For years now, I have been begging Israel to demand our rights rather than our security. Ted Belman
Jonathan S. Tobin, Contentions
For far too long, Israeli diplomats have spent much of their time trying to avoid the basic arguments about the Middle East conflict. Rather than take every possible opportunity to hammer home the facts about why Israel is in the West Bank and the right of Jews to live there, the country’s foreign ministry has instead often concentrated its energies on smoothing over differences. It has also sought to avoid the arguments entirely with well-intentioned but largely pointless efforts to “brand” Israel in such a way as to make people think about pretty girls, beaches and scientific innovations.
But Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has ignored this convention and created a clever and informative six-minute YouTube video answering the question of “The Truth About the West Bank.” This is driving the Palestinian Authority up the wall.
PA negotiator Saeb Erekat issued a statement last week claiming that by asserting Israel’s historical rights to the West Bank and debunking the conventional wisdom that claims the territory is “illegally occupied,” Israel is pursuing a “pro-conflict agenda.” Erekat went on to assert Ayalon’s video is filled with false information showing Israel is “denying the Palestinian people their inalienable right to self-determination.”
But all Ayalon does is tell the basic truth about the history of the last century. Israel did not capture the West Bank in 1967 from the Palestinians but from Jordan in a war of self-defense. Jordan had illegally occupied the area as well as half of Jerusalem in the course of its participation in a war to destroy the newborn state of Israel in 1948. Ayalon also says something that is indisputably true but almost never mentioned in the mainstream media: Jews were guaranteed the right of settlement in the West Bank by the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine.
To assert the Jewish state’s rights is not the same thing as saying Israel should never retreat from an inch of the West Bank. The borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state can only be determined by negotiations. But for too long, Israel and even most of its defenders in the United States have been so intent on trying to appear reasonable, they have appeared to concede the Palestinians’ false charge the land was stolen from them. That’s the problem for those who worry about the nation’s image and media coverage. If the West Bank is stolen property then it should merely be returned to its owners and not be a subject for talks. By rightly putting forth Israel’s claims, Ayalon is buttressing his country’s negotiating position, not undermining it.
So long as the Palestinians talk of rights and the Israelis speak of security, the Palestinians will win the argument every time. Thus, it’s no surprise Erekat and the Palestinians are so exorcised by Ayalon’s video. If it becomes, as it should, the model for a new Israeli diplomatic offensive, the deputy foreign minister’s mantra that the terms “illegal occupation” and “67 borders” are “simply not politically correct” will become an effective talking point for the country’s defenders.
@BlandOatmeal – don’t sell israel short -what about syria , saud, lebnon araq and even cyprus. go the hole 9 yard and some.
@Floridians4Israel@ gmail.com – if that happens where will we get our pistachio nuts and halivah. and what will happen to the ofer bros. how will they make a living. before you make a suggestion, think of the consequences.
@steven L – the brits ruled the waves. they are now too busy shagging their bulldogs to make trouble for anyone. what have they got now – shetland islands. dont waste our time with the brits.
@ArnoldHarris – you are right. the ragtops are renting u hauls by the dozen and moving to who knows,possibly libia. or is it labia. gosh darn what really is scarey is the rumor that a saud prince will probably buy the dodgers and move them back to brooklyn. now that will really be a crises. what are we to do with the termanator, no job, no gal, broke and bewildered. like all of us.
It is time (as many times as needed) to bring back from the dustbin of history the Balfour declaration (1917) and the conclusions from the meeting of the the Ligue of Nations of April 1920 (San Remo resolution).
Ignorants and deniers will need to learn true history and not fabricated history. Great Britain has not missed one opportunity to renegade on their obligations (Morality has never been their forte! Perfidious Albion for some reason after all). But they are not the only perfidious one.
The war against the Jews continues!
IAF AND USAF HAD BETTER DISARM IRAN AND CRUSH HAMAS, HIZBULLAH ASAP!
@ BlandOatmeal:
I am speaking of more modern times.
In 1947 Pakistan was built on land stolen from the Hindus and Sikhs. Millions died in this takeover, the aftermath of which still resonates today and is why the Sikh and Hindus have sympathy with Israel today
Hi, Bob.
Your first post is essentially correct, except for one point: The East Bengalis, West Punjabis, Sindhis, Pashtuns, Tadzikis, Uygurs, etc. who were overrun by the Arabs, Turks and Mughals and converted to Islam were primarily Buddhists. The Sikhs didn’t even exist in Muhammed’s time.
My eyes are too bleary, to watch yet another video; but I agree with Ted’s summation of the matter: Israel should be demanding its right to settle in Jerusalem, Hebron, Sh’chem/Nablus, Jericho, Beit Lechem, Beit El, all the Biblical Heartland of Israel. Kosovo is the ancestral and spiritual heartland of Serbia; but even that land was not given to the Serbs by God. It is only Israel, and the ancient nations abutting it, that has its borders explicitly delineated and granted by the King of the Universe. That certainly constitutes a “right”, if there ever was such a thing.
ArnoldHarris Said:
Good Luck with that.
While I admire your sentiments, there is the fact that there is an enormous amount of ground bait (bribes, schmeers) with which the oil rich arab nations have corrupted the media, the judiciary and the politicians of all stripes.
The opportunity was there in 1967 to get rid of the troublesome arab population from Judea and Samaria.
Now, we all have to live with the consequences of not taking that opportunity.
Best Regards To you
Bob
No, Bob.
Not “This far and no more”. What we will in fact say is:
“We’re taking it all back”.
Ed, when the Jewish nation has the power to enforce these matters, the option open to the Arabs west of the Jordan River largely will be living elsewhere.
In RealWorld, only losers offer to compromise.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
In response to Bob:
To you Arabs, you have oversteped our border which is the Jordan River. There is not a line in the sand but a current in the river. Either become a citizen of Israel or live elsewhere. There is not a third choice.
The whole of Turkey is built on STOLEN land. i.e. Land Stolen from the Greeks by Turkish Muslims
The whole of Kosovo is built on STOLEN land. i.e. Land Stolen from the Serbs by Albanian Muslims
The whole of Pakistan is built on STOLEN land. i.e. Land Stolen from the Sikhs and Hindus
The North of Cyprus is built on STOLEN land. i.e. Land Stolen from the Greek Cypriots
Non-Islamic civilizations must draw the line in the sand and say:
THUS FAR AND NO MORE