SCENARIO ONE: Rajoub…

Last week, Arafat’s security chief, Col. Jabril Rajoub, declared to the Palestinian Arabic language media that the PLO should confine its terrorist activity against Israel to the areas that Israel captured in the 1967 War. That would mean that it would be permissible to kill Jews in the following locations:

–On the Jerusalem to Tel Aviv highway, a main thoroughfare inside Israel which also cuts through the West Bank where Jews could be murdered, as well as the Old City of Jerusalem, the 12 Jewish neighborhoods established in Jerusalem since 1967, and the 144 Jewish communities of Judea, Samaria, Katif and the Golan.

During the Clinton Administration’s courtship of the PLO, Jibril Rajoub was the old war horse who was trained and honed by US security interests in the Middle East to take the reins of the Palestinian security interests in the emerging Palestinian entity. Rajoub ran the Palestine Authority’s security services with a hard line, making sure that the PA security services crushed any and all Palestinian dissent against Arafat. This policy pleased the Clinton administration during its tenure, which wanted a strong and stable Palestinian leadership to rule the Palestinian population.

Yet President Bush and his administration have articulated a different vision: a democratic Palestinian entity that would be devoid of terror a requirement for any peace deal with Israel.

Under President Bush, PLO warlords like Rajoub were to become a relic of the past.

Events have not transpired that way.

As soon as Rajoub made his statement to the Palestinian media that he would continue his rule of terror, the US embassy was asked if the US would distance itself from Rajoub. After all, Rajoub_s clear endorsement of terrorism ran contrary to US policy. The US embassy spokesman wrote that the US condemned all forms of terrorism. However, that was not the question.

The question was whether the US would break off relations with a character like Rajoub?

The US embassy referred the question to the US consulate in Jerusalem. The US consulate, for its part, made it clear that the United States still would not break off relations with Rajoub. In other words, Rajoub’s terror threats reign supreme and the US backs him up despite its statements to the contrary.

Meanwhile, in Cairo as well, US embassy sources have confirmed that the US sponsored negotiations to encourage only a temporary stoppage of terror attacks by armed Islamic and PLO factions did not rule out allowing such attacks to continue in the areas that Israel acquired in the 1967 war.

What happened to the Bush administration’s vision of a Palestinian democratic entity devoid of terror?

SCENARIO TWO: Migron…

Israel has an agreement with the US that it would dismantle Israeli outposts in Judea, Samaria (aka the West Bank), and Gaza if the Israeli Courts determine that any of these outposts lie in areas where local Arabs lay claim to the same ground or if the outposts genuinely do not serve Israeli security interests. This is in keeping with the firm doctrine laid down by the late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1977, which stipulated no Jewish community established in areas acquired by Israel in 1967 would encroach on any lands where an Arab landowner showed valid legal claim to such property.

Begin, in his first few months in office, held firm to that principle when he ordered that the newly established Israeli community of Elon Moreh in Samaria be removed to another Samarian location. Begin made this rule because there was a problem of documented Arab claims to the area where and when Elon Moreh was first being constructed.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government has made an exhaustive study of the land titles to the Jewish communities that were established at the outposts which lie at key roadside junctions throughout Judea and Samaria.

There is no question that, indeed, some of these outposts were constructed on shaky legal ground. Some of the outposts will undoubtedly be dismantled in accordance with the Begin doctrine that holds that no Jewish community can be established in an area where Arabs hold title to that land. Israel is a country that runs by rule of law.

However, U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer convened a press conference on December 21st, 2003, in which be declared that the US has its own list of “illegal outposts”. Kurtzer singled out Migron as one of those “illegal outposts” which he said that the US expects to see removed.

Yet Migron now boasts a small Jewish community of 43 families which lies only six miles north of Jerusalem, just off Highway 60. As a Jerusalem political scientist pointed out in the Jerusalem Post, the turnoff to Migron leads to Psagot, Tel Zion and Kochav Ya’acov. Just past those points is the turnoff to Michmas, Rimonim and Kochav Hashahar. Highway 60 continues on to Beit El, Ofra, Shiloh and northward. The removal of Migron is illogical unless all these other communities are to be dismantled as well.

Migron was settled during the tenure of the Ehud Barak left wing Israeli government. A document prepared by the Assistant to the Minister of Defense For Settlements in the Defense Ministry dated 9 February 2003 shows that Migron is included in a list of outposts that “function as independent communities” and for all matters should be treated as such in matters related to budget and definitions of a legal community and it further states that Migron is erected on land specifically and legally owned by Israeli Jews.

Migron’s claim to the land would therefore be held up by an Israeli court of law.

Kurtzer’s asked that “a senior US government official” be quoted as saying that the US expects Israel to defy its courts and to dismantle settlements like Migron.

Does Bush’s vision include an instruction to a US Ambassador to tell the Israeli government, a fellow democracy, to override its court system? The time has come to realize that the US State Department policies stray far from Bush’s vision of encouraging democracy in the middle east.

SCENARIO THREE: A Not So Merry Christmas in the Holy Land

This is the first Christmas since the Palestinian Authority adopted an official constitution based on Koranic “Sharia” Law, which means that all Christians who live under the PA are now subject to Islamic Law.

Over the past three years, while attention has focused on Israeli and Palestinian casualties of the current war, at least one hundred Christians who live in areas ruled by the Palestinian Authority have been arrested and imprisoned for holding church services or conducting public Christian practices without authorization.

Some of these Christians were set free when the Israeli army liberated the jails in the Palestinian Authority at the time of the Israeli army incursion into Palestinian cities in April, 2002.

Those freed Christian prisoners from the Palestinian jails now take refuge by hiding throughout Israel, as they surreptitiously work to try to get their families out of Palestinian cities to join them and emigrate to any safe haven they can find in the West

I have met with a few of these Christian Palestinians. One of them, whom I shall call Joseph to protect the confidentiality of his identity, described the ordeal that he has experienced. He and his brother live in hiding while badgering the US consulate for help to try to get US visas for their families, and have done so ever since their liberation by Israel more than 18 months ago. Joseph described to me how his family cannot openly practice Christian holidays in Bethlehem under the watchful eyes of the PLO’s Islamic police force. After all, the only place in the West Bank where the PLO army currently operates is in the Bethlehem area. Joseph also described how the US-funded Palestinian public school system has become Islamicized, and how his late nephew was literally tortured to death at age 12 by his schoolmates because he expressed love and respect for his uncle as a practicing Christian.

Last Spring, the Vatican Ambassador to the Holy Land, Archbishop Msgr. Pietro Sambi, known as the Papal Nuncio, warned a US Congressional delegation that the new Palestinian Authority’s approved state constitution, funded by US AID, provided no juridical status whatsoever for any religion other than Islam in the emerging Palestinian Arab entity. The Papal Nuncio also expressed his concern to visiting US lawmakers that the PA had adopted “Sharia” Islamic Law, based on the model of the “Sharia” from Koranic edicts as practiced in Iran or in Saudi Arabia.

Article (5) of the official Palestinian State Constitution reads as follows: “Arabic and Islam are the official Palestinian language and religion. Christianity and all other monotheistic religions shall be equally revered and respected”.

In other words, As Archbishop Sambi noted, “other” religions such as Christianity, let alone Judaism, are only to be “respected”, while being denied any juridical status under the new Palestinian State Constitution.

The status of Islam as the official religion of any future Palestinian Arab entity is also expressed in Article (7) of the official Palestinian State Constitution which states that “The principles of Islamic Sharia are a major source for legislation. Civil and religious matters of the followers of monotheistic religions shall be organized in accordance with their religious teachings and denominations within the framework of law, while preserving the unity and independence of the Palestinian people.”

The constitution’s translation can be accessed on the home page of the website www.israelbehindthenews.com.

Islamic nations which have adopted the “Sharia” law, have mandated the absolute supremacy of Muslims over non-Muslims as matter of law, more than of simply of attitude.

What worried the Archbishop was that all Christian churches and all Christian schools will be placed under the arbitrary authority of Islamic Fundamental Law, which allows nothing more than “tolerance” of other religions at best.

For the past seven months, the US embassy has been asked to comment on the US-funded Palestinian State Constitution. No response has been forthcoming from anyone in the US government, except for denials that it exists. Yet the author of the PA State Constitution, Mr. Nabil Shaath, affirms the existence of the PA State Constitution, as presented by the Vatican’s ambassador.

The PA state constitution’s imposition of Sharia Islamic Law is most certainly in effect.

Calls to the US embassy and US consulate to determine whether the US government is looking into the situation of Christians under the rule of the Palestinian National Authority have not been answered.

After all, it was US AID which financed the creation of the PA State Constitution, which meant the imposition of the Islamic Law throughout the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.

Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran which have adopted Sharia Islamic Law, have made life quite difficult for Christians. Under Sharia Islamic Law, Christians are considered “dhimmis”, second class citizens.

A research study released last Christmas by the Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs entitled “The Beleaguered Christians”, notes that in Egypt, “Muslim, but not Christian, schools receive state funding…. It is nearly impossible to restore or build new churches…. Christians are frequently ostracized or insulted in public, and laws prohibit Muslim conversions to Christianity.”.

That same study notes that Saudi Arabia “is one of the most oppressive countries for Christians. There are no churches in the whole country. Foreign workers make up one-third of the population, many of whom are Christians. For their entire stay, which may be years, they are forbidden to display any Christian symbols or Bibles, or even meet together publicly to worship and pray. Some have watched their personal Bibles put through a shredder when they entered the country.” In Iran, “the printing of Christian literature is illegal, converts from Islam are liable to be killed, and most evangelical churches must function underground.”

Bethlehem is understood by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus. When Israel retook control of Bethlehem in 1967, the majority of Bethlehem’s residents practiced various denominations of the Christian faith. However, with Israel’s withdrawal due to the Oslo Accords and after less than ten years of Palestinian Authority rule the Middle East has witnessed a dramatic exodus of Christians from the city. This Christmas, less than 5% in the city of Jesus’s birthplace is Christian. The mainstream media have hesitated to report that fact.

President George W. Bush’s administration has envisioned a democratic Palestinian entity that is devoid of terror. Instead, officials of US AID have fostered a constitution which envisions creation of the Islamic totalitarian state of Palestine, completely devoid of religious freedom and human rights.

This Christmas, an Islamic army occupies Bethlehem. This Christmas, no Church can operate in Bethlehem without Islamic approval.

And Christians in the Palestinian Authority are not seeing a Merry Christmas as a result.

This is the legacy of what the US AID has facilitated, with or without the knowledge of the White House.

1 COMMENT

  1. 10 MAIN POINTS IN ARAB – ISRAEL CONFLICT

    ARAB IMMIGRATION

    The so-called "Palestinians" are mostly (children or grandchildren of) Arab immigration into Israel/Palestine (historic land of the Jews). Mainly, between the 1800s-1939.

    AIM

    Arab Muslim "Palestinians" & Hezbollah, like the Arab leaders in the 1948 and 1967 wars, seek its destruction and advocate the genocide of Jews. [Those that cover for Arabists/Islamists genocidal campaign, somehow often phrase their argument using the "peace" slogan, for some reason].
    When not able [yet] to carry out their ultimate goal. Ethnic cleansing [worse than mere apartheid] is "at least" what they demand in a so-called "Palestine State" vision. As in: June 1, 1967 by Ahmad Shukairy; in Cairo on July 28, 2010 & in Doha on May 28 2011 by Mahmoud Abbas and in Washington D.C. on Sep. 13, 2011 by PLO’s ambassador Maen Areikat. Not to mention Jordan / Palestinian Authority’s official apartheid laws prohibiting sellling land to Jews – punishable by death].

    PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT

    Simply said. Israel has absolutely nothing against non-Terrorist, non-attackers Arabs/Muslims. In fact, Arabs, Muslims are [not only equal and have reached high positions in Israeli society, but] even often treated with preferential treatment in Israel system.

    "CIVILIANS"

    Any time you hear about "Palestinian civilians" being hurt. Remember who is behind it, who -so cruelly- uses them to tarnish Israel’s image. [The same goes to Hezbollah, Taliban or al-Qaeda’s tactics against the West].

    DAVID VS GOLIATH

    The one that hesitates and is in conflict of acting when seeing human shields is the underdog, small "David" against the "Goliath" that exploits Israel’s humane character to hit at its non-combatants civilians from among / or behind its own non-combatants.[Unfortunately the skewed image of who is the real powerful, causes confusion and anti-Israel bias, so rampant in the media].

    ISRAEL’S GOODWILL

    Every goodwill sacrifice by Israel, including land-giving (to the ‘Palestinians" who never actually "owned" or had any sovereignty in the area. So much for the "occupation" myth). Were/are interpreted as "weakness."[The Gaza example is typical. Where Israel gave it away to the Arabs in 2005. The ‘response’ was rise of Islamic-terrorist Hamas’ popularity in Gaza’s mainstream].

    BEGINNING: 1920’S – MUFTI – "CREATOR" OF THE CONFLICT

    Arab-Islamic racist and jihad campaign against Jews in the area dates back at least to the 1920s. Led by the Arab-Islamic anti-Jewish arch-bigot the Mufti, al-Husseini. Such as the 1929 brutal massacre, mass rape, mutilation of babies, and castration of old people in Hebron. He who later on made a pact with A. Hitler and led the Muslim SS divisions to commit crimes against humanity upon Christians and Jews in the Baltic. He intervened in rescuing Jewish children from E. Europe – thereby causing their mass deaths. He was also behind the incitement of the 1941 Farhud pogrom in Iraq. The Mufti called for a Jihad against: Britain and the Jews. His ally, Jamal Husseini very active in Arab leadership and in the Arab Nazi cooperation, founded a Hitler-Youth type of young Arabs [Arab Nazi Party].The ‘founding’ of the conflict that early on, tells also about the true motivation of it all: bigotry.

    AHMAD SHUKAIRY

    The demonization of Israel in international arena, began in the early 1960s by the aide and henchman of the Nazi Mufti, Ahmad Shukairy, who, in 1962 identified himself with Nazi groups and in June 1967 called for a “holy war" jihad against Israel and to "Throw the Jews into the sea." He was the first PLO chairman. Worth mentioning, while in 1957 he recognized that "Palestine" is but a part of Southern Syria, he changed 360 degrees in 1963 to go along the invention of a separate ‘Palestinian entity.
    [He was also (in 1961) the first to come up with that bigoted "apartheid slur." A tactic with 3 goals in mind: 1. Diversion from rampant Arab Islamic apartheid and racism on all minorities, (including Islamic "Palestinian" anti-Christian persecution and Arab nations’ anti-Arab-Palestinian policies ever since they have been told by their leaders to evacuate the area in 1948. And the Arab racist expulsion of nearly a Million Jewish refugees in the 1940s-1950s), oppression and crimes against its own people, 2. Hatred of the non-Arab, non-Muslim group, the Jews. 3. Rationalization of the genocide campaign].

    PALLYWOOD

    You can never trust what comes out from an Arab "Palestinian" (or Hezbollah) source. After so many years and experiences of intentional lies, disinformation and even falsified images (including ‘Muhammad al-Dura,’ Jenin, Gaza beach family, etc.).

    CONTINUOUS JEWISH PRESENT

    Not only did Jews reside [in the area] centuries before the Arab invasion, but Jews never ceased completely from having a presence in Israel – Palestine.

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David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.