by Michael Freund,The Jewish Press
http://www.michaelfreund.org/
For the second time in the past three months, Israel on Sunday declared its intention to build over 1,000 housing units in areas beyond the 1967 lines.
n a notice published on its website, the Housing Ministry said that public tenders for the construction of 1,187 new homes in eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria were being issued.
This most recent declaration was greeted by howls of protest, with the Palestinian Authority, the U.S. State Department and the UK Foreign Office all going on record to condemn the move in no uncertain terms.
And yet, back in June, when Israel said it would build 1,140 homes near Palestinian-controlled Jericho, not a peep was heard from the international community.
And just why, you might be wondering, was this the case? What difference is there between these two plans that one would evoke global consternation while the other was greeted by the world with resounding silence?
The answer is as simple as it is revealing: the homes near Jericho are intended for Arabs, while those announced this week are slated for Jews.
As the Jerusalem Post reported on May 14, “The Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria has deposited a plan for a large project of 1,140 Palestinian homes on Israeli state land in Area C of the West Bank near the city of Jericho.”
The 1,800-dunam project, the report said, “would provide a legal housing solution for Palestinians in that area living in illegal homes and unauthorized villages that are not properly connected to utilities, according to the civil administration.”
Needless to say, after the Jericho project was announced, no one in the White House slammed any tables in anger, nor did the resident of 10 Downing Street spill his afternoon tea in dismay at the news.
In other words, President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron have no problem with Israeli housing construction in Judea and Samaria. As long, of course, as it is not meant for Jews.
The sheer hypocrisy of this stance is utterly contemptible and indefensible. No political or diplomatic excuse can conceal the fact that singling out Jewish housing construction for censure is a discriminatory and one-sided act.
Indeed, this is true for much of the criticism that is hurled regarding this subject.
For example, take the Palestinian claim that Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria should be frozen because it will impact the final outcome of the negotiations.
Just a few days ago, senior Palestinian negotiator Muhammad Shtayyeh reacted to Israel’s announcement of new Jewish housing by declaring that the Jewish state was exploiting peace negotiations “as a smoke screen for more settlement construction.”
Israel, he asserted, was seeking to “create new conditions on the ground in order to pre-empt the result of any negotiations.”
This line of thinking is frequently parroted by various members of the international community too.
And yet, if that is the case, the same logic should apply to Palestinian Authority housing construction as well, for it too creates “facts on the ground” which could affect the final status of the territory.
As The New York Times reported on Saturday, the Palestinians are busy building a brand new city called Rawabi north of Ramallah and abutting the Jewish community of Ateret. The city’s master plan calls for erecting 6,000 apartments that will house as many as 40,000 people. The Times noted that, “the sales team began marketing apartments here a few months ago,” and the first phase of more than 600 apartments are said to have sold out.
Nonetheless, the U.S., the European Union and others remain thoroughly silent regarding the ongoing effort by the Palestinians to expand their presence and occupy additional land in Judea and Samaria at the expense of Israel and its legitimate claims.
This points up the double standard at work. Intellectual consistency demands that one either oppose construction by both sides or none at all.
To do otherwise is to adopt a position that is not in harmony with either fairness or logic. And that is why Israel was wise not to yield to Palestinian threats or other forms of foreign pressure which sought to impose a settlement freeze.
History, morality and justice are on our side, and we have every right to build in every corner of our ancient homeland. Demands that we desist from building while the Palestinians are free to rev up the bulldozers are simply partial and imbalanced.
Furthermore, every red-tiled home with a mezuzah on the door that goes up in the hills of Samaria or the cities of Judea is a tangible reminder that the Jewish people are here to stay.
And that, perhaps, is one of the best guarantees of our future.
@ CuriousAmerican:
CA you make no sense. You keep saying pay the Arabs to leave. Just how many Jews do you think there are in the world? Where is the money going to come from? What good would that do? Do you really think they would just pack their bags and leave? What would they do with the money? Of coarse they would just use it against Israel.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Israelis oppose withdrawals in exchange for dropping right of return
Poll: Most Israelis oppose withdrawals in exchange for dropping right of
return
Dr. Aaron Lerner – IMRA 16 August 2013
Maagor Mochot poll commissioned by Ma’ariv and published 16 August:
57% believe that the Oslo agreements hurt Israel on a political, security
and economic level.
53% would not vote today in favor of an agreement that includes a withdrawal
from Judea and Samaria, even if the Palestinians would recognize Israel as a
Jewish state and give up the right of return.
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
CuriousAmerican Said:
Enslave them and sell them.
CuriousAmerican Said:
how about arab building in area C?
CuriousAmerican Said to Yamit:
actually it stands under 2 evaluations of military administration and more importantly annexation: that Egypt is considered to be sovereign in the sinai yet grants no citizenship to residents there. Another precedent for annexation without citizenship, and Egyptians did not have a prior recognized right of immigration and settlement as do the Jews.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Polly want a cracker? 😛
On the other hand, the Egyptians never planted communities in Gaza, as part of Greater Egypt.
Your comparison falls apart.
Annex the land.
Pay the Arabs to leave.
bernard ross Said:
Knew about that from other sources. Delegates rooms were bugged and jews were monitoring the conversations. Some delegates were set up with prostitutes and then blackmailed. Whatever worked and the Jews pulled out all the stops almost nothing was beneath them to get the votes.
Watch these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgp2AxpLOok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VQHcuoYreE part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmxxJwSnVkA part 2
yamit82 Said:
I knew of Gaza but this is the first I heard this about Sinai. Yet the world talks like it belonged to Egypt. If they didn’t grant citizenship then I wonder how the the world differentiates owning from occupying? All the more reason not to have left.
Those Loftus videos put a whole different perspective on it all. The Pollard story makes sense and is very similar to chamish version.
yamit82 Said:
What did you think of the story of Ben Gurion blackmailing Rockefeller for the Latin American votes at the UN?
CuriousAmerican Said:
It is by right of CONQUEST in a defensive war taken from an unrecognized illegal occupier…Jordan.
Israel maintains without annexation which nobody will recognize administrative control and for legal purposes is no different than any land within Israel in that context. Israel has yet to claim officially the Land but possession is Law and in this case legal under international law.
Sinai and Gaza before 1982 was not considered part of Egypt but administered by their military under Egyptian military administration. Residents of Sinai and Gaza were never given Egyptian citizenship to this day.
bernard ross Said:
Haven’t read the whole book just excerpts and clips like I posted.
Until Israel annexes it, it is NOT Israeli state land.
Annex it.
Pay the Arabs to leave.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Not State Land??? Then tell us whose land it is mr. christian??? Jordan’s? The churches? yeshu’s?
The Ottomans and Jordanians kept good land registry accounts and registrations of ownership. Any land shown to be owned privately has made claims and our courts upheld the claims if valid or there have been in some cases been paid fair compensation. All other unclaimed land is State Land.
Arabs in Israel are illegally squatting on thousands of dunams of State land. All land in Israel not privately owned or owned by the JNF are Ste Lands. Same with the territories. I would think 66 years is enough to make a claim if there are still any outstanding claims.
CuriousAmerican Said:
christian missionaries might, if not for their labor then as bribes for their souls???
Before 67 and shortly after, the Christian churches were the biggest exploiters of Arab labor. After 67 war with the building boom in Jerusalem and all over Israel we began to hire Arab labor and paying them a decent wage…. The christians were forced to compete and pay their workers on par with the Jews. The christians hated us even more for that too.
Outside of the fact that such an attitude is disgusting on your part, no one in his right mind would buy Arab labor.
CuriousAmerican Said:
CuriousAmerican Said:
Enslave them and sell them
Until Israel annexes the Judea and Samaria, which it should do, it is not state land. That is double talk.
Israel is playing a game of double talk. Annex Judea and Samaria TOTALLY!
If you do not want to enfranchise the Arabs then PAY THEM TO LEAVE
The situations are not comparable, thanks to Oslo.
Israel pre-conceded Areas A & B to the Arabs.
Area C is what is being negotiated. I know it is under Israel Civil and Military rule, but it is the area being negotiated.
So thanks to OSLO, building in Ramallah is not identical to Israeli construction in Area C.
Don’t blame me. Blame Oslo!
Personally, I do not think a Jew should be forbidden to build anywhere in Judea and Samaria.
PAY THE ARABS TO LEAVE!
That last line is what gets me into trouble here, but it is the only solution.
@ yamit82:
your links are in reverse order. vey interesting though, did you read the book?
The Israeli government should cancel the construction of the 1,140 homes near Palestinian-controlled Jericho, just to see the international reaction… which, of course, is highly predictable.
Goose, meet Gander.
Yidvocate Said:
“Not for our sake, not for our sake but unto Thy Name give glory… Why shall the nations say: ‘Where is G-d?’” (Psalms 115)
“Oh L-rd, what shall I say, after Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies… and what wilt Thou do for Thy great Name?” (Joshua 7)
“Israel’s degradation is the desecration of the Name of the L-rd.” ( Rashi, Ezekiel 39:7)
“The L-rd reigneth; let the nations tremble!” (Psalms 99)
The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed The Jewish People
Part 2
Part 3
Part4
NormanF Said:
It’s more than just Jew hatred. Jew hatred can be also passive.
The West is at war against Judaism and that hatred logically is directed against Jews and the State of the Jews, in fact every symbol identified with Judaism and Jews is a target. “It is an eternal law, Esau (christendom) hates Jacob (the Jew).”
The war against the Jews
“The sustained anti-Israel de-legitimization campaign is a corollary of the millenarian obsession with the Jews in the Christian and the Muslim worlds. Since Israel is the world’s only Jewish state, and since Zionism is the Jewish people’s national liberation movement, anti-Zionism—as opposed to criticism of specific Israeli policies or actions—means denial of the Jewish right to national self-determination. Such a discriminatory denial of this basic right to only one nation (and one of the few that can trace their corporate identity and territorial attachment to antiquity) while allowing it to all other groups and communities, however new and tenuous their claim to nationhood, is pure and unadulterated anti-Jewish racism, or anti-Semitism as it is commonly known.”
“For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those that shall escape.”
Yoel 3:5 and Ovadia 1:17.
The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed The Jewish People
Part 1
Whats good for the goose is good for the gander, unless of course if that goose is a Jew. That the world sees it this way is, sadly, no surprise. That our Jewish leadership too seems to see it that way is a travesty! Indeed we deserve our fate!
Good old-fashioned anti-Semitism at work here.
The world would never countenance uprooting Jew-hating Arabs from the Land Of Israel but it is insistent every single Jew must move out!
Its more than hypocrisy and the usual double standards. Its deep-seated loathing and hatred of Jewish sovereignty that drives the world’s stance.
That is the one thing it seems no one can put up with – as long as Jews happen to be in the picture.