Gorenberg's Gore

Gershom Gorenberg has an article in Canada's The National Post.

Chronicle of a quagmire

For years, the existence of Israel's West Bank settlements has complicated peacemaking efforts. Gershom Gorenberg explains how they got there

It ends:-

Today, a quarter million Israelis live in the West Bank (and 180,000 more in annexed East Jerusalem). This spring's election gave a clear majority to parties that seek to pull out of much of the territory (though popular opinion has swung against a unilateral pullout since the summer's war with Hezbollah).

The stern warnings ignored in 1967 now seem obvious -- to remain Jewish and democratic, Israel must accept division of the land. The convoy to Kfar Etzion was the start of a march of folly. The settlements will make it far harder to withdraw. Yet another lesson of 1967 is that the hard decisions must not be evaded.

gershomg@iol.co.il

I sent the paper this letter:-

Sirs,

Gershom Gorenberg's article, "Chronicle of a quagmire" (Sept. 21), is less than comprehensive and therefore is prejudicially misleading on the issue of Jewish residency in areas, which since 1967, have been administered by Israel.

The true starting point must be the international legality awarded to the right of Jews to live in their patrimony by the Supreme Council of the League of Nations in 1922 following the decision of the San Remo Conference of April 24, 1920 . The Mandate charged Great Britain, as part of the recognition given to the "historical connexion of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country", to facilitate Jewish immigration...(and)...encourage...close settlement by Jews on the land (Article 6). Moreover, no Palestine territory "shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of, the Government of any foreign Power"(Article 5). I have full rights to reside in my home in Shiloh.

After undergoing partition, which the Arabs rejected and after becoming victorious in several wars of agression designed to eradicate the country and its population, there is nothing wrong or evil in the building of Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Jewish willingness, mistaken in my opinion, to concede land for peace, is ineffective and only increases Arab terror. Gorenberg's complaint is a result of his skewed ideological and political position, not a tennable legal proposition.