Israelis Rally at Kotel with Answer for Kerry

Secretary of State Kerry floated the idea of proposing his framework agreement to the Israeli people in a speech in the hopes that they could be swayed into accepting the plan and pressuring the government to accept the entire plan. Israelis decided to provide an answer without the need for any speech with a protest against the proposed framework that is being pushed by Secretary of State Kerry. The theme for the assembly was presented more as a call for the rights of the Jewish People in their ancestral homeland to be permitted to remain whole throughout the lands promised by numerous treaties and historic accords from well before the start of World War II and included in numerous treaties which were ratified by the allied powers at the end of World War I. These treaties and mandates were also accepted to be enforced by the United Nations under Article 80 of the United Nations Charter which recognized the guarantees of the Churchill White Paper, the San Remo Conference, the Peel Commission and the Mandates established to manage the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. The main provision of all these treaties, mandates, committees, and commissions set borders which gave the Palestinian Arabs the British Mandate Lands east of the Jordan River and guaranteed the Zionists the lands west of the Jordan River and by permitting the division of the lands and surrendering 78% of the Mandate lands they were guaranteed that these lands west of the Jordan River were to be inviolate never to be divided or molested in any way into the future. It was due to these guarantees and promises that the world refused to accept the annexation attempt by Jordan of Judea and Samaria after they occupied them as a result of the 1948-9 Arab War against the newly founded Israel (with the exception of Britain and Pakistan who did recognize Jordanian annexation).

 

The gathering at the Kotel was held under the title “prayer for the redemption of the people of Israel and their portion.” Rabbi Chaim Druckman, head of the Bnei Akiva yeshivas, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba Rabbi Dov Lior and Chief Rabbi of Tzfat Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu led the prayers and were joined by the thousands of attendees who filled the entirety of the plaza and beyond at the Western Wall. The prayers beseeched G0d to “give strength, courage, truth and faith to our leaders. Give them fear and great awe of You, that they will fear greatly to harm our holy land.” Rabbi Ben-Dahan was quoted commenting, “We came here to strengthen the Prime Minister in guarding the land of Israel.” He further pointed to the fact that should the proposal’s plans match the rumors heard surrounding them, they will not be accepted by his Jewish Home Party. He concluded stating that, “Most residents of the country aren’t ready to divide Jerusalem, as is said to be proposed in the plan.” Polls taken in recent days have backed up Rabbi Ben-Dahan’s statements with significant majorities rejecting any proposals which divide Jerusalem or demand that Israel retreat to the 1949 Armistice Lines surrendering settlements and removing Jewish families from their homes and businesses.

 

There should also be a cautionary note that once Secretary Kerry makes his plans for a framework agreement known to the public, there will be a concerted all-out push made by leftist NGOs both foreign and domestic, both of which depend heavily on funding from outside Israel with much of the funding coming from the European Union, numerous European national governments and international foundations which back far leftist ideologies and are critical of Israel referring to her as an apartheid state with a horrific human rights record quoting the UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Commission) regular denunciations as all the proof they require. They will mobilize not only leftists from within Israel, where they make up less than one quarter of the population, but also will import possibly tens of thousands of protesters from Europe and around the world to march in solidarity with whatever demands Secretary Kerry’s framework places on Israel. These very same demonstrations will not make any demands that the Palestinians sign or even state they accept the framework but will demand that Israel make good on every demand made on her without any reciprocal concessions from the Palestinians. These demonstrations wherever they may be held, as it is possible that arranging to bring such numbers of demonstrators into Israel may prove logistically difficult, will receive great emphasis and lengthy coverage from the mainstream media, especially throughout Europe and the United States. Great pains will be taken to single out Israel as rejecting taking the necessary steps and make the needed sacrifices demanded by Secretary Kerry and his framework agreement. There will be little if any mention of whether or not the Palestinians have accepted the framework as they have already denounced any deal Secretary Kerry may bring. Mahmoud Abbas and the rest of the Palestinian Leadership have remained insistent that any agreement must include a return to the pre-1967 Armistice Lines as a border, the removal of every last Jews from the Palestinian lands, East Jerusalem as their capital city, complete surrender of all of the Old City of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, complete and total removal of all IDF forces within three months or immediately (depending on which Palestinian you are quoting), the release of every last terrorist imprisoned by Israel for terrorist charges including multiple murders by many of those imprisoned, total refusal to recognize Israel as the home for the Jewish people or as a Jewish State, refusal to agree to an end of their resistance claiming that they will continue to resist by all and any means until all of Palestine has been liberated from the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea and lastly, the resettlement of the five-million plus Palestinian refugees within Israel being given their original homes or equivalent replacement and compensation for their hardships and losses. There have been comments made by Palestinian spokespersons that they received a letter from Secretary of State Kerry guaranteeing that every last Palestinian demand will be realized and included in any framework or final agreement. Fortunately, nobody has produced such a letter presenting it to the press and thus remains a skeptical claim at best.

 

The idea that Secretary Kerry will present his framework and have it accepted by both sides is a ridiculous idea as no matter what is included it will contain nonnegotiable demands for both sides. What is truly frightening is that there are those within the Israeli government and some leaders of political parties who have taken the side that no matter what is included in Secretary of State Kerry’s framework, the Israeli government must accept it lock, stock and barrel without any complaints or modifications. This includes many in the media as well but the most frightening has been the appearance of cracks forming within the governing coalition with some entertaining the idea that Israel should accept the framework agreement as it will simply be a guiding set of conditions and not be an actual settled policy and any demands not to Israel’s liking could be debated and eventually rejected going forward. It is necessary to ask these people whether or not they have been paying even the slightest attention to the history of the negotiations from even before the Oslo Accords and most definitely since. Have they failed to note that every single plan which has been presented since the initial significant compromises which were made and included in the Oslo Accords that Israel’s position has been walked back a number of steps by each round of negotiations. Have they missed that wherever the current negotiations end off when the Palestinians finally just walk away refusing to talk further that at that point the next round of negotiations will use that as the starting point and add to it as many as a dozen more preconditions and concessions from Israel just in order to bring the Palestinians to the table again. Have they completely missed or are they simply ignoring the fact that the Palestinians have never made a single concession and have still yet to amend the PLO Charter removing the call for the complete annihilation of Israel which was one of the initial requirements of the Oslo Accords and the refusal of the Palestinians to do so actually nullifies the Oslo Accords. Israel should simply refuse to have any further negotiations or contact with the Palestinians until they, at a minimum, meet their requirements stemming from the Oslo Accords. Furthermore, if the Palestinians refuse to accept and meet those obligations within a reasonable time of six weeks, then Israel will simply consider the Oslo Accords null and void and take appropriate steps to return to the pre-Oslo conditions and no longer recognize the Palestinian Authority or other Palestinian presumptive governance. Israel must stand firm at some point or the negotiations will eventually reach the point where the debate will be which nation will accept the entirety of the Israeli population who will have become refugees without a country. That is something that must never be, period.

 

Beyond the Cusp