Posturing for the next round of elections, Israel’s two major candidates, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz are both talking up plans to annex pieces of the occupied West Bank if elected. It seems no matter who wins the vote, some annexations will happen.
Gantz is pushing the idea of annexing the Jordan Valley, the southern part of the West Bank. He says it is the eastern defensive barrier in any future conflict. The Jordan Valley borders Jordan, a nation nominally on good terms with Israel.
Netanyahu also wants to annex Jordan Valley, and much more. He says if he is elected, he will annex all settlements in the West Bank “without exception.” This would be a large portion of the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu is also trying to portray Gantz as a “left-wing” leader for not wanting to annex more. He accused Arab MPs of having stopped Gantz from supporting an immediate annexation of the Jordan Valley.
After President Trump officially endorsed Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights last year, Israeli officials have been eager to annex more, apparently believing that Trump will not object.
The Likud can annex all they want, but the sole internationaly recognized boundries remain those detailed in UNR 181.
The Likud can either realize they have led Israel into a dead end with no exit or they can finally make peace based on the UNR181 boundries.
“Internationally recognized” means squat in this instance. It doesn’t matter in Crimea, and it doesn’t matter here. All the major powers would have to turn against Israel. Sadly, this is far from being the case.
LOL – so you think there should be a UN monitored plebesite one-man one-vote of all residents and refugees of the area in question ?
Suppose that back in 1948 I offered to sell my house to Mr. Jones for $7,500, but Mr. Jones wasn’t interested. Suppose that Mr. Jones has now changed his mind & wants to buy my house. Am I really obligated to sell him my house for $7,500?
The Likud can keep telling themselves this fairy tale, but the simple fact is 181 remains the borders. Everything else is a cease fire line.
US General Assembly resolutions are not binding.
LOL – keep telling yourself that, perhaps one day you might even believe it
On Dec. 2, 1947, just days after the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to partition historic Palestine into Jewish and Arab-ruled sections, the Ulama or chief scholars of Sunni Islam of Al-Azhar University in Cairo– the leading university of the Arab World– issued a fatwa calling on the world’s Muslims to launch a Jihad to destroy the incipient Jewish state. It was reiterated by the Ulama, in April 1948, days before the Egyptian Army and three other Arab armies attacked Palestine, giving the campaign a “religious imprimatur.” The fatwa was reissued later that year.
“It was clear the Arabs had lost the war,” Morris said, but reissuing the Fatwa signaled it was meant “to stand for future years, for future generations, for whatever bout there will be against the Jews.”
As noted in his book and repeated at the conference, Matiel Mighannam, a Lebanese Christian woman who headed the Arab Women’s Organization in Palestine, affiliated with the Arab High Command, told an interviewer: “The UN decision has united all Arabs as they have never been united before, not even against the Crusaders.” She added that a Jewish state had no chance to survive and “All the Jews will eventually be massacred.”
http://www.theseniortimes.com/1948-was-a-holy-war-for-arabs-historian-says/nd
As long as most Palestinians are devout Muslims (85% of Palestinian Muslims want sharia law.) and as long as the Jewish State controls even one square inch of land, peace is impossible.
40% of Palestinians are Christian.
As of 2015, Palestinian Christians comprise approximately 1–2.5% of the population of the West Bank, and less than 1% in the Gaza Strip.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Christians
You suggesting the Likud ethically cleaned the Christians ?
No. Israel is the only country in the Middle East whose Christian population is increasing.
Christians flee PA oppression’
Islam expert Dr. Ephraim Herrera explains how Christians went from 85% of Bethlehem’s population before Oslo to under 10% today.
http://israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/243764
what’s amazing is how the Likud lies
Sooner or later, Russia and/or China will drag this annexation (outright theft) business into the UN. And, then, sooner or later, Israel will get its knuckles rapped.
I’m not sure Russia and China really want that much to talk about Crimea and Tibet at the UN.
I may not know much about China/Tibet, but I do know about Russia/Crimea (because it just happened a few years ago). the Ukraine (thanks to our crazy State Dept.) underwent an illegal coup – and the Western-backed winners went after the ethnic Russians living in Eastern Ukraine – these people (including Crimea) practically begged Russia to take them back. This is not equivalent to the actions of Israel and its Nazi-like “settlers”.
I didn’t say it was equivalent. I said I suspect Russia would rather not talk about it at the UN.
Either Russia or China could drag Israel/America into the UN as a result of some crazy Israeli move to totally expel the indigenous Palestinians in order to give the “settlers” bigger free estates. This would (will) be classic genocide – and either Russia or China would stand to gain the gratitude of a billion Muslims, at the minor loss of a few hundred thousand Zionist Jews, who probably don’t like them anyway. In the face of a NAZI like land theft reminiscent of Czechoslovakia, Crimea would be very small beer. So, why wouldn’t they?
“So, why wouldn’t they?”
I don’t know if they will or not. The reason why they wouldn’t is that they have no standing to complain about annexations and know that will be pointed out.
Neither, of course, does the US regime have any standing to complain about annexations. But it’s too over-confident in itself to understand that, so always feel free to complain about others doing the same things it’s done.
Mr. Knapp,
May I point out that no other country had the right to interfere in the old Union of South Africa and their internal apartheid regime, but virtually every country did. In fact, one of the last decent acts of the UK was to lead the charge. Also, the UN is on record condemning Israel’s brutality.
You can point out anything you like. You’re talking about right versus wrong. I’m talking about what a couple of governments do or don’t want discussed.
Self-defense is brutal. It involves killing & wounding. The UN should condemn the people attacking Israel. If they weren’t attacking Israel, then Israel wouldn’t need to defend itself.
Oh baloney – Israel was the aggressor in the 1967 War and you know that.
Israel did not start the Six Day War. The Six Day War was just a continuation of the 1956 war which was just a continuation of the 1948 war. Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1956 with the proviso that the Straits of Tiran remain open to Israel.
Nasser closed the Straits violating the cease fire.
If Israel had sent a ship through the Straits, Egypt would have fired on the ship. Israel would then have attacked Egyptian artillery. War.
“Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight . . .– Nasser, May 27, 1967
“We will not accept any … coexistence with Israel. … Today the issue is not the establishment of peace between the Arab states and Israel …. The war with Israel is in effect since 1948.” – Nasser, May 28, 1967
“The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel . . . . to face the challenge, while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived. We have reached the stage of serious action and not declarations.” – Nasser, May, 30, 1967 after signing a defense pact with Jordan’s King Hussein
“We are now ready to confront Israel …. The issue now at hand is not the Gulf of Aqaba, the Straits of Tiran, or the withdrawal of UNEF, but the … aggression which took place in Palestine … with the collaboration of Britain and the United States.” – Nasser, June 2, 1967
“With the closing of the Straits [of Tiran], Israel faces two possibilities, both of which are blood-soaked: either it will die by strangulation in the wake of the Arab military and economic blockade, or it will die by shooting from the Arab forces surrounding it in the south, north and east.”
– Egyptian government broadcast
(Radio Cairo, May 27, 1967; quoted in Moshe Shemesh, “Did Shuqayri Call For ‘Throwing the Jews into the Sea?” Israel Studies, Summer 2003, p. 79)
Nazi-like “settlers”??
Show me the crematoria, the labor camps, the gas chambers. Show me the medical “experiments” performed on “Palestinians”, and show me the gold teeth extracted from the corpses’ mouths
This annexation talk is a good thing. It makes inevitable the only remaining solution, one state with equal rights. Maybe it would no longer be Jewish, but they do it to themselves, their own choice.
??? The Israelis will gladly expel the Arab population there and annex the entire West Bank whenever a good opportunity presents itself. Maybe Gaza too.
It would be 1948 2.0.
The Arabs ethnically cleansed the West Bank, Gaza & East Jerusalem of EVERY Jew. Israel could have done the same to the Arabs in Israel, but it didn’t. There are 1.8 million Arabs living in Israel today.
http://www.tellthechildrenthetruth.com/amin_en.html
Israel is multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-confessional, multi-lingual liberal democracy.
Well, it’s all of those except the last one. It’s an authoritarian garrison state dedicated to making sure all the previous “multis” are kept in their place except for one. On the “democracy” scale, it’s certainly not as bad as Saudi Arabia, but it’s not noticeably better than Iran.
Israel was ranked 30 out of 167 on The Economist’s Democracy Index. That’s better than Belgium, Greece, Cyprus & at least a dozen other European countries. Israel has maintained democracy even though it’s been under continual attack. By contrast, we Americans locked American citizens of Japanese descent in concentration camps during world war 2 & we confiscated Joe DiMaggio’s father’s fishing boat because he was of Italian descent.
The highest Arab state is Tunisia which is ranked 69. Palestine is 109, Libya 154, Sudan 155, Yemen 158, Saudi Arabia 159, Algeria 126, Egypt 127, Qatar 133, Oman 140, United Arab Emirates 147, Bahrain 148, Morocco 100, Lebanon 106, Iraq 114, Jordan 115, Kuwait 116, Comoros 121, Mauritania 119, Djibouti 146, Syria 166. Iran 150.
Some liberal democracy:
Israel passed a controversial new “nation-state law” last week that’s sparking both celebration and fierce debate over the very nature of Israel itself.
The law does three big things:
It states that “the right to exercise national self-determination” in Israel is “unique to the Jewish people.”
It establishes Hebrew as Israel’s official language, and downgrades Arabic — a language widely spoken by Arab Israelis — to a “special status.”
It establishes “Jewish settlement as a national value” and mandates that the state “will labor to encourage and promote its establishment and development.”
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/31/17623978/israel-jewish-nation-state-law-bill-explained-apartheid-netanyahu-democracy
Name even one country whose minority has the right of self-determination.
“A liberal democracy may take various constitutional forms as it may be a constitutional monarchy (such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom) or a republic (such as France, Germany, Poland, India, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, and the United States). It may have a parliamentary system (such as Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Israel, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom), a presidential system (such as Indonesia and the United States) or a semi-presidential system (such as France, Poland and Romania).”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_democracy
Notice that Israel is considered a liberal democracy.
Also notice that Denmark, which has an official language, is also considered a liberal democracy.
Also France, Germany, Poland, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Indonesia,…have official languages.
Name another liberal democracy that has a “nation state law” that says only a certain segment of their society has the right of self determination.
If giving minorities the right of self-determination is necessary to be considered a liberal democracy, then there are no liberal democracies because no country gives its minorities the right of self-determination.
What do you mean by “self-determination?”
In the US, several minorities exercise forms of “self-determination.” For example, Native American tribes rule their reservations to a considerable degree, native Hawaiians are pursuing their own government under procedure outlined by the US Department of the Interior, and some religious groups — including Orthodox Jews — are allowed to have their religious customs pre-empt and supersede certain laws (e.g. divorce).
What do you mean by “self-determination?”
In the US, several minorities exercise forms of “self-determination.” For example, Native American tribes rule their reservations to a considerable degree, native Hawaiians are pursuing their own government under procedure outlined by the US Department of the Interior, and some religious groups — including Orthodox Jews — are allowed to have their religious customs pre-empt and supersede certain laws (e.g. divorce).
What do you mean by “self-determination?”
In the US, several minorities exercise forms of “self-determination.” For example, Native American tribes rule their reservations to a considerable degree, native Hawaiians are pursuing their own government under procedure outlined by the US Department of the Interior, and some religious groups — including Orthodox Jews — are allowed to have their religious customs pre-empt and supersede certain laws (e.g. divorce).
Didn’t answer my question.
**
All of those plus genocidal.
To quote Lord Helmet: Now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.
Analyzer – the advantage that evil has is its willingness to lie, whereas, good hurts its own cause by its discomfort to use lies.