is left of the martyrs is probably spinning in their graves, or wherever they are strewn.