Tuesday Oct 20, 2009
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
Excerpts from an official United Nations summary of the Human Rights Council resolution on the Goldstone Report:
. . . while the Israeli Government sought to portray its operations as a response to rocket attacks in the exercise of its right to self defence, the Israeli plan had been directed, at least in part, at the people of Gaza as a whole ... the treatment of many civilians detained or killed while trying to surrender [is] one manifestation of the way in which the effective rules of engagement, standard operating procedures and instructions to the troops on the ground appeared to have been framed to create an environment in which due regard for civilian lives and basic human dignity was replaced with a disregard for basic international humanitarian law.... The destruction of food supply installations, water sanitation systems, concrete factories and residential houses had been the result of a deliberate and systematic policy by the Israeli armed forces and not because those objects had presented a military threat ... other Israeli activities, particularly in Jerusalem, including ... limits to Palestinian access to properties and holy sites based on national origin, religion, sex, age or other grounds ... a grave violation of the Palestinian people's civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights ... Israeli violations of human rights in occupied East Jerusalem, particularly the confiscation of lands and properties, the demolishing of houses, the construction and expansion of settlements, the continuing construction of the separation wall built in part on land Israel occupied in the 1967 war, and the continuous digging and excavation works in and around Al-Aqsa mosque and its vicinity.... The Council demanded that Israel allow Palestinian citizens and worshippers unhindered access to their properties and religious sites in the occupied Palestinian territory, cease immediately all digging and excavations beneath and around the mosque, and refrain from any acts may endanger the structure or change the nature of Christian and Islamic holy sites."
What to do?
An obvious option is to persuade friendly and neutral governments that the resolution is one-sided, distorted or false, and a threat against Israel's elementary right to defend itself. Israel will work with its friends to assure that other United Nations forums, the courts and governments of individual countries do not respond to the Human Rights Council resolution with any concrete actions against Israel, its citizens, officials, or soldiers.
The most obvious falsehood is the claim that Israel is digging and excavating in, around, or beneath the Al-Aqsa mosque. The closest Israeli excavations are outside the large elevated area on which the mosque sits. The one-sided nature of the resolution is evident in that 10 out of 11 paragraphs deal with Israel's alleged violations, while only a "by the way" paragraph deals with allegations about Hamas:
(The Report) also found that Palestinian armed groups caused terror within Israel's civilian population through the launch of thousands of rockets and mortars into Israel since April 2001, determining that both sides may thus have committed serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity."
Some Israeli politicians are blaming the resolution on the lack of sufficient efforts by Israel to explain its actions. More and better explanation is their solution.
Tuesday Sep 15, 2009
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
A recent op-ed piece in the New York Times argues against any concessions by Arab governments to Israel in exchange for an Israeli gesture on settlements. The author, a member of the Saudi elite, demands more than a settlement freeze. He wants a complete withdrawal of settlements from what he calls the West Bank. (By some interpretations, that geographical label means all of Israel.) He bases his argument on the notion of Arab land - It was ours. Israel took it. Israel must give it back before Arabs make any concessions to Israel.
The argument may resonate with the European and North American left, and perhaps even in the Obama White House. The weight of the argument is political (there are more Arabs than Jews, and the Arabs have all that oil and gas), dressed up in legal and historical language. It is no more convincing than the cry of religious settlers: God gave it to us.
The factual record is inconclusive.
Maybe God did give it to Jews. However, He defined the land poorly, with at least three different descriptions in His Torah. He said something about sharing it with others, and being strangers in another land.
The Arab argument is not much better. There never was a Palestine to serve as the basis of a claim. The Ottoman Empire lost control in World War I. Jordan took possession in 1948, but its claim was shaky at best. Israel took possession in 1967 pretty much the way the Jordanians did 19 years earlier. It conceded part of it to the Palestine National Authority in 1993, but has entered and left as security demanded.
There remain Jewish settlements sprinkled throughout the West Bank. Some are on land privately owned by individual Palestinians, and they represent a problem for Israel. Others sit on land that Palestinians claim, based on nothing more than "Grandpa told me it was his."
It is more accurate to describe the area as "disputed" rather than "occupied."
Sunday Jun 28, 2009
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
It is common to hear that Israel treats its Arab minority poorly, and treats the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza worse. Jimmy Carter limited his description of "apartheid" to the West Bank and Gaza, but others have applied it to Israel. Jewish leftists from Israel and elsewhere are leading some of the tunes, and joining others as a chorus.
The reality is different.
The dirty word "apartheid" does not belong in this discussion. The barriers between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza reflect violence against Israeli civilians, and not racism. Within Israel, there are too many Arabs studying in Israeli universities and living alongside Jews to justify the term 'apartheid' other than as an anti-Semitic screed.
Wednesday Jun 10, 2009
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
In the context of rising tensions between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government about Jewish settlements in the West Bank, it is appropriate to look at some details. They may not convince Obama enthusiasts to question whether the president is on the right track. They will not overturn the view held by many that the settlements represent all that is short-sighted and wrong-headed about the Israeli regime. Facts are only one of the things considered by partisans. Nonetheless, they are worth something.
They indicate that Israel has been more successful than the United States in dealing with its security, at less cost to the people who consider themselves enemies of Israel.
Sunday May 10, 2009
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
The United States is the most powerful nation in the world. It may be the most powerful in the history of the world, but analyses of power relative to others at their times might find ancient Greece and Rome, and not so ancient Nazi Germany in comparable or stronger positions. Germany's power did not last long, but it was awesome while it was all over Europe, close to Moscow and Cairo.
Those who doubt that the United States can act unilaterally, or nearly so, should take a look at what it has done to Iraq, and what its unguided missiles have done to civilians in Afghanistan. Americans responsible for those actions are not concerned to travel outside their country, or being seized by border officials acting under the decisions of judges from Spain, the United Kingdom, or the Hague.
Wednesday May 06, 2009
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
The Economist's description of Gaza three months after Israel's invasion makes for difficult reading. The slogans of "collective punishment" and the "world's largest prison" seem accurate.
Numerous families are living rough due to their homes being destroyed. Diets are limited due to continued blockades of all but essential foods and medicines. The Israeli press reported recently that pumpkins were not allowed in because they were not on the list of essential foods.
Sunday Jan 11, 2009
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
The IDF has destroyed a considerable part of Hamas facilities, its munitions, and the homes of its leaders. It has killed more than 750 people, and injured more than 2,500.
What about the propaganda war?
Israeli officials, as well as countless Jews and other friends explain the IDF's actions. They may convince those already committed to Israel. They cannot convince those committed to the Palestinian narrative. The pictures and statistics make it difficult to reach people in the middle, including those who seldom pay attention to Israel, but are revolted by disproportionate death and destruction.
Israeli sources note the practice of Hamas to use human shields for their evil work, and to delight in publicity given to pictures of dead women and children. Media friendly to the Palestinians have shown films from years ago as if they were current.
Wednesday Dec 31, 2008
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
You have heard about the fog of war. Now we are in the fog of peace.
The droplets in this fog are the demands and proposals to stop the fighting. So far the participants include officials from France, Turkey, European Union, United Nations, Egypt, Britain, United States, Russia, China, and a host of lesser actors.
Each has a slightly different idea. 'Israel should stop its attacks; should stop for 48 hours in order to give Hamas a chance to consider its options; Israel and Hamas must stop together; Israel must open the borders to Gaza for food and supplies, with or without stopping its attacks.'
Monday Dec 29, 2008
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
I have lost count of the wars and lesser operations experienced here in the region over the course of 33 years. For some of them I was in uniform and armed, and sent to a combat zone. I never fired anything stronger than a lecture on public policy to the troops doing the actual fighting. On other occasions there were attack helicopters circling above our neighborhood of the French Hill, waiting for an assignment that would take them to a target 5-10 kilometers to the north or south.
This time the action is 60 kilometers southwest of here, but neighbors 200 meters away have been restless. No attack helicopters above us, but there have been police helicopters probing with spotlights. Border police units have been on the road to Isaweea. Thick black smoke probably came from burning tires, and explosions that sounded like stun grenades marked a confrontation with marchers protesting what was happening in Gaza.
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Window on Israel
Hebrew University Political Science professor evaluates the latest happenings in Israel.
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Recent Comments
Al, USA: I agree with Ira. Gilo is part of Jerusalem and should remain so. Pres. Obama is naive and doesn't really understand the situation. However, if he does that is even worse, for he then is intentionally undermining Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Winners of wars and territories traditionally have not returned won territories unless they got something substantial in return. So far the PA has been unwilling to do so. We saw the consequences of leaving Gaza.
Pero, massachusetts: To shani: what about the sinai? israel returned to egypt 1981, and only agreed to do so in 1977, 4 years after the youm kippour war. what about when israel pulled out of lebanon? isnt that in the last 500 years. and anyway, just because something is won in war doesn't make it legitimate
To neal: Britain's mandate was based on the fact that it conquered palestine. what right does britain have to give it away? is this your logic? things can only be won through. my friend, if that is your logic, arabs will be in a perpetual state of war with you, be cause you have no legitimacy.
Jay: yes possession counts!
by your logic " EdB" the United States should give back all the land it stole from the Indians over the early years of the US's massive expansion. Israelis have more right to all of Jerusalem, Judea (hello?) & Samaria then do the americans to places like the state of Iillinois, Michigan, Ohio ect... because they all in fact had large native populations pre-dating the conquest of european/anglo-saxon's and would be the "palestinians" of today. with one big exception: the Jews pre-date the "palestinians" on this land by 2000 years.
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