By Salomon Benzimra
Twenty years ago, a Declaration of Principles (DoP) initiated the Oslo peace process. We have witnessed an unmitigated disaster ever since: terrorism; two “wars” in Gaza; incitement against Jews; indoctrination of Palestinian children; recrudescence of anti-Semitism under the guise of anti-Zionism in academia, the media and among NGOs, delegitimation of the State of Israel, etc.
One may wonder about the lofty Principles which triggered this mayhem. Sadly, nobody wonders. Whereas all respected professionals – engineers, architects, physicians, etc. – are accountable for their malpractice, the architects of the DoP and its ensuing Oslo Accords seem to be perpetually immune from scrutiny. The lawyers, politicians, diplomats, journalists and academics who promoted these insane policies – and continue to do so to this day – never had their day of reckoning.
Something has to change. Correcting past mistakes must start with their acknowledgement. I don’t harbour any illusion of seeing soon the full armada of “peace processors” beating their chest in a collective mea culpa. But what Israel can do, on the eve of the new rounds of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, is to formulate a new DoP. Not a lengthy document with countless clauses dealing with peripheral issues. Only a few guiding principles based on common sense.
1. Peace is a laudable objective that all parties long for.
2. For a lasting peace to be achieved, justice must first be served.
3. Justice can be served only when factual evidence is fully disclosed.
4. Diplomacy cannot be divorced from international law, which provides the historical and legal ?background of the reconstitution of the Jewish State of Israel, and the creation of its neighbouring ?Arab states.
?5. A complex problem is best solved when split into its various components. The first issue to be ?addressed is the legal title to the land. The status of the populations living in that land will follow naturally.
It will be interesting to hear the arguments of those who oppose the above.
Salomon Benzimra, P.Eng. July 29, 2013
Canadians for Israel’s Legal Rights – CILR
www.cilr.org
sbenzi@sympatico.ca
@ XLucid:
the full ownership of the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish People, and the sole and unique title owner of the Land is the Jewish People (and not the Israelis)
Therefore, Any referendum, should include a vote by ALL Jews, inside and outside of Israel.
I agree wholly with Mr. Benzimra. Alan Dershowitz supports a two state solution but is unwilling to debate supporters of a one Jewish state based on the San Remo decision to adopt the two step transition to sovereignty that was a part of it. Neither Harvard nor UCLA were willing to provide a platform for these ideas. Yet Harvard still claims in press releases that it is a “free and open marketplace for ideas”.
@ honeybee:
I left you and any one else, who is interested, a very heart redering video of the “Children of Kracow,Poland” on another post. It is difficult watch, but my goodness how many Jewish children have been murdered without justice. And now the prisoner release?
yamit82 Said:
Then why is BB messing with Kerry. The Prisoner release make me sick at heart. In Texas exicute,its not that Texas are blood thristy, Its just justice.
yamit82 Said:
Plural marriage? In the cattle indusstry its artificial insemination!!!!!!! The Orthodox seem to handle the problem. Liberal Jews in the USA believe it un seemly to have more then two children.
I should think Yamit 82 you would have your own tribe by now?
@ XLucid:
“Behold! It is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations.”(Num. 23:9)
The concept of a Jewish People alone is tied to the concept that G-d is alone. G-d is alone and cannot be compared or equated to anything else. He is One and Unique, as it says (Deut. 4:35), “You are the ones who have been shown, so that you will know that the L-rd is G-d and there is none besides Him”; and, “To Him Who alone does great wonders” (Ps. 136:4). Just so, the Jewish People are alone, set apart from all the nations, as it says (Lev. 20:26), “I have separated you from the nations,” and, “It is a people that shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations” (Num. 23:9).
Just as G-d stands apart from every concept in the world, so must Israel remain separate from all the other nations of the world
For those Jews who are afraid of being alone: “Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand” (Leviticus 26:8)
@ honeybee:
Problem: Too Many Arabs, Too Few Jews!!!
@ Yamit:
I fully agree with you. All Arabs as well as all Jew haters should be expelled from the Holy Land of Israel, and all the commandments provided in Deuteronomy – Chapter 7:2 should be applied to them, to their fullest extent:
“And when the LORD your G-d has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.”
yamit82 Said:
How can this be. Is there no place where can be safe and free,not even Israel.
XLucid Said:
So is the Galilee
XLucid Said:
I think You are exaggerating, I have driven through those neighborhoods countless times, but not recently. The refugee camps are another story.
Some of my workers lived in “Yattah” Hebron, Every Sat night around midnight. I would have to drive to “Yattah” Hebron to pick them up and bring them to work.
@ XLucid:
I am for affording all Arabs in Israel the Same rights as Jews in Saudi Arabia.
But no Jews are even allowed in Saudi Arabia.
Exactly!!!!!
All Arabs must be encouraged to leave all parts of the land of Israel.
@ Bernard Ross :
The city of Jerusalem is – in theory only – legally recognized as being the capital of Israel under the Israeli Basic Law.
Despite that law, the East section of Jerusalem is, for all intents and purposes, Judenrein.
No one can live there. Should a Jew unintentionally enter in the East sector of the city, he would be immediately lynched by hordes of barbarian savages.
The whole, with the tacit approval of the Israeli government.
XLucid Said:
I agree with your post, well stated. But wasn’t east Jerusalem formally annexed and legally recognized by the state?
@ XLucid:
A superb response! My approach would begin with two basic concepts: All sides must stop lying and all sides must never employ double standards. These two rules alone would, immediately and totally, disqualify ALL parties including the U.S., Israel, the Arabs, the U.N. etc. Yes, Israeli leaders, with rare exceptions, continue to lie (against themselves) as pointed out by XLucid above.
Ironic as it sounds, the very first opponent to the legitimacy of the Jewish People to their land is no one else than the Israeli government.
The Israeli government denies the inalienable rights granted to the Jewish People in virtue of the San Remo Resolution and the Palestine Mandate, as well in virtue of the American law (the Lodge-Fish Resolution (1922) and the Anglo-American Treaty (1924).
The Israeli government has signed an illegal agreement (the Oslo Accords) with the PLO – a terrorist entity – in order to deprive the Jewish People of their inalienable rights to portions of their land.
The Israeli government denies the status of Judea and Samaria as being parts of the land of the Jewish People: the purpose of the negotiations being “to permanently cut off portions of the land and turn it over to a foreign people”, in contravention of Article 5 of the Mandate of Palestine, the whole in addition to allowing these territories to be Judenrein.
The Israeli government did not change the legislation governing the Temple Mount, which is still governed by the Jordanian law until today.
The Israeli government does not recognize the eastern section of Jerusalem – although liberated in 1967 – as part of the land of the Jewish People: this section of the city being is still Judenrein as it was the case during the Jordanian occupation.
The Israeli government intends once again to release terrorists – who have the status of criminals against humanity – in violation of international law, the Nuremberg Principles, and in violation of Israeli law since it is a denial of justice.
It is obvious that as long as the Israeli government does not recognize the legitimacy of the Land of Israel as being the Land of the Jewish People, no solution will be possible.
The only valid New Declaration of Principles would be the one stipulating that the full ownership of the Land of Israel belong to the Jewish People, that the sole and unique title owner of the Land is the Jewish People (and not the Israelis), that only civil rights may be granted to those of the so called “palestinian” who show full loyalty to the State, excluding at all times any political rights whatsoever.
@ the phoenix
But first you need an honest broker!!!!!!!! If you need a rope,call me.
….
http://youtu.be/ylY9wlnTdlw