Problems with Pal. Propagandists

In response to this article, Palestinians can't bypass Israel, Oslo accords, I found this comment:

It is not unexpected to find distortions and half-truths in the above piece written by a fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at The Heritage Foundation. Let me just give two examples:

About the Oslo Accords, he wrote: "Mahmoud Abbas essentially turned his back on the 1993 Oslo peace accord with Israel." The truth is that the Oslo Accords, specifically Oslo II, explicitly prohibited any change in the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Instead, in violation of the accords, the building of settlements continued and Jewish settlers continued to move to the West Bank. Furthermore, bypass roads were built to connect these settlements.

He also wrote: "Israel agreed to an unprecedented 10-month halt on building settlements in the West Bank." The writer failed to mention that the 10-month housing freeze did not include East Jerusalem, which under international law is part of the West Bank. Of course, "international law and Israel" are an oxymoron.

Medhat Credi
Elmsford

Dear Medhat:

a) the Oslo Accords expressly excluded any reference to "settlements".

Here's an Arab source:

Oslo made no mention of a settlement freeze—formal or otherwise—and, in fact, deferred the settlement issue altogether until so-called “permanent status” negotiations to be held in five years...Notably, the Oslo Accords, including the 1993 Declaration of Principles (“DOP”) and the 1995 Interim Agreement as well as subsequent agreements and protocols, did not deal directly with the issue of Israeli settlements, either with regard to their legal status (i.e., under international humanitarian law) or in terms of limiting their continued expansion.

b) as for Bibi's non-inclusion of "East Jerusalem", well, again, with the Pals. demanding all-or-nothing, despite they being the aggressors since 1920, the practicers of terror since 1920 and those who sought the thwart international agreements as regards the "reconstitution of the Jewish national home" since 1922, when that right was recognized and formalized by the League of Nations, they will get nothing.

The problem with Arab propagandists is:

- they lie

- they prevaricate

- they tell only a part of the story

- they hide what is unpleasant

- they subvert language

- they cannot produce substantiated claims

and more.

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