Transcript Settlements… - amitiesquebec

Jewish
Settlements…
An illegal obstacle to peace?
An ICIC QuickFacts Presentation
CLICK ON MOUSE TO ADVANCE SLIDES
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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."
•
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Middle East Insight Symposium in Washington, D.C.
May 4, 1998
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?
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As a result of defensive action in 1967 after Jordan
attacked and Egypt blocked the straits of Tiran…
What does international law
say about exercising the
right of self-defense?
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United Nations Charter
Article 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 Palestine
League 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…”
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Article 6
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….
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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
“NO”
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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 Israel
1948-1967
So, when Palestinians talk
about removing settlements…
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…is this is what they really mean?
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A project of the
Israel Citizens Information Council
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