Thursday, November 11, 2010

Yes, Indeed. Why?

From today's Los Angeles Times editorial:-

Why, after all these years, are we still writing about settlements?

I left a comment there (so go read) and let's point out some fallacies of fact and logic.

...Four decades during which the international community has been demanding that Israel step back to the pre-1967 lines

But UN Res. 242 doesn't call for a complete return to the 1967 borders.


...That doesn't count those living in the Golan Heights or the 190,000 Israelis who have moved into traditionally Arab East Jerusalem.

Over 200,000 living in the new Jerusalem neighborhoods.


In the early years, Israel offered a range of justifications — historical, archaeological and religious as well as military — for these fortified, walled-in communities...
You know, I suspect that someone like Gershom Gorenberg assisted in the writing of this editorial.

Anyway, those justifications still hold.  The Arab reality has not altered.


...Truthfully, the settler movement's political power extends beyond the right wing; that's why settlements have grown steadily regardless of what government was in power, including those of Labor Party Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Ehud Barak.

Yes, truth is a great thing.  And that power extends beyond the right wing which would indicate that our approach is much more the majority public opinion and not Peace Now, B'tselem, etc.

As for this:

As long as they continue building in the occupied territories, the world will continue to question the depth of their commitment to peace.

Since Israel did pull out of Gaza but no peace resulted, and terror only increased in the form of Qasam missiles, who has the better commitment to peace?

^

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