By Ze’ev Jabotinsky, ISRAEL HAYOM
The State of Israel is demanding recognition as the national homeland of the Jewish people in the negotiations with the Palestinians. The demand sounds logical and reasonable to the Western ear. However, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas firmly opposes it. The Palestinians and their supporters among the Left are trying to minimize their opposition, claiming that the demand is dealing with trivialities, and should therefore be taken off the negotiating table. But the sad truth is that abandoning the demand will perpetuate the conflict between Jews and Arabs in Israel. Why?
In 1922, the League of Nations voted unanimously to accept the text of the Mandate for Palestine, thus fully recognizing the existence of the Jewish people, its historical connection to the land of Israel and its right to build a country there. Furthermore, the League of Nations had the authority to do this under international law, as an application of the power of disposition.
Moreover, the document that this vote turned into international law, which is still in effect, makes the Jewish people an exception among all residents of the Land of Israel. According to the document, the civil and religious rights of all residents will be observed, but political and national rights will be reserved exclusively for Jewish residents. Exactly the same principles guide the joint resolution of the House and the Senate (which validated a law signed by U.S. President Warren Harding) and an international convention signed by the United States and Britain and ratified by the signatures of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and the British monarch, King George V. Ratification of a convention turns it into part of the national law code of the signatory countries.
This recognition of us as a people, of our historical link to the land of Israel and of our right to sovereignty over it was the reason for the outbreak of the armed political conflict between Jews and Arabs and the Arab riots of the 1920s, a conflict that continues in various incarnations until today. The goal of the Arabs was and still is to completely eliminate international recognition of our right to Israel. That is why they call these facts the “Jewish narrative,” to reduce its importance and to hide the fact that opposing these rights contravenes international law. To undermine the Jewish narrative, they invented an “Arab narrative,” the principles of which are in the Palestine National Charter, written in 1964.
The rationale on which the charter is based is that Jews share a only a religion, not a nationality, and therefore they have no right to sovereignty. The conclusion: Their state must be destroyed and Palestine must be built on top of the ruins.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization and to allow Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip in return for scrapping the Palestine Charter. In response, Arafat promised (but did not follow through) to change the clauses in the charter that deny Israel’s right to exist. In his last speech in the Knesset, Rabin said that he sees in these promised changes the ultimate test of the will and the ability of the Palestinian Authority, and that the requested changes will be an important and serious touchstone in continuing and implementing the agreement as a whole. The changes still have not been made. Moreover, Palestinian students now memorize the charter — without the changes — as part of their school curriculum.
Recognition of Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people is a public assertion of the fact that the Arab narrative, on which they based their murderous activities, is false. It is the recognition of the Jewish people’s right to sovereignty over the land of Israel. It is for this reason that Abbas has clearly said that he will never give that recognition; because he has no intention of ending the conflict before all the Jews have been removed from the land of Israel.
The so called “monotheistic” people and atheists are so used to the submitted Jews that they resent this people for 2 fundamental reasons: they came with the idea of a single G-D and they have the hutzpah to claim for centuries and finally recover what is their ownership (G-D and self-determination). Christians, Muslims and secular atheists can’t bear this. They will do anything to fight back. Jews have never had ANY intention to impose their opinion on other in the past, now and in the future!!! This is the exact opposite with the enemies of IL and the Jews. Absolutely remarkable.
This assumption that recognition implies, or means, further and other things is a fantasy. The recognition has no implications beyond words.
First of all it is pathetic that jews seek any recognition from this serial and chronic bunch of liars and murderers.
Second, it is a meaningless set of words that is blown out of proportion to any reality. These words if agreed upon will have no enforceable value. If the next day they start more trouble Israel can whine but the whining will be as meaningless as whining today about the european betrayals and reneging of settlement rights which they guaranteed.
Third, how is it possible that the famous Jewish negotiators are so incredibly stupid as to even consider the concept of giving something for nothing OR giving everything for some words.
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
Okay!
“Why do they refuse a Jewish state?”
Because it would probably be full of us Jews.
@ Bear Klein:
You seem prone to use the standard label used by kibbutznikim when they are exposed. I have no “va’adot kabalah” up front Bear Klein. I do not ever define a priori. And I do not hate Sde Boker or Ben Gurion, but under no circumstances I will tolerate either one to be converted to a replacement newfangled Icon instead of Moses, Abraham Avinu or Temple Mount.
Sde Boker is a fine place as kibbutzim go, full stop. Privately I would visit Ben Gurion. But not ever it will be a pilgrimage spot for me. My pilgrimages are to Meharat Hamachpelah, Har Habait, Kever David and remarkably, Binyamin.
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
So what you know about Sde Boker is that Ben Gurion lived there? And you did not approve of him.
There we a couple of people I did not like there but it was through personal interaction. I had some very good friends there. Some really idealistic people who lived their ideals.
Big lofty negative labels (icons) do not serve any constructive purpose. Unless the purpose is to show hate or bring others down.
@ Bear Klein:
Sde Boker represents a replacement Icon. Nekudah. It is a post Jewish pilgrimage focus set up as such with premeditated intent to replace our ancestral ones. Of course not everyone from there is bagged but as a whole the locality represents the main luminary, Ben Gurion who was about as much Sde Boker as they come. As a human being I have nothing against the old man. Regrettably, as Golda reported to us in person, some of his choices for future leaders left much to be desired.
When present day “leaders” sit under that effigy rather than defend Temple Mount, Jerusalem, etc, the rest is the rest.
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
Careful on the Sde Boker references, kindly. I lived there a long time ago. In fact I met my ex-wife there. Okay maybe that wasn’t so good! Except for my son that came out of that union.
Some of the founders of Sde Boker were Irgun/Lehi members. In fact Yoshua Cohen was put in prison for a longtime by the Brits.
Some of the Kibbutz members where great soldiers in many wars. Some doing great things in between wars that I can not write about to defend the state.
So perhaps putting people in a barrel of negativity and espousing hate towards them is at best not constructive, for Jews and the State of Israel.
I am not trying to be antagonistic to you but hoping you will not paint who you do not know with a broad negative brush.
Notice how none of this has anything to do with the Holocaust. It predates the Holocaust by twenty years. It has nothing to do with Nazi Germany or the Third Reich.
But it leaves me wondering, where were the Nazis in regard to Zionism? For all the antisemitism of the German National Socialists, I recall nothing in their politics that address Zionism. Nothing. Why? Am I missing something?
Which is not to say that Palestinian nationalism has nothing to do with the Nazis, we have Amin Al Husseini, the then Mufti of Jerusalem, who is linked very clearly with Nazi Germany and is the founding father of the fraud of Palestinian Nationalism.
I wager that syria and lebanon would be happy to be rid of them and to send them to Jordan
@ Yidvocate:
I identify the phenomenon with a genetic affection. It is not the first time when purported Jews actively participate on attacks on Jews and Heritage on behalf of enemies.
Capos and Judenrat were not unique nor the present day equivalents are. Tragically, significant numbers of purported Jews are, in reality Erev Rav, renegades. No, they are not politically different. They are mortal enemies. And for reasons unknown to me, true Jews choose or allow that trash as leaders.
We’re offering these Arabs their very own state carved out of ancient homeland and dispossessing our brothers and sisters in the tens of thousands (G-d forbid!) to do so. Something they never had before and didn’t even claim when the area in question was controlled by Jordan for 19 years. And what are we asking in return? For them to mouth two words – “Jewish State”. We must be insane! But as crazy as we are, they are even crazier or just plain stupid as it would cost them nothing to mouth the words and lying to the infidel is even encouraged under sharia law. Truly the Arabs save us from ourselves over an over again or more accurately G-d saves us and uses our enemies to do so, over an over again. B”H
It is natural for unJews, Erev Rav, renegades to try to set aside a Jewish State. They long ago shed any semblance to being Jewish and do not want to be identified with a Jewish State.
Their whole drive is not for “peace” but to replace Temple Mount with Sde Boker and King David with one another of their newfangled, assimilated specimens.
The destruction of Jewish villages, Synagogues, homes, farms, schools, families and of course Heritage Icons, is a standard procedure for them.
I don’t think it gets any clearer than that.