Green line language

A May 1 New York Times story included this information about Jerusalem:

The Palestinian population of East Jerusalem, which stood at about 66,000 in 1967, is now about 250,000. In addition, more than 195,000 Israelis live in Jewish developments - referred to as "neighborhoods" by the Israelis and as "settlements" by the United Nations - in East Jerusalem."

Now, I am not certain that the numbers above are exact but, for the moment, that is less a concern to me than the language used.

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Green Line Fever

The issue of Jewish civilians living across the Green Line is one that stirs passions. Anyone who, like me, seeks to stay up-to-date on the matter, both historically as well as in contemporary media commentary and news reports, cannot be but overwhelmed at times at the downright nastiness of some of the language used.

For example, here is Paul Mirengoff of the Claremont Institute in a recent piece:

"In my view, the continued expansion of settlements is the most toxic activity that is undermining the negotiations process and [that] actually, in the long term, will assure a deterioration in America's support for Israel."

Or, take Tom (Breira) Friedman of The New York Times, who has a hang-up about me and my friends and neighbors:

"The West Bank is so chopped up and divided now by roads, checkpoints and fences to separate Israel's crazy settlements from Palestinian villages... "

Back on  January 25, he published in his column an article which referred to "the fanatical Jewish settlers."

True, it is not my wish to censor any one's expressions of disagreement. It's just that it's quite obvious to me that such reactions, from people who should both know their facts better and how to use the language better, seem to indicate a loss of control - or worse, a seeking-out of the most disparaging and derogatory terms. They literally seem to lose it, as if their pens were "foaming at the point."

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The Green Line comes... and goes

Did you know that the "Green Line" is sixty years old?  Tom Segev, who is as much a pro-Green Line proponent as I am its opponent, has reported in his Ha'aretz column  that: "...the demarcation of [the Green] line... took place at the Hotel des Roses on the Greek island of  Rhodes, where Egyptian and Israeli representatives met at the end of the War of Independence... under the auspices of the United Nations... [mediator and later Nobel Peace Prize awardee Ralphe] Bunche, [who] bent over backwards to get the sides to reach an agreement... The two sides signed on February 24, 1949. We got Beersheeba; they got Gaza... "

Of course, Segev doesn't mention 19 years during which Arabs refused to recognize the Green Line as inviolate to terror, rather constantly infiltrating Israel, killing civilians, pillaging property and seeking to eliminate the "Zionist entity."

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