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)

Monday 1 July 2019

David Singer: Trump Should Champion Legal Migration from West Bank and Gaza

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

He writes:

President Trump should consider championing legal, voluntary and financially-assisted emigration from Gaza and the West Bank by calling on Jordan and Egypt to open their border crossings and grant residency status to Gazan and West Bank Arabs seeking a better future for themselves and their families.

Such action is certainly justified following the rejection of President Trump’s offer to inject US$6.5 billion into the West Bank and Gaza – with both Hamas and the PLO telling Trump they were not prepared to accept any financial assistance coming out of the Manama Conference jointly convened last week by Trump and Bahrain.

Hamas purported to speak for the “Palestinian people” – a body politic invented in 1964  that last had a say in its own future in 2006:
“No one can represent the Palestinian people except the Palestinians themselves, who have never been unqualified to taking decisions related to Palestine. The parties and states meeting in Manama do not have any right or mandate to take decisions on behalf of the Palestinian people. Therefore, any resolution taken or stance adopted at the conference is null and void and does not represent the Palestinian people. Such decisions or positions are only desperate attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue and do not represent the Palestinian people.”
The PLO was just as quick to reject the massive financial aid being offered by Trump – PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas declaring:
“We say that national rights are not pieces of real estate that are purchased and sold and that arriving at a political solution that guarantees freedom, dignity, independence and justice for our people must precede any economic programs or projects because that will create stability and security for everyone,”
Christine Lagarde – managing director of the International Monetary Fund – appeared to agree with both Hamas and the PLO when stressing:
“Improving economic conditions and attracting lasting investment to the region depends ultimately on being able to reach a peace agreement.
Peace, political stability and re-establishment of trust between all the parties involved are essential pre-requisites to the success of any economic plan for the region.”
Lagarde’s comments appeared at odds with the views expressed by White House adviser Jared Kushner when he opened the conference and said an economic plan:
“is a necessary precondition to resolving what has been a previously unsolvable political situation.”
The “unsolvable political situation” in Gaza and the West Bank has been ongoing for the last 100 years.
Gaza and West Bank Arabs – currently forced to endure this political uncertainty – faced the following dire economic circumstances in 2018 according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics:
  • Unemployment in Gaza reached 52 percent – an increase of almost eight percent since 2017
  • Unemployment among young people in Gaza aged 15-29 was 69%.
  • The unemployment rate in the West Bank was 17.6 percent
Gaza’s civilian population has paid a heavy price for the indiscriminate targeting of Israeli population centres with thousands of missiles and incendiary balloons.

Hamas and the PLO – still fighting between themselves for control of the Johnny-come-lately “Palestinian people” – seem extremely unlikely to allow the respective constituencies they have ruled for the last 12 years to have any say in the future political and economic direction of Gaza and the West Bank.

US$16.5 billion proposed for projects in Jordan and Egypt – coupled with Trumps’ US$6.5 billion unexpended in Gaza – constitute a humanitarian lifeline for Gazan and West Bank Arabs to migrate and enjoy far better lives than they currently have.

If Gazan and West Bank Arabs cannot vote in election booths – then Trump should help them vote with their feet.

Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones” one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog

6 comments:

  1. Mr. Ben Cohen of JNS dot org said:

    “The answers were similarly emphatic when
    the respondents were asked for their views on
    Israel, which most Arabs still perceive
    as a threat to their very existence,
    even those living thousands of miles
    to the west in Morocco and Libya
    .”

    SOURCE:
    Arab Homophobia and Western Indifference
    by Mr. Ben Cohen of JNS dot org * 2019 June 30
    www.algemeiner.com/2019/06/30/arab-homophobia-and-western-indifference/

    NOTE: The distance between Israel
    and Morocco is approximately 2,400 miles.

    QUESTION: If this does not prove
    that Arabs think irrationally about Israel,
    then what would?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mr. Eitan Fischberger (from camera dot org) said:

    …the word “apartheid” has become associated with Israel, despite Israeli Arabs, Druze and Ethiopians serving in the highest echelons of the Israeli government, parliament and judiciary. Sure, racism and discrimination are endemic to every society, and always will be, but labeling Israel an apartheid state is woefully inaccurate.

    Then there is the oft-heard contention that Israel is committing a Palestinian “genocide,” even though the Palestinian population in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip continues to grow at a rapid pace.

    …..…..…..…..

    A prime example of this trend is the redefinition of the word “refugee,” whereby every refugee in the world sheds this status once they resettle in another country, and their descendants do not receive refugee status either. Only Palestinians are considered refugees even after resettling, and their descendants inherit this status indefinitely.

    SOURCE: Postmodernism and Israel:
    Fluidity of words has real-world implications

    by Eitan Fischberger, 2019 June 21
    www.jns.org/opinion/postmodernism-and-israel-fluidity-of-words-has-real-world-implications/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mr. Steven Emerson said:

    “BDS — which seeks to isolate Israel economically and culturally — is considered anti-Semitic because it singles out the world’s only Jewish state and ignores countries with far worse human rights records.”

    SOURCE: CAIR Anti-Semites Fight ‘Anti-Semitism Awareness’ Bill
    www.algemeiner.com/2019/04/08/cair-antisemites-fight-anti-semitism-awareness-bill/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shmuley Boteach said:

    “Even Yitzhak Rabin was not prepared to give the Palestinians a state and that was at a time when there was still some hope that the Palestinians would agree to a settlement that would recognize the existence of a Jewish state beside a Palestinian one.

    Now most Israelis recognize this is impossible in the near future, if ever.

    The never-ending barrage of rockets from Gaza following Israel’s evacuation has shown the folly of the land-for-peace formula…”

    SOURCE:
    Trump’s Love Affair with Israel and the Jewish People
    by Shmuley Boteach, 2019 April 8
    www.algemeiner.com/2019/04/08/trumps-love-affair-with-israel-and-the-jewish-people/

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

    “Where are your demonstrations on behalf of the oppressed Tibetans, Georgians, Syrians, Armenians, Kurds, or even Ukrainians?

    Where are your BDS movements against the Chinese, the Russians, the Cubans, the Turks, or the Assad [Syria] regime?

    Only the Palestinians, only Israel? Why?

    Not because the Palestinians are more oppressed than these and other groups.

    Only because their alleged oppressors are Jews and the nation-state of the Jews.”

    SOURCE: Alan Dershowitz – Why Such a Surge
    of Worldwide Anti-Semitism
    , 2019 March 20
    https://israelseen.com/2019/03/20/alan-dershowitz-why-such-a-surge-of-worldwide-anti-semitism/

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think that this needs to be debunked:
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190626-there-is-no-parity-between-ethnic-cleansing-in-palestine-and-jews-exodus-from-arab-states/

    ReplyDelete

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