Divided Arabs Difficult to Partner With

Fatah is the "former" terrorist group that was under Arafat. They have moved out of Gaza and into the Judea Samaria section. Do they recognize Israel's right to exist? That's hard to say. They have agreed to #242 and #338 which means they renounce terrorism, but it has happened from some of their people. They call Israel's right to exist just ideology. According to international law as they see it, that concept isn't in the legal bounds. The question asked is is it a legal right or moral right to have come into existence or to remain in existence? They finally accepted the fact that Israel came into existence legally on Nov 15, 1988 when they declared a Declaration of Independence. This declaration provides for two states, one Arab and one Jewish. They have refused to say that Israel had a moral right to come into being because this would affirm the Zionist movement. This was viewed by the international community as the case, but no Palestinians in the world believed it then, and their leaders saw to that by promoting attacks to drive Israel into the sea.





Unfortunately, Fatah is only about half of Palestinians. We have the Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza who refuse to recognize us or not stop attacking. They themselves are a divided people. So making peace with Fatah is just one part of a predicament. It's hardly a deal. Why doesn't the Arab League pressure them to go along with Abbas? Will this ever happen? Without this piece, there is no peace for Israel. They are continuing their attacks.






Just around the bend lie more Arab countries. Now Syria and Libya are pressuring the Palestinians to not talk with Israel about peace but to resume armed fighting. The Palestinians in Gaza are following this order and just fired two rockets and clashes in Khan Yunis in southern Israel. Two Israeli soldiers were killed and one is fighting for his life.





At the same time the Arab League says it is backing the land for peace initiative with Israel. Here we go, being expected to give up more land, and this now is land from East Jerusalem for peace. Palestinians want this piece to be their capital of their future state. They want all this before they even sit down to talk, which is not in the cards right now.





Abbas's aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh dismissed the pressure from Gadhafi of Libya and Abbas of Syria. Yet he said that if Syria and Libya declare war on Israel the Palestinians would follow. So what will happen with such neighbors sitting virtually in Israel's laps if they take part of Jerusalem is that the enemy would be that much closer. There is no possibility of neighborliness.





Abbas has already stated that there will be no peace deal with Israel until we move out of east Jerusalem. We also live there, but they want this to be Judenrein, free of Jews. It doesn't matter to them or the world that we have over one million Arabs living in Israel as citizens. I can see why Netanyahu told Obama right off that we would continue to build on our own land.





I lived in Binyon 13, or building 13 in Safed and had Arabs living in our building. This won't happen in the future Palestine. Yet Obama has pressured Netanyahu to go along with this nightmare of a demand of stopping all building on what is our very own land full of Jews.





We moved lock, stock and barrel out of Gaza which only brought us the nightmare of eight years of hellish rockets raining on southern Israel. Before that we moved Israelis in the act of land for peace which got us nothing. We move and Palestinians attack us in better and closer positions. This expectation of Obama would earn him more cudos with the Arabs and points with Americans, but wouldn't get us anything but destruction. I think we're too smart for this. It's time the Palestinians did something that would benefit us. Give us guarantees up the gazoozoo by recognition and promise of peace with a time period to show they mean it. The biggest thing we need is a non-violent neighbor to give us peace.




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100328/ap_on_re_af/af_libya_arab_summit/print
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/03/27/Israelis-Palestinians-clash-in-Gaza/UPI-88371269712846/
http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000393

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/788interview-why-hamas-and-fatah-fight

Who Do You Think Your Friends Are?

"In December the White House issued a statement opposing “new construction in East Jerusalem” without delineating where or what East Jerusalem is.
Ramat Shlomo, the neighborhood at the center of the present altercation, is actually in northern Jerusalem, west of the Jewish neighborhoods of Ramot, home to 40,000 Jewish residents. Why does the White House take issue with the construction of housing for Jewish citizens within the boundaries of their own country?"

Hillary Clinton is said to have chewed out Netanyahu for 45 minutes telling him what he has to do. Look who the boss is. Israel's always in hot water while her neighbors never get yelled at.

Why didn't Clinton jump all over the Jordanians? Ruth Wisse notes that Jordan recently began systematically stripping citizenship from thousands of its Palestinian citizens rather than providing new housing units for them in a land much larger than Israel. I remember the battle Jordan and the Palestinians had quite a few years ago. Now there are more Palestinians living in Jordan than there are Jordanians. the king married a " Palestininan", Queen Noor. Who Do You Think You Are, a genealogy program, just did her genealogy and I discovered that her father was Syrian, born there, and moved his family to the States and died in New York. Does that really make her a "Palestinian?" I would be interested to know just why Jordan is doing this. Problems again with them? Are they hoping to move them back to the Judea Samaria area?

Reference: http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/?p=5262

Palestinians Rioting Again In Jerusalem

Palestinians were rioting just before Biden arrived because Israel announced it was fixing historic sites. Palestinians have contributed to the destruction of many a Jewish site over the years, and all need fixing now and then. Palestinians are doing things like dedicating their sites to terrorists who killed lots of Israelis which is also very hurtful to us. We haven't rioted over this, just shake our heads in disgust. It's not a neighborly thing to do at all, but fixing everyone's sites is. Yet they riot. I can't comprehend this behavior.

Now they're rioting in Jerusalem again, incited and empowered by Biden and then Hillary Clinton's chastisements of Netanyahu allowing the announcement of 1,600 apartment units in the allowed Eastern part of Jerusalem. It doesn't take much to give them an excuse to cause trouble. They're rioting more now than they would have with just the announcement, I fear.

I lived in Israel from 1980-1985 and can well believe that Netanyahu didn't know that his interior ministry would make an announcement about the upcoming planned building when it happened, but I think it was a good thing that happened instead of a bad thing. I feel that Biden was steamrolling facts pertaining to things on the table to be discussed in the planned peace talks. This sure brought things out in the open; facts Biden wasn't aware of? Or was he?

Actually, Mitchell was the one to conduct peace talks, and now he's not coming. He's been very one sided anyway, giving special nice treatment to the Palestinians, I feel. I'd like to know what the Irish think of his handling of their situation. Are both sides happy? I think having an Irish group to talk peace with would be much easier at this point. They may have hated each other but they did have a lot in common, even their religion up to a point. They didn't know what hate was like until they know the hate the Palestinians have manifested against Jews. Where else do you find textbooks in grade school with such hate as what the Palestinians have printed? The lies that have been told are believed even more as they are continually told. The Irish didn't have another country encouraging one side to wipe the other into the sea, or supply and threaten to kill them with atomic weapons, either. It's an impossible situation that is quite different from the Irish one. Each situation is unique. Mitchell should know that.

Why Have The Oslo Accords Failed?

Nadene Goldfoot

Rabin and Arafat's Dealings

Agreement between Israel and a future Palestine came to fruition August 20, 1993. Rabin, Arafat and Clinton negotiated.

According to the agreement, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and the Arabs had a right of self-government. The Palestinian government was to last for a five-year period. Major issues such as Jerusalem would be decided at a permanent status negotiation that was to come in 1996. They signed a mutual recognition paper. Rockets were fired into Israel intensely starting in 2000 by the terrorists.

The Knesset's left wing supported this agreement while the right wing opposed them, and after a two-day discussion they voted with 61 for the decision, 50 against and 8 abstained.

Palestinians were also divided. Fatah was the group in the negotiations and they accepted while Hamas was against it. They refused to recognize Israel's right to exist in what they called Palestine, which was including the land Israel was on. The fact is that there never was a country of Palestine at all, just an area that Rome had renamed to erase Jewish presence.

On Sept 12, 2005 Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip. Abbas was given authority. In twelve days Hamas fired rockets at Israel. By 2007 896 rockets and 740 mortar shells were fired from Gaza onto Israel. Many Israelis were continuously killed and injured between 1993 and 2000 by terrorists.

One can see that Hamas took over Gaza, winning their elections in 2006, and chased Fatah out into the West Bank. No group speaks for all of "Palestine". For eight years Hamas shelled Israel with rockets leading to Israel's Operation Cast Lead operation. Abbas has been very weak in his leadership. When violence increased against Israelis, the Palestinian Authority did not stop these attacks and instead endorsed them. Operation Cast Lead started on Dec 27, 2008. 1,571 rockets and 1,531 mortar shells had been fired into Israel by Hamas.

Earlier they had turned their guns on Israelis in clashes which left 61 Palestinians and 15 Israeli soldiers dead. Arafat stated among Palestinians that he compared the accord to the Hudaibiya agreement that Muhammad signed with the sons of the tribe of Quraish as a way of justifying signing them. This meant that they were signed not in good faith but as an appeasement.

Israel, on the other hand, refrained from building new towns or villages although the agreement did not stipulate such a ban. It did expand towns already there as the Arabs had not accepted the accords. More people were allowed to move into the towns in Judea and Samaria so that the population grew by about 10,000 each year. Note that all this time the accords were not in effect as the Palestinians did not accept them. Israel was not going to sit around and wait and do nothing. Israel learned quickly not to trust the Palestinians as they were divided and not being compliant. Attacks on Israel had intensified right after the signing and continued.

What the Palestinians have not figured out is that their fears were realized due to their own hatred. Israel did not dismantle their towns in Judea and Samaria for their Palestine to be created and it did expand with more people and more building simply because the Arabs could not come into agreement to recognize Israel and not attack them.

Who are you going to blame? Israel was being compliant even though almost half of their country feared the move. Israel wanted peace. After all, they've been fighting hatred and attacks since their inception. They're living in a very violent and dangerous neighborhood.

As of February 10, 2009, just last year, rocket fire continued from Gaza. The Islamic Jihad admitted that a Palestinian was killed while approaching Gaza's border fence with Israel as he was on his way to attack Israelis. On the 1st of February twelve rockets and mortars were fired into Israel. Hamas said they didn't fire them but they didn't stop them, either. And so it continues.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Accords

http://www.johnstonarchive.net/terroristm/terrisrael-4.html

Biden's Saying Palestinians Deserve a Viable State

Day 2 in the news-media battle over Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem.

The conflict of Israel and a future Palestine continues. We have 270,000 residents living in Judea and Samaria, much to the disgust of the Palestinians and Biden, evidently. We also have 700,000 Israelis living in the soverign capital of Israel, Jerusalem. They are living in the Jewish neighborhoods that happen to be in East Jerusalem, numbering 180,000 where many Arabs also live.

My grandparents came from a neighborhood in Portland that was mixed with Jews and Italians and they loved each other and delighted in the smells coming from the delis there. Such an experience is not how Palestinians want their state. They want it to be free of Jews. That's just how Germany was, and the Palestinians were on the German side in WWII. They want the whole West bank area of Judea and Samaria and all of Jerusalem to be part of their state. Can you imagine Jerusalem in their hands and not ours? I can't. We just regained this area in the 1967 war which we did not start but were able to finish. Nineteen years had gone by before King David's Jerusalem was again in Jewish hands after the creation of Israel. Many of us don't want to lose it now.

Now Biden has come out with the statement that the Palestinians DESERVE a viable state. What has he said about Israel? He has said that Israel needs to take more CHANCES.

To deserve something means to be worthy of it, as fit or suitable, for some reward or requital.

I ask, what have they done to be worthy of a state? Have they shown in the past 60 years any good intentions to be good and peaceful neighbors to Israel? For 60 years it has been Israel who has succumbed to do the negotiator's bidding and has given up land for peace, left business only to see them destroyed, and given up Gaza only to be pummelted with rockets for eight long and terrifying years. Worthy! How! It was their choice to follow leadership that has kept them in poverty, not ours.

Ever since the announcement came that Israel was born, Israelis have had to defend themselves and their country in battle. I don't think they want to just lie down and easily give up land that they received through blood and tears knowing that the ones to receive it only want to take all of their land. Mitchell and Biden are going to have to take off their rose-colored glasses and see life through an Israeli's eyes. I can't for the life of me see why we should give up land before we have even had a decent discussion and agreement with our "neighbors" to be.

Well, Biden, I think Israel took your advice on taking chances. It was taking a chance to announce the building of 1,600 apartments in East Jerusalem. Maybe we're saying, don't get any ideas. Jerusalem is now ours in our state. We're not trading or relinqueshing it. We don't mind you living here. We like diversity as long as you're behaving peacefully and being good citizens, but don't get cocky and try to take it from us.

Reference: Yahoo News.

Israel's New Plans for East Jerusalem That Shook America

by Nadene Goldfoot

Israel has a big brother by the name of America, and the news on TV was full of condemnation for this tiny country today who thought it was a free democratic state. Come to find out, big brother thinks it's in the driver's seat.

That's what happened when Vice President Joe Biden came to visit and announced support for Israel's security today. Hours later Israel's Interior Ministry announced a no no-1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem. (This was announced on NBC at 5:40pm as 1,600 settlements in East Jerusalem.) There's a huge difference, NBC.

The problem may lie in the fact that back on 25 November, 2009, Netanyahu's cabinet came up with a policy of restraint regarding settlements which included a suspension of new permits and new construction in Judea and Samaria for the length of 10 months. They didn't really like to do this but for the deep desire for peace, they went along with big brother and others' wishes. They also said they wouldn't expropriate more land for existing settlements. Netanyahu also said he promised to see to it that normal life could continue for the 300,000 Israel citizens who live in Judea and Samaria. These two places are called the West Bank by the West. Israel calls the area by its names. As for Jerusalem, the capital, Israel's position is well known. They have not put any restrictions on building in their sovereign capital. Israel is committed to protect freedom of worship for all faiths and ensure equal and fair treatment for all, Jews and Arab. NOTICE THAT THERE WAS NO PROMISE OR ACCORD FOR JERUSALEM.

Now, on March 7, 2010, the cabinet came up with another decision about the temporary suspension of new construction in Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu approved the outline for compensating those that were adversely affected by the decision. They set uniform criteria for providing compensation:

1. To those who purchased apartments

2. To contractors and those with building permits

3. One-time compensation to those local council that were adversely affected by the decision.

Today the Jerusalem Post also told its citizens that the US slams new J'lem homes. These 1,600 homes, not settlements, are new housing units for young Haredi families in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo. Our brother said that the timing of the decision undermines the peace process that he is trying to revive. Biden's statement was very harsh and critical, coming on the eve of a new round of US-mediated peace talks. Of course the White House's Robert Gibbs condemned the announcement, too.

In defense, Israel's Interior Ministry said that the plan

had been in the works for over three years. There really was no connection to Joe Biden's visit to Israel.

The timing may have been poor, but are there any accidents? Isn't life synchronistic at times?

In June 2008, Israel's interior ministry approved construction of an additional 1,300 apartments in Ramat Shlomo. Israel says that most of the building is on land annexed by the state and thus does not violate its commitment not to build on disputed land.

I looked at another neighborhood in East Jerusalem known as Sheikh Jarrah or Shimon Hatzaddik. It's just north of the Old City. Once it was of historical significance to Jews, was violently conquered, settled by foreign Arabs, and now has been reclaimed by Jews. In 1936 the neighborhood was attacked by Arab rioters and later conquered by the Arab Legion in 1948, then annexed to Jordan in 1950. The Jordanians allowed Arab families to occupy abandoned Jewish homes. When Israel retook the area in 1967, the group that originally had bought the land began trying to evict Arab tenants and resettle the neighborhood with Jews. Now it's an issue with everyone.

We've had a lot of fighting over this tiny piece of land. Israel was conquered by Rome in 64 BCE says the Jerusalem Post. I thought it was finally conquered by Rome in 70 AD with the fall of Jerusalem. Anyway, then came Arabians of the Islamic Caliphate who wanted the land. We kept trying to recover our property. Everytime we were slaughtered and expelled. From 1800's on we've dealt with the Balfour Declaration and San Remo Conferences, giving us high hopes of regaining our country. There's been opposition every time.

The prime minister of Turkey Saturday encouraged Arabs to riot because of Israel's wanting the religious sites in Hebron and Bethlehem on a list of sites slated for restoration in order to keep them preserved. We've been going to these sites even at great peril depending on the period since the Second Temple days. He doesn't see our religious need or interest.

Such outlandish attitudes is why many in Israel feel that they need to give their complete support to the residents of Shimon Hatzaddik today. A free country with free people should be able to visit such places freely. Jerusalem is still the capital of Israel. Whatever would King David and King Solomon say about all this?

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Speeches+by+Israel+leaders/2009/Statement+by

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2010/Compensation_suspension_c

http://www.jpost.coom/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=170577

Wikipedia on Ramat Shlomo-added 3/10/10

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2010/Building_Jerusalem_Statement_PM+Netanyahu_11-Mar-2010.htm-listed 3/11/2010

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA listed 3/11/2010

Hamas Cited Clashes in Jerusalem

I was appalled to read this information about what has just happened in one of the most important places in Jerusalem. It's the first place I visited upon reaching Jerusalem back in 1980.

Hundreds of young Palestinians threw rocks at Jews who were praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Friday, March 5th. Israel's police had to evacuate the worshippers. Violence was so bad that the police had to use tear gas and stun grenades to stop the stone-throwers. Then, they had to enter the Temple Mount compound to quell things. 18 policemen and 13 Palestinians were injured in the melee.

Hamas instigated the clashes. The stone-throwers were waving Hamas flags at the scene. They're backed by Iran. Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader in Gaza, urged Palestinians last week to a new intifada because Israel decided to include two holy sites in the West Bank as part of a plan to preserve Israel's national heritage and religious sites. They weren't going to keep Palestinians away from these sites, just did this to be able to fund upkeep. The Palestinians and Jordanians have failed to protect our holy sites there.

The Palestinians reacted with saying: "Jerusalem is ours, the land is ours, and God is with us. We will not accept these decisions and they will no ramifications".

Mitchell from the USA arrives there on the March 6th in the evening in order to restart negotiations between Israel and the PA. Too bad that he can't stick around for a month or two and see what it's like to live with Hamas in the area.

Resource: The Israel Project-fact sheet: Palestinians fail to protect Jewish sacred places press@theisraelproject.org

Gas Masks For Israelis

Nadene Goldfoot

I just read that Israel started passing out gas masks to its 7 million citizens yesterday. I'm choked up and am starting to cry. For a people to have to prepare this way is a sad thing, but I'm glad they are realistic and are trying to save their people. They figure it'll take them three years to get them all supplied with this basic necessity.

They are preparing just in case an attack should come from Iran or other neighboring countries. This isn't the first time they've had to do this. Everyone was prepared with masks in 1991, but the expiration date has gone for those, and new ones are needed.

I remember that my cousin, Stanley Goldfoot of Jerusalem, refused to wear one. Whatever his reason was, he's now deceased so won't have to be bothered. They had to seal one room up with tape to use as a special shelter.

I just hope and pray that the day will never come that they would have to use these masks.

Reference: CanadaEast.com
Telegraph-Journal
Times & Transcript
The Daily Gleaner