Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Wednesday 20 March 2019

David Singer: Ilhan Omar Needs to Rethink her Flawed Position on Palestine

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

For far too long political debate has been reduced to name-calling and identity labelling, with facts and reasoned arguments taking second place – consigning civilised discourse and the exchange of ideas and opinions into the trash bin.

Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has taken a positive step in reversing this burgeoning practice of personal denigration and arbitrary dismissal of opinions of those with whom one doesn’t agree – in setting out her opinion on resolving the Arab-Jewish conflictin an op-ed article in the Washington Post on 17 March.

Omar’s opinion is based on factual errors and her failure to take into account other relevant facts – as this sentence by sentence analysis of her position makes clear:
1.“The founding of Israel 70 years ago was built on the Jewish people’s connection to their historical homeland, as well as the urgency of establishing a nation in the wake of the horror of the Holocaust and the centuries of anti-Semitic oppression leading up to it.”

The founding of Israel pre-dated the Holocaust – back to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War One. Palestine – within boundaries to be determined – which had formed part of the territory of the Ottoman Empire for the previous 400 years -was designated by the Principal Allied Powers at the San Remo Conference held in April 1920 as the location for the “establishment of a national home for the Jewish people.”


This decision was unanimously endorsed by the League of Nations when granting Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine in 1922. The Mandate’s boundaries comprised what is today called Israel, Jordan, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza. However the establishment of the Jewish National Home in Transjordan – 78% of Mandatory Palestine – was postponed or withheld under article 25 of the Mandate.
2.“We must acknowledge that this is also the historical homeland of Palestinians.” 
The “Palestinians” were not recognised as an identifiable people in 1917. The Mandate for Palestine regarded the Arab residents of Palestine as forming part of the “existing non-Jewish communities” in Palestine – whose civil and religious rights were not to be prejudiced. The “Palestinians” were only defined for the first time in the 1964 PLO Charter – article 6.
 3.“And without a state, the Palestinian people live in a state of permanent refugeehood and displacement.” 
The Palestinian Arabs acquired their own state and independence in 1946 in Jordan – 78% of Palestine. Hamas exercises full administrative control over the Arab residents of Gaza. The PLO exercises full administrative control over 95% of the Arab population of Judea and Samaria (West Bank).
4.“This, too, is a refugee crisis, and they, too, deserve freedom and dignity.” 
A refugee crisis exists in Lebanon and Syria because the Palestinian Arabs living there have been denied citizenship for 70 years.
5.“I support a two-state solution, with internationally recognized borders, which allows for both Israelis and Palestinians to have their own sanctuaries and self-determination.'' 
There are already two such states in 95% of former Palestine – one (78%) for the Arabs called Jordan – one (17%) for the Jews, called Israel.
6.“This has been official bipartisan U.S. policy across two decades and has been supported by each of the most recent Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as well as the consensus of the Israeli security establishment.” 
New solutions are required after negotiations spanning 25 years have failed to create a second Arab state in former Palestine between Israel and Jordan. Redrawing the international bordersbetween Jordan Israel and Egypt could be game changers. 
Hopefully Congresswoman Omar will rethink her flawed position and continue this dialogue.

3 comments:

  1. An Open Letter to Critics of Israel
    (this video’s length is 2 minutes 7 seconds):


    www.aish.com/v/is/An-Open-Letter-to-Critics-of-Israel.html
    ===================================

    What’s the matter with Israel’s Supreme Court?
    by Jonathan S. Tobin:


    www.jns.org/opinion/whats-the-matter-with-israels-supreme-court/

    ===================================

    Harvard Law Professor Alan M. Dershowitz said:

    “It is virtually impossible to get the United Nations
    to condemn any Arab terrorist group or state for
    any attack on Israel or Jewish institutions.

    Yet there is an eagerness to condemn Israel,
    whether Israel is right or wrong.”

    SOURCE: Chutzpah by Alan M. Dershowitz
    (chapter 7, page 225) published in year 1991
    by Little Brown & Co ISBN: 9780316181372 ISBN: 0316181374

    ===================================
    Harvard Law Professor Alan M. Dershowitz said:

    “The world may have to deal with
    terrorists in order to save lives.

    But the moral scandal is that in addition
    to simply dealing with these terrorists,
    much of the world has HONORED them.

    The standing ovation accorded to Yassir Arafat
    – the architect of international terrorism –
    by many UN [United Nations] representatives
    in Geneva in 1988 will live in infamy.

    The willingness of world statesmen – including
    the Pope and other moral leaders – to treat
    Arafat as a person deserving of tribute
    is beyond moral comprehension.”

    SOURCE: Chutzpah by Alan M. Dershowitz
    (chapter 7, page 220) published in year 1991
    by Little Brown & Co ISBN: 9780316181372 ISBN: 0316181374

    ===================================
    Refuting the Fans of Vashti:

    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2018/02/refuting-fans-of-vashti.html

    ===================================
    New York Times hates Zionism and Israel:

    www.algemeiner.com/2019/03/13/journalisms-longest-war-the-new-york-times-versus-zionism-and-israel/

    ReplyDelete
  2. “Al Qaeda seeks to destroy
    the Jewish state completely.

    Much of its rhetoric and some
    of its attacks suggest that
    it sees international Jewry
    and Israel as interchangeable.

    The group’s rhetoric is also
    viciously anti-Semitic in addition
    to being anti-Israel.”

    SOURCE: Al Qaeda, the Islamic State,
    and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone
    Needs to Know
    (chapter 3, page 47) by Daniel Byman,
    Oxford University Press, year 2015, ISBN: 019021726X (paperback)
    ISBN: 9780190217266 (paperback) ISBN: 0190217251 ISBN: 9780190217259
    www.jns.org/al-qaeda-figure-warns-arab-countries-over-normalization-with-israel/

    QUESTION:

    This quote is only about Al Qaeda, but should we
    believe that other radical Islamic terrorist organizations,
    with almost-identical beliefs, would behave differently?

    ===================================

    “Killing civilians, particularly Jews and Americans,
    is deemed acceptable [by Al Qaeda] when
    other targets are too difficult to attack.”

    SOURCE: Al Qaeda, the Islamic State,
    and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone
    Needs to Know
    (chapter 3, page 49)
    by Daniel Byman, Oxford University Press, year 2015,
    ISBN: 019021726X (paperback) ISBN: 9780190217266
    (paperback) ISBN: 0190217251 ISBN: 9780190217259

    QUESTION:

    This quote is only about Al Qaeda, but should we
    believe that other radical Islamic terrorist organizations,
    with almost-identical beliefs, would behave differently?

    ===================================

    Mr. Daniel Byman said:

    “...roughly half of Palestinians say it
    [suicide bombing] is at least sometimes justified...”

    SOURCE: Al Qaeda, the Islamic State,
    and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone
    Needs to Know
    (chapter 3, page 56)
    by Daniel Byman, Oxford University Press, year 2015,
    ISBN: 019021726X (paperback) ISBN: 9780190217266
    (paperback) ISBN: 0190217251 ISBN: 9780190217259

    =====================================

    Refuting the Fans of Vashti:

    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2018/02/refuting-fans-of-vashti.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Harvard Law Professor Alan M. Dershowitz said:

    The Grand Mufti [Islamic leader] of Jerusalem,
    in addition to becoming Hitler’s ally
    during World War II, adapted Nazi genocidal
    theory to Islamic theology.

    He called on his Muslim brothers to:
    “Murder the Jews! Murder them all.”

    Other Islamic leaders used Nazi words like
    “extermination” in referring to the goals
    of Arab victory [against Israel].

    SOURCE: Chutzpah
    by Alan M. Dershowitz (chapter 4, page 119)
    published in year 1991 by Little Brown & Co
    ISBN: 9780316181372 ISBN: 0316181374

    ===================================

    Harvard Law Professor Alan M. Dershowitz said:

    “…if Israel’s military power were ever to be diminished
    to the point that the combined armies of the Arab world
    could defeat it, I believe there would be another Holocaust.

    No Arab dictator who could defeat Israel and forebore
    from doing so would survive the continuing frenzy
    for jihad [Islamic holy war against non-Muslims].

    And an Arab military victory over Israel –
    unlike the Israeli victories over the Arabs –
    would not result in a mere occupation or
    even detention of Israeli Jews.

    It would result in a mass slaughter,
    designed to rid Arab holy land of Jewish intruders.

    Most Jews know this, though they rarely speak of it openly.”


    SOURCE: Chutzpah by Alan M. Dershowitz
    (chapter epilogue, page 352) published in year 1991,
    by Little Brown & Co ISBN: 9780316181372 ISBN: 0316181374

    ===================================

    Mr. Patrick Condell said:

    “…if the Israelis were to lay down their weapons, they
    would be massacred - men, women and children alike."

    SOURCE: Why I Support Israel
    A YouTube video by Pat Condell, 2014 June 18
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHC8KC5cLs8

    complete transcript of this YouTube video:
    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/why-i-support-israel-by-pat-condell.html

    MICROBIOGRAPHY:
    Mr. Pat Condell is an atheist, who was born
    in Ireland around 1950 CE, and raised in England
    as a Roman Catholic, and educated in Church of
    England schools. He has no Jewish ancestors and
    no religious beliefs that might cause him to favor Jews.

    ===================================

    Who are the Palestinians?

    www.algemeiner.com/2019/02/14/the-invention-of-palestinians/

    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2018/06/who-are-palestinians.html

    ReplyDelete

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