OMG: In the event of war, J Street says they won’t necessarily support Israel
There’s an amazing letter in Friday’s Jewish Advocate (Boston). If you aren’t a (paid) subscriber, this is all you see of it, but it’s enough to whet anyone’s curiosity (Hat Tip: Elihu S).
At this week’s meeting of the JCRC Council, three organizations briefed the council on their organization’s Iran policy. I was shocked to hear J Street’s regional director say that in the event that war broke out involving Israel, J Street would not necessarily support the Jewish state.And here’s the rest of it.
Incredulous, I asked her to clarify that I had heard correctly. Indeed, she reiterated proudly that J Street would not necessarily support Israel in a conflict, but would weigh the circumstances. So if, heaven forbid, war breaks out, the wise sages of J Street (and supposed military experts) will decide whether or not Israel merits our support. And this is an organization which claims to be “pro-Israel”! With friends like that, who needs enemies?
While there is a plurality of views in our community on many issues, there is a broad consensus that if attacked, we put our differences to one side and stand by the people of Israel unambiguously. J Street has put itself beyond that consensus.
It’s one thing to question the likelihood of success of military action against Iran - and we certainly hope and pray that sanctions and diplomacy will work - but quite something else to say that if a conflict breaks out, we would not unambiguously stand with Israel.
Shame on them, but at least the pro-Israel community understands where they stand. In Israel’s hour of need, J Street cannot be counted on.
PAUL SASSIENI
NewtonThe bigger problem is that J Street has the Obama administration’s ear. Obama and Hillary Clinton are convinced that J Street is representative of the American Jewish community. In Israel’s hour of need, the Obama administration cannot be counted on either.
What could go wrong?
UPDATE 9:19 AM
Soccer Dad points me to this ‘clarification’ from J Street founder Jeremy Ben Ami on J Street’s blog.Specifically, our position paper says: “While unlikely to permanently disable Iran’s nuclear program, a military strike would have dire consequences and runs the risk of igniting a broader regional war. A preemptive attack could also strengthen the current regime in Iran and provide an excuse for it to redouble its nuclear efforts. We therefore oppose legislation authorizing, encouraging, or in other ways laying the groundwork for the use of military force against Iran.”
Israel – the country and the people – can always count on J Street’s support. Its policymakers, however, shouldn’t expect unquestioning support for controversial decisions that we believe run counter to the best interests of Israel, the United States and the Jewish people.It sounds to me like he’s saying that an attack on Iran is a ‘controversial decision’ and that if Israel goes ahead and does it, it should not expect J Street’s support. That sounds pretty much like what Paul Sassieni wrote in the Advocate. Am I missing something here?
![girlactionfigure:
Anti-Israel, More Than “pro-Palestinian”
Considering that so many ordinary people around the world look for any excuse to condemn Israel, I don’t see these anti-Israel activists to be primarily “pro-Palestinian.” They’d jump at any excuse to condemn Israel; that’s their real agenda.
Israel Police completed preparations over the weekend in anticipation of the pro-Palestinian demonstration expected Sunday at Ben-Gurion International Airport, in which activists – mainly from Europe and the U.S. – were set to arrive in Israel and try to reach Judea and Samaria to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said hundreds of protesters were expected to land at the airport in the course of the day, as part of a campaign called “Welcome to Palestine.” (complete article from Israel Hayom)
They’re certainly not humanitarians or their demonstrations would be pro-Israel and anti a wide variety of countries like Syria, Iran, North Korea, Egypt and more. No matter what we do here in Israel, it’s perceived by the world as evil. Maybe there’s something wrong in their “glasses.”
As in the case of the famous “flotilla” to Gaza, the “flightilla” to the West Bank purports to have no other purpose than to provide “humanitarian aid” to “poor Palestinians under a big bad Israeli blockade.” (That there is no blockade on the West Bank does not matter to these well-wishers any more than the fact that Israel never stopped the flow of necessary goods and services into Gaza. But then, the real aim of such campaigns is to make Israel look evil.) by Ruthie Blum in Israel Hayom
Israel is the only country that is consistently pro-peace. Israel unfortunately bends over backwards in dangerous contortions trying to achieve peace with its Arab enemies.
There’s a big problem here, since the Arabs don’t want peace. They just want us destroyed, dead and gone. That’s their dream, their aim and goal. It’s dangerous for us to ignore it.
Palestinian parents should teach their children that it is their role or destiny to destroy Israel, according to a cartoon in the official PA daily.Text in book: “Palestine”Mother’s words: “This is your bride…When you grow up you will know the dowry.” In the cartoon, a mother is showing her son a book with a map that includes all of Israel and the PA areas. The text in the book defines the map as “Palestine.” The mother tells her son: “This is your bride… when you grow up you will know the dowry.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 31, 2012]
The message of the PA daily is that parents either are educating their children or should be educating their children to see their obligation to replace all of Israel with a state of “Palestine.” The dowry - the cost of liberating Palestine - is yet to be learned. (from PMW, Palestine Media Watch)
Israeli politicians, diplomats, media and academics must stop their dangerous habit of announcing “peace plans,” which are based on no more than wishful thinking. Newly elected Kadima leader, Shaul Mofaz’s “peace” plan is no more realistic than all of the Peres and other Leftist Appease aka Peace sic Now proposals/demands on Israel. You can’t make peace with enemies who want to destroy you by thinking that maybe they’ll agree if… It’s no more than diplomatic masturbation. Yes, I’ve said it. Just like you need two people, one of each sex to create a child, you can’t make peace by “playing with yourself.” All of these international “pro-Palestinian” groups should just get out of the closet and admit the truth that they just don’t want a State of Israel to exist. And we in Israel must fight them on all fronts, because they are very dangerous enemies!
via: ShiloMusings
Photo credit: AFP](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2l4nqOnCe1r29p1do1_500.jpg)
Anti-Israel, More Than “pro-Palestinian”
Considering that so many ordinary people around the world look for any excuse to condemn Israel, I don’t see these anti-Israel activists to be primarily “pro-Palestinian.” They’d jump at any excuse to condemn Israel; that’s their real agenda.
Israel Police completed preparations over the weekend in anticipation of the pro-Palestinian demonstration expected Sunday at Ben-Gurion International Airport, in which activists – mainly from Europe and the U.S. – were set to arrive in Israel and try to reach Judea and Samaria to show solidarity with the Palestinians.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said hundreds of protesters were expected to land at the airport in the course of the day, as part of a campaign called “Welcome to Palestine.” (complete article from Israel Hayom)
They’re certainly not humanitarians or their demonstrations would be pro-Israel and anti a wide variety of countries like Syria, Iran, North Korea, Egypt and more. No matter what we do here in Israel, it’s perceived by the world as evil. Maybe there’s something wrong in their “glasses.”As in the case of the famous “flotilla” to Gaza, the “flightilla” to the West Bank purports to have no other purpose than to provide “humanitarian aid” to “poor Palestinians under a big bad Israeli blockade.” (That there is no blockade on the West Bank does not matter to these well-wishers any more than the fact that Israel never stopped the flow of necessary goods and services into Gaza. But then, the real aim of such campaigns is to make Israel look evil.) by Ruthie Blum in Israel HayomIsrael is the only country that is consistently pro-peace. Israel unfortunately bends over backwards in dangerous contortions trying to achieve peace with its Arab enemies.
There’s a big problem here, since the Arabs don’t want peace. They just want us destroyed, dead and gone. That’s their dream, their aim and goal. It’s dangerous for us to ignore it.Palestinian parents should teach their children that it is their role or destiny to destroy Israel, according to a cartoon in the official PA daily.Text in book: “Palestine”
Mother’s words: “This is your bride…
When you grow up you will know the dowry.” In the cartoon, a mother is showing her son a book with a map that includes all of Israel and the PA areas. The text in the book defines the map as “Palestine.”
The mother tells her son:“This is your bride… when you grow up you will know the dowry.”[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,
March 31, 2012]
The message of the PA daily is that parents either are educating their children or should be educating their children to see their obligation to replace all of Israel with a state of “Palestine.” The dowry - the cost of liberating Palestine - is yet to be learned. (from PMW, Palestine Media Watch)Israeli politicians, diplomats, media and academics must stop their dangerous habit of announcing “peace plans,” which are based on no more than wishful thinking. Newly elected Kadima leader, Shaul Mofaz’s “peace” plan is no more realistic than all of the Peres and other Leftist Appease aka Peace sic Now proposals/demands on Israel.
You can’t make peace with enemies who want to destroy you by thinking that maybe they’ll agree if… It’s no more than diplomatic masturbation. Yes, I’ve said it.
Just like you need two people, one of each sex to create a child, you can’t make peace by “playing with yourself.”
All of these international “pro-Palestinian” groups should just get out of the closet and admit the truth that they just don’t want a State of Israel to exist. And we in Israel must fight them on all fronts, because they are very dangerous enemies!via: ShiloMusings
Photo credit: AFP
ϟ E-mail reveals anti-Semitism at US think tank
Group considered close to Obama administration concedes bias against Israel in e-mail.
A senior employee of the US think tank Center for American Progress (CAP) appears to have admitted in an e-mail sent from his CAP account that a blogger for the policy organization used anti-Semitic language to attack supporters of the Jewish state.
CAP advises the Democratic Party on Middle East policy and is an important source of ideas for the Obama administration. The Jerusalem Post last week obtained the first CAP acknowledgment of Jew-hatred stemming from a group of Mideast bloggers affiliated with CAP’s ThinkProgress website.
In the e-mail that the Post obtained exclusively from the CAP account of Faiz Shakir, who serves as editor-in-chief of the ThinkProgress.org website and is a vice president at CAP, he wrote, “Yes, I agree ‘Israel Firster’ is terrible, anti-Semitic language. And that’s why that language no longer exists on Zaid’s personal twitter feed, because he also knows and understands the implications.”
Zaid Jilani wrote on his Twitter account, where he identifies himself as a “Reporter-Blogger for ThinkProgress,” that “… Obama is still beloved by Israel-firsters and getting lots of their $$.”
The e-mail recognizing the anti-Semitism of a CAP blogger was sent from FShakir@americanprogress.org in December. US-Jewish and Israeli NGOs accused a faction of ThinkProgress bloggers that month of stoking modern anti-Semitism. The anti-Israel scandal saw two CAP writers, Jilani and Ali Gharib, issue apologies for asserting that American Jews and a non-Jewish Republican senator serve the interests of the Israeli government over the security of the United States.
ϟ Why anti-Semitism is moving toward the mainstream
For the first time since the end of World War II, classic anti-Semitic tropes – “the Jews” control the world and are to blame for everything that goes wrong, including the financial crisis; “The Jews killed Christian children in order to use the blood to bake matza; the Holocaust never happened – are becoming acceptable and legitimate subjects for academic and political discussion.
You’ve probably never heard of Leiter. He’s a relatively obscure professor of jurisprudence, who is trying to elevate his profile by publishing a gossipy blog about law school professors. He is a colleague of John Mearsheimer, a prominent and world famous professor at the University of Chicago.
Several months ago Mearsheimer enthusiastically endorsed a book, really a pamphlet, that included all the classic anti-Semitic tropes.
No one ever takes notice, except for neo-Nazis around the world who welcome any additions to the literature of hate. What is remarkable about the publication of this hateful piece of anti-Semitic trash, is that it was enthusiastically endorsed by two prominent American professors, John Mearsheimer and Richard Falk, who urged readers, including students, to read, “reflect upon” and “discuss widely” the themes of Atzmon’s book.
Never before has any such book received the imprimatur of such established academics. I was not shocked by these endorsements, because I knew that both of these academics had previously crossed red lines, separating legitimate criticism of Israel from subtle anti-Semitism.
The same can be said of Ron Paul, whom everyone has heard of.
Paul has, according to The New York Times, refused to “disavow” the “support” of “white supremacists, survivalists and anti-Zionists who have rallied behind his candidacy.”
(These “anti-Zionists” believe that “Zionists” – Jews – control the world, were responsible for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, and caused the economic downturn, because “most of the leaders involved in the federal and international banking system are Jews.”) He allowed his “Ron Paul survival report” to espouse David Duke-type racism and anti-Semitism for years during the 1990s, claiming he was unaware that they were being promoted under his name.
Edward H. Crane, the founder of the libertarian CATO Institute, has said, “I wish Ron would condemn those fringe things that float around” his campaign, but he refuses to reject the support of these anti-Semites who form a significant part of his base. The New York Times has criticized Paul for his failure to “convincingly repudiate racist remarks that were published under his name for years – or the enthusiastic support he is getting from racist groups,” including those that espouse “anti-Semitism and far-Right paranoia.”
Even now, Paul continues to accept contributions from Holocaust-deniers, from those who blame the Jews for everything and from other bigots, thus lending some degree of legitimacy to their hateful views.
When Nazi anti-Semitism began to achieve mainstream legitimacy in Germany and Austria in the 1930s, it was not because Hitler, Goebbels and Goering were espousing it. Their repulsive views had been known for years. It was because non-Nazis – especially prominent academics, politicians and artists – were refusing to condemn anti-Semitism and those who espoused it.
It has been said that “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Leiter and Paul may or may not be good men, but they are guilty of more than merely doing nothing. They are, by their actions, helping to legitimate the oldest of bigotries. Shame on them!
ϟ Hamas Has Nothing to Teach Abbas About Promulgating Hate
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has just hired a new adviser, the Jerusalem Post reports. Mahmoud Awad Damra is one of the prisoners Israel freed to ransom kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in October; he was then five years into a 15-year sentence for his role as planner and logistics coordinator of several deadly terror attacks whose victims included three U.S. citizens. That, combined with his previous job running Yasser Arafat’s Force 17 security service, clearly qualifies him for his new role of advising Abbas on local government.
Two weeks ago, during a working visit to Turkey, Abbas took time out to meet with Amna Muna and 10 other convicted terrorists who were also freed in the Shalit deal, but whom Israel considered particularly dangerous and therefore refused to allow back into the West Bank. Muna used an Internet romance with a 16-year-old Israeli to lure him to Ramallah, where her partners in crime murdered him. When Israel protested this meeting, Abbas adviser Nimer Hamad insisted it was “natural” for a president to “meet his people wherever they are.” But of course: American and European presidents always make a point of meeting with convicted murderers during overseas trips – just like they always hire convicted terrorists as special advisers. Isn’t that how “moderate,” “peace-seeking” leaders are supposed to behave?
Then there’s the children’s magazine Zayzafuna, which is partially funded by the PA and has several PA officials on its advisory board, including Deputy Education Minister Jihad Zakarneh. As Palestinian Media Watch revealed in a damning expose, the magazine combines genuinely positive educational content with gems like an essay by a teenage girl citing Hitler as one of her four heroes, because he’s “the one who killed the Jews.” The essay describes a dream in which she meets all four; Hitler receives her thanks for the sage advice he offers.
After PMW’s report was published, the Simon Wiesenthal Center urged UNESCO to end its support for the magazine, and surprisingly, UNESCO promised to do so. But there’s been no similar contrition from the PA. Indeed, as PMW noted, the latest issue ofZayzafuna contains new gems: an essay by a school principal lauding Arafat for demanding “the liberation of all the Palestinian land, without bargaining, without compromise,” and a map that makes the same point by showing all of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza painted as a Palestinian flag.
All this begs the question of why American taxpayers should be supporting such activity: While the Obama administration demanded UNESCO halt funding for Zayzafuna, it has simultaneously been urging Congress to approve funding for the PA – and since money is fungible, that helps Abbas finance projects like the magazine and Damra’s salary.
But it also underscores the absurdity of expecting the recent unity deal between Abbas’s Fatah party and Hamas to moderate the latter. When it comes to inciting terror and promulgating hatred of Jews and Israel, Hamas has nothing to teach Abbas, only something to learn: For unlike Hamas, Abbas has figured out how to traffic in hatred while still being lauded worldwide as a peace-maker.
ϟ Major U.S. Jewish Groups Slam ‘anti-Semitic’ US think tank comments
Jason Isaacson, the AJC’s director of government and international affairs, told The Jerusalem Post by e-mail on Friday that “think tanks are entitled to their political viewpoints – but they’re not free to slander with impunity. References to Israeli ‘apartheid’ or ‘Israel-firsters’ are so false and hateful they reveal an ugly bias no serious policy center can countenance.”
He called on CAP to “disavow them and put a stop to them.”
CAP, which has an estimated annual budget of $38 million, formulates policy suggestions about the Middle East for the Democratic party and politicians.
Zaid Jilani wrote on Twitter, where he is identified as a blogger for CAP website ThinkProgress, “So DC ‘liberals’ are going to spend a lot of time defending Obama against the charge that he’s not supportive enough of Israeli apartheid.”
In an earlier Twitter item, Jilani termed US supporters of the Jewish state “Israel- Firsters.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center and NGO Monitor in Jerusalem blasted Jilani and CAP for stoking hatred of Jews.
In addition to these “dualloyalty” accusations, Ali Gharib, a CAP blogger, suggested in a Twitter item that US Senator Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) was more loyal to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) than to the United States. Gharib asserted that Kirk represented the pro- Israel organization in Congress.
After the Post reported last week on Gharib’s comment, he wrote that “one [of] my tweets several months ago, a crude characterization of a senator, is being seized upon by critics branding me as an anti-Semite.
While the accusations are completely false and contemptible, I do apologize for the crudeness of the flippant tweet in question.”
The ADL, meanwhile, issued an e-mail statement to the Post last week citing two expressions of anti-Semitism at CAP.
One was the “Israel Firsters” comment, which the ADL said was “playing into the old anti- Semitic notion that Jews are more loyal to some foreign entity than to their own country.”
(Source: jpost.com)
ϟ Israeli Druse singer banned from Ramallah
From JPost:
The Palestinian Authority banned a well-know Israeli Druse singer from appearing at a New Year’s Eve party in Ramallah.This is not a private institution that decides not to hire the singer - this is the Palestinian Authority stepping in to ban a singer, after he has already been hired, because he is Israeli!
The decision to ban Mike Sharif, known as “The Druse Boy,” was taken following strong protests and threats by many Palestinians who oppose “normalization” with Israelis.
Sharif was raised in a village in the North and is one of the popular singers not only among Israeli Arabs but throughout the Arab world. He started his career as a singer at the age of seven.
The Palestinians were angered by the fact that Sharif was presented as an Israeli and that some of his songs were in Hebrew. Some said it was unacceptable that Israeli songs would be sung in Ramallah on the third anniversary of Operation Cast Lead. Others said they didn’t like the fact that a member of the Druse community, whose sons serve in the IDF, would appear at a party in Ramallah.
PA policemen raided the hall where the party was supposed to take place and ordered the owners to cancel Sharif’s appearance, eyewitnesses said.
The organizers of the event were forced to replace the Druse singer with another performer.
Ramallah is looking a lot more like Gaza City lately, isn’t it?
(Source: elderofziyon.blogspot.com)
ϟ Jewish Man Injured in Shimon Hatzaddik Rock Attack
Leftists and anarchists conducted their usual protests outside the homes of Jews in the Shimon Hatzaddik (Sheikh Jarrah) neighborhood of Jerusalem Friday evening, and as usual threw stones and other objects at Jews walking to and from synagogue.
And on Friday night, their stones hit one of the residents of the area, who was taken to a hospital for treatment – to the guffaws of the leftists looking on.
The injured man, Ya’akov Pauchi, was hit in the head by a rock thrown by members of the “Solidarity With Sheikh Jarrah” group, which for years has been holding protests against Jews living in the area. Pauchi was hit right near the eye, and required several stitches. He was able to return home only hours later. A second individual was treated on the spot, and did not require further treatment at the hospital.
There is a security camera at the site, and Pauchi is hopeful police can track down the person who hit him with the rock.
Residents and frequent guests in the neighborhood said that police have become very lax in their treatment of the rioters in recent months. “This group has been throwing rocks at us for years, and at the beginning police tried to limit their actions,” said one resident. “But in recent weeks police have stopped taking an interest in these protests and as a result the group has gotten much bolder, to the extent that they now feel they can get away with injuring Jews.”
Another resident commented that Friday night’s demonstration was much larger than usual. “The hatred of these leftists showed its true ugliness when they laughed as the injured man was taken to the hospital.”
The land on which the neighborhood stands was purchased by Jews in 1876, with housing built soon after under the aegis of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, chief rabbi of Jerusalem at the time. The Jewish families living there, in proximity to the grave of Rabbi Shimon Hatzaddik [Simon the Just, a member of the Great Assembly of Sages in pre-Mishnaic times] had to leave during the 1948 War of Independence when the area was lost to Jordan. After the Six Day War, Jews returned to the homes, which are legally owned by Jews although occupied by Arab squatters in the interim.
(Source: israelnationalnews.com)
ϟ PA youth magazine that glorified Hitler now promotes elimination of Israel
Zayzafuna, a magazine for Palestinian youngsters, had its UNESCO funding pulled last month after it published an essay glorifying Hitler • This month, Zayzafuna publishes two full-color maps of “Palestine” with Israel completely eliminated • Also published is an essay praising legacy of Yasser Arafat.
A Palestinian Authority-funded magazine that just last week lost its UNESCO funding has, in its latest issue, published several maps that depict “Palestine” replacing all of Israel.
Zayzafuna, a magazine for Palestinian youngsters, is published monthly with the aid of the Palestinian Authority and, until recently, subsidies from the U.N. Last week, UNESCO, the education and cultural arm of the U.N., pulled its funds from the project after a deeply disturbing story came to light that glorified Hitler.
The December 2011 issue of Zayzafuna nevertheless continues to promote the elimination of Israel. Palestinian Media Watch reported on Wednesday that inside the issue are two full-color children’s drawings that show a Palestinian flag covering the Palestinian territories as well as all of Israel. The first drawing is accompanied by the numbers “194,” to represent the Palestinian bid to become the 194th member of the U.N., and the second image shows a dagger thrusting through the map. The images, PMW said on their website, are “a sign of Palestinian rule, political sovereignty and the elimination of Israel.”
(Source: israelhayom.com)
ϟ Blood libel: The myth of ‘private Palestinian land’
The question, however, is what constitutes “private Palestinian land” and who decides what is and what is not private Palestinian land? If it is true that Jews are stealing land, this violates Jewish and Israeli laws and values and justifies calls for boycotts, sanctions and even the elimination of the state, since it applies to areas acquired after 1948 as well as in 1967. A devastating moral and legal indictment, it would undermine Israel’s moral foundation, its raison d’etre.
Promoted by Arab propagandists and their supporters, politicians, academics, media and anti-Israel NGOs, this theory has also been adopted by Israelis, including prominent judicial figures who give it legitimacy. A poisoned narrative based on ignorance and/or misunderstanding, it is a lie.
Based on titles and deeds, land that is registered becomes private property. But what if there are no documents to prove ownership?
Land that Arabs claim as their private property was not purchased; it was state-owned land that was either given away by the sovereign power during the Ottoman, British and Jordanian occupations or was encroached and developed. Arab claims based on gifts and alleged agricultural use are not property deeds. How, then, did this confusion about “private Palestinian land” come about?
Using ownerless, uninhabited land is a universally recognized method for claiming it, unless contested. Until the modern period, land registration, especially in sparsely populated areas like the Middle East, Africa and North Africa was not widely practiced.
With the rise of nation-states and the development of bureaucracies this changed.
According to international agreements such as the San Remo Accord (1920) and the League of Nations (1922), the Mandate for Palestine was intended as a “Jewish National Home.” This anchors the rights of the Jewish people and Israeli sovereignty in law. It has never been superseded.
Administering the Mandate, Britain organized land surveys in Palestine, primarily to collect taxes and create an orderly system of land ownership and transfer. According to Dr. Dov Gavish, who wrote the only extensive study of this topic, Survey of Palestine, 1920-1948 (2005), maps were drawn based on where inhabitants were found and on verbal claims, usually by local mukhtars (chiefs) and sheikhs, not on documents or land registration.
Based on aerial photos and evidence of cultivation, villages were arbitrarily divided into 60-hectare (about 148-acre) blocks, which were then sub-divided among local peasants. Highly inaccurate, these fiscal maps nevertheless became the basis for taxation. They did not and do not reflect legal ownership.
As Gavish notes, the registration process lacked legal procedures for determining proper (actual) ownership, the investigators often had little professional training, surveyors who drew boundaries relied on inaccurate methods (such as vague geographical markers), and were hampered by constant Arab violence.
Maps held by Turkish and Jordanian governments are unavailable, and many maps held by the British Mandatory government were accidentally destroyed. The Israeli Civil (Military) Administration also has aerial maps which are used to determine land use, and surveys which are not necessarily reliable or accurate documentations of private ownership.
These questionable maps and documents, however, are used to sanction Arab claims and charge Jews with stealing “private Palestinian land.” Although these lands could have been registered, most were not. Moreover, land which was not used, or not passed on by inheritance reverts to the original owner, the state, by law.
Most of what is called “private Palestinian land” is claimed – and some registered – based on policies that legitimized squatting after the fact and by counting land as “owned” when in fact it had been leased, or simply used.
During the Mandate period, most of the land that was registered by individuals was called “Miri.” Leased, not privately owned, “Miri” land remained property of the state.
Although land that was not used for 10 years should have reverted to the state, large areas of such unused land remained under local Arab control.
Another category of ownerless land, called “waste land” (“Mewat”), is known throughout the Middle East and recognized in international law. Dr.Ya’akov Meron’s authoritative article, “Waste Land (Mewat) in Judea and Samaria,” (Boston College Int’l & Comparative Law Review, 1981) notes that this land was not included in state land and could be claimed by whoever used it, Jews or Arabs.
Because land on which most settlements are built is not agriculturally useful, Arabs did not claim ownership until recently, when anti-settlement NGOs asserted that these lands belonged to Arabs, individually and/or collectively based on hearsay, maps and documents that are grossly inaccurate and often false.
Assertions by NGOs and Arabs that land is privately owned, however, even when approved by politically motivated government and judicial officials, including the State Prosecutor’s Office and Civil Administration, are not necessarily true. Although these claims may be blindly accepted by the High Court, they are not valid until they have been examined and authenticated by lower courts. This has led to much confusion about what constitutes “private Palestinian land.”
Accusing Israeli Jews of “stealing private Palestinian land,” condemning “settlements” as “illegal,” “violations of international law” and “the occupation” are powerful weapons in the war to demonize and delegitimize Israel.
Commonly accepted and taken for granted, these charges are used to justify Arab terrorism (“resistance”) and subvert Israel’s moral right to exist. Such allegations are inaccurate and feed anti-Israel propaganda. Who needs them?
The author is a PhD historian, writer and journalist.
(Source: jpost.com)
