Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reply on the subject of new construction of Jewish homes in East Jerusalem, the largely Arab section of Jerusalem annexed by Israel during the 1967 war, made his position on the matter quite clear: “Jews have built their homes in Jerusalem for centuries and will continue.” Its too bad that the Palestinians have been building their homes in Jerusalem for centuries as well. I guess somewhere along the lines of history the deed for Jerusalem got lost. Luckily enough though, it seems that the Israelis found it, and a few eviction notices as well, sorry Palestinians.
Israeli settlements in Palestinian lands have always been a heated issue, but expansion into East Jerusalem has Palestinians particularly enraged because they claim Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The Palestinians have been trying to halt construction in East Jerusalem in efforts to resume Peace Talks with Israel, a position mirrored by the Obama administration. In spite of this, prime minister Netanyahu remains adamant as ever stating that halting construction, “will serve only to delay peace talks further.” In reality halting construction would do the exact opposite, it would be a sign of Israel’s willingness to restore, or better yet, create peace in a region that has been wracked with conflict since its inception.
The Israeli prime minister’s remarks are nothing new to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been consistently characterized by Israel’s resilience to concede to any Palestinian requests. Not only this, but new construction in East Jerusalem completely violates the 10-month moratorium on construction in the occupied territories. Israel claims that their plans for construction are still valid because Jerusalem is their capital and does not fall under the same category as Gaza and the West Bank. While the fact that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel is true enough, there still remains the fact that the disputed part of Jerusalem that construction is to begin is in East Jerusalem, the occupied portion taken by Israel after the 1967 War and then annexed which has never been internationally recognized. So while there may be, as Netanyahu says, a consensus in Israel that Jerusalem will always be apart of Israel, the international community sees Israel’s actions as a direct violation of International Law, as well as a violation of the countries own policies (the 10 month suspension of construction in occupied territories).
Netanyahu’s claim that suspending construction in East Jerusalem will delay the peace talks another year is not a statement of fact, or even the warning of a country attempting to reach peace sooner, it is a threat. Netanyahu’s warning has no factual backing, there is no legitimate reason that peace talks would be delayed even further if construction was halted. The prime minister’s warning is instead a threat to the Palestinians as well as the international community that if they must concede to the demands of the Palestinians that they will not resume peace talks for another year. It seems that one year is how long it would take Israel’s ego to recover from such a stunning blow from the international community; how dare they demand that Israel keeps its word and keep from doing the very actions that would destroy any notion of peace in the region.
So instead of maintaining the status quo, instead of continuing the behaviors that have clearly done everything but bring peace between Israel and Palestine, I suggest a new course for Israel to take: Halt the construction in East Jerusalem. Not only will this halt of construction stop Israel form violating international law as well as the country’s own declarations of a moratorium on construction in the occupied territories, but is will demonstrate a new attitude towards peace negotiations on Israel’s behalf, an attitude that Israel wants peace. Instead of provoking retaliation attacks from militants in Palestine, Israel would show a sign of good faith, that they are willing to meet the Palestinians half way in the quest for peace in the region instead of threatening to delay peace even further.
I think you (in addition to the mainstream media) are blowing the entire issue out of proportion.
ReplyDeleteFor one, Israel still has ownership of the land, and while Palestinians may live in Israel's land, it is still rightfully theirs.
Secondly, they are not killing Palestinians in the area, but rather simply constructing buildings. I think that significantly pales in comparison to the constant terrorist attacks the Palestinians bring about on Israelis on a daily basis.
Also, the last time I checked, the Palestinians still have no country, and until they have a unified government, that country is still a farfetched dream. A country that does not exist has no right to dispute a REAL country's right to build on their own land.
And please don't play the "they're breaking international law by building on occupied territory" card. If we're talking about breaking international law, Palestinian terrorism is probably at the top of the list, and you don't see the UN doing anything about that.
Once the terrorism stops, the peace talks will begin. Unfortunately, the Islamic extremists are ruining their chances at peace by carrying out terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli civilians and subsequently angering Israeli officials.
On the subject of establishing peace between Israel and the rest of the Middle East there is no "blowing out of proportion."
ReplyDeleteFor one, Israel does not have ownership of the land, nor have they ever. The section of East Jerusalem they plan to build in was not in the boundaries of Israel as set up in 1948. While Israeli officials think that they have a 'right' to East Jerusalem, they do not. The land is not theirs.
Secondly they are not 'simply' constructing buildings. They have already evicted the entire Arab neighborhood that lived in the proposed building area last year. Where can you find those Palestinians now? In refugee camps. Where does the training and recruiting for militant extremists occur? In refugee camps. So does Israeli construction in Palestine hurt peace? Most definitely.
As for Palestine not being a country or having a unified government I can only think of the Bushman of South Africa. I guess Apartheid had it right all along, huh?
This blog and my own personal views are dedicated to bringing about an end to terrorism. In no way do I sympathize with terrorism or the ideals that lead to terrorism. However, Israel's actions are creating a situation that in essence fosters terrorism and terrorist retaliations from Palestinian militants.
I am led to believe that Mr. Netanyahu's motivations and interests may lie in other places than the possibility of peace. He may be getting some kind of a kickback or economic incentive to continue the construction...or even if it is not him personally, the interests of some of his biggest and most important supporters may be for the construction. Halting construction may improve peace talks, but that may not be as important to Netanyahu as some other things.
ReplyDelete