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Israel/Palestine
Showing Original Post only (View all)Israel’s Settlers Are Here to Stay (NY Times op-ed) [View all]
By DANI DAYANPublished: July 25, 2012
Maale Shomron, West Bank
WHATEVER word you use to describe Israels 1967 acquisition of Judea and Samaria commonly referred to as the West Bank in these pages will not change the historical facts. Arabs called for Israels annihilation in 1967, and Israel legitimately seized the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria in self-defense. Israels moral claim to these territories, and the right of Israelis to call them home today, is therefore unassailable. Giving up this land in the name of a hallowed two-state solution would mean rewarding those whove historically sought to destroy Israel, a manifestly immoral outcome.
Of course, just because a policy is morally justified doesnt mean its wise. However, our four-decade-long settlement endeavor is both. The insertion of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan would be a recipe for disaster.
The influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere would convert the new state into a hotbed of extremism. And any peace agreement would collapse the moment Hamas inevitably took power by ballot or by gun. Israel would then be forced to recapture the area, only to find a much larger Arab population living there.
Moreover, the Palestinians have repeatedly refused to implement a negotiated two-state solution. The American government and its European allies should abandon this failed formula once and for all and accept that the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria are not going anywhere.
On the contrary, we aim to expand the existing Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, and create new ones. This is not as it is often portrayed a theological adventure but is rather a combination of inalienable rights and realpolitik.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/opinion/israels-settlers-are-here-to-stay.html
Dani Dayan is the chairman of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria.
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So, Americans are now supposed to fight another couple wars to keep this guy in place?
leveymg
Jul 2012
#1
Israel's presence in the West Bank is the very definition of a colonial enterprise.
bemildred
Jul 2012
#15
i answer when were talking about the samething....Palestenian power to make changes.
pelsar
Jul 2012
#101
Kayecy: As a "last resort" Israel forced Palestinians to become suicide bombers....
shira
Jul 2012
#50
The Palestinians have the power to stop that. Settlers would've ended 12 years ago...
shira
Jul 2012
#39
It is perfectly clear to anyone with a brain that they do not have the power to stop that.
bemildred
Jul 2012
#52
Jews have lived in Greece and Turkey for longer than they've lived in Israel...
shaayecanaan
Jul 2012
#44
The difference between Palestinians in the West Bank and Palestinians in Jerusalem and Israel Proper
Ken Burch
Jul 2012
#46
Yeah, it was. Closing off the Straits of Tiran alone was an act of war vs. Israel...
shira
Jul 2012
#37
It is a subject of great and vituperative dispute, which is why I now avoid arguing about it.
bemildred
Jul 2012
#59
Egypt did in 1973. Had Israel pre-empted at the last minute, you'd blame Israel....
shira
Jul 2012
#77
Again, had Israel pre-empted Egypt in 1973 at the very last minute you would say...
shira
Jul 2012
#81
This is why you guys can't expect to be taken seriously. Egypt attacked Israel in 1973...
shira
Jul 2012
#78
Kayecy: Why did Rabin have a nervous breakdown in the days leading up to the '67 war?
shira
Aug 2012
#121
it would be best if you stop making things up and concentrate on the subject...
pelsar
Aug 2012
#133
Actually, there were 5 causes of war & Israel tried handling it diplomatically first...
shira
Aug 2012
#148
according to this poll more Israeli's are ready to have it that way too-forever
azurnoir
Jul 2012
#86