The so-called "human rights" NGO, Amnesty International, put out a report of about 280 pages on the country it clearly deems to be the most evil in the world - the democratic, Jewish State of Israel. What country could possibly be worse? Not China, not Iran, not North Korea, not Russia, not Syria, etc. The name of this report filled with lies is "Israel's Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity." Given the length of the report (which could have been written by Hamas), I'll focus on some of the "low" lights. At another time, I might have ignored this. But with the rise in antisemitism, a professed scholarly and academic report such as this must be addressed. All readers, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, need to understand that the Jew haters will use any means necessary to help bring about the end of Israel and the Jewish people.
Amnesty: "Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has pursued an explicit policy of establishing and maintaining a Jewish demographic hegemony and maintaining its control over land to benefit Jewish Israelis..." Comment: A brief history. Following the Allies success in WWI, Britain and France controlled much of the Middle East, territory that had been controlled by the defeated Ottoman Empire. The area that came to be known as the British Mandate (or Mandatory Palestine) consisted of land that later became Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
In 1947, following WWII, Britain turned over their Mandate to the UN. On 11/29/47, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 181, which provided in pertinent part: "Independent Arab and Jewish states and the special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, set forth in Part II of this plan, shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the Mandatory Power (Britain) has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948."
A few points. It is clear that Amnesty does not think Israel should exist. And certainly not as a Jewish state - even though the UN Resolution specifically called for the creation of an independent JEWISH state. The land in question, although called Palestine, had nothing to do with today's "Palestinians," as the Arabs of Palestine were simply known as Arabs. Palestine was also the Jewish homeland. Before the UN vote, much of the Mandate had already been turned over to the Hashemite King, with that land becoming known as Trans-Jordan, and then Jordan. The remaining land was then "partitioned" by the UN into a Jewish state and an Arab state.
So what happened? Notwithstanding the tiny piece of land given to the Jews for their state, the Jews agreed. And on May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was born. However, the Arab world declared that they would never accept the existence of a Jewish state. Therefore, Israel had to fight its own war for independence, from 11/30/47 to 7/20/49, as the surrounding Arab world attacked, in the first effort to wipe Israel off the map. The Arabs failed. Israel captured slightly more land than the UN Resolution provided to the Jews. Jordan ended up in control of much of Jerusalem, including the Old City, as well as the West Bank. Egypt controlled Gaza by the end of the war. The war ended with a cease fire, but no treaty. No permanent boundaries were drawn.
Amnesty: "In May 1948, the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel announced a Jewish state." Comment: Yes it did, you lying morons! Just as the UN promised. What's your point? Amnesty: "At the same time as establishing Israel as a Jewish state, the 1948 Declaration appealed to Jewish people around the world to immigrate to Israel. In 1950, Israel granted every Jew the right to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return." Comment: Yes, Israel asked world Jewry to come to the newly formed Jewish state. A mere three years after the end of the Holocaust, Israel came into existence, and two years later an appeal was made to Jews to immigrate. Again, what's your point, Amnesty? Clearly, you believe that the UN was wrong to grant any of the land for the establishment of a Jewish state.
Amnesty: "In the course of establishing Israel as a Jewish state in 1948, its leaders were responsible for the mass expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians." Comment: What??? Amnesty has some whoppers there. They neglect to mention that the Arab world, convinced that they would have an overwhelming victory over the Jews, who were vastly outnumbered and with a minimal number of armaments, told the Arabs of Palestine to leave their homes, as the surrounding Arab countries were about to make war on the newly formed Jewish nation. The Arabs of Palestine were told they would be able to return after the Jews were defeated. And Arabs were displaced, not "Palestinians," either by heeding the warning of the Arab leaders, or not wanting to get caught in the middle of a war. Were some displaced by the Jews? Likely some.
Amnesty does concede that the Law of Return likely was meant to prevent another Holocaust, and to "provide shelter to Jews who faced persecution elsewhere in the world." Comment: Elsewhere in the world? Mostly it was the Arab world who persecuted their Jewish citizens, after centuries of Jewish people living in those countries. But Amnesty does not wish to discuss the 700-800,000 Jewish people displaced from the surrounding Arab countries, following Israel's war for independence.
Amnesty: "In 1967, Israel extended this policy (presumably of Jews first) beyond the Green Line to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which it has occupied ever since." Comment: Lie much, Amnesty? Israel "extended" their policy in 1967? I am sure they mean that Israel had to fight yet another war for their survival in June, 1967, when the Arab world again attempted to wipe Israel off the map. But, in what has come to be known as The Six Day War, Israel defeated the Arab enemies. In doing so, they captured the West Bank, the Old City of Jerusalem, Gaza, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt following the 1972 Yom Kippur war. Israel vacated Gaza in 2005; with Gaza being run by Hamas since. And even parts of the West Bank are now under the control of the Palestinian Authority and their apparent President for life, Mahmoud Abbas.
A few closing remarks. Amnesty not only has no complaints with the Arab world displacing their Jewish citizens in 1948 and thereafter, but also has nothing to say about Abbas declaring that no Jew may live in any future country of Palestine. Amnesty accuses Israel of Apartheid, while an Arab minister sits in Israel's current ruling government, not to mention Arabs voting in Israeli elections, and sitting in the Knesset (the parliament), and working as doctors and lawyers and attending universities. Clearly, this is a new definition of apartheid. It is generally acknowledged that the Arabs of Israel have more rights than their Arab brethren in the surrounding Arab world. Of course, Amnesty would never think to mention the Jewish people's connection to the land of Israel, a connection of over 3000 years. And finally, for a further review of the Middle East, see the 3/25/2011 post, "Letter to a College Student."
