Doc's Talk: PALESTINIAN INTRANSIGENCE IS OBSTACLE TO PEACE

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

PALESTINIAN INTRANSIGENCE IS OBSTACLE TO PEACE – NOT SETTLEMENTS

ZOA

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has applauded Israel’s emphasis that the obstacle to peace is posed by Palestinian intransigence in refusing to accept Israel’s existence while supporting terrorism and incitement to hatred and murder against her, not by Jews living in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. This Palestinian non-acceptance, plus the looming Iranian nuclear threat, poses the true obstacle to peace. In the meantime, President Obama has not made a serious issue regarding the absence of Palestinian compliance with signed commitments arrest terrorists and end the incitement to hatred and murder against Israel. The New York Times has cited Israeli officials who “say they will seek to focus American attention away from settlements and on what they consider the real issues: Iran’s nuclear ambition and Palestinian intransigence” (Ethan Bronner, ‘Obama to Meet With Mideast Leaders,’ New York Times, September 20, 2009).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “We applaud Israel for returning the policy focus to where it belongs – on the true obstacles to peace posed by Palestinian non-acceptance of Israel and support for terrorism and incitement against her, as well as on the looming Iranian nuclear weapons threat that endangers Israel and the world beyond.

“Peace has not been achieved for a simple reason: because the Palestinians have not taken any pro-peace actions which are required under their 16-year old obligations under the Oslo agreements and 2003 Roadmap peace plan to arrest anti-Israel terrorists; outlaw terrorist groups and end incitement to hatred and murder against Jews and Israel in their media, mosques, schools and youth camps. The PA has not taught Palestinian children that terrorism is a moral obscenity to be rooted out – rather, they have praised and extolled suicide terrorism and named their schools, sports teams and streets in honor of dead terrorists who murdered Jews. Nor has Fatah, which controls the PA, renounced or revised its Constitution, which calls the destruction of Israel (Article 12) and the use of terrorism as an essential element in the struggle to achieve that goal (Article 19).

“Instead, the PA continues to glorify terrorists in its media, mosques and school curricula; disseminate heroic posters of suicide bombers throughout Arab towns and exclude Israel from its maps, atlases and school texts. Abbas’ Fatah party’s new emblem shows all of Israel covered with an Arab headdress, next to a large rifle, with Arafat in the middle. Above all, the PA has not educated their public for peace and acceptance of Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish state. We are critical of the fact that President Obama has not made a serious issue about Palestinian non-compliance with commitments to arrest terrorists and end incitement. He has not conditioned any further Israeli concessions on Palestinian fulfillment of these long-standing, unfulfilled commitments.

“We also applaud Israel for repudiating the false notion that Jews living in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria are the obstacle to peace. We endorse strongly its insistence that the real obstacles to peace are Iran’s looming nuclear weapons threat and Palestinian non-acceptance of Israel and support for terrorism.

“It is both factually wrong and a moral travesty to argue that people, simply because they are Jews, should not be allowed to move into Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. It would be a strategic error for Israel to agree to a construction freeze, because it would lend credence to the utterly false notion that Jews living in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem pose an obstacle to a peace agreement with the Palestinians while achieving nothing for the cause of peace.

“The efforts to stop Jews from living in or moving to these territories assists Palestinian and Arab propaganda efforts to distract focus from the real issue of Palestinian extremism and non-acceptance of Israel which are the root of the conflict. It disseminates the idea that Jews have no right to live in these areas, the historical and religious heartland of the Jewish people. And it lends credence to the false notion that peace can be built by making these territories judenrein.

“We also must recall that there were no Jews in these territories when they were under illegal Jordanian occupation (1948-67), yet there was no peace and no Arab acceptance of Israel. To the contrary, there were three major wars – in 1948, 1956 and 1967 – as well as sometimes continuous terrorist assaults from both Egyptian-controlled Gaza and from Jordan. Nor do the Jewish communities that have been established in these territories since 1967 harmed Palestinians or the prospects of peace: these Jewish communities are built on a mere 4% to 6% of the land in question, no new communities have been founded since 1993 and the existing ones have not expanded geographically since that date. The idea that Jewish communities take up Palestinian-owned land and harm Palestinian communities is propaganda.

“It is truly surreal that when Palestinians neither accept Israel’s existence as Jewish state, nor stop terrorism and incitement to hatred and murder against her, President Barack Obama acts as though the real obstacle to peace is Jews living and building their communities in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

“Jewish growth in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem has a fundamental legitimacy and poses no obstacle to a true peace if Palestinians are ready for one, so the Obama Administration’s insistence on a construction freeze would remain inappropriate even if the prospect of genuine peace negotiations with a truly peaceful Palestinian partner were possible –which they are not, as the platform and utterances at the recent Fatah conference remind us only too clearly. At that conference, Fatah reaffirmed its refusal to accept Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, glorified terrorists and the “armed struggle,” insisted on the so-called ‘right of return,’ and rejected an end of claims in any future peace agreement with Israel. It even honored by name specific terrorists who murdered dozens of Jews. Clearly, no peace is about to be achieved with such a Palestinian leadership.” – NOT SETTLEMENTS

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has applauded Israel’s emphasis that the obstacle to peace is posed by Palestinian intransigence in refusing to accept Israel’s existence while supporting terrorism and incitement to hatred and murder against her, not by Jews living in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. This Palestinian non-acceptance, plus the looming Iranian nuclear threat, poses the true obstacle to peace. In the meantime, President Obama has not made a serious issue regarding the absence of Palestinian compliance with signed commitments arrest terrorists and end the incitement to hatred and murder against Israel. The New York Times has cited Israeli officials who “say they will seek to focus American attention away from settlements and on what they consider the real issues: Iran’s nuclear ambition and Palestinian intransigence” (Ethan Bronner, ‘Obama to Meet With Mideast Leaders,’ New York Times, September 20, 2009).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “We applaud Israel for returning the policy focus to where it belongs – on the true obstacles to peace posed by Palestinian non-acceptance of Israel and support for terrorism and incitement against her, as well as on the looming Iranian nuclear weapons threat that endangers Israel and the world beyond.

“Peace has not been achieved for a simple reason: because the Palestinians have not taken any pro-peace actions which are required under their 16-year old obligations under the Oslo agreements and 2003 Roadmap peace plan to arrest anti-Israel terrorists; outlaw terrorist groups and end incitement to hatred and murder against Jews and Israel in their media, mosques, schools and youth camps. The PA has not taught Palestinian children that terrorism is a moral obscenity to be rooted out – rather, they have praised and extolled suicide terrorism and named their schools, sports teams and streets in honor of dead terrorists who murdered Jews. Nor has Fatah, which controls the PA, renounced or revised its Constitution, which calls the destruction of Israel (Article 12) and the use of terrorism as an essential element in the struggle to achieve that goal (Article 19).

“Instead, the PA continues to glorify terrorists in its media, mosques and school curricula; disseminate heroic posters of suicide bombers throughout Arab towns and exclude Israel from its maps, atlases and school texts. Abbas’ Fatah party’s new emblem shows all of Israel covered with an Arab headdress, next to a large rifle, with Arafat in the middle. Above all, the PA has not educated their public for peace and acceptance of Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish state. We are critical of the fact that President Obama has not made a serious issue about Palestinian non-compliance with commitments to arrest terrorists and end incitement. He has not conditioned any further Israeli concessions on Palestinian fulfillment of these long-standing, unfulfilled commitments.

“We also applaud Israel for repudiating the false notion that Jews living in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria are the obstacle to peace. We endorse strongly its insistence that the real obstacles to peace are Iran’s looming nuclear weapons threat and Palestinian non-acceptance of Israel and support for terrorism.

“It is both factually wrong and a moral travesty to argue that people, simply because they are Jews, should not be allowed to move into Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. It would be a strategic error for Israel to agree to a construction freeze, because it would lend credence to the utterly false notion that Jews living in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem pose an obstacle to a peace agreement with the Palestinians while achieving nothing for the cause of peace.

“The efforts to stop Jews from living in or moving to these territories assists Palestinian and Arab propaganda efforts to distract focus from the real issue of Palestinian extremism and non-acceptance of Israel which are the root of the conflict. It disseminates the idea that Jews have no right to live in these areas, the historical and religious heartland of the Jewish people. And it lends credence to the false notion that peace can be built by making these territories judenrein.

“We also must recall that there were no Jews in these territories when they were under illegal Jordanian occupation (1948-67), yet there was no peace and no Arab acceptance of Israel. To the contrary, there were three major wars – in 1948, 1956 and 1967 – as well as sometimes continuous terrorist assaults from both Egyptian-controlled Gaza and from Jordan. Nor do the Jewish communities that have been established in these territories since 1967 harmed Palestinians or the prospects of peace: these Jewish communities are built on a mere 4% to 6% of the land in question, no new communities have been founded since 1993 and the existing ones have not expanded geographically since that date. The idea that Jewish communities take up Palestinian-owned land and harm Palestinian communities is propaganda.

“It is truly surreal that when Palestinians neither accept Israel’s existence as Jewish state, nor stop terrorism and incitement to hatred and murder against her, President Barack Obama acts as though the real obstacle to peace is Jews living and building their communities in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

“Jewish growth in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem has a fundamental legitimacy and poses no obstacle to a true peace if Palestinians are ready for one, so the Obama Administration’s insistence on a construction freeze would remain inappropriate even if the prospect of genuine peace negotiations with a truly peaceful Palestinian partner were possible –which they are not, as the platform and utterances at the recent Fatah conference remind us only too clearly. At that conference, Fatah reaffirmed its refusal to accept Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, glorified terrorists and the “armed struggle,” insisted on the so-called ‘right of return,’ and rejected an end of claims in any future peace agreement with Israel. It even honored by name specific terrorists who murdered dozens of Jews. Clearly, no peace is about to be achieved with such a Palestinian leadership.”

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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.

Doc's Talk