June 1, 2009
Eli E. Hertz
"A corollary of the inalienable right of the Jewish people to its Land is the right to live in any part of Eretz Yisrael, including Judea and Samaria which are an integral part of Eretz Yisrael. Jews are not foreigners anywhere in the Land of Israel.
Anyone who asserts that it is illegal for a Jew to live in Judea and Samaria just because he is a Jew, is in fact advocating a concept that is disturbingly reminiscent of the 'Judenrein' ['Clean of Jews'] policies of Nazi Germany banning Jews from certain spheres of life for no other reason than that they were Jews. The Jewish villages in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza district are there as of right and are there to stay.
"The right of Jews to settle in the Land of Israel was also recognised in the League of Nations 'Mandate for Palestine' which stressed 'the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and ... the grounds for reconstituting' - I repeat, reconstituting 'their national home in that country'.
"The Mandatory Power was also entrusted with the duty to encourage 'close settlement by Jews on the land, including state lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.'"[1]
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The U.S. Administration decision to rewrite history by labeling the Territories 'Occupied Territories', and the 'Settlements an obstacle to peace' thus endowing them with an aura of bogus statehood and a false history. The U.S. Administration' use of these dishonest, loaded terms empowers terrorism and incites Palestinian Arabs with the right to use all measures to expel Israel.
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[1] The words of Dr. Yehuda Z. Blum, former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations. June 11 , 1979
Comment: Let us take this one more step. At what point does a settlement cease being a settlement and become a township, town or city? For those of us who know the predominant group of people living collectively in Judea and Samaria are either towns or cities. They function with the same legal status, protocols, operational platforms known as officers, mayors, citizens pay taxes-need I continue? It is absolutely disingenuous to continue to use the term sttlements and settlers-those who reside in towns or cities are known as residents and this iwho lives today in these disputed territories. We understand for political reasons alone, the other terms are meant to inflame opinions and as long as we, who report, use these terms there will be no movement away from this behavior. This blog will no longer use the odious terms when written by the blog owner. I recommend that others follow suit.
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