Jordan's King Abdullah II Offers Help in Peace Process

Nadene Goldfoot
King Abdullah II  of Jordan is working with European countries to get negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel back on track.  He said that "Settlements are eating up all of Palestinian lands!

Is he talking about land thought about for a Palestine state way back in 1948 when Arafat was offered the chance to have his own stateand refused it?  Is this the land that has been repeatedly offered by Israel through left and right governments with negotiations, of course ever since then and refused by Arafat and now Abbas?    Is this the same land that Abbas wants with conditions going his way first before he will deem himself to sit down in the presence of Netanyahu?

Is this part of the land that was planned originally for the Jewish Homeland after World War I with all the nations of the world in agreement?

This is the same land that Jordan stole after being rewarded with Transjordan?   In 1948 they just helped themselves to the Jewish Homeland in an aggressive action and took Judea and Samaria  along with east Jerusalem.  The Jews wound up with only 20% of the original Homeland promised not only by Britain but by all the nations at the San Remo Conference.

Palestinians were Jews and Arabs, so evidently "Palestinian land" should include Jews as well, since there was no state of Palestine ever.  It was simply the name of the former land of Judah and Israel.    We can blame the Romans for giving it that name in 135 CE when Judah lost the last battle in which Bar Kokhba made a last stand against Rome after they burned Jerusalem in 70 CE.

For 64+ years Israel has waited and offered  peace but instead have received mortars, rockets and missiles from people who had a chance for peace and their own state.  For every rocket hitting Israel, Israel should build another city in this "so called Palestinian land."  For Israelis  haven't built pioneer settlements and stockade but cities; nice sized cities in these past 64 years.  Israel is building in the legitimate area that was cordened off to be a part of Israel.

Israel hasn't remained the size of the original 600,000 in 1948 but have taken in all the Jews from around the world, especially from the Muslim countries who were treated as 2nd class citizens or worse as dhminnis.  France and every other country where anti-Semitism has been blatent have driven Jews back home along with religious Jews who swore never to forget Jerusalem and haven't.   From being treated by religious fanatics as unwanted and unforgiven,  to suffering from pogroms and finally  almost wiped out through a holocaust,  our 6 million are going to fight for their rights as a people.  There are no other people on the face of this earth who have suffered as much as the Jews have and deserve their own home again.  The mirror-image of this is that there are no other people who have offered so much to the world, either.  So go figure that one out; from the 10 Commandments to Nobel prizes to medical discoveries that are beneficial to all.

The only thing that has come out of the Muslim world for Israel is the action and word of wiping Israel off the map.  In fact, who among them even prints Israel on their maps these days?  Israel may only consist of 6 million Jews and are up against a Muslim world of billions, but they are as essential to this world as anyone else and are not about to be wiped  out.  Israel is aware of a people who call out that what Hitler didn't accomplish, they will.

So it's good that King Abdullah b: 1962  sees that the longer the Palestinians hold out for what they  demand  without regard to Israel's legitimate international legal rights and history, the more they are losing land.  His own father, King Hussein,  didn't fare so well when he joined the gang in attacking Israel in 1967.  It was Jordan who lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  After all, Jordan has their own hand's full being a kingship over a big population of Palestinians himself.  His country even fought against them.  Now that he governs so many, he knows that he doesn't want to take anymore into his country. He even has protesters trying to get rid of him in the sweep of the Arab Spring.   He wants them to have their own space, and so does Netanyahu.  I imagine King Adbullah has enjoyed peace between Israel and Jordan since 1967. He has never known war, having been only 5 years old in the last one.

Resource: Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/
http://maurice-ostroff.tripod.com/id350.html San Remo Conference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_of_Jordan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_II_of_Jordan
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/16/world/la-fg-jordan-protests-20121117

Reality About West Bank Towns

Nadene Goldfoot

First of all, "settlements" is such an antiquated term. A few Jews are living in Judea and Samaria, their ancient homeland. To be exact, 393,900 Jews are living in 122 towns or villages. This is only 12% of Judea and Samaria's total population and much less than the over a million Arab population in Israel., for Arabs make up about 20% of Israel. Settlement is such a political word used to make one think that the area is only temporary, used by squatters and is illegal. I won't use it. People should be reminded that this was land talked about in the bible that belonged to the Jews and was only called "West Bank" under Jordan's control.

60% of the Jews live in four towns; Ma'ale Adumin, Betar Illit, Modi'in Illit and Gush Etzion. These are all near the Green Line and the plan is to include them inside the Israel line in any agreement that will create a Palestine. Logistics deem this a sensible thing to do.

The other 40% are scattered in small communities that might have to be evacuated in exchange for peace since "Palestine" is to be Juden free. This would be at the Arab's demands, not Israel's.

Itamar is a village near Shechem, the 4,000 year old Jewish city in the mountains of Shomron " Samaria." This is where the remains of Joseph are entombed. It is also called Nablus by the Arabs. Itamar was created in 1984, so it's now 27 years old. It was named for Aaron's son's. Aaron was Moses's brother who was designated as high priest. Since Itamar is so close to Arabs, they find driving on the road dangerous. Right now they are trying to renovate their library, and need more books. A settlement's last thoughts would be on libaries, and here they are needing to renovate theirs. They have about 120 families. In June of 2002, a mother and her three children were shot and killed by Arab intruders who broke into their home. I, for one, would be most sad to see this community having to disband after all the living and love that this Yishuv have given this place.

Other villages equally important are Bracha, Yitzhar and Elon Moreh which also are nearby Itamar in the Samarian hills.

Israel also had to endure this exchange in 1982 when thousands of Israelis were moved from the Sinai in the Egyptian Peace Treaty. Also, Israel had to move 8,000+ Jews from the Gaza Strip in 2005 hoping that this would affect the Palestinians to negotiate an end to the war. In this case, it only increased attacks on Israel, so it had the opposite affect.

Any construction now going on in Judea-Samaria is inside the borders of established towns. People are only building on a lot next to a home that is empty, which is a normal development.

There have been no new towns built since 1999. The last place that went up was Negahot in the Hebron hills.

Israel has had Judea-Samaria under their control for about 42 years now, ever since 1969's war when Israel was attacked and won. Towns built since then make up less than 1.7% of the territory's area.

Palestinian Arabs had been talking to Israel and the peacemakers for 17 years without thinking of expecting a precondition of a "settlement freeze." Why all of a sudden? When this condition was thrown out on the table, Netanyahu went along with it and froze building for 10 months, the condition he put on the table. Did the Arabs come to terms or talk about peace during that time? No. They wasted it, so in September 2010 construction requests were acted upon. Palestinians had sat on their duff for 9 months, just remembering what was to be in the 10th month. Then, finally, they agreed to have one round of talks but saying they would go home if the freeze was not continued. Prime Minister Netanyahu was ready to freeze construction for another painful 3 months but after talking to the USA, America dropped the idea, which I think was the smart thing to do. That would just give them more ideas of stalllng and gaining time to keep from signing any peace agreement. After All, Netanyahu was chomping at the bit, ready for bear. He had all his points to cover in a row. He's an excellent debator.

I'm really disgusted with newspaper reporters who make out like Israel is screwing up the works by having millions of Jews building "settlements" in the "West Bank." and this is keeping these Palestinians from having a homeland. Not so. I think this is the only issue that they are aware of in the relationship of Israel and "Palestine." Their facts of history and current events are lame.

I would call the Muslims "land hungry". After all, they only have 23 states of their own. Actually, there are 47 states or countries that have 50% and more Muslim population in the world. These so called "Palestinians" are not true Palestinians at all. The "Palestinians" are the people who lived in what was called Palestine before 1948. That included a lot of Jews. My neighbors, the Padrows, had been born in Palestine and came to Portland, Oregon from there. Mimi's parents had an orange grove. Her relatives had a hotel in Tel Aviv. I believe that the riots of 1929 caused them to move to the states. That's when Arabs were slaughtering Jews. Mathew was a dentist and a pharmecist, so he found that he could quickly make a living here. His son, Ben, went on to become at professor at Portland State U. Joan was my best friend and playmate. The Arabs calling themselves Palestinians include Arabs living there also, but most of them came just a little earlier from nearby Arab states looking for work with the new Zionists who were building and creating something out of swamps and deserts. As it turns out, there were very few Arab families living in what became Israel. Their need to be there was to look for work. Jewish people were there to escape from Pogroms and anti-semitism and for religious beliefs.

Judea and Samaria were in the plans to be a part of Israel in the beginning of British thinking after 1917 when it fell to them to administer. After getting the Jewish leaders all stirred up and thinking that they would be given a goodly piece of land for their new country, the British backed off from their promise and whittled down the land to almost nothing. Our Jewish leaders took what they were finally given anyway, needing it as soon as possible. At the same time, the Arabs refused their half, for that was what the whittling was for, and they showed no desire at that time to have a country. So it has been since then.

After many failed attempts to eradicate Israel in the many wars, these "Palestinians" are choosing to fight a different kind of fight along with the regular rockets and missles they bombard Israel with. Wanting a state is now the cry from them.

It would be nice if reporters actually studied the dynamics of the Middle East before they were sent out to write about Israel and Palestine. There's a big picture that they're missing, and so their readers comprehend a very mishapen picture of reality.
Reference: Dr. Mitchell Bard #376 Is Settlement Construction Preventing the Creation of a Palestinian State?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itamar
http://www.shechem.org/itamar/eindex.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_majority_countries
http://www.chabad.org/special/israel/points_of_interest_cdo/aid/588228/jewish/Shechem.htm

Getting to Know you, Oh Future Palestine

Nadene Goldfoot

Like the song goes, "We're getting to know you, getting to know all about you, but.....

Getting to like you, getting to hope you like me,

Getting to feel free and easy..When I am with you.

You are precisely

My cup of tea,

Getting to know what to say...Because of all the beautiful and new Things I'm learning about you

Day by day".

Oscar Hammerstein

Well, we know a lot more about the leadership and how the people think about us and we're not feeling so free and easy; in fact, we don't feel that way at all. The things we're learnings are not so beautiful, either.

Abbas took over from from Arafat in the Fatah terrorist organization. Fatah has changed their tune outwardly but not inwardly. They're still teaching their children that Israel doesn't exist on their maps, and hatred for Israelis still reigns. They wouldn't mind at all if Israel really were wiped off the earth. In fact, they celebrate riotously when Israelis are killed, even celebrating on the anniversary of terrorists deaths who caused the death of Israelis. Israelis wince and wonder how in heaven they can ever become friendly neighbors with such a people.

They want Palestine to be Juden-free; have no Jews or Israelis in their midst. It bothers Israelis in that the state of Israel has over a million Palestinian citizens living with them, and even being a part of the Knessett. Yes, they can vote. So what is happening is that Abbas is even refusing to talk turkey with Israel (come to the peace table to arrive at some decisions). This makes it impossible to think about a peaceful state. After all, Israel was created 62 years ago and nothing like peace has happened with Fatah who now reside in Samaria and Judea. Israelis are also getting tired of waiting. Judea and Samaria fell into Israel's lap after the 67 War when the Muslims lost. Since 1967 the land has just been sitting there and Israel has all sorts of reasons thrown at it for resisting settlement. The time has rolled around and the reasons are there to do so. Israel has had it with 43 years of patience waiting for a peace accord with some decisons.

So, after waiting for 10 months and not building in Samaria and Judea, land that goes back to Israel's biblical days that is extremely important historically as well as geographically, Israel has decided that they have the right to build and carry on with a normal life. They aren't getting any younger. According to the Oregonian article this morning, they are expanding somewhat into territory that would not be part of Israel in a land swap. I see it that there is no land swapping at present, a decision of the Palestinians, and so they are going ahead and doing it. If Fatah wants Israel to stop settlers from straying farther afield, they'll have to sit down with a cup of tea and some bread with salt and talk. Because as the song goes, as time goes by, we are not liking what we see or even hear, and Palestinians still are not doing anything to change their charges to like Israelis. That's not what lovers or even neighbors do.

The one beacon of light that is happening is that a start up business in Israel has found that a Palestinian is nicer to work with than other outsiders. Their thinking in business is similar and this is turning out fantastically. It makes me joyous to read that business is bringing these two opposing people together. Possibly it will be contagious.

Living across the freeway from each other makes us neighbors, and we both want to feel free and easy being we are together this way. Living like the "Hatfields" and the McCoys" is not anyone's idea of living. Now, Fatah will have to convey this to Hamas over in Gaza, as they are a deal-breaker. From what I have been reading, the opposite is happening. Hamas is wielding a lot of influence over the population of Fatah.

Is Israel expected to have to continue living with the anti-social Gazans who want to kill all Israelis? Are they to be a part of "Palestine?" Abbas can't influence them at all. They were driven out of Gaza into Judea and Samaria. So much is left unanswered and must be discussed in any peace discussion.

Resource: http://www.romantic-lyrics.com/lg2.shtml

Oregonian Newspaper 12/25/2010 page A7 With freeze ifted, Israeli settlement building booms

Information from my blogs: http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/, http://israel-nadene.blogspot.com/

International Law Concerning Judea and Samaria

                                                                             

by Nadene Goldfoot

Israel has been through countless wars with the Arabs since 1948 and has won. Now the attack is to cry that Judea and Samaria are settled illegally by Jews. These charges are politically motivated and without foundation in international law. I'm sorry to see that even some Jewish lawyers have been sucked into such propaganda and have become instruments in challenging Israel's right to survive.

Therefore, cities and towns in Judea and Samaria cannot be considered illegal. They cannot be a grave violation of the Geneva Convention and do not constitute a "war crime". This is without legal basis.

A Jewish population inhabiting Judea and Samaria goes back over 3,000 years and has never stopped. Newer ones have been established on previous Jewish sites because of the people's deep historic and religious connection with the land. Israeli communities have been established only after an exhaustive investigation process, under the supervision of the supreme Court of Israel. They ensured that no communities are established on private Arab land.

The only administration which prohibited Arabs from selling land to Jews there was the Jordanian occupation administration during its 19 years of rule from 1948 to 1967. Egypt's occupation from their armed invasion of Israel in 1948 and Jordan cannot legally invalidate rights and titles that remain valid to this day. Both had illegally occupied this land, so their claim was automatically invalid. Judea and Samaria were originally intended to be part of the Jewish State when discussions first started in 1919 after the first World War when the Ottoman Empire fell.

International legal scholar Stephen Schwebel said that a country acting in self-defense may seize and occupy territory when necessary to protect itself.. That's what happened in 1967 when Israel was surrounded by 250,000 Arab soldiers, more than 2,000 tanks and 700 aircraft by Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and other Muslim countries. They were all aided by Russia, and they were bent on completely destroying Israel. Besides that, they had managed to close the Gulf of Aqaba, a lifeline for Israel.

The war started on June 5th and a cease-fire was invoked on June 10th, which came to be called, The Six Day War. The Israelis almost made it to Cairo but stopped. After that Egypt and Jordan changed in their attitudes of destroying Israel. That's when Israel obtained Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem. Therefore, the land was not under the sovereignty of any state and came under Israeli control in a war of self-defense, imposed upon Israel.

Agreements between Israel and the Palestinians contain no prohibition whatsoever on building or expanding communities. It is specifically provided that the issue is reserved for permanent status negotiations which are to take place in a concluding state of peace talks. So far, Fatah refuses to come to a peace negotiating table. Israel had even invoked a 10 month freeze on building in Judea and Samaria in order to pacify the Arabs, but to no avail.

Jewish communities are not intending to displace Arab inhabitants. The land has become a patchwork quilt of neighborhoods, just as many American communities have become. South Portland in the early 1900's was a neighborhood mixed with Jews and Italians. They all got along fine because nobody was instigating them not to live in peace. Failing Grade School was a model of success being a smorgasbord of nationalities.

The problem today lies in the fact that the Palestinians want Judea and Samaria all to themselves without any Jews. Not only that, but they want every Palestinian living outside the area to return and live there. This would be a monumental travesty. The 4th largest Jewish city, Ariel, has over 16,000 inhabitants. Israel is not a large area. Almost everyone living there lives in apartment buildings. This is how they are planning to drive Israelis into the sea.

Reference: Myths and Facts by Mitchell G. Bard & Joel Himelfarb

Jewish Virtual Library
http://israel-nadene.blogspot.com/2012/07/justice-edmond-levy-rules-israel-has.html

What Are Our Settlements in Judea-Samaria (West Bank)?

by Nadene Goldfoot

I dislike the use of the term, "settlements." We have villages, towns and cities already established in Judea and Samaria. A settlement, a synonym of village, also is a place or region newly settled. Village does not imply this. It only indicates the size of the community. A village is larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town. I believe "settlement" is being used politically to imply that this community is like putting up tents that can be taken down and moved easily. This is not the case. I abhor the term, "West Bank" Again, this is a political move to wipe out the connection of our Jewish history to the land. This term came from the Jordanians to describe the land west of the Jordan River. Evidently they couldn't bring themselves to use the Hebrew names for it. The same thing happened when the Romans took over Israel after 70AD. They renamed it Palestinia for the same political reasons. So I will continue to call the land by its original name, Judea and Samaria, each having its own historical story to tell.

The city of Ariel happens to have a population of over 16,700 and is the 4th largest city in Judea Samaria. It started in 1978, so is now 32 years old. This is about the same population that Pendleton, Oregon has which is 16,830.

Judea and Samaria happen to be the biblical homeland or heartland of Eretz Israel with Jerusalem, the City of David, at the center of that heart. This land reminds us of who we are and who we were. The history goes way back to our beginnings. Today 300,000 Israelis live in over 100 communities. Also sharing the land are 1.5 million Palestinian Arabs living in their communities.

Judea occupies the land where our ancient land of Judea had been with its capital which was Jerusalem.

Samaria happens to be on the land where Israel had been with its capital of Shomron.

It was under Jordanian occupation for 19 years. Jordan lost this in 1967 when Israel surprised everyone by defending itself under a horrible assault of all the surrounding Arab nations again and won this battle in 6 days. It has been under Israel's sovereignty for the past 43 years now.

"The Jewish right of settlement in the area," Rostow concluded, "is equivalent in every way to the right of the existing [Palestinian] population to live there." Furthermore, as Stephen Schwebel, a judge on the International Court of Justice between 1981 and 2000, explicitly noted, territory acquired in a war of self-defense (waged by Israel in 1967) must be distinguished from territory acquired through "aggressive conquest" (waged by Germany during World War II). Consequently, the provisions of the Mandate for Palestine, allocating all the land west of the Jordan River to the Jewish people for their national home, remained in force until sovereignty was finally determined by a peace treaty between the contending parties—now Israel and the Palestinians. Until then, the disputed West Bank, claimed by two peoples, remained open to Jewish settlement. So far, there is no peace treaty. The Palestinian Abbas is not coming to the table to talk.

"Netanyahu has said of Judea and Samaria, “But we will not freeze the lives of the residents of Judea and Samaria and we will not freeze construction.”Netanyahu imposed the freeze last November as a means of enticing the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas waiting until the very last minute to accept the gesture, and now insists extending the freeze is a precondition to continuing the renewed peace negotiations." Netanyahu is not buying into this. Building is in the plan but will not begin probably for years.

Reference: http://emetnews.org/analysis/are_settlements_illegal.php

http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=4193&q=1

http://www.weblo.com/property/state/Judea_and_Samaria/447243/
http://web.oregon.com/towns/population_alpha.cfm
http://www.israelinitiative.com/rewr-true/language-en_us/Principle-38/PrinciplesSub.aspx

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=194913

Fatah Palestinian Honors Killers of Israelis

by Nadene Goldfoot

King David's old empire of bible days has been reinstituted in a tiny section of it known as the state of Israel. After 2,000 years of patience, hard work and near extinction, Israel was born in 1948 as the world's only Jewish state. By September 5, 1972, Israelis attended and participated in the Munich Olympics, a sport event taken from the Greek Olympics. However, because our state and athletes were Jews, a Palestinian terror organization, Black September, kidnapped and murdered 11 of the athletes and coaches. Oudeh, or Abu Daoud, planned the attack and was never remorseful for it. He just died before his 70th birthday.

Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah group honors and glorifies this Daoud as a Palestinian hero and role model. This is not the first terrorist who has killed Israeli citizens who has been honored by Fatah. Abbas has expressed pride in training Hezbollah terrorists, sent greeting to Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons and funded a computer center named after Dalal Mughrabi where 37 Israeli civilians were killed.

Fatah honors killers of Israelis and yet expects to be Israel's neighbor. What sort of neighborliness can I expect to see from this close association? This is who Obama is pushing at Israel. Netanyahu is expected to negotiate with this person.

Israel just altered the Gazan blockade allowing in just about everything except articles that can be used against Israel, yet Hamas makes no bones about wanting Israel wiped off the map which has been their stand from the get go, before Israel had to create a blockade. Israel is always the one to give without receiving any promises in return, or promises that are valid, anyway.

Has there been a turnaround preparing Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria to be good neighbors to Israel? Has there been any type of programs of inducing people to get along, or any change in their educational program such as books to show something other than hatred which they now have? Abbas, as a role model, is showing the very opposite in glorifying these killers. That wouldn't get him an invite to my house.
Comment: 6pm Tuesday evening: Netanyahu even commented to Obama today that a political settlement of peace, coupled with security and prosperity "requires that the Palestinian Authority prepare its people for peace--school, textbooks, and so on."
Speaking about Christian evangelicals helping Jews with their grapes in Samaria, Palestinians got into a fight with them and said this about it, "“These people are filled with ideas that this is the Promised Land and their duty is to help the Jews,” said Izdat Said Qadoos of the neighboring Palestinian village. “It is not the Promised Land. It is our land.” There is much history to explain to these Palestinians.

Resource: PMW Bulletin pmw@palwatch.org Abbas honor mastermind of Munich Olympics massacre: "Wonderful brother, companion" from Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/world/middleeast/06settle.html?_r=1
The White House Office of the Press Secretary: remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel in Joint Press Availability.

Abbas's Unreasonable Threats

Nadene Goldfoot

Abbas of the Palestinians is quick to threaten Israel. He is telling Washington that if Israel doesn't agree to halt settlement growth, the Palestinians will demand that Washington give Israel the ultimatum and declare an endgame.

By this I take it that he means he wants a decision by Washington about the borders of Israel, the refugee issue of allowing all the Palestinians into Israel and the final status of Palestine decided already.

It sounds like these are not to be discussed between Israel and Abbas, but that Washington should make a decree in Palestinian Abbas's favor.

Now, I haven't seen anything like the Palestinian people stopping the bombardments against Israel after the past 62 years. In fact, I keep reading about them happening. I haven't noticed the terrorists swearing allegiance to Abbas saying that he's their leader. I haven't read a thing about them deciding to create a peaceful state and live in harmony with Israel. I haven't noticed them offering a thing to Israel other than death. Abbas is a true Chutzpadick.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/01/18/wld02.asp

Settlement Freeze Obama's Take on Situation

"The Obama diplomacy had made a settlement freeze its starting point, when this was precisely the wrong place to begin.

Nadene Goldfoot
Israel has given up settlements before at the altar of peace—recall the historical accommodation with Egypt a quarter century ago. The right course would have set the question of settlements aside as it took up the broader challenge of radicalism in the region—the menace and swagger of Iran, the arsenal of Hamas and Hezbollah, the refusal of the Arab order of power to embrace in broad daylight the cause of peace with Israel."

To me this shows that whatever is said to the Muslim Palestinian terrorists doesn't matter. Obama offered them the moon and they haven't changed their opinion of him or the United States or certainly of Israel. They have a one track mind-to overthrow Israel and that's it. Their agenda is in operation and no one will change them.

Israel is in peril and has been under attack for the past eight years from Gaza, a place we gave up in order to have peace. Our leaving only gave them more room to attack. We are still being shot at from other surrounding Muslim areas. We have been protecting ourselves despite all odds and Obama asks us to put ourselves in more peril by giving up more of our tiny precious pieces of Israel even including the heart of Jerusalem without any preconditions. To ask us to give up any part of Jerusalem is absolutely a slap in the face, a disregard for our culture and history, and even survival. Who in their right mind thinks that Jerusalem and Jews do not go together like apple pie and ice cream. We swore long ago that if we forgot Jerusalem we would give up our right hand.

Now Netanyahu has had to agree to a ten month freeze on even building a porch on an apartment or home in the Judea-Samaria area others call the West Bank or Settlements. Who in Portland, Oregon would agree to not be able to do such a thing to their home?

I ask: if Vancouver, WA attacks Portland, OR and loses in their attack, what punishment is incurred? Portland will take Vancouver. The point is-don't attack in the first place. That's what happened to Israel. All the surrounding nations attacked Israel in 1967 and they lost. Israel survived. Israel then gained a part of the orginal tract of land back that was in the plan to be part of Israel in the first place which was created by Britain. The greedy bullies had lost. Ever since 1967, there has been no peace pact reached with the Muslims. They want all or nothing. Therefore, Israel has the land and should be able to do as it wishes on it, like build a porch to a house! Why does Israel have to agree to a building freeze when the Muslims agree to nothing, least of all, Peace. Here we have Netanyahu bending backwards for peace, and what are the Arabs doing? Probably using the interim to stock up in arms.

In the meantime, we see Iran demonstrating how tough they are and what they can do to Israel and the United States. Kow-towing is only giving them the brazeness they need to take braver steps towards our destruction.

Reference: Wall Street Journal, opinion piece by Fouad Ajami, Foreign Policy Expert of John Hopkins Prof, "The Arabs Have Stopped Applauding Obama" 11/29/09.