Israel's rights to the land is ingrained in history, archeological findings, international law and possession - YJ Draiman

Israel's rights to the land is ingrained in history, archeological findings, international law and possession

Reader comment on item: The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem
in response to reader comment: The Order and the Master

Submitted by YJ Draiman (United States), May 10, 2015 at 02:24

Israel's rights to the land is ingrained in history, archeological findings, international law and possession. Just like the Arab States have not been required to defend their legitimacy, Israel should also not be required to defend its' legitimacy. The 21 Arab States and the State of Israel were set up by the Allied Powers after WWI, when the Ottoman Empire relinquished its title to the territories to the Allied Powers.
The British were assigned as trustee for the Jewish people to help reconstitute the Jewish State as Implemented by the San Remo Treaty of 1920. The San Remo Treaty adopted the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Of importance is the fact that treaty terms and documents prove there was no state allocation of land to any other people or nation other than the Jewish people in Israel. It should also be noted the League of Nations set up the Mandate for Palestine as a State for the Jewish people with exclusive political rights.
The Jewish people who lived in Israel for over 4,000 had additional Jewish immigration in the mid-1800s. The local Jewish people with the infusion of more Jewish immigration, resources, funding and with the explicit permission by the Ottoman government, started developing the land. Within a short time the Jewish people started turning the desert and desolation into green pastures, thus, building an economy, agriculture, housing and industry. Many Arabs from neighboring depressed states who viewed this development as an opportunity for work and an improved standard of living, came to work in Palestine.
It is of interest in this conflict to take into consideration. The Arab countries expelled over a million Jews and their children, confiscated their assets, businesses, homes and land 5-6 times the size of Israel (120,440 sq. km. or 75,000 sq. miles valued today in the trillions of dollars). Most of these expelled Jews from Arab countries were resettled in Greater Israel.
Over the past 68 years Israel has become a thriving nation with exemplary innovation in education, technology, high tech industry and medicine. Many nations admire Israel's outstanding development and innovation. Israel has always been extending a helping hand to any nation that wants to learn and advance in industry, technology and medicine.
The Arab-Palestinians saw an opportunity to get land and a country that was developed and flourished by the Jewish people. They decided that through intimidation, harassment and violence to usurp the Jewish habitants into capitulating to their scheme of an Arab-Palestinian State on Land allocated to the Jewish people . The Arab-Palestinians live on charity from the nations of the world. They are unwilling to help themselves. After the 1967 war when Israel defeated the 5 Arab armies who tried to destroy it, Israel started employing many of the Arabs in the liberated Jewish territory, educating them in agriculture and water resources. In the following years the standard of living of the Arabs jumped 5 fold and more, and their economy and housing blossomed. When the terrorist organization entered the picture and instigated the Arab population to start terror and violence against the Israelis, the economic advancement was slowed down if not halted. The dire predicament of the Arab-Palestinians is of their own making.
If you look at Arab land it is desolate and barren, with few exceptions. At the same time, the Jewish land is blooming and developing at an accelerated tempo. The Arabs, rather than follow the example set by Israel, tried to take the Jewish land by force and lost 4 wars in a span of 25 years.
The Arab-Palestinians current actions in the political and legal arena is a result of losing 4 wars and various battles with Israel. They not only could not win ground, but in fact have caused themselves a downward spiral toward economic desolation.
The Arab-Palestinians have switched tactics and have now gained more ground and concessions by playing the peace game. The Arab-Palestinians obfuscation and disinformation campaign along with various pleadings in front of the U.N. and other International bodies has gained them more inroads. The power of oil and the Arab Countries, who do not want the Arab-Palestinians to return to their countries, are helping them promote the false information, and utilizing their numerical control in the U.N. to pass any resolution that they deem necessary to advance their cause.
Money, power and greed promoted hate and anti-Semitism by the Arabs in order to force Israel into surrendering territory to the Arab-Palestinians. The Arabs are trying to initiate land piracy camouflaged as legal rights to the land of Israel.
Jewish resistance to persecution by the Arabs and the world at large: Any level headed individual would think that after WWII and the 6 million Jews exterminated in the Holocaust (plus another 5 million of other ethnic groups) would diminish, if not eliminate anti-Semitism and baseless hatred. It seems that no matter the amount of unwarranted persecution, and no matter the sacrifices the Jewish people have endured through the ages, Anti-Semitism continues to raise its ugly head.
The Media is guilty of escalating hostilities and violence in Israel and elsewhere. The Media has a responsibility to deliver fair and unbiased reporting. They influence the information that people rely on. It is an awesome responsibility and it must be handled with factual un-slanted reporting. Peoples lives depend on it; maybe yours or someone you love. Do we need a legal task force to discipline the Media when they intentionally distort the truth and or stage events for Media sensationalism? I would like your comments and input.
The affects on the world at large: Has humanity lost its values and fairness? The answer is no. In order to lose something, one must first possess it and the truth is, the world has never had total control of values and fairness. In today's world, where money and power is pursued at all costs (see Machiavelli), the core family unit is disintegrating and family values deteriorating. Honesty, integrity and fair-play seem to be a thing of the past. Where are we as human beings of the 21st century heading? Obviously downward.
Take some time to reflect on the truth of what is stated here. Do you really want this kind of world for your children? Senseless hate and destruction must not be tolerated. I urge you to wake up, take the bull by the horn and pursue a path of correction, or we are doomed as a civilized people.
YJ Draiman
P.S. How many holidays do the Arabs celebrate due to historical events in the land of ancient Israel. The Jewish people celebrate most of their holidays and fast days in memory of and the goal and aspiration to return to Israel and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem – where it was before it was destroyed and desecrated by the enemies of the Jews. Many of the Jewish prayers for thousands of years recite the love of Israel and the Jewish aspirations to return to their ancestral land and bring back its glory and holiness.
In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.
Ben Gurion
"Nobody does Israel any service by proclaiming its 'right to exist.' [As a Jewish State] Israel's right to exist, like that of the United States, Saudi Arabia and 152 other states, is axiomatic and unreserved. Israel's legitimacy is not suspended in midair awaiting acknowledgement. . . .There is certainly no other state, big or small, young or
old, that would consider mere recognition of its 'right to exist' a favor, or a negotiable concession."
Abba Eban

The Order and the Master

Reader comment on item: The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem
in response to reader comment: Defending Israel's Legal Rights to Jerusalem

Submitted by Michael S (United States), May 8, 2015 at 02:43

Hello, YJ
I began reading your piece in some detail, but had to continue to the end with a mere scan. My vision is not what it used to be, even with glasses; so I cannot read much. What I did read was excellent, and I agree with all of it.
I will make a comment about the logic used, however: There is much mention of the role of the UN in determining Israel's boundaries (and, in fact, of its very existence). Until recently, international bodies such as the UN did not play any role in recognizing states and their boundaries; these were matters (since about 1648) of treaties between sovereign states.
Up until the end of WWI, the European powers divided up the whole world between themselves, and settled thorny issues by convening "congresses" of the major recognized powers. After WWI, this "Congress Europe" system was replaced by the League of Nations, which notably did not include the world's most powerful country, the USA. It was this League which mandated that a Jewish homeland be established in what is now, essentially, Israel (minus Golan), Jordan and Gaza. After WWII, the League was replaced by the UN, and the Mandate of Palestine was continued by Britain as a UN mandate.
Once the British unilaterally quit the mandate (under pressure from the US and others), Palestine west of Jordan indeed underwent a "vacuum of sovereignty", which was filled by Israel and aggressor armies from Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Temporary cease-fire lines were agreed upon, which were changed 19 years later, after the Arab states precipitated another war.
Under the old "Westphalian System" of complete sovereignty for states, all of Palestine (i.e. Israel & Jordan, etc.) would have been the property of the UK, to do with as they wished; and after they quit the land, it would have been the property of Israel and the other victors, to do with as they wished. The same would have been true after the 1967 adjustments.
Under the "Post-Westphalian" arrangement, especially since the founding of the UN in 1945, state sovereignty has been under continual attack, worldwide; and this fact, in itself, is bound to have a major impact on the future of Israel. As an example of this loss of sovereignty, I will give a few examples:
Israeli law is based mainly on the Common Law system it inherited from the British. Britain itself has a Common Law system, based upon a tradition of centuries of cases; but in more and more matters, the British are subject not to their native Common Law courts, but to international courts based on Civil Law: The European Court, the International Court of Justice, and special courts pertaining to various trade and other treaties. In this respect, they have lost a great deal of sovereignty to supra-national bodies. The US and other countries of the world suffer similarly; and this loss of sovereignty is an ongoing process. A major objection to the proposed Transpacific Partnership, for example, is that constitutionally-enacted labor and business legislation in the US and its constituent states will be usurped, taking jobs and rights away from American workers and consumers.
I have been interested in Bible prophecy since the early 1970s. One passage that used to puzzle me, was Zech 14. In this passage, it was prophesied that in the "end times", Israel would be attacked by "all the nations of the world". Israel has never been a very powerful country, save for a brief period around 1000 BC when its neighbors were relatively weak (This was the time of David and Solomon); and since the Romans conquered Israel in 63 BCE, the Jewish state and people have been relatively insignificant in world affairs (as opposed to world imaginations). I wondered, therefore, how it was that the entire world, including great powers and superpowers, would find it expedient to ally with one another to attack such an insignificant state.
The answer to these musings was the United Nations, which has taken upon itself to usurp the sovereignty of countries like Israel, and manipulate them with sanctions and physical force. Such a gross violation of Israel's sovereignty, contrary even to the founding charter of the UN, will certainly happen in the near future. It will happen not at any legally pre-defined moment, but at such a time that the US and the other permanent members of the UN Security Council deem fit for it to happen. The UN, therefore, has sorted out for me a rather vexing issue in Biblical understanding.
The laws and conventions, therefore, that are being used and will continue to be used against Israel, are fairly recent inventions; and the brave "New World Order" that is orchestrating them is likewise very young. Israel's claims, on the other hand, do not arise out of any world order; they arise out of the word of the God of Israel, whom people across the globe recognize as the Creator and Master of the Universe. A confilct will certainly arise between this unseen Master and the equally unseen Order; and indeed, that conflict is going on today in people's minds. My money and my life are with the Master.