Doc's Talk: The false Palestinian narrative

Friday, September 23, 2011

The false Palestinian narrative

Moshe (Bogey) Ya’alon

The Palestinians have succeeded in making us believe a series of false assumptions, and on the basis of these false assumptions, they have submitted a series of false claims. Our problem with them is not where the borders will be, but rather with their refusal to recognize that this is the Jewish national home. Public discourse in Israel about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past several months, particularly in light of the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly and the Palestinians’ intention to ask for recognition as a state has been full of erroneous perceptions that need to be eradicated. This is necessary not only because these perceptions mislead many Israelis and cause confusion, but also because that same confusion radiates outward, leading many international leaders in the West to adopt them.

The source of these perceptions is the false Palestinian narrative. Precisely because this is happening, it is important to state that there is nothing more just than the Jewish people’s right to return to live in their ancestral homeland. This is moral, historical, legal, political, security-related, national and religious justice.

On the other hand, the false perceptions have been presented very well in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' various speeches over the years, and recently with even greater force. This is the place to refute them.

1. According to the first perception, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is territorial in essence, and its solution is well known and could be accomplished in a short time if both sides would only show a great deal more flexibility.

The truth is that even though the conflict has a strong territorial component, since two peoples see the same piece of land as their homeland, the heart of the conflict is existential, and centers on the Palestinians’ refusal to recognize the Jews’ right to build their national home, whatever its borders may be, in this land. This is why the Palestinians refuse to accept Israel as the national home of the Jewish people. The false perception is that of the two sides, Israel is the one who refuses to resume the talks about the arrangement, and therefore pressure must be applied to it so that it will change its policy.

Actually, the Palestinians are the ones who consistently oppose the resumption of talks and set preconditions for entering them. Israel has made every effort to resume the talks, even freezing construction in Judea and Samaria for 10 months in order to make it possible.

2. The second false perception is that Israel’s security demands are exaggerated, and in any case most of them can be solved by means of a third party.

Actually, the new reality in the region and our experience with previous concessions that we have made, when all the land that we handed over became an incubator for terrorism, show that Israel’s security demands are absolutely justified, and compromising on them or putting our security into the hands of a third party could be disastrous.

3. The Palestinians are suffering terribly from the cruel Israeli occupation. For example, Abbas said that the settlers train their dogs to attack Arabs and release wild boars into the area in order to harm Palestinians and their crops. This situation cannot continue.

Actually, Israel has no interest in ruling over the Palestinians, nor does it have any interest in maintaining the status quo, but it wants to make certain that the situation that replaces the current one will be no worse nor more dangerous. Meanwhile, as long as the conditions that would enable us to reach an arrangement do not exist, Israel is doing all it can to make things easier for the Palestinians. In light of the decrease in terror attacks and the improved functioning of the Palestinian security organizations, Israel has removed many checkpoints and works to enable the Palestinians to live normal lives and benefit from economic prosperity.

4. If Israel does not give in to the Palestinians’ dictates, the two-state solution will shatter and one state will arise in which the Palestinians will soon be the majority.

Actually, on the one hand, Israel has no intention of compromising its democratic character, nor does it have any intention of annexing territory populated by Palestinians. Even today, the Palestinians have control over all civil aspects of their lives except for those that have to do with Israel’s security. They have a legislative council and a government that, if not for their own internal crisis, could function in a democratic manner. This is a completely groundless and empty threat because the Palestinian leadership in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria has an interest in holding on to the political and economic power that it possesses.

5. The Palestinians are willing to recognize Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and are trying to reach peace and an end to the conflict.

Until now, all the Palestinian organizations have negated Israel’s right to exist. Fatah’s founding covenant, which was ratified in that organization’s sixth conference in August 2009, calls for the destruction of the Zionist entity via “armed struggle.” The Palestinian institutions -- in other words, the PLO and the Palestinian Authority -- resigned themselves to Israel’s existence only because they realized that unless they did so, they would not be able to enter Judea, Samaria and Gaza to establish the Palestinian Authority and live their day-to-day lives and conduct talks with Israel. However, they overcame the problem of recognition by means of their absolute refusal to recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people. As they see it, the return of the refugees and the high birthrate among Israeli Arabs will, in the end, correct the great injustice that was done to them, if they cannot accomplish this goal by force.

Not only that: No political agreement between the sides will stand the test of time as long as the young generation of Palestinians is taught to deny the existence of the Jewish people and the connection between the Jews and the Land of Israel, and is educated to glorify suicide bombers.

6. Recent developments in the region intensify Israel’s need to be flexible and allow for an agreement to be reached.

This claim is made all the time, with no connection to the actual situation. Actually, the problematic situation in the region only intensifies Israel’s need to insist on its security demands. It also seems as though the developments in the Arab world show how baseless assertion for diplomatic flexibility is. True, there is an exaggerated amount of hostility to Israel in the Arab world, but the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the main cause of it, nor is it the first subject on the Arab agenda.

7. The Palestinians are the victims, and one must never allow a situation in which there is only one nation that has no state.

Actually, the Palestinians brought their troubles on themselves by rejecting the partition proposal and fighting Israel in 1947. They are the ones who perpetuate it by their refusal to enter negotiations and recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people.

8. The settlements are illegal, illegitimate and an obstacle to peace.

Not true. The settlements are legal because by not accepting the partition resolution, the Palestinians walked away from the land that they were supposed to receive, leaving it as disputed territory. As far as international law is concerned, the San Remo Conference’s resolution to turn the land into the Jewish people’s national home remains in force.

What is unacceptable is the Palestinian intention to make the Palestinian state Jew-free.

Therefore, a wrong diagnosis has led to failed prognoses (the proposals for a “solution”) over the past two decades. Recognizing this will enable us to find a better way to manage the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

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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.

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