Justice For All
By Ted Belman
The Arabs cry out for justice. The Jews cry out for security.
The Arabs demand their rights, even non-existent rights like the “right of return”. The Jews have forgotten they have any rights.
As a result, the world considers the Palestinians, the oppressed and the Israelis, the oppressors.
Recently, Tony Blair delivered a speech in Chicago on Global Affairs in which he said,
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“The ideology (radical Islam) we are fighting is not based on justice. That is a cause we can understand. And world-wide these groups are adept, certainly, at using causes that indeed are about justice, like Palestine.”
So Blair believes that Palestine is a matter of “justice”. And he is joined in this belief by all the countries in the world.
They believe that the West Bank – Judea and Samaria – is Palestinian land and that justice demands it be given back to the Palestinians. This claim is based primarily on the fact that Palestinians lived there in 1920 or 1948.
Since when did living in a place or owning some of the land give one sovereign rights – particularly when these lands had been awarded to Jews as their national home at the San Remo Conference in 1920. Great Britain was named the trustee of Mandatory Power.
Great Britain, in violation of the trust imposed on it on behalf of Jews, gave away the southern tip of the Golan and the Trans Jordan, both of which had been included in the award to the Jews, to the Syrian Mandate and to Abdallah bin Hussein, the grandfather of the King Abdallah II, respectively. Jewish rights over these lands were ignored.
The League of Nations in 1922 created The Palestine Mandate over the remaining 23% or so. It gave political rights only to Jews.
The Mandate provided:
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“The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage…close settlement by Jews, on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.”
Contrary to this provision, Great Britain restricted Jewish immigration, particularly during the holocaust, and allowed Arab immigration. Was that just?
The Partition Plan passed by the UN General Assembly in 1947 allocated part of the Mandate lands to the Arabs, as the Palestinians were then called. Some suggest that this resolution terminated Jewish rights to these lands. This argument is not sustainable.
The General Assembly has no power to alter the commitments in the Palestine Mandate or to make law. It only has the power to make recommendations. In this case, contrary to international law and its own Charter, it recommended, that the land, previously given to the Jews, be divided into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. Was that just? The Arabs rejected this recommendation and invaded the newly recognized state of Israel in 1948.
Because of this rejection, the Jewish rights to Judea and Samaria remained unaltered and remain so to this day. As a result, Jewish settlements in the West Bank are legal and the settlement freeze is illegal. Furthermore, Israel acquired possession of these lands in ’67 as a result of a defensive war and by international law, is entitled to keep them.
Security Council Resolution 242 did not and could not cancel the legal rights the Jews had to Judea and Samaria. It simply provided a formula for how to achieve peace. Israel was given the right to remain in occupation, so much for the “illegal occupation”, until she could withdraw from territories, decidedly not “all territories”, to “secure and recognized” borders. By withdrawing from Sinai and Gaza, she has withdrawn from most of the territories, nevertheless.
Some argue that the Geneva Convention applies and that such convention makes the settlements illegal. My article, The Real Tragedy in Israel., argues persuasively that both contentions are wrong.
In the late-seventies, following Henry Kissinger’s advice, the Arabs reframed the conflict as between Israel and the Palestinians rather than as between Jews and Arabs. The West then embraced the Palestinian cause, in disregard of Jewish rights in order to curry favor with the Arabs. It did so, not as a matter of justice, but as a matter of self-interest.
Some believe that Israel forced the Arabs to flee in 1948 and so, as a matter of justice, the Arabs and their descendants should be allowed to return. Whether or not the Arabs were forced to flee or chose to, there is no precedent mandating the return of refugees who fled during a war. In fact, there is ample precedent for their relocation.
It is important to note that UNRWA considers as refugees, “individuals and their direct descendants who lived in Palestine a minimum of two years preceding the 1948 conflict.” To be fair to the Jews who were barred from entering Palestine for perhaps 10 years preceding the conflict, this two year period should be extended to 10 years, thereby reducing the number of refugees.
What would further reduce the number of refugees, and dramatically so, would be to delete “and their direct descendants” from this classification. Doing so would accord with the legal definition of refugees generally applied throughout the world. You can only be a refugee from a country in which you “habitually resided”.
The Roadmap called for “agreed, just, fair, and realistic solution to the refugee issue”. The Roadmap based itself on Resolution 242 of 1967, which called for “a just settlement of the refugee problem”. One has to wonder how the addition of the words “agreed”, “fair” and “realistic” changed matters. The Roadmap, against the wishes of Israel, recited the Beirut Arab Summit Declaration of March 2002. The US said it was non-negotiable. Was that just? That declaration called for the “achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.” But this requirement was not repeated in the operative terms of the document.
The Roadmap refers to the “refugee problem”, thereby including Jewish refugees from Arab lands, whereas the Arab declaration limits it to the Palestinian refugees and, pursuant to Res.194, recommends “that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so”. But this resolution, like all General Assembly resolutions, is a recommendation only.
Both formulations stress a just solution, but what is “just”? It is certainly not a one-way street. Justice must take into account the claims and rights of both parties. But there is no impartial court or judge to be found to make the determination. Therefore, issues must be freely negotiated. But Israelis aren’t allowed this luxury…and not just with the refugee issue.
The international community imposes narrow limits to the negotiations and doesn’t permit Israel to opt out or say “no”. The Roadmap requires Palestine to be created, “viable” and “contiguous”. These should be matters for negotiation. Ultimately, the resolution of these issues is a matter of power politics, not justice. It is a sham to embrace justice as your cause when it is anything but.
Furthermore, only Israel is expected to honour her commitments. The Arabs are given a pass. This is not just.
Israel is not bound by the Arab Declaration and will no doubt be asking for reciprocity when it comes to providing compensation to refugees. The compensation due Jewish refugees is many times more than the compensation that the Arab refugees may claim. Jews had lived for centuries in Arab countries, accumulating much wealth and land, which they were forced to leave behind when they were expelled. Justice demands equal treatment for both refugee groups.
All the advocates of the Palestinian “right of return” have been denying justice to the refugees themselves for sixty years. The refugees are forced to remain in squalid camps rather than resettled as is done for all other refugees. With such hypocrisy, how can one take their calls for justice seriously?
Some advocates for justice for the Palestinians consider that the creation of Israel, itself, was an act of colonialism and therefore not just. Justice, they say, demands that Israel be “wiped off the map”. This argument gains no traction in law. At the San Remo Conference, the World War I victors held hearings, received evidence and made determinations. No better method has been devised to arrive at a just result. They determined the borders of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Palestine and allocated each of these areas to certain rulers or people. Their decisions have the force of international law. The matter is res judicata.
The accusation of colonialism in the creation of Israel must be debunked. The decision in San Remo did not create an imperialist outpost but merely recognized “the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country”. Furthermore, more than 50% of Israel’s inhabitants after the Arabs expelled Jews from Arab lands around the ’48 war were indigenous to the area – hardly a colonial outpost.
The Arabs also complain European countries created Israel in expiation of their sin of anti-Semitism culminating in the holocaust. Never mind that the holocaust came 20 years after San Remo. But even if it was true, it was an act of affirmative action. The US Supreme Court upheld affirmative action on the basis of past discrimination. If anyone is entitled to affirmative action, the Jews are, based on Christian and Islamic discrimination over centuries.
The Arabs, as Palestinians, present their cause as a national liberation movement and deny the Jews the same right. But Zionism, simple put, is a Jewish liberation movement. Eighty percent of the population of Jordan are Palestinians so the West Bank Palestinians already have a Palestinian state to go to find their liberation. In fact, from 1948 to 1967 the West Bank, for all practical purposes was part of Jordan. A second Palestinian state is superfluous.
In fact by taking Trans Jordan out of the Jewish homeland in 1922, Britain already created the two-state solution. Now they want a three-state solution.
In 2004, prior to disengagement, President Bush gave a letter to P.M. Sharon in which he committed the U.S. as follows,
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“The United States will do its utmost to prevent any attempt by anyone to impose any other plan.”
“The United States reiterates its steadfast commitment to Israel’s security, including secure, defensible borders.” And,
“Israel must have secure and recognized borders, which should emerge from negotiations between the parties in accordance with UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338.”
In flagrant breach of these three commitments, President Obama is pushing Israel to accept the Arab Peace Plan. Is this just or fair or honest?
The US and the Palestinians must honour their commitments if they expect Israel to honour her commitments. That’s only just.
Those who advocate for justice for the Palestinians must, to be just, also provide justice for the Jews. You can’t have one without the other.
Justice for all.
We are living in an age of lawbreakers and covenant-breakers. Not only is Obama serving illegally as US President, but a substantial portio of his cabinet appointees are tax evaders. Israel, of course, has been in a similar boat for years.
The exact problem, or should I say, the most extreme irony, is that me, you and the rest of us are all Palestinian! The denizens who dwell in Gaza, and Judea-Samaria, are all Arabs, hence belonging to Arabia! We normally as a human species honour 1 country of ethnic origin. The Arabic culture, I guess by some divine rite has 22 such dwelling places, and I guess most righteously deserves a 23thrd! They have the best customs, especially if you’re female. Their collective goal is to preserve and enlightned humanity. After living only nearly 43 yrs., I should have seen their light many years ago! Stupid me!
Letter to David Gregory of Meet the Press
Mr. David Gregory
Meet the Press
re: interviewing ‘King Abdullah II’
Mr. David Gregory you had a unique opportunity to solve the Arab-Israeli Conflict by posing the right questions to King Abdullah II.
Albert Camus once wrote something about the Mysterious Middle East. It goes like this . “When historical truth is involved, the more anyone claims to possess it, the more he lies.”
It is most often difficult to confront an august personality by denying his integrity. But of course we are all human and we have a tendency to abscond with the truth sometimes. And this is the impression that remains with me and probably millions of viewers that watched you interviewing King Abdullah II’ and basically the reason of this letter.
In his book “The Emergence of the Middle East 1914-1924 page 404, the world renowned scholar Dr. Howard M. Sachar mentions one of the late King Abdullah’s declarations in this respect. Quote : “He (God) granted me success in creating the Government of Transjordan by having it separated from the Balfour Declaration which had included it since the Sykes-Picot Agreement assigned to the British Zone of influence.” Unquote.
The late King Hussein of Jordan in his book ‘Uneasy Lies the Head’. Page 118 writes. Quote: “Palestine and Transjordan were both by then under the British Mandate, but as my grandfather (Abdullah) pointed out in his memoirs, they were hardly considered as separate countries, Transjordan being to the East of the river Jordan, it formed, in a sense, the interior of Palestine”. Unquote
Sir Alec Kirkbride who was the advisor, confident, and for thirty years the friend of the late King Abdullah of Transjordan, states in his book ‘A Crackle of thorns’ page 19. Quote “While all of this was going on, a Mandate over Palestine, a geographical term which included Transjordan also, was granted to Great Britain in July 1920.” Unquote.
Further he mentions. Quote: “There was no intention at that stage of forming the Territory East of the river Jordan into an Independent Arab State.” Unquote.
Art. 25 of the ‘Mandate for Palestine’ describe the status of Jordan even better. Quote: “in the territories lying between the Jordan (river) and the Eastern boundaries of Palestine.” Unquote
The following statements by Jordan leaders and P.L.O. executives enhance the veracity of the above documentation. Quote: “Palestine is Jordan and Jordan is Palestine; there is one people and one land, with one history and the same fate.” Unquote. (Prince Hassan, brother of the late king Hussein of Jordan and uncle of the Present King Abdullah II, addressing the Jordanian Assembly, 1970.)
Another. Quote: “Jordanians and Palestinians are considered by the P.L.O. as one people.” Unquote. (Farouk Kaddoumi, head of the P.L.O. Political Dept. 1977).
Still another. Quote: “The Palestinians and the Jordanians do not belong to different nationalities. They hold same Jordanian passport, are Arabs and have the same culture.” Unquote. (Abdul Hamid-Sharaf, Prime Minister of Jordan, 1980.)
And yet another. Quote: “The truth is that Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.” Unquote. (The late king Hussein of Jordan, 1981.)
By mid November 1990, a forced transfer of ‘TWO MILLION’ members of a large Arab minority was being carried out without provoking any international outrage and daily excoriation from the State Department and your colleagues in the Media. This Repatriation then never affected the alliance of the US with Saudi Arabia, and hardly anyone raised as much as an eyebrow.
“Indignant over Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s sympathy for Saddam Hussein, Saudi Arabian king Fahd ordered all ‘TWO MILLION’ resident of Yemeni extraction, including hundreds of thousands that lived there before the inception of ‘Saudi Arabia’ in the 19th Century, to leave the Country.”
The reason of this exercise Mr. David Gregory, is to illustrate and substantiate the fact that Arabs (now called Palestinians) holding Jordanian I.Ds and Passports from the time Jordan ruled Judea and Samaria for 19 years are not welcomed back to Jordan by King Abdullah II. The problem of the so called Palestinian Arabs could have been solved overnight if he was conducive to accept them, or perhaps cajoled by the present US administration to accept them. The finger of political indignation should not always be pointed towards Israel since Israel controls 23% of the ‘Palestine Mandate’ whilst Jordan was CREATED out of the remaining 77%.
Next to the German Nazis, England is the most evil country I know and that includes the Muslim states. At least, you know where they stand.
email rec’d
He’s right, you know.
They don’t speak of or want justice
He is right without question.
Their mindset is the destruction of the Jewish Nation.
Unfortunately there are world leaders who are in their corner. (Anti-semitism)
Fortunately God is with Israel and her people.
Ed, I wouldn’t be too critical of the English if I were you: You speak their language, and thus identify with them.
Dumber and dumber.
I can’t believe even you said such an inane thing. Dumber and dumberI speak at least four languages fluently, does that mean I identify with all four cultures and they are all quite different?
If they got it, several thousand of them would be swinging from gallows starting with the ones who massacred Jewish doctors and nurses in 1947 or 1948, and working forward to terrorists and their sponsors (accessory to murder, punishable by death in many jurisdictions). Israel should indeed give them justice. There is at least one running around (guilty of murder of an Israeli child among other things) who could use a Mossad bullet through his head or a rope around his neck–I wonder if Israel still has the gallows it used for Adolf Eichmann.
Israel has never once held that peace depends on justice. So it has surrendered the moral high ground to the Arabs. Historical reality has been inverted. For that result, the Jews have only themselves to blame.
Bland, just because I speak English does not mean that I Identify with England. It means that I identify with America. Idiot!!!!
Question… Did you ever where the uniform ofthe American military?
The UK comes nowhere near as GERMANY in being “kin” to the Nazi Muslims.
I have tried to remind Jews of these facts over the years. It is a German-dominated Europe that will occupy Israel – it was the British Israelites who liberated Jerusalem and accelerated the process of redemption.
Radical Christian theology?
Right The Germans were just slightly worse than the British. Al Capone or Dutch Schultz?
British Israelites? right and the Germans were all descendent’s of the Royal House of David. Germans occupying Israel in you warped mind maybe. You forget we have that red button. The Germans today couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag. we have three more subs under construction from them. Hell we’ll take what we can get from anybody anyway they owe us.
You are one sick cookie Hoover. You couldn’t even blow up a little Mosque successfully . Bungler.
Are you related to dweller?