Tag Archives: State of Palestine

Look Who Just Joined Interpol

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Fox News reported yesterday that Interpol has voted to include Palestine as a member. My first problem with this is that Palestine is not a country. My second problem with this is that the area claimed to be Palestine has evolved into a terrorist state whose sole purpose is to wipe out Israel. My third problem with this is that I don’t think the Palestinian concept of justice is compatible with the concept of justice shared by most of the world.

This is a video posted on YouTube a few years ago showing a children’s television program shown to Palestinian children. I have no reason to believe anything has changed.

The article at Fox reports:

International police agency Interpol has voted to include the “State of Palestine” as a member, in a new boost to Palestinian efforts for international recognition.

Interpol announced the inclusion of the “State of Palestine” as well as the Solomon Islands on Twitter and its website Wednesday after a vote by its general assembly in Beijing.

With the new votes, Interpol will have 192 member countries. Interpol didn’t immediately announce how many members supported Palestinian membership. UNESCO also approved Palestinian membership, prompting the U.S. and Israel to suspend funding out of protest.

Interpol, based in Lyon, France, is an international clearinghouse for arrest warrants and police cooperation against cross-border crime.

Terrorism is an international crime. Does it make sense to bring an entity that sponsors and encourages terrorism into an international body that is supposed to find and detain criminals? Should we invite the Taliban to join Interpol?

This Will Not Help The Peace Process

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CBN News is reporting today that the Vatican has officially recognized a Palestinian state. The leaders of Palestine have assumed that this means Israel will go back to the 1967 borders and that Jerusalem will be the capital of the new state. This is not a recipe for peace. Nations of the world have poured billions of dollars into the West Bank, one area the Palestinians are claiming for their new state. The current government of Palestine has used that money to buy weapons and build tunnels to attack Israel. The current government of Palestine has also refused to acknowledge that Israel has the right to exist. This is not a recipe for peace.

The article reports:

“Formal Vatican recognition of Palestine, a state that, in reality, does not yet exist, is a regrettable move and is counterproductive to all who seek true peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” AJC (American Jewish Committee) Executive Director David Harris said.

“There is a reason why the U.S., the European Union and others have long agreed that statehood can only be achieved through direct, bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” he continued.

“Meanwhile, the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] is ruled by the Palestinian Authority, whose leader, Mahmoud Abbas, just marked the tenth anniversary of what was meant to be a four-year term, and Gaza is governed by Hamas, a terror organization. What and where exactly is the ‘State of Palestine’ today?” Harris queried.

“We are fully cognizant of the Pope’s good will and desire to be a voice for peaceful coexistence, which is best served, we believe, by encouraging a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, rather than unilateral gestures outside the framework of the negotiating table,” Harris concluded.

This is not a recipe for peace. It is encouraging a non-democratic government that supports terrorism in its quest to wipe out Israel.

Foreign Policy Driven By Petulance

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CBN News is reporting today that because of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s victory in Israel’s election, President Obama may stop American opposition to the United Nation‘s imposing a two-state solution on Israel. First of all, let’s look at this logically. When Israel turned over the West Bank to the Arabs, what did they get? They got suicide bombers and rocket attacks coming from the area. When the Arabs took over the land, the first thing they did was destroy the greenhouses that would have provided employment and a source of income. The money coming into the area from foreign countries was not spent on infrastructure–it was used to buy weapons and build tunnels to attack Israel. Why in the world would anyone want to give terrorists more land?

The article at CBN reports:

The prime minister’s acceptance of two states has always been based on the Palestinians‘ recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, secure borders for Israel, and keeping Jerusalem the united capital of Israel. All three conditions were rejected by Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

The administration is also hinting it may support the Palestinian Authority‘s petition to the U.N. Security Council on the unilateral establishment of a state.

“Our position in support of a two-state solution is very clear. Only a two-state solution that results in a secure Israel alongside a sovereign and independent Palestine can bring lasting peace and stability to both people,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.

“Of course, we will continue to pursue this goal with the new Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority,” he added.

The notion of a Palestinian state next door to Israel troubles many Israelis after all of the terrorist attacks they’ve faced in recent years from Islamic fighters.

If the United States and the United Nations do support such a deal, that could mean still more tension between the Jewish state and much of the rest of the world.

This is a total turnaround from previous American foreign policy. The Arabs do not want a two-state solution–they want to drive Israel into the sea and kill all the Jews. That is not something America should be supporting.

We need to remember that the Bible says that he who blesses Israel will be blessed and he who curses Israel will be cursed. The Obama Administration is about to put America in mortal danger.

Because Land For Peace Has Worked So Well In The Past…

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President Obama is scheduled to visit Israel this month. Those of us who support Israel and her right to exist had hoped that the President would bring an olive branch to make peace after his anti-Israel actions and cabinet appointments. Unfortunately, those hopes have no relationship to reality.

Arutz Sheva reported today that the reason for President Obama’s trip to Israel might have more to do with setting a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. This information is based on an unconfirmed report by World Tribune.

The article at Arutz Sheva reports:

According to the report, Obama, who is scheduled to arrive in Israel on March 20, wants Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to present him with a detailed Israeli withdrawal plan during his visit to Israel. The sources said the Israeli plan “would be considered in what could be an imminent U.S. initiative to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank in 2014.”

 “Obama has made it clear to Netanyahu that his visit is not about photo-ops, but the business of Iran and a Palestinian state,” a source said. “The implication is that if Israel won’t give him something he can work with, then he’ll act on his own.”

Bad things happen to America when we pressure Israel to do things against their national interest. Giving up Judea and Samaria is definitely not in Israel’s best interest. This is Biblical land that is sacred to the Jews (and to Christians).  Based on the state that now exists in Gaza, Israel should not give up any land until the Palestinians prove that they can establish a state that is not a threat to the existence of Israel and that they are willing to provide the infrastructure a state needs. Giving more land to the Palestinians in their present form would be like giving a fourteen-year-old boy a driver’s license and a Lamborghini–it might be fun for the first thirty seconds, but it would go downhill quickly.

President Obama is not a friend of Israel.

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Why The Two-State Solution Will Not Work

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Arutz Sheva posted an article regarding a speech PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas gave today when he returned to Ramallah after the United Nations granted Palestine status as a nonmember observer state.

The article quoted the speech:

“We were threatened with punishment and sanctions from various sides,” Abbas continued, in a reference to attempts by the United States and Israel to dissuade him from proceeding with the application.

“And if we had listened to those threats we wouldn’t have gone to the U.N.

“One day, a young Palestinian will raise the Palestinian flag over Jerusalem,” he vowed, “the eternal capital of the state of Palestine!”

There was a time when some people believed in a two-state solution. There are some people that still do. The problem is that the Palestinians believe in a one-state solution–they want Israel destroyed. You cannot make peace with people who want to destroy you.

This is the equivalent of living next to a neighbor who keeps threatening to kill your family and take over your house. The appropriate behavior would be to notify the authorities, get a restraining order, and arrest the man if he sets foot on your property. Unfortunately, Israel is the only country taking the neighbor’s threats seriously.

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I Realize That This Is A Politically Incorrect Idea–But It Is True

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Yesterday the Jerusalem Post posted an article with the headline, “There is no such thing as a two-state solution.” Unfortunately, based on the history of the past 60+ years, that is true. The article was written by Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois.

The article states:

It is time to let go of the two-state solution insanity and adopt the only solution that will bring true peace to the Middle East – a single Israeli state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Israel is the only country in the region dedicated to peace and the only power capable of stable, just and democratic government in the region.

This solution is the best one for everyone, especially the Palestinians. They will trade their two corrupt and inept governments and societies for a stable, free and prosperous one. Those Palestinians that wish to may leave their Fatah and Hamas-created slums and move to the original Palestinian state – Jordan. The British Mandate for Palestine created Jordan as the country for the Palestinians. It was the only justification for its creation. Even now, 75 percent of its population is of Palestinian descent. Those Palestinians that remain behind in Israel will maintain limited voting power, but will be awarded all the economic and civil rights of Israeli citizens. They will be free to raise a family, start a business and live in peace, all of which are impossible under Arab rule.

It is telling that Israel, despite being a ‘Jewish state,’ is the only country in the Middle East that allows Christians, Jews, and Muslims to live together without being discriminated against by the government.

If the goal is peace, Israel has to have the right to exist. The countries whose sole purpose is to destroy Israel need to be denied access to American foreign aid money and allowed to go bankrupt. The people in those countries need to have the opportunity to prosper–either in Israel or Jordan–not in a terrorist state with no purpose other than terrorism.

 

 

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Be Careful Who You Believe When You Look For Fact-Checkers

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"The Honorable Rick Perry (front right), ...

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Yesterday John Hinderaker at Power Line posted an article about Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post, a liberal reporter who now claims to be The Fact-Checker, and his fact checking of a recent Rick Perry speech. When asked whether there should be a Palestinian state, Rick Perry called for Palestine to denounce terrorism and to require that any Palestinian state be required to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist. Sounds pretty basic to me.

The Fact-Checker replied:

As part of the 1993 Oslo accords, in an exchange of letters between then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the Palestine Liberation Organization met all of these conditions nearly 20 years ago. The letters are posted on the Web site of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Really? Is Mr. Kessler familiar with the term ‘Intifada?’ Mr. Hinderaker points out that Palestinian children are taught that Jews have no right to be in Palestine and the maps shown to these children show Palestine as including all of present-day Israel.

The article at Power Line concludes:

One last thing: Kessler thinks that Israel has nothing to fear because of a twenty-year-old letter from a dead terrorist. What is the PA’s real intention, as of today? Look no farther than this: as Scott reported earlier today, “Palestine” is represented in the United Nations by the heroine Latifa Abu Hmeid. What is her claim to fame? She is the mother of no fewer than four terrorist murderers, who together are serving a total of 18 life sentences. Is Rick Perry’s concern about whether the Palestinians and their leaders are really reconciled to the existence of Israel unfounded? Let’s be blunt: Glenn Kessler either is woefully ignorant of Middle Eastern history, or he is deliberately misleading his readers.

Palestine does not want a two-state solution–they want a one-state solution with Palestine as the state. Creating a Palestinian state at this time under the current Palestinian culture would be a recipe for war–not peace. Until the schools stop teaching hate and the state stops honoring terrorists and terrorism, we need to make sure Israel is armed to the teeth. That is the path to peace in the Middle East. A weak Israel is an easy target.

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Legitimizing AntiSemitism

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Street in Jerusalem Old City

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I expect that sometime in the next few days, the United Nations will vote on whether or not to recognize a Palestinian State. There has never been a state of Palestine, although Jordan was originally established as a home for Palestinians, but the United Nations will be voting on one shortly. What would that state look like?

Haaretz reported on September 14th that:

Answering a question about the legal status of a Jewish minority in the future state, Areikat apprently rejected the issue, saying: “I believe, I still believe that as a first step we need to be totally separated,” adding “I think we can contemplate these issues in the future.”

“After the experience of the last 44 years, of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it will be in the best interest that the two peoples should be separated,” Areikat added. 

USA Today reported on September 15th:

Habbash’s comments come after the ambassador for the Palestine Liberation Organization to the United States, Maen Areikat, said when asked Tuesday whether he could foresee a Jew being elected mayor of Ramallah, the capital of the West Bank: “I personally still believe that as a first step we need to be totally separated, and we can contemplate these issues in the future.”

Areikat, speaking at a breakfast for reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, continued: “After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated first.”

These statements have been walked back slightly, but I believe the original statements are probably the truth. I would like to remind anyone too young to remember that prior to 1967, when the Arabs controlled the Old City of Jerusalem that Christians and Jews did not have access to their holy sites. In recent years, the Jews have controlled the Old City, and the area is open to people of all faiths. It seems to me that history tells us what a Palestinian state would be like.

There seems to be an effort on the part of some Palestinians to claim that Palestine would be a peaceful, equal-opportunity state. USA Today reports:

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have called for a secular, pluralistic Palestinian state, says Hussein Ibish of the American Task Force on Palestine, which advocates a non-militarized Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The article in USA Today further reports:

Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, said he read Areikat’s comments to mean a ban on Jews.

“That’s the state that the Palestinians want to declare unilaterally, without negotiations, and have recognized by the U.N.,” Oren said

I think I agree with Michael Oren. I have a hard time believing that the large number of weapons currently being smuggled into the West Bank are for peaceful purposes.

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Disturbing Quotes From The Middle East

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TEHRAN. With the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ah...

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On Friday, the Seattle Post Intelligencer reported that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, publicly stated that when the state of Palestine is created, there will no longer be room for Israel in the Middle East.

The article reports:

“Do not assume you will be boosted with a (U.N.) recognition of a Palestinian state,” Ahmadinejad said, addressing Israel. “There is no room for you in the region.”

I don’t know what it will take for the world to realize the peril that Israel is in, or possibly for the world to care about the peril Israel is in, but comments like this do not foster the growth of peace in the region.

President Ahmadinejad’s remarks were made at a Tehran ceremony marking Quds Day. Quds is the Arabic word for Jerusalem.

The article also reported:

Tens of thousands attended the Quds Day rally in Tehran. State TV said millions of Iranians participated in the rallies in cities and towns across Iran.

There is something to remember here. Because of the prolonged war that went on between Iran and Iraq, more than two-thirds of the population of Iran is under the age of 30. A large portion of that population is pro-western and resents the restrictions the ayatollahs have put upon them. Demonstrators are often paid by the government or told to show up, they are rarely spontaneous. After the Iranian revolution, the changes began slowly–first requiring women teachers in universities to wear the hijab, later barring women from teaching at all. The hope of peace in the Middle East is the overthrow of the current Iranian regime–they are the prime sponsor and financier of terrorism around the world. Unless that regime is overthrown, we can expect to see the regime continue its attempt to create the worldwide caliphate it has been talking about since 1979.

 

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The Law Of Unintended Consequences At Work

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CNS News reported today on some of the unintended consequences of the Palestinian Authority’s decision to go to the United Nations next month and ask to be recognized as a state. The article points out that since 1975 the United Nations has recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.” If the United Nations recognizes the Palestinian Authority as a state, the Palestinians’ representation will change from the PLO to a “state of Palestine.” All Palestinians living outside the boundaries of the “state of Palestine” will no longer be represented at the United Nations.

The article further points out:

Goodwin-Gill  (Oxford University professor of public international law Guy Goodwin-Gill, an expert on refugee issues) also cited problems relating to the ability of the P.A. to assume greater powers. (Established under the Oslo Accords as an interim body to administer the self-rule areas, the P.A. is not empowered to conduct foreign affairs, a role that was left to the PLO.)

The academic said in the brief that the P.A. is a subsidiary entity set up by the PLO with “limited legislative and executive competence, limited territorial jurisdiction, and limited personal jurisdiction over Palestinians not present in the areas for which it has been accorded responsibility.”

There is another issue–Palestinian representation in Washington, D.C. The article points out:

The PLO has been permitted to maintain an office in Washington since 1994. Because of the PLO’s long history of involvement in terrorism, presidential waivers have been required by law every six months to allow its continued operation.

“Would that waiver henceforth be permitted, or be exercised?” Abrams wondered. “But if the PLO office is closed, would the United States accredit an embassy for the State of Palestine? Obviously not, as it would be the American position that there is no State of Palestine, not yet anyway.”

I don’t support a Palestinian state until the Palestinians agree to the existence of Israel. I also don’t believe that the Palestinians are entitled to any part of Jerusalem–Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel since King David–it should not be given away. The difficulties in creating a Palestinian state show that the idea has not been well thought out and might have results that are not good for anyone.

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