Doc's Talk: Ahmadinejad: Israel Is a "Dead Fish" and a "Stinking Corpse"

Friday, June 06, 2008

Ahmadinejad: Israel Is a "Dead Fish" and a "Stinking Corpse"

Memri

Introduction

As Israel's 60th anniversary drew near, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued his tirade of virulent anti-Israel and antisemitic statements, likening Israel to a "dead fish" and a "stinking corpse" and calling it a "false regime" which "from the point of view of the nations in the region does not even exist." He also stated that Israel "will be wiped off the map of the world,"(1) and that "the day will come when the Muslims uproot [it]."(2)

Ahmadinejad added that the elimination of Israel would benefit the entire world, since Israel caused harm to humanity at large - and especially to Europe, which was "bearing the political and economic burden of this false regime."(3) Ahmadinejad's statements were echoed by other senior leaders of the Iranian regime. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, for example, described Israel as a "false regime that has been imposed" upon the region, and outgoing Majlis speaker Haddad Adel said that Israel's 60th anniversary was a "black day for humanity, freedom, and human rights."(4)

Following are excerpts from statements by Ahmadinejad, Khamenei, and other senior Iranian leaders.

Ahmadinejad: Israel Is a "Dead Fish" and "Stinking Corpse"

In a May 10, 2008 speech to Majlis members, a few days before Israel's 60th anniversary, Ahmadinejad said: "The [very] basis for the existence of the Zionist regime is in question. This oppressive and false regime is about to fade and collapse... Those who think that they can revive this stinking corpse by celebrating its anniversary are totally wrong. The [leaders] who attend these celebrations should know that they will go down [in history as accomplices] of the Zionist criminals... Having received a slap in the face from the Lebanese people, this regime is now coming to its end like a dead fish... If countries in the region continue to [support] Israel they will be burned by the wrath of the nations."(5)

Israel Is a "Dead Man...; [The Zionists] Are a Group of Terrorists and Criminals... with No Roots in Palestine"; "From the Point of View of the Nations in the Region, the Zionist Regime Does Not Even Exist"

In a May 13, 2008 press conference, Ahmadinejad predicted Israel's demise and denied its right to exist: "Today, certain people are about to convene in occupied Palestine in order to celebrate its anniversary. They believe that, by doing so, they are strengthening this disintegrating regime. However, the whole world will come to understand that holding these ceremonies is a sign of the weakness, backwardness, and disintegration of this regime. Otherwise, why didn't they celebrate this regime's 50th or 55th anniversary? Why did they come up with this idea [only] now? Let me tell you, celebrating a dead man's birthday won't improve his condition one bit. This dead man will not be resurrected by all those people who are about to convene there... [The Zionists] are a group of terrorists and criminals who came [to Israel] according to a plan, with the support of foreigners, and who have no roots in Palestine. Sooner or later, they will be driven out by the people of Palestine...(6) From the point of view of the nations in the region, the Zionist regime does not even exist... The era of Zionist writings, Zionist bullying policies and the Zionist political mechanism has come to an end."(7)

"The Criminal and Terrorist Zionist Regime... Will Be Wiped Off the Map of the World"

It In a May 14, 2008 speech in Gorgan, northern Iran, Ahmadinejad reiterated that "Israel's days are numbered,"(8) that "the peoples of the region would not miss the narrowest opportunity to annihilate this false regime," and that "the nations of the region despise this false and criminal regime."(9)

At a conference marking the 19th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Rohullah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Revolution Regime, Ahmadinejad stated: "Know that the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime - which has years of plundering, aggression and crime to its name - has come to the end of its road and will soon be wiped off the map of the world..."(10) Addressing the late Khomeini, he added: "Our beloved Imam... the Zionist regime has lost its raison d'être. Today, the Palestinians identify with your name, your memory, and your path. They are walking in your illuminated path, [while] the Zionist regime has reached a total dead end. With God's grace, your wish will soon be realized, and this germ of corruption will be wiped off the face of the world."(11)

"The Very Existence of the False Zionist Regime Has Caused Europe Great Harm... The Europeans Are Bearing the Political and Economic Burden of This Regime... The European Governments Do Not Want the Zionists Living in Europe"

In his May 13, 2008 press conference, Ahmadinejad described the "great harm" that "global Zionism" causes the nations of the world, and especially Europe: "All the nations, including those of Europe, are being harmed [by global Zionism]. You see that in Europe, most countries are bereft of political independence, and are unable to express a position on global issues without deferring to the directives of global Zionism. They say explicitly that they are under pressure [from the Zionists] and have to pay them annual taxes... A European citizen who works hard to provide sustenance for himself and his family must pay his taxes to the last frank or mark, while global Zionism has economic dealings in Europe, but does not pay any taxes. [Furthermore], the European countries are not only forced to comply with the Zionist directives, but must pay other steep prices as well."(12)

Ahmadinejad made similar remarks at the recent Summit of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome: "I think that anyone who follows the [developments] in the world comes to the conclusion that this (i.e. the elimination of Israel) will occur with or without Iran's intervention... It will be to Europe's advantage, since Europe is forced to pay for some of the Zionists' crimes...(13) The very existence of the false Zionist regime has caused Europe great harm... The Europeans are bearing the political and economic burden of this regime... The day will come when the Muslims uproot [it]."(14) Ahmadinejad added: "We realize that the European governments do not want the Zionists living in Europe, but they should not foist them on the Palestinians."(15)

Ahmadinejad explained that Iran's position, which rejects Israel's very existence, is to the benefit of humanity at large: "Our position against the Zionist regime is to the benefit of all nations, because this regime is a shameful stain on the body of mankind, and its crimes in Palestine are a disgrace to humanity at large. That is why we want to put an end to the [Zionists'] crimes. Today, after 60 years, the time has come to open up the black box of the Zionist regime's crimes and expose the facts...

"What is the secret of this false regime which [gives it] such immunity, and [enables it to receive] support despite all its crimes and violations of human rights and of people's dignity? [We] must figure out what is the mission of the Zionist regime, which prompts certain European countries to support it so absolutely, and what is the mystery behind the false Zionist regime, [which causes] all truths to be sacrificed for its sake... The European nations, as peace-loving and sincere nations [that have been] victims of war, oppose the crimes of the Zionist regime."(16)

Khamenei: The Arab Governments Must Support the Palestinian Struggle

In his main speech on the 19th anniversary of Khomeini's death, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated that Israel was a false regime that had imposed itself on the region. He accused the Arab governments of withdrawing their support for the Palestinians' struggle and of helping Israel endure, and called upon them to change the reality in the region:

"Like the great Iranian nation, the [other] Muslim peoples now regard Israel as a false regime that has been imposed [on the region]. Unfortunately, however, the Arab governments do not join their peoples' demand [for change in the region].

"The Zionist regime has no power, and is incapable of standing on its own. It is the shameless and unconditional support of the U.S., and the failure of the Islamic and Arab countries to support the Palestinians, that is preventing changes from taking place in the region... Unfortunately, many Islamic governments have failed in their duty toward the Palestinian people. Had they adopted the stance of their peoples and supported the oppressed people of Palestine, the situation in the region would have been totally different... Commitment to Islamic principles, struggle against cruelty and arrogance [i.e. the U.S.], defense of oppressed nations - in particular the Palestinians - and enmity toward the Zionist octopus are among the [chief] mottos of the Iranian people."(17)

Iranian Foreign Minister: Israel Is Nearing Its End

Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki spoke in a similar vein at a June 1, 2008 Foreign Ministry conference titled "Khomeini, Foreign Policy, and a Look to the Palestinian Problem and the Liberation of Jerusalem." Mottaki said: "Khomeini did not regard the opposition to the Zionist regime, and the support for the rights of the Palestinian people, as [duties that are relevant] only for a certain time... Israel is ready collapse owing to internal problems, and over the past 60 years it has not managed to establish its legitimacy... Israel has managed - by means of violence, force, intimidation, satanic plots and widespread propaganda - to impose itself upon the region and to create a myth that the Zionist regime is invincible. But today, the Islamic resistance [Hamas, Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad] has shattered this false myth..."(18) Mottaki added: "As Khomeini said, if every Muslim pours a bucket of water over Israel, it will be washed away."(19)

In a speech to the Iranian Majlis, outgoing Majlis speaker Haddad Adel called the 60th anniversary of the "false regime that is occupying Palestine" a "black day for humanity, freedom and human rights."(20)

Regime Mouthpiece: The Resistance Will Soon Crush Israel's Spider-Like Regime

An editorial in the conservative daily Jomhouri-ye Eslami stated that despite its 60th anniversary celebrations, there was "no doubt that Israel was collapsing and would not last much longer." The daily added: "The resistance [forces] of the Palestinian people and other anti-Zionist [forces] will no doubt quickly finish the task and crush Israel's spider-like regime, so that [Israel's] 60th anniversary celebrations will become a prelude to its demise."(21)

* Y. Mansharof is a research fellow at MEMRI; A. Savyon is Director of the Iranian Media Project.

Endnotes

(1) IRINN (Iran), June 2, 2008. See MEMRI TV Clip No. 1784, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1784.htm.
(2) Press TV (Iran), May 15, 2008.
(3) Entekhab (Iran), June 3, 2008.
(4) Mehr (Iran), May 13, 2008.
(5) Emrooz (Iran), May 10, 2008. In a meeting in Mashhad with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, Ahmadinejad said that "the countdown to the fall of the Tel-Aviv regime has begun," and that "its allies are gradually losing hope for its endurance." IRNA (Iran), April 10, 2008.
(6) IRINN (Iran), May 13, 2008. For excerpts from this speech, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 1769, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1769.htm.
(7) Press TV (Iran), May 13, 2008.
(8) Press TV (Iran), May 14, 2008.
(9) Aftab (Iran), May 14, 2008.
(10) IRNA (Iran), June 2, 2008.
(11) IRINN (Iran), June 2, 2008. For excerpts from this speech, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 1948, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1948.htm.
(12) Kayhan (Iran), May 14, 2008.
(13) Entekhab (Iran), June 4, 2008.
(14) Entekhab (Iran), June 3, 2008.
(15) IRNA (Iran), June 4, 2008.
(16) Mehr (Iran), June 4, 2008.
(17) Press TV (Iran), June 3, 2008.
(18) IRNA (Iran), June 2, 2008.
(19) Press TV (Iran), June 2, 2008. Iranian Ambassador to Syria and Ahmadinejad's advisor Ahmad Moussavi stated that "Israel is on the road to annihilation and is weakening by the minute." Press TV (Iran), May 13, 2008.
(20) Press TV (Iran), May 13, 2008.
(21) Jomhouri-ye Eslami (Iran), May 11, 2008.

1 comment:

Jaakonpoika said...: Could you kindly comment - either in English or suomeksi - whether my details are correct in a dissident essay in
http://www.helsinki.fi/~pjojala/Expelled-Jews-statistics.htm ?

E.g. "...Tel Aviv - The Silicon Wadi?
Tel Aviv (literally: Dumb-Hill of Spring) was plain desert at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, in the advent of her 100th year celebrations in 2009, it is the Silicon Wadi (Valley) of the Mediterranean since 1990's.

It is United States that profits from Israel, rather than the opposite. Israel gets nearly 3 billion USD from USA annually, but open brain drain is its prerequisite. Astonishing number of 25% of the Israeli researchers have moved to the United States - and this figure does not yet include the people with double citizenship. The next largest drain of researchers are 12.2% from Canada, 4.3% from Netherlands, and 4.2% from Italy.

Before the Second Intifada, there were nearly 200 Israeli companies listed in the Nasdaq, at the Intifada the count dropped to 70. (The number is still greater than from all the European countries combined). It is said that the dollars are green since the Americans pull them down from the tree raw and fresh. The start-ups are imported straight from the garage, and scaling up of production in the "conflict hotspot" has been considered impossible. But the new Millennium has brought a change in tide.

In Israel, 20% of citizens possess a higher decree from the university. Over half of the export from Israel are High tech products (32 $ billion in 2007), compared to the 25% average of the OECD countries. Israel's GDP is about $200 billion. She exhibits second highest output of new book per citizen and more patents per person than any other nation. Nobels, by definition, are awarded to the people who have made services to the whole world, and 21% of the prizes have gone to this population of less that 17 million, taking both Eretz Israel and galut (diaspora) into account.

The population of Arabs under the Israeli government increased ten-fold in only 57 years. Palestinian life expectancy increased from 48 to 72 years in 1967-95. The death rate decreased by over 2/3 in 1970-90 and the Israeli medical campaigns decreased the child death rate from a level of 60 per 1000 in 1968 to 15 per 1000 in 2000 at the Westbank. (An analogous figure was 64 in Iraq, 40 in Egypt, 23 in Jordan, and 22 in Syria in 2000). During 1967-88 the amount of comprehensive schoold and second level polytechnic institutes for the Arabs was increased by 35%. During 1970-86 the proportion of Palestinian women at the West Bank and Gaza not having gone to school decreased from 67 % to 32 %. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in West Bank and Gaza increased in 1968-1991 from 165 US dollars to 1715 dollars (compare with 1630$ in Turkey, 1440$ in Tunis, 1050$ in Jordan, 800$ in Syria, 600$ in Egypt. and 400$ in Yemen).

Also, the biggest generic drug factory in the world was recently established in Israel. Generating US$7 billion in annual revenues, Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) is the world's largest generic pharmaceutical company. That is: to cure people with less money. TEVA makes generic versions of brand-name antibiotics, heart drugs, heartburn medications, and more - in all close to 200 global generic products, 700 compounds, and more than 2800 dosage forms and formulations. TEVA's pharmaceuticals are used in some 20% of U.S. generic drug prescriptions. Examples of TEVA's generics include lower-cost equivalents of such blockbusters as anti-depressant Prozac and cholesterol drug Mevacor. Nevertheless, in biotechnology and original drug development, about 400 experimental Israeli drugs have been approved or accepted in clinical phases.

How has the United Nations reacted to such an impact especially in the field of medicine and health care? One-fourth of the judgements of the Human Rights Commission strike Israel.

There is a pious smoke screen on the industrial countries mediating peace to the Middle East. A collaboration between the Jews with their technology and science and Arabs with their oil and loyality has been a great nightmare for the Western countries. The intimate friendship between the cousin "races", as officially declared by Chaim Weizmann and Emir Feisal in Versailles peace conference, was deliberately mutilated. The Second Intifada could be called The Oslo War.

Aviv is Hebrew for "spring", symbolizing renewal, and tel is an archaeological site that reveals layers of civilization built one over the other. The Jewish population has been such a layer of native culture not only in the Palestine, and the expulsion of the native Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews from various Muslim countries since 1948 has been al nakba, catastrophe, for these societies..."

Pauli Ojala, evolutionary critic
Biochemist, drop-out (MSci-Master of Sciing); 4:12 PM

The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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