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Showing posts with label Jewish Settlements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jewish Settlements. Show all posts

Friday, February 7, 2020

Intro to ‘Israeli sovereignty and the fate of the Trump plan’

Intro by John R. Houk
Title by Caroline Glick
Intro © February 7, 2020

The topic: the Trump Administration’s The Deal of the Century as laid out in the White House preliminary framework entitled, “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People”.

For me there is no getting around the 181 page document’s declaration that a Palestinian State would have its capital city in an Eastern portion of Jerusalem. I have read advocates of the peace deal claim it will be parts of Jerusalem already dominated by Arabs. If that geographical Arab domination includes the Temple Mount those physical dimensions MUST BE rejected by Jews and Christians.

Jerusalem – 1948 Quarters and Divided 1949-67

BUT the part of the plan I am beginning to slowly inch toward maybe is the part that is driving Islamic terrorist leadership Arabs calling themselves Palestinians nuts is a significant swath of Jewish Settlement areas of Judea-Samaria (labelled the West Bank by conquering Jordanians in 1948) becoming a part of sovereign Israel which must be recognized for the plan to move forward.

The God Plan for Israel

On a personal level it is my belief for Israel is God’s plan of the Promised Land to the descendants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel. That means Arabs who refuse accept God’s plan should leave to Arab lands that practice hateful and intolerant Islam.

BUT I live in America and really don’t have a vote.

Caroline Glick tackles the duplicity of the Israeli Left which she indicates might be taking cues from the American Dem Party. If accurate, God have mercy on Israel and its probably brainwashed Left-Wing voters.

JRH 2/7/20
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Israeli sovereignty and the fate of the Trump plan

By Caroline Glick
02/07/2020

On Wednesday morning, NeverTrump propagandist Bill Kristol told his MSNBC audience that Democratic chances of victory over US President Donald Trump will rise if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defeated in Israel’s elections on March 2.

Along the same lines, if Netanyahu fails to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria before the election, not only will he almost certainly lose those elections, his defeat will bury Trump’s peace plan and harm Trump’s reelection chances.

To understand why this is the case it is first necessary to understand the nature of the Blue and White party and its relationship to Trump and his peace plan.

After Trump’s peace plan was published, Israelis discovered significant problems with the map attached to the plan. Among other things, the map places large sections of Highway 60, which crosses Judea and Samaria from south to north outside Israeli jurisdiction. If left uncorrected, the designation will endanger the security of tens of thousands of Israelis whose communities will be rendered isolated enclaves. Since ensuring Israel’s ability to defend itself and its citizens on a permanent basis is a major goal of the plan, this omission was obviously an oversight. Netanyahu announced this week that he has assembled a team to work on the map.

 So long as the map is not adjusted, members of Likud and other parties in the right-religious bloc Netanyahu leads will be unable to vote in favor of the plan, despite their support for Trump and for the plan overall.

This then brings us to Benny Gantz and his party.

Just before Gantz traveled to Washington to meet with Trump at the White House last Monday, it came out that his top campaign strategists, Ronen Tzur and Joel Benenson had both separately published multiple posts on Twitter viciously attacking Trump. Both men compared him to Hitler, called him a Russian agent and a racist. In other words, both men parroted Democratic talking points against Trump. (After his posts were reported, Tzur claimed that he no longer believed the things he had written.)

Whereas Tzur – like every garden variety Israeli leftist politico – apparently follows the Democrats on everything related to American public affairs automatically, Benenson shapes Democratic positions. Benenson served as Barack Obama’s senior political strategist in the 2008 and 2012 elections and as Hillary Clinton’s senior political strategist in 2016.

In 2015, Wikileaks published Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta’s emails. Several email chains included internal campaign discussions in which Benenson participated. In two discussions, Benenson advised Clinton not to mention Israel in public events.

Now Benenson is directing Blue and White’s campaign, and there is little reason for surprise at the seamlessness of his move from Obama and Clinton to Gantz. The Israeli left has been intertwined with the Democratic Party.
In 2016 when Gantz was still a private citizen, he was strongly encouraged to enter the political fray by a public service company called Darcheinu, or “Our Way.”

Darcheinu is the successor to two organizations – V-15 and One Voice. One Voice was established in 2003 by Daniel Lubetsky, a Mexican-American Jewish businessman with close ties to the Obama administration. Lubetsky founded One Voice at the height of the Palestinian terror war to advance the establishment of a Palestinian state and an Israeli withdrawal to the 1949 armistice lines. PLO Chief and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s son Yasser Mahmoud Abbas is a member of One Voice’s Trustees Advisory Council.

Ahead of the 2015 Knesset elections, One Voice formed V-15 as a spinoff to run a campaign to “change the government” – that is, to bring down Netanyahu. V-15’s campaign was directed by Jeremy Bird, Obama’s field director in his presidential races. It came under scrutiny from the US Senate when it was discovered that the Obama’ State Department funded its efforts.

Establishing a Palestinian state and fomenting an Israeli evacuation of Judea and Samaria replete with the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews from their homes is a goal all three groups share with the Democratic Party. And like the Democrats, the goal places all three groups in opposition to Trump. Trump’s plan makes the establishment of a Palestinian state contingent on significant changes in Palestinian actions and positions. It also foresees Israel retaining permanently all Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and the areas surrounding them as well as the Jordan Valley.

In recent years, Darcheinu continued V-15’s efforts to bring down Netanyahu. In 2017-18, it sponsored the weekly leftist protests outside Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s home demanding he indicts Netanyahu. Darcheinu also funded and promoted the 2018 campaign by the far-left Commanders for Israeli Security calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state and an Israeli withdrawal to the 1949 armistice lines.

Until 2019, Darcheinu was led by Israeli businessman Kobi Richter. Richter was one of the central activists responsible for forming the Blue and White Party last year. In an interview with Globes, Richter said that he paid for the polls that convinced Gantz to join forces with Moshe Yaalon, Gabi Ashkenazy and Yair Lapid.

According to officials with knowledge of the events, Gantz was well-aware of the substantive problems with the map attached to the Trump peace plan when he left Washington. And it is with this knowledge in mind that we need to consider what he did when he got back.

Upon returning to Israel Gantz declared that he intended to introduce the Trump plan to the Knesset for approval. Some commentators portrayed his move as proof that he supported Trump’s peace plan. But given his awareness of the problems with the map and the implications for the political right, the opposite appears to be the case. Gantz’s announcement can better be seen as a bid to subvert and discredit Trump’s plan and to discredit Netanyahu and Trump personally.

Without corrections to the map, Likud and other right-wing lawmakers who otherwise support the plan and enthusiastically support Trump will be unable to vote in favor of it in a Knesset vote. Forcing them to oppose the plan publicly would serve several interests shared by both Blue and White and the Democrats. It would provide cover for the majority of Blue and White lawmakers who, like the Democrats wish to bury the plan. With the media scope-locked on right-wing opponents of Trump’s plan, they will avoid scrutiny of their own views.

The sight of Likud lawmakers opposing the Trump plan would discredit Netanyahu in the eyes of his voters. They would view him as incompetent and treacherous and many will avoid voting on March 2 as a result.

In light of joint opposition to the Trump plan from Likud and Blue and White lawmakers alike, center-right voters will perceive the parties as indistinguishable and follow the media’s urging to vote for Gantz.

For Trump, a Knesset defeat of his plan, followed in all likelihood by the defeat of Netanyahu would demoralize and anger Trump’s evangelical Christian base. Blue and White would move quickly to bury Trump’s plan. The Democrats would use the Knesset’s opposition to the plan and Gantz’s support for their positions as proof that Trump’s pro-Israel bona fides are skin deep and that Trump’s overall Middle East policy is misguided.

In short, advised by Benenson, after enjoying Trump’s hospitality, and benefiting from the prestige a meeting at the Oval Office confers, Gantz raised an initiative that would cause grievous political harm to Netanyahu and Trump and destroy any prospect of implementing any part of Trump’s peace plan.

And so we return to the issue of applying Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.

In light of the need to correct the mistakes in the map, it is clear that full implementation of Israeli sovereignty over the areas the Trump deal recommends will take time and will be impossible before March 2. But it is still possible to implement a significant component of the plan in a manner that will avert the damage Gantz and Benenson are seeking to cause.

Gantz has studiously worked to prevent his party from being identified with the ideological left. To achieve this goal despite the fact that the majority of his Knesset faction holds leftist and far-leftist views, Gantz has used the two center-right lawmakers from his party’s minority Telem faction as his campaign’s primary spokesmen on television. Whereas Yoaz Hendel and Zvika Hauser are pushed in front of microphones to extol the virtues of extending Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, the majority of Blue and White lawmakers, who share Obama’s views, are hidden in the shadows.

Without changing the maps, and while postponing approval of the Trump plan itself, the Netanyahu government can pass a government decision to apply Israeli law to all Israeli cities, towns, and villages in Judea and Samaria immediately in accordance with the Trump peace plan. Doing so will energize right-wing voters. And it will also expose Blue and White.

Applying Israeli law to the Israeli communities will arouse strenuous opposition from the majority of Blue and White faction members. Their opposition to a move that the majority of Israelis support would demonstrate that despite its right-wing fig leaves, Blue and White is a leftist party. Swing voters from the center-right would get the message.

This then brings us to the Democrats. For years, despite their protestations of support for Israel and commitment to Israel’s security, the Democrats have adopted a policy towards Israel that revolves obsessively around their demand to destroy the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and transfer the areas Jew free to the PLO. The Obama administration was so hateful towards these communities that it pushed through UN Security Council resolution 2234 that slanderously called them “illegal” after Donald Trump was elected president.

By applying Israeli law to these areas while avoiding a Knesset vote until after the map is corrected, the Netanyahu government will deny Democrats the ability to use Trump’s peace plan against him. It will also demonstrate Trump’s commitment to Israel to his evangelical base. Most importantly, applying Israeli law to the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria will take the issue of their future off the table and ensure that the Trump peace plan will survive into the next government, regardless of who wins next month.

Senior presidential advisor Jared Kushner has said that it would be best to wait until after the election to begin applying Israeli sovereignty to areas in Judea and Samaria. Under normal circumstances, he would be right. But given the larger context in which this issue must be judged, it is fairly clear that delaying the move until after the elections will cause great harm to President Trump, and effectively bury his peace plan while elevating the Israeli left and the Democrats.

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Intro to ‘Israeli sovereignty and the fate of the Trump plan’
Intro by John R. Houk
Intro © February 7, 2020
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Israeli sovereignty and the fate of the Trump plan

@ 2013 All Rights Reserved to Caroline Glick

ABOUT Caroline B. Glick

Caroline B. Glick is a senior columnist at Breitbart News and the senior contributing and chief columnist for The Jerusalem Post. She is also a senior columnist for Maariv. She is the author of The Israeli Solution: A One State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, (Crown 2014) and of Shackled Warrior: Israel and the Global Jihad (Gefen 2008). The Israeli Solution was endorsed by leading US policymakers including Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Ted Cruz and National Security Advisor John Bolton. Shackled Warrior was endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former CIA director James Woolsey.

Glick is the adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC and directs the Israeli Security Project at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. She travels frequently throughout the world to brief policymakers on issues related to Israel’s strategic environment and other related topics. She lectures widely on strategic and political issues affecting global security, Israel and the Jewish people, US-Israel relations, Israel-Diaspora affairs and Israel’s changing strategic landscape.

In 2008 Glick founded Latma, the Hebrew language satirical media criticism website. She served as editor in chief of the site until it ceased operations in 2015.

Latma changed the face of Israel’s social media and revolutionized the Israeli entertainment industry by bringing an alternative voice to the popular culture. Latma launched “Hakol Shafit,” a primetime, half hour satirical newscast on Israel television Channel 1. Glick served as the editor in chief of the program.

Glick was born in Houston, TX and grew up in Chicago, IL. She moved to Israel in 1991, two weeks after receiving her BA in Political Science from Columbia University. She joined the Israel Defense Forces that summer and served as an officer for five and a half years.

From 1994-1996, as an IDF captain, Ms. Glick served in the Defense Ministry as a core member of Israel’s negotiating team with the Palestinians.

In 1997 and 1998 Ms. Glick served as Assistant Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

From 1998-2000 Ms. Glick studied at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and READ THE REST

Thursday, August 2, 2018

The Land of the Jews is NON-Discriminatory!


John R. Houk
© August 2, 2018


On July 19, 2018 the Israel Knesset (Israel’s form of Parliament/Congress) passed the Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People. As an American this might be understood as an Amendment process with the force of constitutional law. In essence the law defines the Land of Israel as a Jewish State. A fact the Israeli government has maintained since the 1948 independence from the British Mandate for Palestine and the ensuing war to fight for a national existence against roughly six invading Arab armies intent on Israel’s destruction and the genocide of repatriated Jews determined to free their land from foreign control. A freedom desired by faithful Jews ever since the Jewish exile executed by the Roman Empire in the early 100s AD (Common Era [CE] to non-Christian and secularist academic world). This exile was termed the Jewish Diaspora for nearly 2,000 years.



Despite the idiocy of Leftist Multiculturalist and self-loathing Jewish Leftists who are screaming Apartheid racism, this Basic Law changes nothing to the legal Rights of non-Jewish Israeli citizens. I should add Jew-hating Muslims to the list of misinformed whiners spreading and listening to the propaganda.

Below are articles explaining the truth of how the Basic Law of Israel the Nation State of the Jewish People actually affects individual rights of ALL Israeli citizens. There is NOT even a hint of Apartheid racism making non-Jews second class discriminated people as Black people were in old South Africa, the Jim Crow laws of pre-Civil Rights USA or even as non-Muslims are treated TODAY in Muslim dominated nations!

JRH 8/2/18
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By Phyllis Singer 
August 2, 2018

The following information from AICE (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise) explains the new Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State. There has been much controversy about the new law, and I think this information from AICE helps to clarify it. Israel has no constitution; instead a series of Basic Laws determines the legal aspects of the country.

On July 19, 2018, Israel adopted a new Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People. The law provoked controversy inside and outside of Israel. After the vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:

“This is a defining moment in the annals of Zionism and in the history of the State of Israel. Today, 122 years after [Theodor] Herzl shared his vision, we have established into law the basic principles of our existence. Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people. A nation state that respects the individual rights of all its citizens and, in the Middle East, only Israel respects these rights. This is our state, the state of the Jews. In recent years there have been some who have attempted to cast doubt on this, and so to undercut the foundations of our existence and our rights. Today we etched in the stone of law: This is our state, this is our language, this is our anthem, and this is our flag (extracted from multiple news sources with slightly different translations).”

As Netanyahu said, this law codifies Israel’s status as the “national home of the Jewish people.” The law also declares Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, sets the Hebrew calendar as the state’s official calendar and confirms Shabbat and Jewish holidays as official days of rest while allowing non-Jews to determine their own rest days and holidays. It recognizes the current national flag as the official one, the menorah as the state’s symbol and “Hatikvah” as the national anthem. It also states that Israel will endeavor to ensure the safety of all Jews and “preserve the cultural, historical and religious legacy of the Jewish people among the Jewish diaspora.”

Some critics have suggested the law should have included the word equality. For example, Amir Fuchs, head of the Defending Democratic Values Program at the Israel Democracy Institute, said, “It is difficult to understand why the authors of this bill insist not to include this important value.” Supporters of the law counter the existing Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty defines Israel’s democratic character, but the new law was needed because Israel’s Jewish character was not embedded in constitutional law.

The law also enshrines the Zionist idea upon which the nation was founded, namely that Israel is a country established to fulfill the Jewish people’s “right to national self-determination.” Legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich notes that seven European states have similar “nationhood” constitutional provisions. … Furthermore, no nation grants a right to self-determination to a minority within its borders; otherwise the Basques in Spain and Kurds in Turkey or Iraq would have their own states. This clause is also a response to Israel’s detractors, such as advocates of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, who assert this right belongs to the Palestinians and not the Jewish people.

Much of the criticism of the law focused on the establishment of Hebrew as Israel’s sole official language. Formerly Arabic was also an official state language (as was English). Any alteration of a long-established status quo is jarring; however, the recognition of Hebrew is consistent with the policies of other countries which give official status only to the majority language. The previous recognition of Arabic was a remnant of the British Mandatory period and does not reflect today’s reality in which 80 [percent] of Israelis, including most Arabs, speak Hebrew. The law specifically states that it “does not change the status given to the Arabic language before the basic law was created” in any other way. Hence, Arabic speakers are no more discriminated against than minorities in more than 100 countries that have a single national language. ...

Another clause that sparked controversy states that Israel will “encourage and promote” Jewish settlement around the country. The language was deliberately altered so as not to suggest this would lead to the creation of Jewish-only towns, however, some critics feared it would be interpreted as if that was the intention. Indeed, Israel’s enemies interpreted it that way, arguing the law promotes segregation.

David Hazony, executive director of the Israel Innovation Fund, noted that some critics have interpreted this clause as promoting Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. While that may be the political goal of some of its supporters, Hazony said the “word being translated as settlement is hityashvut, which to any Israeli ear refers more to the Galilee and the Negev and the history of building new Jewish communities a century ago across the country than it does to the West Bank.”

Kontorovich adds that this clause is consistent with the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, which sought to “encourage … close settlement by Jews.” More important, he says it does not “prescribe or authorize any particular policies” unlike, for example, the state constitution of Hawaii, which Kontorovich notes “authorizes land policies to promote homesteading by ethnic Hawaiians, and provides preferential land policies for them.” Kontorovich adds that Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that Arabs have a right to create residential communities in Israel that exclude Jews, but Jews do not have the same right to exclude Arabs.

One indication of the double standard applied to Israel is that no international uproar followed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ declaration that not “a single Israeli” would be permitted to live in a Palestinian state. ...

The law did provoke negative reactions around the world and angered many non-Jews in Israel. This does not make it either undemocratic or discriminatory. Kontorovich explained:

“In reality, Israel’s Basic Law would not be out of place among the liberal democratic constitutions of Europe – which include similar provisions that have not aroused controversy. The law does not infringe on the individual rights of any Israeli citizen, including Arabs; nor does it create individual privileges. The illiberalism here lies with the law’s critics, who would deny the Jewish state the freedom to legislate like a normal country.”

In the case of the Nation State Law, members of Knesset voted by a 62-55 majority to approve the legislation. This is democracy in action. Still, like Americans, Israelis can challenge laws in court, and three Knesset members have already done so, one sign of the health of Israel’s democracy. ... Another indication is the ability of Israelis to vote for new representatives who could revoke or alter the law if they can convince a majority of all Knesset members a change is warranted.

Even a critic of the law, IDI President Yohanan Plesner, admitted the practical impact of the bill was currently merely “symbolic and educational.” He said it “won’t have immediate concrete implications.” IDI vice president Yuval Shani added, “It is not a game changer and has very little problematic implications. … It won’t change how the country is run.”

[**Blog Editor: Source links added by blog Editor.]
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Excerpt of Times of Israel post: “Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People”

1 — Basic principles
A. The land of Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established.

B. The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, in which it fulfills its natural, cultural, religious and historical right to self-determination.

C. The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.

2 — The symbols of the state
A. The name of the state is “Israel.”

B. The state flag is white with two blue stripes near the edges and a blue Star of David in the center.

C. The state emblem is a seven-branched menorah with olive leaves on both sides and the word “Israel” beneath it.

D. The state anthem is “Hatikvah.”

E. Details regarding state symbols will be determined by the law.

3 — The capital of the state
Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.

4 — Language
A. The state’s language is Hebrew.

B. The Arabic language has a special status in the state; Regulating the use of Arabic in state institutions or by them will be set in law.

C. This clause does not harm the status given to the Arabic language before this law came into effect.

5 — Ingathering of the exiles
The state will be open for Jewish immigration and the ingathering of exiles

6 — Connection to the Jewish people
A. The state will strive to ensure the safety of the members of the Jewish people in trouble or in captivity due to the fact of their Jewishness or their citizenship.

B. The state shall act within the Diaspora to strengthen the affinity between the state and members of the Jewish people.

C. The state shall act to preserve the cultural, historical and religious heritage of the Jewish people among Jews in the Diaspora.

7 — Jewish settlement
A. The state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation.

8 — Official calendar
The Hebrew calendar is the official calendar of the state and alongside it the Gregorian calendar will be used as an official calendar. Use of  the Hebrew calendar and the Gregorian calendar will be determined by law.

9 — Independence Day and memorial days
A. Independence Day is the official national holiday of the state.

B. Memorial Day for the Fallen in Israel’s Wars and Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day are official memorial days of the State.

10 — Days of rest and sabbath
The Sabbath and the festivals of Israel are the established days of rest in the state; Non-Jews have a right to maintain days of rest on their Sabbaths and festivals; Details of this issue will be determined by law.

11 — Immutability

This Basic Law shall not be amended, unless by another Basic Law passed by a majority of Knesset members.

(From: Final text of Jewish nation-state law, approved by the Knesset early on July 19; By RAOUL WOOTLIFF; Times of Israel; 7/18/18 2:45 pm – Updated 7/19/18 3:27 am)
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Bogus Apartheid Claims Follow Passage of Israel Nation-State Law

By Ariel Behar
Aug 1, 2018 1:45 pm

Anti-Israel groups in the United States are using a recently passed Israeli law to ramp up false claims of apartheid. The "nation-state" bill defines Israel as "the national home of the Jewish people" with Jerusalem as its capital.

"Israel arrogantly enshrines Jim Crow laws," the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at New York's New School blasted on Facebook.

"Apartheid is a legal term, not an insult. It's the most suitable label to describe Israel's treatment of millions of Palestinians over the last seven decades," read a graphic shared via Facebook by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

SJP and JVP are known for their animosity towards Israel. The groups normalize hatepromote anti-Semitism, and previously hosted convicted-terrorist Rasmieh Odeh at a national conference in 2017.

"What this law really does is it enshrines racisms and discrimination and like you said apartheid into the foundational constitutional law of the state of Israel," JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomerson said in an interview with MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin. "So that means the 20 percent of Israeli citizens who are not Jewish are being told, and the state is actually now obligated with this law to treat them unequally."

"Formalizing de facto apartheid, the Israeli Knesset passes the racist nation-state law, which officially designates Palestinian citizens of Israel...along with all other Palestinians living in historic Palestine under Israeli sovereign power—as second-class citizens," claimed Columbia University's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.

Apartheid is a term used by anti-Israel activists and groups to smear and delegitimize Israel. And unlike apartheid South Africa, both Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis receive full voting rights, hold elected office, serve in the military and prominently on Israeli courts.

The nation-state bill passed the Knesset in a 62-55 vote. Israel's Druze community voiced concern over the bill. But President Reuven Rivlin assured a delegation "that is the basis of the state we founded – the Zionist movement in full partnership with all who live here in this good land, which is good for all of us and where we can exist in equality without any problem."

Still, the bill's passage prompted Stanford University SJP member Hamzeh Daoud, a residential assistant, to threaten to "physically fight" pro-Israel students. He later changed the wording in his Facebook post from "physically" to "intellectually" and noted that "I edited this post because I realize intellectually beating Zionists is the only way to go. Physical fighting is never an answer to when trying to prove people wrong."

Both Daoud's Facebook and Twitter accounts have been deactivated.

Most analyses conclude the law is more symbolic than substantial. It does nothing to change the rights of Israeli Arabs, although many are displeased at its recognition of Hebrew as the country's official language, seeing it as downgrading Arabic.

People are free to criticize Israel and the bill. But it's clear that groups like SJP and JVP will do anything to bash Israel and delegitimize its existence.
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Understanding “Israel – the Nation State” Basic Law


By Mida
19 Av 5778 – July 31, 2018

{Originally posted to the MIDA website}

Feelings are running high on the latest addition to Israel’s Basic Laws or “constitution on the installment plan”, but I would like to try and shed a bit more light on the subject and a little less heat.

The Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People, passed by the Israeli Knesset this week, declares that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and determines specific matters which demonstrate the Jewish character of the nation. These include the county’s official language, the national anthem, the national flag, the state emblem, as well as the calendar along with holidays and days of rest. This is normal and appears in law in many democracies.

The special situation of the Jewish diaspora means that it also takes notice of the State’s connection to Jews abroad as well as policies on immigration and settlement.

It is important to stress that the law offers no privileges of any kind, nor does it reserve any particular rights, for individual Jews. It certainly does not deny any rights or privileges to individual non-Jews. All Israelis, regardless of the religion they follow or ethnic background, continue to enjoy all the human and civil rights customarily accorded to citizens of free countries. Those rights have not been diminished in any way by the passing of this law.

This new law seeks to codify the rights laid down in a much older document. The Mandate for Palestine, the international legal instrument, recognized the national rights of the Jewish people in our ancient homeland. The text of the Mandate includes, by reference, the Balfour declaration. That document reads:

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

A few points arising from this text:

1.    The only people recognized as having “national” rights in the Land of Israel are the Jews.

2.    Non Jews in the Land of Israel are to enjoy protection of their civil and religious rights.

3.    Jews throughout the Diaspora are to continue to enjoy the rights and political status of citizens of the countries they live in.

4.    In addition, the Mandate also requires the facilitation of Jewish immigration and the close settlement by Jews on the land (Article 6).

The new law is clearly an application of the principles of the Mandate to the sovereign Jewish state:

1.    It specifies how the state will express the national rights of the Jews.

2.    It draws attention to the special role the State has to play in safeguarding the rights of Jews abroad.

3.    It accepts the obligation of settling Jews on the Land as now falling on the Israeli state.

There are those who argue that the provisions of the Mandate and the Balfour declaration are irrelevant to the state created in Israel’s Declaration of Independence in 1948. It seems that the framers of Israel’s Declaration may have felt otherwise.

1.    The Declaration references the recognition of Jewish national rights included in the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate.

2.    It also refers to UNGA Resolution 181. Specifically that it, “required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution”.

3.    The Declaration implies (rather strongly) that this “requirement” was binding on the Jews.

4.    Resolution 181 explicitly positions itself to be the culmination of the Mandate.

What links the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate, UNGA Resolution 181and the Declaration of Independence is that they all draw their legitimacy from the actualization of the rights of the Jews. I would go as far as to say that the legitimacy of the State of Israel itself is dependent on it fulfilling the national rights of the Jews.

I am finding it hard to understand how anyone who accepts the Mandate and the Balfour declaration that is contained in it, could have a problem with any of these points.

Of course, there are those who have never accepted the Declaration nor the Mandate and I would expect them to oppose the law simply because they oppose Israel’s basic legitimacy. Unfortunately, many people who do recognize the legitimacy of Jewish national rights in the Land of Israel seem to be troubled by the law, something which I find puzzling.

It is clear that the law does not contain a clause explicitly guaranteeing the rights of non-Jews and I can understand why some might see that as presenting potential problems for the future. In terms of the here and now though, the only mention of non-Jews in the law is to guarantee that the new law will not damage the status that the Arabic language has enjoyed up till now, despite no longer being an official language of the state.

(Interesting point to note is that the English language was also one of the three official languages of the State of Israel and the new law offers no guarantees for its status, but for some reason I don’t see Anglos up in arms about that!)

Why is there no formal minority rights clause in the law? One might hypothesize dark ulterior motives, but I think that it is quite as plausible to suggest that equality is already so entrenched in Israeli jurisprudence, that there is no need for it.

This new law does not stand on its own, but is part of the entire group of Basic Laws, each of which is supposed to be a chapter in the eventual constitution. The Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom along with The Basic Law: the Freedom of Occupation, lay out many (some would say too many!) individual rights and offers the necessary protection of the rights of individuals in Israel. Although all this is true, none of the Basic Laws explicitly addresses the issue of minority rights, i.e. of minority communities. Although Israeli Arabs are guaranteed the right to an Arabic language school system in which Arabic culture is taught, this promise is made only in “regular” legislation, not in any Basic Law.

Professor Moshe Koppel of Bar Ilan University has an interesting explanation which he presented in a Facebook post: “Since 1993, Israel’s Supreme Court has used the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom to rule on the constitutionality of a variety of statutes and government policies involving Israel’s Jewish character, including laws regarding allocation of JNF land, the primacy of Hebrew as Israel’s language, rights to residency and citizenship, draft deferments and stipends of yeshiva students, and commerce on Shabbat. In principle, these cases called for delicate balance between Israel’s democratic character and its Jewish character, but in fact no such balance was achieved, precisely because Israel’s Jewish character, unlike its democratic character, is not anchored in any basic law. The proposed law is intended to address this asymmetry and to encourage a more sophisticated legal discourse regarding the tension between universal and national considerations.”

Whether one feels that the rights of non-Jews in Israel are already afforded sufficient protection in law or not, the new law only defines Israel’s Jewish character. If someone feels that there is a gap there that needs to be filled, then they should campaign for a Basic Law that adds the protections that they think necessary. Doing so is more likely to build a consensus than seemingly attacking the Jewish nature of the Jewish state.

(David Olesker is the Founder and Director of the Jerusalem Center for Communication and Advocacy Training)

Mida is a news and intellectual daily magazine, which aims to present the public with information and opinions not common in the Israeli media.
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© August 2, 2018
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This Year in Jerusalem – explaining the new Basic Law: Israel - The Nation State

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Bogus Apartheid Claims Follow Passage of Israel Nation-State Law

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Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Creeping Annexation? Nay, Complete Annexation!



John R. Houk
© March 28, 2018

Thanks to an Israpundit cross post, I discovered a Jerusalem Post article that informs readers that the Arabs that call themselves Palestinians are upset that the Israel’s Knesset (a parliamentary body) is considering extending “Israeli law and administrative court jurisdiction to Area C of Judea and Samaria”.

This upsets fake Palestinians who believe the Biblical Land Promised to Jews is theirs even though these are primarily the Arab descendants of immigrants (See “Land Ownership in Palestine, 1880-1948” pdf study – especially pgs. 7-10), who moved to the Area for better jobs and livelihood due returning entrepreneurial Jews in business and farm techniques.

The JP reports the coined phrase of “Creeping Annexation” as if that was a pejorative act against the Fake Palestinians. In reality the phrase is sad, because it is an indication that Israel’s secular government is ignoring the Jewish Biblical heritage of God’s Promised Land to the promised lineage given to Abraham, Isaac (NOT Ishmael) and Jacob (renamed Israel by God Almighty and HERE).

There should be no “Creeping Annexation,” but rather there should be total and complete annexation of Judea and Samaria (named the West Bank by the invading Jew-Hating Arab Legion commanded by Brit John Glubb [aka Glubb Pasha] usurping Transjordan – later Jordan) under Israeli National Sovereignty.

Just as an aside: It is obvious I am not Jewish, but rather Christian. I consider myself a Christian Zionist. I realize there are some good historical reasons for Jews to mistrust the motives of Christians. After all Christians have a moral duty to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to offer Redemption into the Kingdom of God by faith:

14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16: 14-16 NKJVAs a Charis-maniac faith Believer, I should have included Mark 16: 17-20, but that upsets mainline Christians 😊)

Historically, the unfortunate truth Jews have faced from Christians is the Jewish refusal to accept Christ has led to the extreme non-Christian attitude of Jew-Hatred. Christians that failed to let Christ’s very Words sink began to develop false accusations that Jews were Christ-killers. Attributed to all Jews what a loaded tribunal of Sanhedrin Sadducees and Pharisees that tried Jesus outside their own tenets of belief out of fear the growing popularity of Jesus would harm their special station with the Romans. Incidentally, it was Roman governance in Judea that sentenced Jesus to death and executed the torture of the lash and the Crucifixion of death on the Cross. Should Christian despise and persecute all Italians today for the actions of a past Roman government?

To all you Antisemites out there, you might want dwell on the historical executioners of Jesus Christ the Son of God and Savior.

--END OF ASIDE—


Posted by DannyAyalon
Published on Jul 12, 2011

Israel's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon explains the historical facts relating to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The video explains where the terms "West Bank", "occupied territories" and "67 Borders" originated and how they are incorrectly used and applied. Also follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DannyAyalon and http://facebook.com/DannyAyalon

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‘CREEPING ANNEXATION’ IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA – THE OTHER SIDE

It is a battle for Israeli democracy and the right of Jews to live in the heartland of the Jewish people; we cannot afford to lose it.

MARCH 26, 2018 21:57

A bill under consideration by Israel’s ruling coalition to extend Israeli law and administrative court jurisdiction to Area C of Judea and Samaria, and protect the civil and legal rights of Israeli citizens living there, has prompted accusations of “creeping annexation.” These accusations are based on the assumption that the entire area is part of the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” (OPT) and that therefore all Israeli “settlements” are “illegal.”

“Creeping annexation,” however, has another dimension which is not widely acknowledged or understood, even by the Israeli government: the massive movement of Palestinian Arabs from Areas A and B (under Palestinian Authority control) to Area C (under full Israeli control).

Critics of extending sovereignty to Area C, in which all of the “settlements” are located, argue that Israel cannot annex the area without giving full, equal rights to the Arab population living there. Advocates of extending Israeli law to Area C argue that there are nearly half a million Jews living there, far outnumbering the Arabs. This perception was reinforced by Bimkom, a pro-Palestinian NGO, in 2008, which published “The Prohibited Zone,” listing 47,360 Arabs in 149 villages in Area C, based on the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Bimkom disputed claims by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which surveyed Arabs living in 418 Palestinian villages located partly or entirely in Area C, that numbered 228,600. “We estimate that no more than 150,000 Palestinians currently live in Area C,” it claimed in its report. It acknowledged “numerous difficulties involved in collecting data about Palestinian villages,” and noted that therefore the data represented “an approximation.”

How many Palestinian Arabs, however, actually live in Area C? That is a crucial question, and unfortunately one that the government cannot answer.

In 2011, UNOCHA (occupied Palestinian territory) reported that about 150,000 Arabs were living in 270 “villages, camps, and other communities,” two-thirds of which are located primarily in Areas A&B, but which extend into Area C, and an estimated 50,000 Beduin and “herders” were living in Area C.

Two years later, UNOCHA reported that an estimated 297,000 people, who had been living in 532 PA villages in A and B, had moved into Area C, building homes and taking over land, creating de facto extensions of their villages. Although illegal, the Israeli military authority in Area C, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and the Israeli government have ignored this attempt to create “facts on the ground” by expanding the area which Palestinians claim as their future state. (UNOCHA reports can be accessed at its website: www.ochaopt.org.)

All of this has been known for a decade or more, according to the legal NGO Regavim. If true, however, why hasn’t the government done anything to stop it?

Meanwhile, COGAT, backed by the High Court and IDF judicial and administrative units, has been busy tearing down entire Jewish communities, such as Migron and Amona, destroying Jewish neighborhoods in long-established communities, such as Ofra, Bet El and Elazar, and destroying many hundreds of Jewish homes throughout the area because they were deemed “illegal,” and in some cases claimed to be “built on private Palestinian land” – although this was never proven, or even adjudicated by an Israeli court.

The failure of COGAT to protect Israel’s interests in Area C, its policy of declaring disputed land “Palestinian” and its policy of uprooting and destroying attempts by Jews to settle barren and empty areas not only leads to unnecessary confrontations, but directly affects the future of this critical area and the State of Israel.

COGAT has, whether deliberately or without understanding and forethought, undermined the right of Jews to live in the Jewish national home, Eretz Yisrael. It has pursued a dangerous and self-defeating agenda by refusing to protect Israeli civilians living in Judea and Samaria. It has betrayed the values of Zionism and the nation-state of the Jewish people, and the IDF’s own code of ethics. The government must take responsibility; it cannot be left to the whims, bias or ignorance of military bureaucrats.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s judicial reforms are the first step toward establishing a fair, balanced, clear and coherent policy. It is a battle for Israeli democracy and the right of Jews to live in the heartland of the Jewish people; we cannot afford to lose it.

The author is a PhD historian, writer and journalist.
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Creeping Annexation? Nay, Complete Annexation!
John R. Houk
© March 28, 2018
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‘CREEPING ANNEXATION’ IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA – THE OTHER SIDE

Copyright © 2018 Jpost Inc. All rights reserved.



Thursday, December 29, 2016

John Kerry Lies to Support Leftist Worldview


John R. Houk
© December 29, 2016

We know that John Kerry has a sketchy past as an American Patriot. Although the U.S. Navy sticks to the official records on Kerry’s medals and service in Vietnam. There seems to be some flaws in both the official record and anti-Kerry eyewitness accounts of faked Kerry heroism.


Kerry became the leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War after being discharged, the Post reported. In testimony to Congress, he relayed accounts by his VVAW comrades of having “personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan

Later, it was shown that many of the stories on which Kerry based this testimony were false, some told by people who had stolen the identities of real GIs, the Post printed on Aug. 24, 2004. Kerry was not implicated.

As for claims in the viral email about his military record, much of this was discussed during the campaign after the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth questioned Kerry’s accounts and whether he deserved any of the commendations he received.

But the veterans who accused Kerry were contradicted by numerous former crewmen of Kerry’s, and by Navy records, according to FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan [Blog Editor: Link is by Editor and explains reliability fact checking websites] fact-finding project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, which researched the claims back in 2004.


Kerry received a Purple Heart after being wounded in December 1968 when he got hit by schrapnel. The Boston Globe quoted William Schachte, who oversaw the mission, as saying it “was not a very serious wound.”


In an affidavit, physician Lewis Letson said he treated Kerry and said Kerry’s wound was self-inflicted when his gun jammed and he threw a grenade at an object, which sprayed the area with shrapnel. Kerry’s medical records show that he was treated by J.C. Carreon (who has since died). Letson said it common practice for medics to sign the paperwork for the attending physician.

Letson said in his affidavit that “the crewman with Kerry told me there was no hostile fire, and that Kerry had inadvertently wounded himself with an M-79 grenade.” But the crewmen with Kerry that day deny ever talking to Letson, FactCheck.org reported.


Kerry earned his Silver Star later in February when he jumped onto the beach from his boat to chase and shoot a guerrilla who had a rocket launcher and who, Kerry thought, was about to fire a rocket at Kerry’s boat. According to the Boston Globe, another member of the crew on Kerry’s boat — Frederic Short, with whom Kerry had not talked for 34 years until being contacted by the Globe reporter — confirmed the account and said there was no doubt Kerry’s action saved the boat and crew.


Although Snopes.com labels attacks on Kerry’s medals being earned under “fishy” circumstances as “false,” FactCheck.org said in 2004, “at this point, 35 years later and half a world away, we see no way to resolve which of these versions of reality is closer to the truth.” -- READ ENTIRETY  (Fact Check: John Kerry's war accounts and whether he deserved commendations still being called into question; By Carole Fader; Jacksonville.com; 1/3/13 05:05 pm)

And so, Kerry won some medals fraudulently and for actual acts of heroism. A LIE IS STILL A LIE!

Kerry then went to disrespect those medals fraudulently or correctly earned by trashing his nation by painting a picture that the entire U.S. Military as a band of murderers and rapists. I can confidently speculate some of this nefarious stuff Kerry preached against America happened, but I can also confidently speculate the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Regulars committed more and worse atrocities than any group of U.S. Military fellows. War is war and unfortunately vengeance is a part of war on the affected individual soldier.

The point is John Kerry is a Left Winger willing to say or do anything to support his idiotic worldview. With that in mind, read Ben Shapiro’s “10 Lies Secretary of State Kerry Told ” in the Obama Administration’s betrayal of Israel.

JRH 12/29/16
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10 Lies Secretary of State Kerry Told During His Big Middle East Peace Speech

DECEMBER 28, 2016

On Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry gave a speech on his proposed plan for peace between Israelis and Arabs. His plan: blame the Jews, pretend that Palestinian terrorism and incitement isn’t representative of the actual Palestinian government, and then blather for 69 more minutes. His speech razed facts to the ground in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan.

Here were ten of the worst lies and lies-by-omission Kerry purveyed in his ode to lying and self-indulgence:

1. Equating Jewish Settlements and Palestinian Terrorism. Israel has been wracked by a wave of stabbings and shootings and rocket attacks from Palestinian terrorists over the last two years. Kerry spent a few minutes on that, but only in order to draw moral equivalence with Jews building additional bathrooms in East Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. “The truth is that trends on the ground, violence, terrorism, settlement expansion, and the seemingly endless occupation, they are combining to destroy hopes for peace on both sides,” Kerry said. This is nonsense. Before there were any Jewish settlements – when Israel did not control Judea, Samaria, or Gaza – the Palestine Liberation Organization called for the “liberation” of Palestine, meaning the complete destruction of Israel. The problem isn’t people building homes. It’s Palestinians murdering Jews, and refusing to accept that any home built by a Jew ought to exist in the Middle East. [Bold text last sentence is Editor’s]

2. “If The Choice Is One State, Israel Can Either Be Jewish Or Democratic. It Cannot Be Both.” This is patently absurd. There has been one state in the area between the Jordan and the Mediterranean for some 50 years. That state has been democratic. This lie rests on two absurd contentions: first, that if Israel were to annex all Judea and Samaria, Jews would be outnumbered by Arabs; second, that if Israel were to annex all lands, Israel would have to grant all Palestinian Arabs full citizenship or face status as an apartheid state. The first claim is simply false – Jews outnumber Palestinian Arabs outside of the Gaza Strip by a factor of two-to-one, and Jews now have the equivalent birth rate of Palestinian Arabs, and will soon have a higher birth rate, as Caroline Glick points out, meaning that Jewish majority status will increase, not decrease. Second, the United States does not offer citizenship to all the people living within its borders, or over territories over which it has sovereignty. Puerto Rico is governed semi-autonomously, but citizens of Puerto Rico cannot vote in presidential elections in the United States. Israel could easily grant green cards to Palestinian residents while also giving them local control of their governance without a national vote.

3. Peace Will Only Be Realized With a Palestinian Terror State. The notion that peace depends on the establishment of a Palestinian terror state – and that’s what will be established, given that the unity government of the Palestinians now includes Hamas and Islamic Jihad alongside Fatah – is asinine. Israel has had to blockade Gaza because Hamas controls it, and is attempting to take military shipments from Iran. Adding another Iran-backed terror proxy state to the Middle Eastern map is a great way to encourage a two-front war against Israel, given the presence of Hezbollahstan on Israel’s northern border.

4. “No American Administration Has Done More For The Security of Israel Than Barack Obama’s.” To put it mildly, LOL. LOLOLOLOLOL. [Bold text after 1st line is Editor’s] Funny guy, this Kerry. Here’s a timeline of Obama’s “support” for Israel. That timeline doesn’t even include the Iran nuclear deal or the current UN resolution hubbub.

5. Israeli Intransigence Is The Problem. Nope. Not even close. In 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered 94.2 percent of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinians, a corridor that would link that territory to the Gaza Strip, land swaps that would increase Palestinian land holdings, a formula for division of Jerusalem. Abbas refused the deal. In 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered a similar deal. Yassar Arafat refused it. Palestinians have never accepted any deal offered by the Israelis. [Bold text this line is Editor’s] Israelis continue to offer. But the problem is clearly the mean, nasty Israelis. And by the way, that awful Netanyahu fellow offered to freeze settlements early in the Obama administration, and the Palestinians responded with violence.

6. Settlements Are Illegal. No, they aren’t. Kerry declared over and over that Israelis settling east of the so-called green line are living there illegally. That’s patent nonsense. He also suggested that no Jews would be allowed to live inside a new Palestinian state, because Jews would object – ignoring, of course, that Palestinians would quickly murder any Jew remaining in a Palestinian state, and Jews have a slight objection to being murdered. Right now, over a million Arabs live inside Israel. Virtually no Jews live in the Muslim world because they were expelled, and quickly absorbed into Israel.

7. Equating Palestinian Government With Israeli Government. Perhaps the most insane spectacle was Kerry suggesting that the Netanyahu government is beholden to the “most extreme elements” in Israeli politics, while pooh-poohing Palestinian government support for terrorism. Kerry suggested that Hamas was a troublesome rogue group as opposed to an integral part of the Palestinian unity government.

8. Israel As Purported Burden To The United States. Kerry spent serious time talking about how the United States had subsumed its own interests in order to give military aid to Israel. Of course, the Obama administration has also given aid to the Palestinian unity terror government, and attempted to block weapons shipments in the middle of the Gaza terror war. And even the Obama administration says that such aid is good for the United States defense industry; a huge percentage of American aid to Israel is a subsidy to domestic defense contractors. Israel is America’s only democratic ally in the region.

9. The UN Resolution Changed Nothing. Kerry kept stating that the UN resolution didn’t do much to change the status quo. That’s false. This UN resolution said that all territories outside the 1949 Israel armistice lines – the “Auschwitz borders” – are occupied, including Jerusalem and holy sites like the Western Wall. It calls for all settlements in those areas “flagrant” violations of international law. There’s a reason Kerry pushed this thing through: of course it changes things.

10. The Obama Administration’s Maneuvers Help Peace. This is the opposite of the truth. America’s position for two decades has been that it would not cram down a peace deal on the Israelis and Palestinians – all issues would have to be resolved through bilateral negotiations. By placing the onus for all concessions on Israel and making Israel subject to the possibility of blowback from the International Court of Justice, Obama just allowed Palestinians to abandon any pretense at negotiations and stand on their newfound “rights.” [Bold text last line is Editor’s]

Kerry’s speech was chock full of lies. [This bold text is Editor’s] But here’s the good news: nobody will remember it a month from now, just as nobody will remember John Kerry’s legacy beyond his slander of American soldiers in Vietnam.
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John Kerry Lies to Support Leftist Worldview
John R. Houk
© December 29, 2016
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10 Lies Secretary of State Kerry Told During His Big Middle East Peace Speech

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