A Comment on Daniel Gordis' Blog Post At The NYTimes

My friend, Daniel Gordis, is over at the New York Times blog section (here) and wrote this:

With the battles in Gaza possibly reaching their zenith and talk of a cease-fire apparently more serious, what will Israel have achieved from this war? The eradication of Hamas, an Iranian pawn and a terrorist organization bent on Israel’s destruction, would have been ideal. But was that ever Israel’s goal?

Ehud Olmert, humbled by unfulfilled promises from the 2006 war, has been studiously ambiguous. Some Israeli commentators believe that Hamas rule could be ended. But many Israelis are not so certain. They may also not be willing to pay the price that such a victory would exact.

If Hamas does remain in control, how might the war leave the region altered for the better? Here, the United States has a key role to play. Barack Obama, who has been mostly silent, has said that he will soon have much to say about the war in Gaza. It will be interesting to see how firm he’ll be with the major players. At the very least, this is what they need to hear.

To Hamas: Recognize Israel’s right to exist, publicly and in Arabic, cease smuggling arms and firing missiles on Israel’s civilians, and embrace transparent democracy, and we will work with you. But until you renounce your commitment to Israel’s destruction, you will remain to Israel what Al Qaeda is to America and we will unwaveringly support Israel’s right to defend its citizens.

To the Palestinians: We recognize your unrelenting suffering. But you must take responsibility for your destiny. Hamas has dragged you into this conflict, in cruel disregard of your welfare. When you elect a leadership committed to peace, we will invest heavily to help you realize your legitimate aspirations.

To Egypt and Jordan: Egypt must seal the tunnels that make Hamas’ military exploits possible. The failure of the two-state solution is as dangerous for you as it is for anyone else. Increasingly, it is said that because the Palestinians cannot govern themselves, Gaza should revert to Egypt, the West Bank to Jordan. Vocally and aggressively supporting moderate Palestinians is the role you have to play.

To the international community: We need both balanced rhetoric and wiser policy. Hamas has fired rockets at Israel for years, yet there was silence. Why the outrage now? The U.N., too, contributes to the crisis. Under its watch in Lebanon, Hezbollah has completely rearmed. The European Union never objected to UNRWA, the United Nations’s relief agency for Palestinians in the Middle East, classifying newborns in Gaza as refugees, creating an incentive for birth rates that Gaza cannot support. (Half of Gaza’s population is now under 15 years of age.)

To Israel: While our alliance is unshakable, you must give Palestinians cause for hope. If Gaza’s leadership changes, open the crossings and help Gazans transcend their unremitting poverty. And all illegal West Bank settlements must be dismantled without delay. Successive Israeli governments have committed to taking action, but have done virtually nothing. If no Israeli government can muster the courage for political risk, why should anyone else? Your survival depends on your courage, not only in battle, but in building Palestinian trust. Israel’s youth will not remain in Israel if they believe that the conflict can never end.

I left this comment there:

Daniel writes: ” And all illegal West Bank settlements must be dismantled without delay.” While many would perhaps view his use of “illegal” as delineating between “legal” and “illegal” and, therefore, coming out in support for some continued Jewish civilian presence of a revenant nature, I felt uneasy in that anyone could term a Jewish presence anywhere in the area of the Jewish homeland as “illegal”. There can never be anything “illegal” about a Jews living in his homeland. Perhaps, unauthorized or unzoned. After all, could one define an Arab living “illegally”? (I am not talking about not obtaining a building license but rather, say, Um el-Fahm is an illegal Arab village).

The legality of such does not need to come from the Bible, although it does, or from history of Jewish residencey from the Golan to Gaza over the centuries, despite occupation by foreign regimes, persecution and the rest, although it does but, for instance, from an internationally lawful decision by the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919, by the San Remo Conference in 1920 and in the League of Nations’ Supreme Council decision in 1922-23. And, by the way, the territory alloted to the Jews for the reconstitution of their historic National Home, until the British decided to place a Saudi Arabian refugee as Emir of TransJordan, included both sides of the Jordan River (which means that we Jews/Zionists have been compromising on territory for almost 90 years now, without succor from Arab hostility. “Peace for Territories” doesn’t work).

I live in Shiloh and no one can tell me that I am an illegal presence here, where the Tabernacle served as the main worship site for over three centuries, where the tribal portions were divided out, where Hanna prayed for a son, where priests, prophets and kings walked (and we do have archeological - scientific evidence for that).

— Yisrael Medad