Jewish Settlements…

An illegal obstacle to peace?

CLICK ON MOUSE TO ADVANCE SLIDESijm

An ICIC QuickFacts Presentation

Why settlements are not the real problem…

An AMERICAN perspective…

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Thomas Friedman…

• “To think that the Palestinians are only enraged about settlements is … nonsense…Their grievance is not just with Israeli settlements, but with Israel. Most Palestinians simply do not accept that the Jews have any authentic right to be here”

• October 2000

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FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE

James Baker…• Question:• “What do you think is right?

That these are occupied Arab territories and not disputed territories?”

• Baker replied:• "They´re clearly disputed territories. That´s what

resolutions 242 and 338 are all about. They are clearly disputed territories."

• Middle East Insight Symposium in Washington, D.C. May 4, 1998

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Ronald Reagan…

• “They're not illegal—not under UN resolutions that leave the West Bank open to all people, Arab and Israeli alike."

President Ronald Reagan

February 2, 1981

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SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Donald Rumsfeld…• "My feelings about the so-called occupied

territories are that there was a war. Israel urged neighboring countries not to get involved in it once it started. They all jumped in and they lost a lot of real estate to Israel because Israel prevailed in the conflict."

• August 6, 2002

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FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE

Madeline Albright…

• "We simply do not support the description of the territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 War as occupied Palestinian territory."

• March 1994

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Were settlements established after 1967 on Palestinian land?

Who exactly controlled the West Bank and Gaza before 1967?

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Jordan, in an illegal occupation recognized by no Arab country…

Egypt, which invaded Gaza and violated UN resolution 181

Both seized the land in an offensive war in 1948…

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How did Israel come to control the West Bank and Gaza?

As a result of defensive action in 1967 after Jordan attacked and Egypt blocked the straits of Tiran…

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What does international law say about exercising the

right of self-defense?

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United Nations CharterArticle 51

Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack

occurs against a Member of the United Nations...

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What was the Arab world saying at the time?…

• "We intend to open a general assault against Israel. This will be total war. Our basic aim will be to destroy Israel." (Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser, 26 May 1967)

• “I, as a military man, believe that the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation." (Syrian Defense Minister Hafez al-Assad, 20 May 1967)

• (Israeli PM) Eshkol had summarily announced …“If you don’t intervene, you will suffer no consequences.” (King Hussein of Jordan, writing in his autobiography)

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And what does international law say about Jews settling

Palestine?

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The Mandate for PalestineLeague of Nations

July 24, 1922

“…recognition to…the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country…”

PREAMBLE

“The Administration of Palestine… shall facilitate Jewish immigration … and shall encourage…close settlement by Jews, on the land…”

Article 6

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UN General Assembly Resolution 181(Partition Plan)

November 29, 1947

“No expropriation of land owned by… a Jew in the Arab State… shall be allowed…”

Chapter 2; Part 8

“…Persons … may opt …for citizenship of the other State…Jews residing in the area of the proposed Arab State who have signed a notice of intention to opt for citizenship of the other State shall be eligible to vote…”

Chapter 3; Part 1

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What was the Arab Population of Israel in 1967 ?

About 393,000 or 14%

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What was the Jewish Population of the West Bank

and Gaza in 1967 ?

Zero

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What is the Arab Population of Israel today ?

About 1.2 million or 19%

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What is the Jewish Population of the West Bank and Gaza

today ?

About 200,000 or 6% …

…on less than 2% of the land

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How can 200,000 Jews be an obstacle to peace and “illegal” while 1.2 million Arabs are not?

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Settlements are legal…

• Has any Israeli-Palestinian treaty, agreement or accord ever banned settlement activity?

• NO• Did the League of Nations allow for Jewish

settlement in all of Palestine?• YES

• Did United Nations resolution 181 allow for Israeli citizens to live in the West Bank and Gaza?

• YES

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Arab communities in Israel are legal and legitimate…

… just as Jewish communities are in the West Bank and Gaza

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How will the dispute be settled?

Jews and Arabs living together in the

land…

Or.…ijm

One land where both can live…

…and another that says:

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Check the facts……not the mantras

• Settlements are in disputed territory obtained legally in a defensive war…

• Residents of settlements voluntarily moved to areas whose sovereignty was never determined by any international body…

• Settlement activity was never prohibited by any Israeli-Palestinian accord or treaty…

• The rights of Jews to live in the West Bank and Gaza was recognized by international bodies such as the UN and League of Nations…

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When Israel offered to

withdraw from 95% of the West Bank

and Gaza….Taba Negotiations

January 2001

…the Palestinians again said

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…and terrorism was the response

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Remember, thousands of acts of terror and violence against Israel took place before there

were any settlements…

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Attacks on Israel1948-1967

So, when Palestinians talk about removing settlements…

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…is this is what they really mean?

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