David Singer: Britain Shamefully Betrays the Jewish People Again

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

He writes: 
 
Britain – the architectof the San Remo Resolution and Treaty of Sevres in 1920 that led to the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine in 1922 – has yet again shamefully betrayed the Jewish People by warning Israel not to extend its sovereignty into Judea and Samaria.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any such action would be in violation of international law – which Netanyahu disputes – despite the Mandate vesting in the Jewish People the right to “close settlement” in Judea and Samaria for the purposes of reconstituting the biblical Jewish National Home in what had been the heartland of the Jewish People 3000 years ago.

Britain had betrayed the Jewish People in 1950 after all the Jews living in Judea and Samaria had been ethnically cleansed by the invading Arab army of Transjordan in 1948.  Britain – supported only by Pakistan and Iraq – recognised Transjordan’s illegal annexation of Judea and Samaria, the renaming of the newly merged entityas “Jordan”whilst “Judea and Samaria”was renamed“West Bank”.

Johnson told Netanyahu:

"I am immensely proud of the UK’s contribution to the birth of Israel with the 1917 Balfour Declaration.  But it will remain unfinished business until there is a solution which provides justice and lasting peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.  

The only way it can be achieved is for both sides to return to the negotiating table.  That must be our goal. Annexation would only take us further away from it."

Peace for both “Israelis” and “Palestinians”?

Neither existed until 1948 and 1964.

There were only “Arabs” and “Jews” in 1917. The Arab residents of Palestine then comprised part of “the existing non-Jewish communities”.

Johnson seems apparently unaware that the “Palestinians”:

• were defined for the first time in recorded history by article 6 of the 1964 PLO Charter

• did not claim “regional sovereignty in the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan”or“on the Gaza Strip” under article 24

• were Jordanian citizens between 1954 and1988. 

Johnson’s warning to Israel is the complete antithesis of what he wrote on 29 October 2017 as Foreign Minister – ahead of the Balfour Declaration centenary on 2 November: 

“I have no doubt that the only viable solution to the conflict resembles the one first set down on paper by another Briton, Lord Peel, in the report of the Royal Commission on Palestine in 1937, and that is the vision of two states for two peoples.” 

The Royal Commission was authorised by Royal Warrant dated 7 August 1936 which did not mention  the “Palestinians” – only naming two parties – the “Arabs” and the “Jews” – not three – as disputants.

The Peel Commission after a lengthy and detailed Inquiry concluded that:

“two sovereign independent States would be established  – the one an Arab State, consisting of Trans-Jordan united with that part of Palestine which lies to the east and south of a frontier such as we suggest in [the map] below; the other a Jewish State consisting of that part of Palestine which lies to the north and west of that frontier.”

The Arabs rejected this decision.

The Jews disputed the boundaries.

 Trans-Jordan in 1937 then comprised the remaining 78% of the Mandate territory closed byBritainto Jewish settlement under Article 25.

Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria however was to be facilitated and encouraged under article 6.

The PLO’s outright refusal to negotiate with Israel on President Trump’s Peace Plan strengthens Netanyahu’s decision to restore Jewish sovereignty in 30% of Judea and Samaria after 3000 years. Johnson’s hypocritical posturing should reinforce  – not weaken – Netanyahu’s resolve.

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.

David Singer: PLO Continues to Denigrate Trump Peace Plan and Ignore Elections

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

He writes:

The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) has cranked up its propaganda machine to continue denigrating President Trump’s deal of the century – as a joint US-Israel Mapping Committee is finalising those areas in Judea and Samaria on Trump’s map where Jewish sovereignty can be restored after 3000 years.

The PLO rejected Trump’s plan on the day it was published – 28 January 2020 – even though it provided for the creation of a second Arab State in former Palestine – in addition to Jordan – for the first time in recorded history.

WAFA – the Palestinian news and information agency – has attacked Trump’s move to start implementing his plan in an article headlined: “PLO official warns of Israeli plan to annex parts of West Bank” – which headline itself is false and misleading for the following reasons:

• It is not an Israeli plan – but Trump’s plan being applied by Israel in tandem with Trump
• Trump’s plan does not involve annexation by Israel – rather the restoration of Jewish sovereignty after 3000 years in the Jewish people’s ancient and biblical heartland – in areas authorised by the San Remo Conference and Treaty of Sevres in 1920, the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine in 1922 and the United Nations Charter.
• “West Bank” was only coined in 1950 to replace the 3000 years old geographic place name “Judea and Samaria” – after all the Jews living there had been ethnically cleansed by Transjordan during the 1948 War of Independence – and Judea & Samaria was unified with Transjordan to form a new territorial entity – renamed Jordan.

Wafa’s report references a statement by Ahmad Majdalani – member of the PLO Executive Committee and Minister of Social Affairs:

“Uncovered reports that Washington and Tel Aviv are about to agree on the maps of annexation [of parts of the West Bank] – at a time the world is preoccupied with the war on coronavirus – falls within the framework of the US plan to implement the “deal of the century”

Note:

• No uncovered reports are produced
• Repetition of the false and misleading terms annexation and West Bank
• The world might be preoccupied with the war on coronavirus but Governments – including the US and Israeli Governments – have not stopped governing and making decisions – and to suggest they should is arrant nonsense

Wafa asserts:

“The PLO official stressed that the US-Israeli plan undermines the basic principles of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and the resolutions of the international community, calling on the latter to compel Israel to abide by these resolutions.”

No mention that:

• Negotiations between Israel and the PLO spanning various periods between 1993 and 2014 have failed to produce any resolution
• negotiations have not been held since 2014

Majdalani concludes:

“This plan, drawn with maps by the teams of the Israeli occupation and the Trump administration, is the actual implementation of the “deal of the century”, which means an end to the two-state solution.”

False:

• Israel’s occupies 60% and the PLO 40% of Judea and Samaria pursuant to the 1993 Oslo Accords
• The “two-state” solution is very much alive under Trump’s Plan. It just doesn’t meet the PLO’s non-negotiable demand for the last 53 years claiming a state in 100% of Judea and Samaria.

The PLO has not called any general election since 2006.

Holding elections now would allow 95% of Judea and Samaria’s Arab population currently living under the PLO’s tyrannical and oppressive governance in Areas “A” and “B” to have their say on Trump’s two-state proposal and the PLO’s continuing rule over them.

The deathly-silent international community needs to stop fawning over the PLO and demand such long-overdue elections take place.

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

David Singer: Voter Apathy Threatens Reunion of Judea and Samaria with Israel

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

He writes:

Crunch time has come for approximately 6.5 million Jews and Arabs to vote on Israel regaining immediate sovereignty in parts of the Jewish People’s biblical and ancient heartland in Judea and Samaria – 3000 years after its loss.

Voter apathy could possibly see this historic opportunity being lost because of these existing political realities:

• Current Prime Minister and determined proponent for claiming immediate sovereignty in Judea and Samaria – Bibi Netanyahu – could lose voter support as corruption charges against him have been fixed to commence just fifteen days after the 2 March elections
• Netanyahu’s challenger as Israel’s next Prime Minister – Benny Gantz – wants to maintain the current status quo in Judea and Samaria pending agreement in tandem with Israel’s Arab neighbours and possibly in co-ordination with the international community – which could mean never.
• These upcoming elections will be the third held in the last 12 months since two earlier elections in April and September 2019 – which resulted in deadlocks that prevented either Netanyahu or Gantz being able to acquire the 61 seats required to form government.
• Voter turnout at the April 2019 election was only 68.46% and only slightly higher in September 2019 at 69.83%
• Support for the major Arab political parties has risen from 7.82% in April 2019 to 10.6% in September 2019
• Gantz has refused to have any televised debates with Netanyahu.
• Gantz is now facing a probe by the Attorney General into the affairs of a bankrupt company – The Fifth Dimension – of which Gantz himself was Chairman

Voters might be tempted to throw up their hands in despair at this seeming turmoil in Israel’s political system and simply not turn up to vote – thereby possibly denying the fulfilment of a dream that was reborn 100 years ago at the San Remo Conference  in April 1920 and sealed with the Treaty of Sevres in August 1920 – culminating with the League of Nations unanimously creating the Mandate for Palestine in July 1922 recognizing the Jewish People’s right to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in Palestine.

100 years later the Jewish National Home exists – but sovereignty in its ancient and biblical heartland – Judea and Samaria – does not.

President Trump’s Peace Plan released on 28 January 2020 recognizes Israeli sovereignty being extended into parts of Judea and Samaria whilst recognizing the creation of a 22nd Arab State in the residue for the first time in recorded history.

Rejection of Trump’s Plan by the Arab League on 1 February has led to the formation of a joint American-Israel Mapping Committee which is expected to produce a map in two months designating the areas of Judea and Samaria where Israeli sovereignty can be extended immediately.
Gantz has not embraced Trump’s Plan with the same enthusiasm as Netanyahu – choosing to maintain the existing status quo in Judea and Samaria for an indefinite period of time.

Had Gantz and Netanyahu agreed – voter apathy would not have mattered. Both major political parties would have been locked in to immediately implementing sovereignty in Judea and Samaria with America’s approval. Lack of unanimity demands condemnation by Jews worldwide.
The portents for another low voter turnout have been signalled by the announcement that only 66% of eligible Israeli diplomats, members of official delegations and their families abroad have voted – a decline from the 69.5% turnout in the September 2019 election.

Hopefully, the historic significance of these elections will generate a much larger local turnout of at least 75-80%. The future of the Jewish People’s heartland deserves this level of minimum participation from those Jews and Arabs blessed to have been chosen to make this momentous decision.

Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article 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

David Singer: Netanyahu Goes into Judea and Samaria where Gantz Fears to Tread

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

He writes:

The formation of a joint America-Israel committee to map out the areas of Judea and Samaria within which Israel’s sovereignty will be recognized by America  – has presented Israeli voters with a real choice between the policies of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz at the upcoming elections on 2 March.

Addressing Likud Party supporters at a campaign launch event in Jerusalem on 21 January – Netanyahu promised to “impose Israeli sovereignty on the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea” and to all Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria “without exception.”

Netanyahu’s proposal to take such unilateral action was tempered with the release of President Trump’s deal of the century on 28 January containing the following conceptual map indicating those areas of Judea and Samaria where America would recognize Israel’s claim to sovereignty:

America’s Ambassador to Israel – David Friedman – warned Netanyahu against precipitately undertaking his own sovereignty plan – explaining there was a waiting period before sovereignty could be extended:

“The waiting period would be the time it takes for them to obtain internal approvals and to obviously create the documentation, the calibration, the mapping, that would enable us to evaluate it, makes sure it’s consistent with the conceptual map. If they wish to apply Israeli law to those areas allocated to Israel, we will recognize it.”

Both Israel and America would have probably prepared their own maps already.  Jared Kushner – chief architect of the Trump plan – has virtually confirmed this – saying it will take only “a couple of months” for the Committee to complete its work. Marrying the two maps to achieve this truly historic outcome is that close.

Ambassador Friedman heads the three-man American delegation now sitting down with the three-man Israeli delegation on the Mapping Committee.

Gantz has been powerless to stop the formation and work of the Mapping Committee. Indeed Gantz urged Trump to release his peace plan before the elections. Gantz has not even requested that one of his nominees be part of the Israeli delegation on the Mapping Committee.

In ignoring the Mapping Committee – Gantz is signalling the continuation of his policy opposing Israel extending its sovereignty into Judea and Samaria with America’s approval.
Gantz has made his own policy very clear:

 “After the elections, we will work to apply [Israeli] sovereignty on the Jordan Valley. We will do this in a nationally agreed process and in coordination with the international community.”

Believing the international community would ever agree to Israel extending its sovereignty into any part of Judea and Samaria – without swaps of existing Israeli sovereign territory – is totally unrealistic. The international community has been fixated for decades on seeing another Arab State created in the entirety of Judea and Samaria – or in an area of the same size including land currently part of Israel.

Gantz – in limiting sovereignty to just the Jordan Valley – is dashing the hopes of an estimated Jewish population of 464,353 in 131 settlements seeking unification with Israel.

Israeli voters now have a clear choice to end the political deadlock that has followed two indecisive elections held in the past twelve months:

Is it Netanyahu – promising the restoration of sovereignty in parts of the heartland of the Jewish people’s historic and biblical homeland for the first time in 3000 years?

OR

Is it Gantz – promising more of the same in Judea and Samaria that has been going on for the last 53 years?

A third deadlocked election result now seems increasingly unlikely.

The choice is stark and the direction Israel will take for generations to come is at stake.

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.