...If Israel is finding it “impossible” to explain settlement construction, that is simply because it makes little or no effort to do so in a compelling manner. After all, when was the last time you heard a government minister articulate and assert Israel’s legal right to these areas? How forceful have Israeli embassies and consulates abroad been in telling the story of Judea and Samaria?
IF YOU think I am exaggerating, try the following exercise.
Visit the websites of the Israeli embassies in Washington and London, and see if you can find something – anything! – which explains Israel’s rights to Judea and Samaria. Or check out the website of the Foreign Ministry, which refers to these areas as the “West Bank,” the terminology that is used by the Palestinians.
How many people abroad know that the Jewish presence in Hebron dates back more than 3,000 years? Or that “settlements” such as Neve Ya’akov and Kfar Etzion were created during the British Mandatory period even before the State of Israel was founded? Centuries before the invention of Islam, King David was born in Bethlehem, Amos prophesied in Tekoa and Judah the Maccabee fought at Beit Horon. And 1,800 years before the PLO was established, Jews at Beitar were battling the Romans.
This is my interpretation:
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1 comment:
it would be easier if Israel and her allies were to fight to shut down the UN - permanently as a failed organisation - then the whole Palestinian self-definition would fall apart and create impossible pressures that would necessitate the absorption of the 'refugees' into the host societies.
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