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

North Korea Shells South Korean Border

How Do They Respond?

North Korea just fired near the border of South Korea.

"South Korea says it has scrambled F-16 fighter jets and returned fire after North Korea shot dozens of rounds of artillery onto a populated South Korean island near the countries' western border, according to The Associated Press."

That's a first shelling and the reaction of South Korea was immediate. South Korea hasn't had to be under the gun for the past 11 months like Israel has. There hasn't been a month of this past year that Israel hasn't been shelled. Israel endured years of shelling with small reprisals on their part that always brought about condemnation from the International world. This is what brought about Israel's short Cast Lead intervention in trying to stop the shelling on Southern Israel.

North Korea now has atomic ability. Perhaps they're showing who is in control. They seem to be mirroring Iran.

Two countries are trying to live despite being attacked by enemies. They both realize that you can't let an attack go unpunished without a reprisal.

11/24/10: The United States is prodding China to be pivital in restraining North Korea. This is after one bombing on South Korea. What did the US do after the Palestinian's first attack on Israel, I might ask? How about after 6 years of bombing? How about after each bombing all this year? Instead, Israel gets the pressure to cave into illegal demands. I get it. Start an attack if you're not Israel and then you get praise and backing. Israel, the world's scapegoat, gets judged differently than the rest of the world.

11/25/10 After finding out that 4 people had actually been killed in the attack, things are really popping. The Defense Minister, Kim Tae-young, has resigned over complaints that he was too slow to retaliate, and it is thought that the two Koreas, Russia, China, Japan and the USA should be now brought in for talks. I wonder why, when Israel was first attacked by the Palestinians, the world didn't react quickly like with Korea. I guess they just care more about it. They know that Israel is sane and would not use atomic arms, but North Korea is undependable. I notice that the stock market is being affected by this attack, too. I get the feeling that when Israel is attacked, no one misses a meal over it except the Israelis.

10/25/10 It's all South Korea's fault for engaging in War Games with USA claims North Korea. Of course their gaining nuclear capabilities has nothing to do with it.

10/26/10 28,000 American troops are kept in South Korea for protection. North Korea just broke the law again by firing warning shots. They don't want the war games with US to proceed.

http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101124/ap_on_re_us/us_us_koreas_clash

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101125/wl_nm/us_korea_north1

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101126/wl_nm/us_korea_north1

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101126/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_clash

Jerusalem: The Longest Love Affair in History

Nadene Goldfoot

Jerusalem was the ancient capital of Israel where Jews have been living for more than 3,000 years when King David made it his capital. Even since the 1840's Jews make up the largest group of people living there. To Jews, the entire city is sacred. 7,120 Jews, 5,000 Muslims and 3,390 Christians were living in Jerusalem in 1844. By 1990 we find 378,200 Jews, 131,800 Muslims and 14,400 Christians living in Jerusalem.

It has never acted as the capital under Muslim domination nor was it their cultural center. Muslims have their holy places being Mecca or Medina. Jerusalem has no major Islamic significance except for the Dome of the Rock, where Muhammed rose in the air on his horse, so the story goes.

"The city has never stopped being the center of Jewish life. hope and yearning, " stated Israeli President Chaim Herzog. Jews have prayed to Jerusalem three times a day for all these years and have said, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." Jerusalem has meant little to others, but to Jews, who have loved her the most, have remained constant in that love throughout the centuries of their dispersion. It is the longest, deepest love affair in history.

No other city has had this dominant role in the history, culture, religion and consciousness of a people as has Jerusalem in the life of Jewry and Judaism. Though in exile, Jerusalem remained alive in the hearts of Jews everywhere as their historic focal point. It is the symbol not only of ancient glory, spiritual fulfillment but also of modern renewal. Jerusalem is the heart and soul of the Jewish people. "If you want one simple word to to symbolize all of Jewish history, that word would be "Jerusalem." said Mayor Teddy Kollek.

Israel was reborn on May 15, 1948. From 1948 to 1967 Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan. Israel made their part, western Jerusalem, its capital once again. Jordan occupied the eastern section. The problem was that Jordan remained in a state of war with Israel as all the surrounding Arab countries were, and the city became somewhat as two armed camps with concrete walls and bunkers, barbed-wire fences, minefields and other military barriers.

All the Arab armies attacked Israel in 1967, even starting before that with attacks in 65. Aided by Russia, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and even Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and all other Arabs signed on to help them out against Israel. "We shall enter Israel with its soil saturated in blood," Nasser of Egypt boldly stated. He continued saying "We aim at the destruction of the State of Israel. The Arabs national aim was the eradication of Israel. The sole method we shall apply against Israel is total war which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence." Syria's Defense Minister Hafez Assad echoed in agreement. Iraq's President Abdur Rahman Aref also threatened: "The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear-to wipe Israel off the map.

250,000 Arabs, more than 2,000 tanks and 700 aircraft ringed Israel.

Such brave enemies. Israel won the battle though surrounded by these bullies in six days. What Israel was forced to do, because not only were they surrounded, but the Gulf of Aqaba had been closed to Israel, was to do a preemptive strike against Egypt on June 5th. A cease-fire was invoked on June 10th.

Yet after all this, the international community, so sympathetic for the little country of Israel, refuses to accept all of Jerusalem as its capital. It's a wonder they hadn't actually signed on to help the Arabs. In this refusal, they have.

Now we have the experience of "Palestinians" demanding to own Eastern Jerusalem and want it for their future capital. They want it because it is in Israel's hands. This is the only reason. They covet Israel's property in their flaming continued desire to exterminate Israel. They refuse to come to the peace table to talk without this condition. They want no building plans of Israel to happen in East Jerusalem. Israel has never exiled the Arabs living in East Jerusalem or anywhere in Israel. However, the Arabs are not as magnaminous. They will not even consider talking about peace conditions without this pre-condition.

We await Israel's cabinet decision. Are they going to agree to this after giving them a ten month period of coming to the table to talk about peace where Israel had to stop all building in Judea and Samaria? It's going to be a close call, but to me, it's an exercise of futility. We should not stop our plans in Jerusalem. That is not up for sale. I hope the readers now understand why.

Reference: Myths and Facts by Mitchell G. Bard, Joel Himelfarb p. 220-221

More Rockets Fall into Israel from Gaza

Nadene Goldfoot

The picture above is of Be'er Sheva which recent rockets barely missed. The top picture is of Qassam rockets being fired from Gaza.

On Monday, Israel time, 3 Israelis were killed and 31 wounded in Ashkelon with a population of 111,700, Ashdod with a population of 211,300, Nahal Oz and Sderot and Neterot. Also hit was Ofakim and Yavne. A grad rocket with the range of 25 miles fell in Ofakim, which is in southern Israel, 20 km from Be'er Sheva. It has a population of 24,800 as of 2008. People live there from North Africa, India, Russia and Ethiopia. Yavne is in Central Israel, only 12.43 miles south of Jaffa and 9.32 miles north of Ashdod. Being Israel is very narrow, it is 4.35 miles east of the Mediterranian Sea. It has a population of over 31,800.

According to the IDF, as of October 7th there were 163 rockets including a Qassam and mortars that fell into Israel. In January there were 27 including 16 Qassams, February had 6 Qassams, March 29 including 24 Qassams, April 12 including 5 Qassams, May 14 including 11 Qassams, June 16 of which 15 were Qassams, July 16 including 9 Qassams, August 13 including 6 Qassams, September 30 including 14 Qassams making a total of 106 Qassams, 50 mortars, 7 Grads which makes the 163.

At the same time, Israeli Arabs were rioting, even in Jerusalem. This is a double whammy, attacking Israel from Gaza and within. Even so, Israel kept trucks with aid going into Gaza as a normal condition.

Jews living in Judea and Samaria have been enduring rock throwing at them while driving. Two people were badly injured from this recently.

950,000 Israelis live within range of rocket, mortar and grad attacks. The highest population is Be'er Sheva, where 531,000 civilians have 60 seconds to find shelter when the alarm rings. Israel only has 7.3 million which includes over a million Israeli Arabs. Think of Portland, Oregon being attacked with our population of 566,141 civilians. If you only had 60 seconds to run for shelter, you wouldn't stray very far from it. Try driving to a supermarket. You just hope you know where their bomb shelter is and can get to it fast if need be.

From 2001 to January 09, 8,600 rockets have been shot into Israel. Qassam rockets are crude short range rockets that reach anywhere from 2 to 3 miles. They are a steel artillery rocket. At first they only reached Sderot in southern Israel, then were able to go farther and reach Ashkelon. Ashkelon is Portland's sister city, the city containing the hospital that the whole area depends on. Katusha and grad rockets have hit Ashdod and now Be'er Sheva. The Palestinians use them to attack civilians in Israel who only have a 15 to 45 second warning, depending on what city is going to be hit.

Every apartment building has its own bomb shelter. So do all the schools. The trick is to get there fast. The biggest trick of all is to maintain a normal daily life amid such a threat, and that is something Israelis have learned to do. This shows that Israel is extremely important to them. They know they are fighting to keep their 63 year old country as it's something we've all yearned for in the past 2,000 years. They're fighting to keep the mother religion, Judaism and the country Jews are bound to; Israel.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129108

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=196072
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101119/wl_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictgaza
http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/11/20/in-response-to-intensive-rocket-fire-iaf-targets-smuugling-tunnel-in-the-gaza-strip-20-nov-2010/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qassam_rocket

Barrage of Shelling from Gaza in 24 Hours

The picture above is the result of bombings from Gaza on Sderot, Israel in 2006. This resulted in Operation Cast Lead, when Israel tried to halt the attacks coming from terrorists in Gaza.

About 11 mortar shells (rockets) and one Russian-made longer-range military grade Grad Katyusha rocket were fired from Gaza into Israel in the past 24 hours. This was the highest number in one period for several months. I had just counted a total of seven coming in this month up to yesterday.

They fell in several places; 4 hitting parts of Ashkelon , many falling into the Western Negev region. Four rockets contained white phosphorous, something that is not to be used. Israel is filing a complaint with the UN about this. Salah-al-Din Brigades claim responsibiity.

This happened after the seven attacks that I had counted in this month of November, and just brought about Israel's retaliation of hitting three militant targets in the coastal part of the Gaza Strip. They also struck two targets near the town of Khan Younis in Southern Gaza. One of these was a training camp of the Islamic Jihad militant group.

Two of the targets were smuggling tunnels. They were destroyed. Gazans have been wanting cement. They would use it to build these tunnels.

Mortar fire from Gaza came from the Popular Resistance Committees, a Palestinian militant group. They say this was caused by Israel killing two of their militant leaders of al-Qaeda which is linked to the Army of Islam in Gaza.

Four Gazans were injured in the attack. None were killed. In one case, a person was injured from the building that was hit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101119/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_gaza/print

Qassam Rocket Attacks From Gaza in 2010 on this blog yesterday 11/18/2010

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101119/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansgazaconflictraid

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gaza-militants-fire-grad-rocket-barrage-of-mortar-shells-at-western-negev-1.325634

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=196019

Getting Real About Gaza

Nadene Goldfoot

Some people in my city of Portland have mistaken ideas about what is going on between Gaza and Israel.

Israel moved all their Jewish citizens out of Gaza in order to give land for peace,but that wasn’t the result. Israel has been under bombardment ever since this move. In this year of 2010, there has not been a month that has gone by that Israel has not been hit with rockets and mortars from Gaza.

Gaza’s Hamas will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Their charter says that they intend to wipe Israel out. Their aim is to destroy Israel.

They have declared themselves to be in a state of war with Israel. Yet people ask that Israel should let Gaza live. How about letting Israel live?

A Gazan petition circulating asks that Gazans should be allowed to import cement and steel to produce goods in Gaza. This is something that Israel has restricted them from. The only thing they seem to be building are tunnels which are used to receive weapons such as rockets and mortars. Israelis are not naive. No recognition of Israel; no cement and steel, weapons of war.

Gazans say they want to earn money on exports. They need to earn a living by selling products. Why then did they destroy the hothouses Israelis left for them. All the business that Israelis had were left whole for them to take over, but instead they destroyed them. Many of the Gazans are on the dole, receiving aid from the United Nations. It would be about time that they thought of earning an honest living and working. However, the only group possibly having a chance for doing this are the Fatah Palestinians which are not connected to Gaza anymore, supposedly.

Now Gazans want to travel and visit the West Bank? Isn’t that interesting. They kicked out Abbas and wouldn’t follow him as their leader because he wasn’t violent enough. Now they want to visit? What they want is to infiltrate and cause the Fatah group to start attacking Israel.

Who do people think they are kidding who sign such a petition? What they are asking for are ways to attack Israel, not help out the Gazans. Why don’t they circulate a petition to get the Palestinians to accept Israel in their neighborhood as a Jewish state instead of making constant war?

Reference: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6756/p/dia/action/public/index?action_KEY=3665&start=25

Arabs Treatment of Minorities and Palestinians

Nadene Goldfoot

Before 1948, there were many Jews living in Arab countries. They were treated as 2nd class citizens or dminnis, having to pay more taxes than others, and being restricted in many ways. When Israel became a state, they were forced to leave so they migrated to Israel.

Jews were not the only minority living in Arab countries. Probably more than 1/4th of the population of all Arab states together have minorities. There are the Kurds, Nilotic Negroes, Berbers of the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) who speak non-Arabic languages, the non-Moslem arabic-speaking Druze in Syria, Christian Copts in Egypt, and the Maronites in Lebanon claiming descent from Phoenicians. Nearly all these minority peoples, like the Jews of Iraq, North Africa and Yemen-lived in their countries before Arabs arrived on the scene.

Minorities make up about 10% of the world's people. Life is only bad for them when they find that they are being discriminated against and ill-treated. The Basques in Spain and the Kurds in Iraq and Syria and the Ibo in Nigeria are having a rough time, especially the Kurds, who feel that they need their own state.

Seventy million Arabs live as majorities in their own country and rule over their minorities. Sometimes, as with the Jews, they have discriminated against them or even have shown brutal repression without embarrassment.

At the time Israel was created, the few Palestinians who lived there fled, following the directions of their leaders. At the same time, Jews living in Arab countries were kicked out and fled to Israel. Most of the Palestinians who fled Israel remained in camps until this present date. The surrounding Arab nations did not offer to take them in but coerced them into staying where they were. When Palestinians did go into Jordan, they caused a bloody war with that country. In time, they were accepted and the king even married a beautiful Palestinian woman. But most of the Palestinians have remained in camps on welfare from the United Nations. Gaza has many of these camps.

In 1947 the Israeli Zionist leaders said they were willing to accept a partition of the land in order to put an end to the conflict and accepted the U.N.'s partition proposal which included a land without protected borders. They told themselves that this sacrifice would win the heart of the Arabs. Well, the Arabs refused their half and their hearts hardened. As it turns out, we need protected borders after all.

As it was in 1937, for Jews have been patiently trying to create their own state of Israel since 1918, Zionist leaders agreed to divide what remained of the original mandated territory of Palestine after eastern Palestine had been given to the Arabs by the British. The British Royal Commission proposed this division. Jews were offered a miniature state, highly indefensible, but even then the Arabs rejected it and so the British government buried their plan.

On January 3, 1919, the leaders, His Royal Highness the Emir Feisal of the Arabs and Dr. Chaim Weizmann of the Zionists wrote up an agreement. They remembered the racial kinship and ancient bonds that existed between their peoples so agreed upon 9 articles. They agreed to follow the British Government's Declaration of the 2nd of November, 1917, dividing the land. #8 stated that they would act in complete accord and harmony on all matters embraced herein before the Peace Congress. My how naive they were. Israel did try in the beginning to have a peaceful time for the birth of their country.

The borders of Israel need to keep Israel secure and in tranquility on the Suez Canal, Jordan River and Golan Heights as well as from a future Palestine in Judea and Samaria. Jerusalem must be kept safe. Coexistence between Muslim and Jew is not the happiest state in creation, but it must be one that will create a safe environment. Is this possible with an Abbas who will not sit down and discuss points on a peace treaty?

We have tried to treat Palestinians as we would want to be treated, but have been constantly attacked. The book, facts about israel is full of facts about what Israel has tried to do for Arabs in Gaza. Israel's government did much to help and encourage them towards municipalization to have their own local government.

In 1971 there were 343,900 Muslims. This population grew from 1948 when there there about 140,00 in Israeli territory. In 1971 they were being denied passage through Arab States to fulfill the 5th pilllar Israel, the pilgrimage to Mecca. They have still been used by their own peers as pawns in the war against Israel.

Book: Battleground-fact and fantasy in Palestine by Samuel Katz 1973

Book: facts about Israel -division of Information, ministry for foreign affairs, Jerusalem 1973

Walking in Israel

Nadene Goldfoot

One reason why there are so many slender Israelis in Israel is that so many walk. Automobiles are expensive, and the bus system is used to get around for most people. Then there are taxis and the sheroot, a very long taxi service.

You could walk from the West Bank to the Mediterranean in 2.5 hours. Yes, walk. Places are very close. Israel consists of 8,000 square miles, so it's not very large. It doesn't take long to walk all of the country. Going from north to south, you would cover 263 miles. Going from East to West, you could cover anywhere from 9 miles to 71 miles only. The shape is long but very very narrow. The old joke for train travelers was not to stick your arm out of the window or it would be in Jordan.

When I lived in Haifa in 1980, my husband lost his wallet in a taxi. It meant calling the states and cancelling a lot of credit cards. That was quite a lesson. We walked everywhere from then on until we bought a car. I would walk so much in my sandals, because it was so hot, that my feet became bloody. The good part was that I lost weight. What was great was that we could walk from our Ulpan (boarding school) to the Mediteranean Sea and find ourselves on a beach. I was forced to walk every day because we had brought our female German shepherd with us, and she did look forward to those walks.

Walking in Safed, which is in Northern Israel, was quite interesting being it was built on a hill about the same height as Jerusalem. The main street went around in a circle. If you needed a store off the path, it meant walking up and down the hill. Then you felt like you were in San Francisco.

http://www.lookisrael.com/files/didyouknow.php

Qassam Rocket Attacks From Gaza in 2010

Nadene Goldfoot

Rockets have been fired from Gaza constantly all during 2010 from the first of January to this date. Operation Cast Lead did not deter the enemy. This means that all of Southern Israel has been under attack for the past 11 months of this year. The areas of Sderot and Ashkelon are the places that most artillery fall. Though actual buildings may not be hit, the psychological effect is most unnerving. One never knows if the next one will hit you.

Just in this month of November, 7 rockets and mortar shells were fired on Israel. Yesterday, being the 18th in Israel, 3 mortar shells hit the areas in the Eshkol Regional Council. Luckily, no damages or injuries resulted, except the extra beating of hearts of citizens in the area living on the edge.


Israel retaliated and our air strike took out two militants in Gaza City. They belonged to the Army of Islam, this group being copycats of Al-Qaeda. The result is that Israel has received threats in broken Hebrew from the group in that jihad will continue. This is a first to receive threats in Hebrew, even though most Gazans can speak it.

Israel has endured attacks throughout the land since 1948, yet a Portlander called Israel the "bully" today in the Oregonian's Letters to the Editor. I don't think people read anything except something that comes up telling them that Israel is so bad. Facts will just confuse them. It's truly disgusting. We need a public relations office.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel,_2010
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101118/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_militant_video
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101118/wl_nm/us_security_qaeda_hebrew
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101118/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictgazainternet

Happenings to Israel Today

Hillary Clinton is giving the Palestinians $150 million dollars promoting the future state. At a time where the USA has decided to cut federal spending, I find this hard to accept as a Jew and as an American. The money will most likely be used against Israel in the form of weapons, considering the results of a poll recently done. She and Obama have been very vocal about their opposing viewpoint as to what a soverign state as Israel should be allowed to build in their own capital. So we are witnessing our punishment, I suppose.

Most Palestinians want peace, but really are all for destroying Israel and occupying the land themselves. Nothing has changed in their attitude since 48. Nothing has happened educationally by their leaders to crave peace with Israel and to live alongside them in peace. In fact, they themselves are divided into Hamas and Fatah segments and the group designated to for a future state of Palestine has the same end-goal as their nastier counterparts-to see Israel disappear.

In a Yahoo article, the Palestinians are counting on Obama creating a Palestinian state and are holding him to his promise. (Don't hold your breath, Abbas. He promised us that Jerusalem would not be divided.) The Palestinians are planning on having East Jerusalem as their capital.

Abbas " pledged to uphold Arafat's insistence that Palestinians would one day secure east Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state and the right of return for refugees. "This we will have to fight, Abbas. You would fill this small area with zillions of so-called refugees just to have another weapon to create the demise of Israel. This is why we need to have peace talks.

Reference: http://www.pageonedaily.com/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101111/ap_on_re_us/us_us_israel

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101111/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeacearafatanniversary

Confrontation over Israel and "Settlements"

Nadene Goldfoot



Instead of meeting with Israel about peace discussions, Abbas prefered to approach the U.N. Security Council and asked them to debate Israel's building in Jerusalem and most likely Judea and Samaria on Wednesday. At least that was his plan for today.



Obama has already chastised Netanyahu from Indonesia, the world's #1 country with a Muslim majority of 228,582,000 people who have 86.1%Sunni Muslim population, over future building plans in Jerusalem, our sovereign capital. I say this because the Indonesians are probably not feeling very friendly toward Israel. They don't allow Jews in their country. That was the prelude to Hillary Clinton going to Israel on Thursday to warn Netanyahu about the "Jewish settlement building plans" that they consider wrong because she and Obama think it clouds hopes to renew peace talks.



Personally, I think Abbas has made it perfectly clear that he has no intention of entering into any peace talks when he can appeal to the U.N. who most likely will be very sympathetic, as so many of them are from Muslim countries and hate Israel.



The pressure that Netanyahu has had to endure is incredible, but he managed to show his strength with the declaration reminding the world that Jerusalem is our capital and that Israel is a sovereign nation and he never said he would not build in Jerusalem. He also made it clear that Jerusalem is not a settlement.

Netanyahu has even spoken with Henry Kissinger about this. Everyone is hopeful that they will have a productive meeting.



I think it is sickening that our President is not listening to our case but instead is siding with the very people who have been attacking us for so long and who more than just covet our land, religiously just want us to be blown away. Can the world get any weirder?



Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101111/pl_afp/israelpalestinianusdiplomacypeace
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=194805

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

Israel's Building Plans for East Jerusalem

by Nadene Goldfoot

The Oregonian had an article today titled, Israel plans new housing units on disputed land. The last time I looked, Jerusalem had not been divided. It does have its neighborhoods, just as Portland has a Chinatown. I know that the Palestinians are plotting to take over East Jerusalem, if not more, as part of their to be Palestine. Why they are holding out in peace talks about it is their decision. They've been doing it ever since Israel was declared a state in 1948, so it's nothing new. They simply can't bring themselves to accept a Jewish state in an ocean of Islam. There's no tolerance in their minds.

In the meantime, life must go on for Israel, so they have decided to build 980 new apartments in the Jewish neighborhood of Har Homa and 320 in the Ramot area. Israel's Interior Ministry says that actual construction could be years away, however. At least someone has recognized the need for more housing coming up and the plan of continuing to keep Jerusalem whole. The newspaper article by Edmund Sanders from the McClatchy Tribune hits the readers on the head with "build an additional 1,300 apartments. "

As to why the statement has come out today has been muddled over by the reporter. Danny Seidemann, a Jerusalem expert and settlement critic must be a man against Jews living in Judea-Samaria as well as East Jerusalem, keeping this free of Jews for the Arab population. He thinks that this is sending a message that self-restraint of Netanyahu's government is over, or that Netanyahu might be reacting to our USA election last week. What the article doesn't tell you is that Danny is a member of Peace Now, and speaks to groups such as Americans for Peace Now. He is an American born lawyer and peace activist who moved to Israel in 1973 right out of college. Danny is now the head of the Israeli NGO Terrestrial Jerusalem. He has chutzpa, I'll give him that. He criticized Elie Wiesel about his stand on Jerusalem. Elie referred to him as the Jerusalem guru. He evidently is also a leader of Ir Shalem, which means "unified City". It's said to be a left wing Zionist organization by the Palestinians who are advocating developing Jerusalem for the benefit of all residents, Jews and Arabs. I ask how he would plan on seeing development for Jews in this Jewish neighborhood without holding onto a hammer and a nail and some building material?

It's too bad that the reporter didn't bother to find someone else to interview regarding the announcement of future building. He sought out one of the most dissident Israelis who is against the idea. Perhaps he should have left his hotel and talked to the Jewish residents of these neighborhoods to see why they needed more housing. Wouldn't that have been more fair and unbiased reporting?

http://peacenow.org/entries/danny_seidemann_responds_to_elie_wiesel_in_foreign_policy
http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/authors.php?auid=2706
Oregonian Newspaper Tuesday, November 9, 2010 page A6.
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=689705&ct=8863317
http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=4193&q=1

http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Jerusalem_is_Not_a_Settlement.asp

USA's $60 Billion Deal Selling Arms to Saudi Arabia
Nadene Goldfoot

Way back in the first part of September the news was that the USA was selling $60 billion dollars worth of arms to Saudi Arabia. The reason behind it was because of their threat from Iran. Israel was not protesting because supposedly the jets involved in the sale lacked long range weapons systems and were of a lower grade that those sold to Israel.

The deal includes 84 new F-15 fighter planes, and nearly 200 Apache, Black Hawk and Little Bird helicopters, as well as upgrades for 70 fighter planes. The deal also would include a satellite-guided “smart bomb” system, as well as anti-ship and anti-radar missiles. It will take five to 10 years to complete the deal, according to reports.Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/132371/#ixzz14N60sixM

The USA is also giving Saudi Arabia the message that we can take care of their security needs without them going nuclear.

Several of our congress members were against the sale such as Weiner of NY, Berkly and Carney as well as Republican members.

Congress had 30 days to review the deal and could block or amend it, but it looks like just a few are against it, so it may pass. Israel has been told that they will have the upper edge.

The USA has been trying to supply Arab nations with arms to protect them against Iran. My concern is that they do not get into the hands of militants and be used against Israel, instead.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Why-Is-the-US-Selling-Saudi-Arabia-60-Billion-in-Arms-5027

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=188405

http://www.forward.com/articles/132371/
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-announces-60b-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia-says-israel-doesn-t-object-1.320307?localLinksEnabled=false

Judea and Samaria's connection to Persia and My Genealogy

Nadene Goldfoot

The name "Samaria" derives from an ancient city of the same name, which was located near the south of Samaria, and was the capital of the Kingdom of Israel. Today it is remembered as Judea and Samaria which is now called "The West Bank." It's the area that the Palestinians want as part of their future state of Palestine.

My father's unique dna haplogroup, Q1b1a, making up 5% of the present Jewish population, pinpoints Persia as a possible location for our origins.

Assyrians had attacked Israel in 722 BCE, and thousands of Jews were deported from Israel and forced to settle in Media. Media was an Asiatic country and the people were called the Medes. They were thought to be the sons of Japheth. They cooperated with the Babylonians in the 6th century BCE but were defeated by Cyrus of Persia. Jews of Ashdod, Israel and Samaria (now called West Bank) had had a failed attempt against them. 27,290 Jews had to settle in Ecbatana (Hamadan), a town in Persia where Cyrus issued his decree permitting the Jews to rebuild their Jerusalem Temple, and Susa in SW Persia. They are referred to as one of the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel in biblical records. This happened when the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III ruled. They were replaced in Samaria with Syrian and Babylonian prisoners. Assyrians were a Semitic people in a western Asian state. They had been most aggressive from the 20th century BCE on.

In 680 BCE The Assyrian king Nebuchadnezzar II persecuted Jews in Israel and many Jews were settled in Isfahan, Persia. Cyrus the Great had taken over Babylon and in 539 BCE, he entered Babylon. We were living by the River of Babylon and wanted to return to our homeland, Judea.

In the 6th Century BCE, Cyrus came up with the famous "Cyrus Declaration" allowing Jews to return to their homeland, Judea, to rebuild their lives. Not all were willing to trek out into the wilderness. Those that stayed became the Jews of Persia, or later, called Iran.

"In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of The Lord spoken by Jeremiah, The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "The Lord, The God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a Temple [see Temples] for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you - may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build The Temple of The Lord, The God of Israel, The God who is in Jerusalem." (Ezra 1:1-3)

King Darius I inherited the throne from Cyrus. He ruled from 522-486 BCE. King Ahashueros, Queen Esther's husband, is thought by modern scholarship to have been Xerxes, son of Darius I. He ruled from 486-465 BCE. Mordecai, Esther's uncle, was a Benjamite living in Shushan, Persia. His name is of Babylonian origin. It is found in inscriptions.

It is said that Queen Esther, the orphaned daughter of her mother, Abihail of the tribe of Benjamin, elected to remain with her uncle, Mordecai instead of leaving Persia. She is thought to be the mother of present day Iranian Jews. Not literally, of course, but as a part of the group of their ancestors.

Here is a timeline.

722-720
Israel crushed by Assyrians; 10 tribes exiled (Ten Lost Tribes).
586
Judah conquered by Babylonia; Jerusalem and First Temple destroyed; most Jews exiled.
Babylonia was taken over by the Persian Empire.

Besides Queen Esther being an ancestor of the Jews in Persia, Sushan Dukht of the 5th century BCE was also a Persian Queen. She was the daughter of the exilarch and had married King Yezdegerd I (399-420), and was the mother of Bahram V (420-38) and was said to be the founder of the Jewish settlement in Isfahan and Hamadan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Cylinder
http://www.iranonline.com/History/jews-history/index.html
http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/persia.htm
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/history/history%20of%20israel/
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

East Jerusalem's Jewish History

Nadene Goldfoot

The neighborhood of Gilo as well as other East Jerusalem's neighborhoods was home to Jews that were driven out in 1948 by of all people, the British officered Arab Legion of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. This was at the time that Israel was created as a Jewish state and all the surrounding Arab states attacked her. So it wasn't just Arabs who fled with the promise from their Arab soldiers of returning and living in Jewish homes. These Jews were forced to leave by Jordanian soldiers.

Jordan had illegally occupied East Jerusalem along with Judea and Samaria. This was recognized only by Britain and Pakistan.

Israel gained Jerusalem back in 1967 in the Six Day War.

Victor Sharpe reminds us that in 1918, Rabbi Hertz, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, had spoken of the 4,000 years of history that bound Jews to Jerusalem calling to mind its history. At this time they were celebrating its liberation from the Ottoman Turks by the British. He spoke of Judah Maccabee who led his warriors against Greek-Syrians to liberate Jerusalem from the heathens.

Now the Palestinian Arabs are trying to take East Jerusalem for their to be state of Palestine. Their latest move is to have renovated 14 schools in the area claiming rights because of this. East Jerusalem is still a part of Jerusalem which is the capital of Israel. Here we have a situation where so much money has had to go into the IDF and security that Israel has had a hard time updating schools. Unlike the USA, they cannot risk spending what they don't have, and then they have this challenge. I say that if Palestinians have so much available cash on hand, perhaps they need to be taxed more to pay for such things.
http://www.ruthfullyyours.com/2010/11/02/victor-sharpe-obamas-blaeful-glance-upon-jerusalem/