Britannia Radio

January 10, 2011

"Give Us a Break"

That's rhetorical, of course. No one gives us a break. But the position of the EU at present is over-the-top:

According to a report from The Independent (London), an internal EU document was sent to European Consuls General located in Jerusalem with regard to the Shepherd's hotel demolition. According to this report, the Consuls then suggested that it would be wise if they were present during housing demolitions in eastern Jerusalem, and that they attend demolition and eviction related court proceedings and "ensure EU intervention when Palestinians are arrested or intimidated by Israeli authorities for peaceful cultural, social or political activities in east Jerusalem."

If this doesn't enrage you, don't know what will.

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Additionally, The Independent wrote:

"If current trends are not stopped as a matter of urgency, the prospect of east Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state becomes increasingly unlikely and unworkable.

"Over the past few years the changes to the city have run counter to the peace process. Attempts to exclusively emphasize the Jewish identity of the city threaten its religious diversity and radicalize the conflict, with potential regional and global repercussions."

Global repercussions, no less.

But when the man responsible for the horrendous, obscene murder of four innocent Israelis is arrested by the PA simply to keep him safe from Israel (with no intent of prosecuting) -- and when he is released to make Hamas happy, the PA is angry at Israel for grabbing him so quickly -- this apparently doesn't run counter to the peace process. At least, we have no word from the EU indicating that it is.

So, we know whom we are dealing with, and what we are up against. And it's not a pretty picture.

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With regard to the Europeans on this issue, there are two or three essential problems:

[] There is insufficient recognition of the historical nature of eastern Jerusalem.

Where there is talk (British talk in this instance) of Israel "emphasizing the Jewish nature of the city," it is a marker of people who are clearly clueless (or pretending to be clueless?) about the fact that Jerusalem IS a Jewish city. Since the late 1800s, Jerusalem has had a Jewish majority. It was only the illegal usurpation of eastern Jerusalem by Jordan in 1949 that rendered this area "Arab;" this came about because Jordan drove every last Jew from that part of the city. In recent years Jews are simply moving back to the areas that were originally Jewish.

There was no international outcry when Jordan acted as it did. No distress that the Jewish nature of part of the city was willfully destroyed, as synagogues were taken down and cemeteries vandalized. No distress that Jews, who had been promised access to the Kotel -- the Western Wall -- were totally denied access for 19 years.

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[] There is an assumption being made: the automatic expectation that eastern Jerusalem should be the capital of a Palestinian state.

Says who? Because the PLO demands it? Let it be very, very clear: Palestinian Arabs (as a recently self-defined entity) NEVER had any part of the city. It is not theirs to claim, although they have done their damnedest in recent years to erase evidence of the Jewish presence.

The flip side of this is that Jewish rights are being totally ignored or sublimated to Arab claims. That is the single most important issue to be confronted.

But there is more: There is total failure to recognize that Jerusalem is so thoroughly composed of interlocking Jewish and Arab neighborhoods that dividing the city is truly a logistical impossibility. And there is refusal to acknowledge the security risk to Israel -- the nightmare -- that would follow from an autonomous Arab presence in some sectors of Jerusalem. Where I live in an old neighborhood of western Jerusalem, I am within easy kassam range of areas that would be part of a Palestinian state, were the Europeans to have their way.

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[] There is serious disrespect for, and disregard of, Israeli law and legal processes.

The furor over the demolition of an old hotel building that was acquired legally by Jews 25 years ago is evidence of this. So is the suggestion by the Consuls General that they should monitor court proceedings. How insulting and inappropriate does it get? They want not only monitoring of court procedures, but the ability to intervene.

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While distancing his government from the hotel demolition, Prime Minister Netanyahu did support the legal right of Jews to acquire property in Jerusalem. Today his office released the following:

"Actions undertaken yesterday (Sunday), 9.1.11, at the Shepherd Hotel were conducted by private individuals in accordance with Israeli law. The Israeli government was not involved.

"There should be no expectation that the State of Israel will impose a ban on Jews purchasing private property in Jerusalem. No democratic government would impose such a ban on Jews and Israel will certainly not do so."

Additionally, a Jerusalem District Court -- in response to a petition by the Husseini family -- has declined to issue a temporary restraining order against building on the Shepherd hotel plot.

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Amidst much praise, Meir Dagan has just stepped down from his post as director of the Mossad, after a record-breaking term of eight years. A number of brilliant operations are being attributed to him (although it is obviously impossible to credit him on the record definitively) -- these include the assassination of Hezbollah strongman Imad Mughniyeh, the bombing of the Syrian nuclear reactor, and certain sabotages that have occurred in Iran.

Tzachi Hanegbi, who was very much aware of Dagan's operations because of various government positions he held, had this to say:

"Even without relating to these specific operations [as above], anyone familiar with Dagan's years in the Mossad up close can attest to the fact that reality has surpassed all imagination."

And so we owe a debt to Meir Dagan, not only for the successful operations that he achieved, but for the very critical deterrence power that accrues to them.

Dagan has been succeeded by Tamir Pardo. May he have a term of stunning success.

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Very recently, word was that -- when terrorists from small militant groups in Gaza (such as Islamic Jihad) had gotten restive and were seeking a chance to use the new weapons they had acquired -- Hamas had given the go-ahead, with the proviso that attacks stay in the vicinity of the border. (This was to prevent an Israeli response of major proportions.) What we saw then, starting near the end of 2010, was an escalation in attacks.

But just yesterday, perhaps unsettled by the Israeli response, Hamas declared it wants to avoid a Cast Lead II, and announced that it has expended efforts to get those other groups in Gaza to stop firing rockets at Israel -- to "control the situation on the ground."

Either Hamas is not trying very hard, or these groups are not listening. The rockets are still coming on a daily basis, and frequent clashes take place near the border between Israel and Gaza. In the first week of 2011 alone, ten rockets were fired at Israeli communities near the Gaza border. There is routinely an Israeli response to an attack, with strikes against terrorist sites.

Last Wednesday, two Palestinian Arabs attempting to scale the fence into Israel were shot and killed.

On Friday, an Israeli soldier was killed and three others wounded by friendly fire. This happened after IDF soldiers saw terrorists placing devices on the border fence, and called in mortar fire against them from another location.

Today, three rockets landed in the outskirts of Ashkelon, in one of the longer range attacks of recent weeks.

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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner , functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution

see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info