By Esther Korson
Wednesday was a very busy day! Here in Israel, the events of the day are being called a ‘diplomatic tsunami’. First of all, the European parliament adopted a resolution supporting ‘Palestinian’ statehood in principle. (They did not follow some European parliaments in immediately backing a ‘Palestinian’ state, however). Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, the draft resolution on securing a ‘Palestinian’ state was submitted to the United Nations Security Council. The resolution calls for a final settlement with Israel within a year and calls for a complete withdrawal to pre-1967 lines within two years. Also, the European Union took Hamas off its list of terror organizations, at which point Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted to the European Union that they immediately reinstate the terrorist status. (Canada also urged the European Union to keep Hamas listed as a banned terrorist group, and the US echoed their sentiments by saying they will always consider Hamas to be a terror organization). And finally, on such a busy day, the Geneva Convention invoked the rights of the Palestinians with 126 countries urging Israel to halt construction in the territories (AKA West Bank) and East Jerusalem and accused Israel of war crimes. What, the world has nothing else to do with their time?
Netanyahu decried the European Union’s decision as well as the European Parliament’s passage on ‘Palestinian’ statehood and the call from Switzerland to investigate Israel’s supposed violation of the Geneva Convention. Addressing the members of the press corps, also on Wednesday, Netanyahu described them as a series of examples of European naiveté and hypocrisy. He called it a spirit of appeasement in Europe of the very forces that threaten Europe itself. He said to the press, “Today we witnessed staggering examples of European hypocrisy. In Geneva the call for the investigation of Israel for war crimes while in Luxemburg the European Court removed Hamas from the list of terror organizations—Hamas that has committed countless war crimes and countless terror acts. It seems that too many in Europe on whose soil six million Jews were slaughtered have learned nothing. But we in Israel—we’ve learned…We’ll continue to defend our people and our State against the forces of terror and tyranny.” (IBA News)
The JNN news staff (Barry and Batya Segal’s ministry) so perfectly stated the case for Israel that I have to quote exactly what they said! Under the headline, ISRAEL CANNOT RETURN TO THE PRE-1967 BORDERS, they wrote the following: “It would leave the centre of the country a mere eight miles wide and its borders indefensible. The Jewish State could be cut in two by an Arab tank charge in just minutes. Arab forces would be positioned all along Israel’s eastern border, including areas that contain the greatest concentration of Israel’s population, including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Israel would be stripped of its protective Judea-Samaria mountain ranges. US Lieut.-General Thomas Kelly, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War, pointed out that Israel would be virtually indefensible without those mountainous areas.
“An Israeli retreat to the pre-1967 borders would also include the re-division of Jerusalem. The Arabs would gain control of the Old City section of Jerusalem (known as ‘East Jerusalem’), which includes the historic Jewish Quarter and the Mount of Olives cemetery, which is the oldest Jewish cemetery in the world. An Israeli retreat to the indefensible pre-1967 borders would encourage further Arab attacks and lead to an all-out war.”(JNN)
There was another surprise on that eventful Wednesday. An Arab single mother, a social worker from Akko by the name of Annette Haskiya, who now lives on a kibbutz, announced her candidacy to run for the Knesset as part of the Jewish Home party. She said, “I’m a proud Israeli Arab woman,” brave words for a person in the Middle East. She is proud that her son served in the IDF in an elite combat unit and has moved to live on a kibbutz. She advocates the integration of Arabs into Israeli society and opposes a ‘Palestinian’ state. “Do you know that in Arab schools there is no Israeli flag? It’s because they don’t recognize the Jewish state and don’t want to be a part of it. They shouldn’t be getting State funding! From the ‘Palestinian’ perspective, the ‘Palestinian’ problem will be solved at last the moment they throw the last Jew into the sea and wave them goodbye. Then the problem would be solved. Any Arab who doesn’t accept that Israel is the rightful homeland of the Jews should emigrate from this country.” What a brave voice coming from the Arab world!
I loved the speech made by Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas Governor and US Presidential Candidate last week. He said that the US should immediately cease its funding to the ‘Palestinian’ Authority and allocate the same amount to housing for Jews in Judea and Samaria (AKA ‘West Bank’). Huckabee said he always brings tourists to Israel to a random ‘Palestinian’ shop to ask to see Israel on the maps sold in the store. “The shopkeeper inevitably looks confused because Israel doesn’t appear on their maps,” he explained. “The ‘Palestinians’ have refused to acknowledge the existence of Israel, and continue to teach in their schools that the Jews are targets for murder. This should be so unacceptable that the US should send a simple message: until the ‘Palestinians’ are willing to acknowledge not only the right of Israel to exist, but until it tears every page of every textbook that has that kind of anti-Semitic, hateful, violent language within the textbooks for children—then not only will the US not support any type of negotiation, but the US will cease to send another dime of support to the PA or to Gaza. And the money that would have been given will now go to send concrete to Israel so they can build new apartment buildings throughout Judea and Samaria.” Huckabee questioned why the US government gets angry over construction of homes in the disputed territories. “Our government should be encouraging Israel to build in Samaria, Judea and throughout Israel—especially in its capital, Jerusalem,” he declared.
He’s right, of course. The world should be helping us to build instead of gathering in their parliaments and international councils to try to wrench from us the little sliver of land that we have. They should be rejoicing that, after 2,000 years, we have returned home to the land promised to us by the Lord God of Israel so many, many centuries ago—the clearest sign of His faithfulness and also the clearest sign that our Messiah and King is soon to return—to HIS people and to HIS land! But the Bible tells us that Jerusalem—our beloved city—will be a stumbling stone to all the world, and so it is. (The Lord also fulfilled his promise to the sons of Ishmael, who have 22 sovereign, oil rich nations of their own).
Meanwhile, the sons and daughters of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in spite of the world’s aggression and hatred directed our way, are happily celebrating our Festival of Light. The chanukiahs (holiday menorahs) are shining brightly from windows, buildings, central squares, stores and restaurants across the width and breadth of this land. And the light gets brighter daily as the candles increase, until, on the last day of the festival, all nine candles are lighting up our world. And we are eating latkes (potato pancakes fried in oil) and arguing over which bakery sells the best sufganiot (traditional Chanukah donuts) and playing games and singing songs with our families and friends. Happy—happy to be home in our land again and happily celebrating a victory and a miracle from long ago.
The re-gathered, happily celebrating nation of Israel is a miracle of today. We live in amazing times, dear friends. May the light of Chanukah fill your hearts with wonder and joy. Happy Chanukah!
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