This appeared here and my thanks to Alan for his permission to post his work. RK
The right of Israel to exist as a
nation was officially recognized by the United Nations on November 29, 1947 when
it adopted Resolution 181 favoring the partition of the area claimed by the
Zionist movement. The resident Arabs refused to accept the land set
aside for a "Palestinian" state.
The British “mandate” of the
area dated from the Versailles Treaty in 1919. Previously the Balfour
Declaration was issued by the British government, favoring the establishment of
a Jewish national home in what was then referred to as Palestine.
In 1946 following World War Two and
in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust that killed six million Jews in
Europe President Truman announced his support for the creation of a Jewish
state. Throughout 1947 the United Nations Special Commission on Palestine had
examined the issues involved and recommended the partition of Palestine into a
Jewish and an Arab state.
The Arabs, then and now never ceased
to oppose the existence of a Jewish state. To have a state of their own would
require acknowledging Israel and that is why, to this day, there is no
Palestinian state, nor ever was one.
In the
wake of several Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire, Emperor Hadrian changed
the name of Judea, Samaria and the Galilea to “Syria Palaestina” and the name of
Jerusalem to “Aelia Capitolina.” The name change did nothing to eliminate Israel
whose restoration remained an active dream for two millennia.
Now, having refused to come to any
agreement with Israel despite years of negotiations and the Israeli withdrawal
from Gaza to give the Palestinians living space in addition to an area in the
West Bank, the Arab League is turning to the United Nations.
In the years since the 1947 resolution the U.N. has long engaged in anti-Israel activities. As Anne Bayefsky wrote in the Jerusalem Post, “From November 24, 2014 until December 5, 2014, the UN human rights headquarters in Geneva mounted a public exhibit that was pure incitement. UN-driven anti-Semitism that takes the form of seeking to demonize, disable and ultimately destroy the Jewish state.”
In the years since the 1947 resolution the U.N. has long engaged in anti-Israel activities. As Anne Bayefsky wrote in the Jerusalem Post, “From November 24, 2014 until December 5, 2014, the UN human rights headquarters in Geneva mounted a public exhibit that was pure incitement. UN-driven anti-Semitism that takes the form of seeking to demonize, disable and ultimately destroy the Jewish state.”
“The exhibit was entitled: ‘La Nakba:
Exode et Expulsion des Palestinians en 1948’ or ‘The Nakba: Exodus and Explusion
of the Palestinians in 1948.’ The
occasion was the annual UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Solidarity Day marks the adoption by
the General Assembly on November 29, 1947 of the resolution that approved the
partitioning of Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state.” It was rejected by
Arab states. “Thus,” wrote Ms. Bayefsky, “the Arab war to deny Israel’s right to
exist began.”
The day following the Fatah (formerly
the Palestinian Liberation Organization) announcement of its intent to seek a
U.N. resolution, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with a delegation from
the Arab League to discuss the resolution that sets a timeline for an Israeli
withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders.
Indeed, they want to declare East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and want
the assurance that “refugees” could “return”. The Obama administration has been
the first to break with the long tradition of good will and solidarity that
has existed between the U.S. and Israel.
As Rabbi
Aryah Spero noted in a December 17 CNS News commentary, “Despite the
partnership between the terrorist organizations Hamas and Fatah (the new name
for Arafat’s PLO) some European nations are demanding that Israel immediately
accede to the Hamas/Fatah demands or they will proceed in the U.N. to declare a
Palestinian State and impose on Israel conditions that will not only strip her
of her capital, Jerusalem, but place Israelis in instant jeopardy from rockets
launched against her from this newly declared state abutting Israel. Like Gaza
before, this newest Palestinian state will become a terrorist state and a proxy
of Iran.”
European anti-Semitism is steeped in
centuries of enmity and it is reasserting itself again within the living memory
of the Nazi Holocaust that sought to kill every Jew in Europe. U.S. pressure is
a major departure from decades of support for Israel. At the same time President
Obama has lifted sanctions against Iran, giving it more time to develop nuclear
weapons he has been threatening sanctions against Israel if it continues to
permit the construction of housing in Jerusalem.
The Arab demand that it is the heir
to “Palestine” and that Jerusalem is a holy city is absurd. As Rabbi Spero
notes, “Unlike the Jewish Bible that mentions Jerusalem over 700 times, the
Koran never mentions Jerusalem, even once. Jerusalem is simply a location they
conquered and has become, as with other places, a symbol of Islamic power and
control over Judaism and Christianity.” By this thinking, the Arabs should
demand the return of Spain which they had also
conquered.
In sum, the Arab League, Europe,
and Obama's U.S. policy want Israel to accept terms that amount to suicide.
That is not going to happen. The
months and years ahead will be no less filled with the kind of turmoil and
threats that Israel has lived with since it declared its independence in 1948. A
world that turns its back on Israel is asking for its own apocalyptic
destruction.
© Alan Caruba, 2014
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