Palestinians After More than Philistine Lands

 

The Palestinian leadership and spokespersons have made the false claim repeatedly that they are the descendants of the long dead Philistines and claim they are simple demanding their ancient homelands. There are any number of problems with this narrative starting with, but not ending with, the fact the Philistines were of Greek descent, not Arab. Then there is the little inconvenient fact that the Arab expansion from their ancestral homelands of the Arabian Peninsula waited until well after the Roman Empire had fallen, somewhere around 625 of the Common Era. All these and other little equally inconsequential truths aside there remains the one as to what exactly were the Philistine lands. Truth be known, the Philistines being a people of the sea held solely coastal cities with their five capital cities being Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and Gath. This would relate to Ashdod as the northern most city and continuing down the coast including Gaza on to approximately the Egyptian border possibly extending into parts of norther Sinai Peninsula. This would be about half again more land than Gaza which is currently held by Hamas and is sometimes referred to in editorials as Hamastan. Claiming to be the Philistines would rule out the entirety of their claims to lands of the West Bank, but why let realities get in the way.

 

Tribes of Israel and Land of the Philistines

 

What brought this on was reading some of the overly forgiving eulogies rightfully praising Simon Peres at his state funeral last week. The picture painted of Peres was one of a man whose life was spent in the unswerving desire for peace and of a gentle soul who was next to faultless and was the measure of understanding. I would have liked to have known of the man described, but that is often how eulogies are, aggrandizing those traits the world found laudable while ignoring those which did not meet the world’s universal measure of greatness. Thus almost none mentioned that Simon Peres was the driving force which drove the building of the experimental reactor at Dimona which could be used for the production of nuclear weapons grade materials, and his deals to acquire French Mirage jets which served as the backbone of the early Israeli Air Force as well. They omitted his support for settlements in what many once believed were lands which at best could have been thought to be negotiable Israeli lands and other Zionist endeavors which assisted in building a strong and viable State of Israel in the 1950s and early 1960s before Peres remade himself into a leftist icon and the man who pursued peace regardless of the consequences and never once saw any of the difficulties resulting from his actions. Simon Peres was a force of wild abandon that wreaked havoc as it broke down every argument and logical caution all in the name of Oslo.

 

Once he had drafted and brought the Oslo Accords, forcing them upon his own nation and government using every coercion and international pressure in order to force Israel to kneel before the altar of Oslo, as if it were the Golden Calf in the plains before Mount Sinai during the Exodus, and the results were similar in both cases. Simon Peres sold the chimera of land for peace and made such into an idolatrous religion with the Oslo Accords as the idol of worship and constructed a virtual Shrine of Oslo where land for peace was to be worshiped and the term Oslo was a sainted and holy word. This idolatrous cult diverted many an Israeli just as idolatrous cults of the Philistines, Egyptian, Hittites, Edomites, Assyrians, Greeks and Romans stole Israelite souls throughout Israeli history. In many of the times past the Israelite people and later the Jews were punished for their taking of false gods and worship of idols in place of Hashem. Some have postulated that the terrorism could have been interpreted as divine retribution for the worship of the doctrines of Oslo over the Commandments in Torah. There are many wisdoms and truths about the Land of Israel in Torah which we are not to question but to protect and serve to make them holy and dedicated to the worship of Hashem as commanded in Torah. Perhaps it would be of interest for this lay person to tell of the few with which even I am familiar.

 

First and foremost, the land of Israel belongs to Hashem and Hashem has assigned the Israelites, many call us Jews but that term defines Jews everywhere while Israelites are the Jewish People who have remained through time or returned to these ancient and holy lands thus making us separate in one aspect from other Jews, to tend and care for the lands of Hashem and the lands will care for us for as long as we keep Hashem’s Commandments. Hashem gave us these lands to sustain us as a reward for living by the Commandments of Torah and the lands will be bountiful in measure with our obedience and pure worship of Hashem as Commanded in Torah. There are more than Ten Commandments, there are six-hundred-thirteen Commandments, Mitzvot, in Torah and the Rabbis have added quite a number of regulations, one might call them, over the years as listed in Talmud and other doctrinaires. We are to follow these directives from Torah as if our lives depended upon them because they actually do depend upon them if the land is to support us and keep us. Those who do not follow Hashem and do these Commandments will be “vomited from these lands” as the lands will reject the sinners. After the last exile which lasted almost two-thousand years we hope we have learned this one truism at long last.

 

There are instructions as to how we are to face those living in the lands which Hashem was to give us and this should probably apply to the modern times as well. We are to give these people three alternatives, each less hospitable than the previous one. The most hospitable is they are welcome to remain in the lands and we will not settle where their cities exist as long as they leave us in peace to follow Hashem and they agree to obey the Noahic Code of seven commandments upon which all civilized nations are to be based according to Torah. These are not dissimilar to the Ten Commandments but are slightly less demanding (see image below). Those agreeing to this may live within the lands and will be afforded equal protection from outside attacks and be treated as equals with equal rights and be free to live providing they reside peaceable and obey the Noahic Code, the Devine Code of seven universal commandments.

 

Noahic Codes

 

The second choice is they may choose to leave the lands entirely. If they choose this they will be afforded ample time to gather their belongings, herds, moveable property, vehicles, wagons and household goods and leave to choose a new homeland and we promise not to harm them, chase after them or bring upon them undue hardship once they have left for their future new homelands. Granted, this was much more easily achieved when the Israelites came to the Promised Lands after the exodus from the exile in Egypt (Mizraim). Of the Canaanite Tribes there were a few who chose to remain and did so in peace, some chose to leave and went forth from the land unhindered, but most chose the last alternative to their dismay and eventual demise. The third choice is to bring war against the Israelites and to try and vanquish us. Those choosing to take this stance and bring war face the ultimate response, annihilation. In case of war we are instructed by Torah to bring complete and total war against those who choose to treat us with violence and we are instructed to kill them to the last individual and to destroy their cattle, goods, and all that is theirs so as to wipe their name from history from that point forward. Total war is what we are described to bring against those who bring violence against us in Hashem’s lands.

 

This is not how we have treated the violences brought against us and instead have sought to make a peace with those who have chosen war. Peace cannot be made with people whose stated desire is your eradication. Reading even the school books that the Western nations of Europe as well as the European Union, United States, Canada, Australia and the United Nations have paid for in full and some have sent representatives to review the content of the texts and approved them and they state that the Jew in Israel is a mortal enemy to the Palestinian who must murder them wherever they find them. This is taught over and over again in every class imaginable and such is reinforced through plays and exercises where they reenact the murder of IDF troops and Israeli Jews. They have children’s shows on television where they sing songs about the heroic martyrs who murdered Jews and how they too will murder Jews when they are older. The governments of the world know of these textbooks which they pay to have printed. They know of these children’s television shows and the summer camps which are paramilitary training camps which teach the genocidal murder of all Jews worldwide. The world governments and most of the academics know of the naming of parks, schools, summer camps, soccer teams, sports tournaments, streets, squares, mosques and buildings of all types after murderers of Jews, or terrorists, of what they call blessed martyrs which is their term for suicide bombers who successfully murdered Israeli civilians including often numerous Arab Israeli citizens. The world knows of these things and gives it tacit approval all the while condemning Israel for any defense put forth to protect Israeli civilians. The western nations, especially the United States, demand that Israel remove blockaded streets, remove checkpoints and allow Palestinians free access into Israel basically instructing Israel to not enforce the borders with Palestinian Authority semi-autonomous regions knowing full well that doing so will provide clear access for terrorists into Israeli cities where they can and will murder Israeli civilians and then when these attackers are prevented from murdering Israeli civilians by police and they are shot the world protests the extrajudicial killing as if there had been no threat to life despite the terrorists already having stabbed or shot any number of individuals often resulting in deaths or permanent debilitating injuries which scar, disfigure and disable the victims for life.

 

There is a term in history, more of an explanation really; it is the theory that Jewish blood is cheap, often costless and inconsequential. This was true in much of history both in Europe and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) area under Islamic rule and Greek and Roman before that. One example were the Crusades where when they had numerous troops who were not battle-hardened and had never tasted blood (killed a man) they would assault Jewish towns and ghettos somewhat for sport and for the experience of killing so that when they reached the holy lands they actually had mastered their weapons and no longer gave killing a second thought which made them better soldiers. This training also made the slaughter of entire towns and cities in the holy lands easier on the soldiers’ consciences as they “purified” (rid) them of their non-Christian peoples. Do not believe this was only a Crusader practice as there was also purification in the Islamic world where they too were readying armies for the conquest and spread of Islam and often also for retaking the Holy Lands. As Jerusalem was of obvious value above and beyond that of any normal city as well as was Bethlehem and Nazareth, the Muslims were particularly driven to hold these cities simply to deny the Christians their prized possessions which they found made them lesser fighters, or at least that was the theory.

 

Once these cities, Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem had finally been conquered, the next city of premium value and declared the third most important city for Islam became Constantinople. It replaced Jerusalem which had previously held that title until it was finally secured and defended and proven beyond the ability of the Christians to challenge. They treasured Constantinople so much they even gave it an Islamic name, Istanbul. Once they had finally broken through the walls of Constantinople and taken the city and renamed it Istanbul, they went the additional step of taking the Hagia Sophia, the largest and most decorative cathedral of the world at that time, and transformed it with the addition of four minarets and named as the Aya Sofya First Imperial Mosque of Istanbul (modern picture below where it now serves as a museum covering its entire history). The Hagia Sophia has had a spotted history of grandeur and falling into gross disrepair as well as suffering a number of earthquakes and one pillaging. Today it has had most of its frescos restored and the plaster removed to reveal others once again displaying its grandeur as a museum open to the public. One can only hope this grand structure and example of glorious architecture remains in all of its historic beauty for posterity but that will remain to be seen.

 

Aya Sofya First Imperial Mosque of Istanbul
Hagia Sophia Museum

 

Once the Muslims had taken Constantinople and renamed it Istanbul it eventually fell to the Ottoman Turks, themselves Muslims, and to the allies after World War I after which it was returned to Turkish rule as Turkey remained as a nation in the aftermath of the Great War. They needed a new third holiest city for the conquests to continue. This did cause some differences of opinion as there were three separate cities which served at times holding the honor of greatest target of Islamic armies. The Islamic armies of the west which had invaded Europe by crossing the Gibraltar Straights and entering Spain, or Andalusia as the Muslim named the area, first gave the honor to Madrid and then Barcelona as the third holiest city in Islam, simply the manner in which the next targeted assaults intended to conquer were named. The Islamic forces then took most of Portugal so quickly along with Spain that Lisbon, as far as we could discern, was never so honored. The next target was France and the Muslim forces had experienced no real opposition of consequence so set their sights high and named Paris as their next great conquest. They ran into a problem somewhere around Tours, France in October of 732, where the forces under the leadership of Charles “the Hammer” Martel who defeated the Islamic forces in such a definitive battle that they were turned back out of France and back into Spain.

 

Meanwhile, as well as much later in history, the next target was in the west of Europe where the Islamic Ottomans targeted Vienna. The interesting item here is the Ottomans made two separate attempts to take the city laying siege to the city in 1529 and again in 1683. The Ottoman Empire led by Suleiman the Magnificent made the first attempt to take Vienna laying siege to the city for almost three months when nature decided to turn upon the Ottoman forces. First there came rain storms which destroyed what tunneling efforts had not already been defeated by the defenders of Vienna. The frontal assaults broke first at distance by the use of arquebus, a rifle-like hand cannon (see image below), and at closer range the use of long pikes broke the assaults. This was followed by an early and particularly heavy snow leading to a rout where many supplies and artillery were abandoned and many men captured. This led to years of conflict between the Austria-Hungarian forces backed by Spanish and Holy Roman forces against the Ottoman Empire forces leading eventually to another attempt at taking Vienna.

 

Arquebus, a rifle-like hand cannon

 

Beginning on July 14, 1683 the Ottoman forces under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha and Kara Mehmed of Diyarbakir initially fought their way to the walls of Vienna and laid siege to the city. The siege held for a couple of months until September 12, 1683, when relief forces arrived to relieve the city. King John III Sobieski of Poland had prepared his forces for a total war of relief for the city of Vienna during the summer of 1683. He requested and received guarantees from all the neighboring countries and backed by the Holy Roman Empire states for a pact of nonaggression while he mustered his entire army to march to relieve Vienna. His forces arrived and backed by Holy Roman Cavalry leaving sufficient forces at key junctions and guarding all bridges to sustain resupply of his forces, King John III Sobieski defeated the Ottoman forces laying siege to Vienna and broke the stalemate thus setting his name into the history books as the man who began the eventual defeat of the Ottoman Empire and broke their advances into Europe once and for all. Thank you for tolerating this trip through history though off topic. I do tend to ramble.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

When Opportunists Meet

 

Moshe Ya’alon rode his wave of disruption and vitriol for all it was worth on his way out the door after turning a reprimand and offer of peace into a council for war, a war against his former friend, Bibi Netanyahu. The final fuselages fired from Ya’alon’s political muskets were easily deflected by a simple set of truths. There was the open defiance of his generals followed by the expressed displeasure of the serving Prime Minister, the same Prime Minister who had entrusted in Ya’alon with the position of Defense Minister not expecting a challenge to Netanyahu’s right and fitness to lead Likud, a position he was elected to hold by the membership of Likud. Ya’alon sided with his generals and then encouraged them to further make waves for him to ride roughshod over Netanyahu in a naked aggression challenging for the top spot. Even this was not sufficient for Bibi to declare war as he is secure in his position. The Prime Minister followed this insult with a soothing balm in the form of the position of Foreign Minister, a fine appointment most would all but kill for, yet insufficient for the hungry Ya’alon who sees now as his time. Slamming the door behind as he left the building, Ya’alon declared his intentions to replace Netanyahu as leader of Likud at the next opportunity, now he just needed wait for said opportunity. But political ambition is not a patience game and one strikes while the iron is hot.

 

Ya’alon must have welcomed the charging of the Retired Generals in their blistering reports titled Security First penned and presented by a group of retired generals and other security chiefs self-defined with the name “Commanders for Israel’s Security”. Their plans were just a rehash of their defeatist plans of surrender land and expect peace, a trade which despite numerous trials has yet to produce a true peace with any level of security. But when has failure ever altered the political path these other opportunists who have jostled their final military assignments so as to position themselves as the saviors of Israel from a problem many were complicit in forming. We can expect more from these gems in the rough as they polish their acts and each other to a lustrous shine, but diamonds these are not.

 

Former Prime Minister, Defense Minister and opportunist extraordinaire who had played friend, mentor, commander, and opponent all when it comes to his presumed friend for the expedience, an expediency which we can assume has now past, rides in Ehud Barak. One can only fear that Tzipi Livni cannot be far behind, though she would likely be seen and avoided as Kryptonite as every political entity she has touched withered and died unchosen on the vine. Speaking Thursday at the Herzliya Conference Ehud Barak called for a “popular protest” going into the next elections in order to bring Netanyahu down from power. One can only assume he sees himself as the answer as he often has previously. His claim was summed up in the quote, “A fanatical nucleus of radical ideology has taken over the Likud by taking advantages of loopholes in the party’s constitution regarding primaries, and ‘cleansed’ Likud’s leadership of all those who valued democratic values more than populism or a temporary accomplishment.” Why not just call his former boss and prior supporter as well as adversary an adversary again, the time seems right and the correct attacks from the right people appear thick in the atmosphere, but is this political fog one of change or just a low lying haze blinding small men’s sight? Attacking the entire Zionist branch of the populace as well as their representatives in power, Barak went on to restate previously disproven canards declaring where the current dreaded path would lead pronouncing as proven fact that, “Implementing the government’s current policy will necessarily lead to an ‘apartheid state’ or a ‘binational state’ with a Jewish minority within a generation or two, with a high likelihood of being engaged in an ongoing civil war between its two parts.” Population statistics and all other studies performed on any logical assessment of annexation of Judea and Samaria have shown both the apartheid state’ or a ‘binational state’ accusations of unavoidability to be as false as predictable trends can prove, but why let facts get in the way of another attack from the leftist peace through surrender camp. Their previous peace through surrender in Lebanon and Gaza have turned out so well, why not triple down and bet the house one last time, and it will be the last time as those who are fortunate might escape back into the Diaspora.

 

Ehud Barak then pointed out that should Prime Minister Netanyahu take Israel down the dangerous path of annexation, even of the main settlement blocks, it would bring ruin down upon Israel and that the only true path would be to start and start immediately dismantling the Settlements in occupied West Bank and bring them back within the Green Line as such would pacify Europe, the United Nations, President Obama, and, most of all, the Palestinians. There would be peace and flowers would grow on barren soil and there would be peace, blessed peace. There is absolutely no possibility that Mahmoud Abbas would rain rockets tipped with sarin gas down on Tel Aviv at the sight of three soldiers talking as he would claim Israel was massing troops to invade and had to be prevented. The world would then congratulate Abbas for keeping the peace as he destroyed the other settlements temporarily occupied by Israel, the settlements of Tel Aviv, Ashdod, Netanya, Ma’alot, Ashkelon, Beersheba, Dimona, Eilat, Jaffa, Haifa and the rest as they join in the desire with Mahmoud Abbas that Israel, the Jewish State, must be destroyed and destroyed utterly. These are the voices and sounds of the next Holocaust waiting for some fool to facilitate it in the name of Peace.

 

Quoting Jeremiah 6:14 as was so famously performed by Patrick Henry in his speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses on March 23, 1775, considering ratification of the Declaration of Independence he talked of Peace, peace, but there is no peace, the speech in its entirety, one of the most powerful of all speeches throughout history, he concluded stating (full text of speech can be found here)

Gentlemen may cry, ‘Peace! Peace!’ but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

 

Ya’alon, for his part, has changed his tune now referring to Iran as a minor nuisance and not an existential threat as he had previously claimed when serving as Defense Minister, something we can simply assure ourselves he was ordered to claim that by the warmonger Bibi in order to frighten the masses into continuing to keep him and his Zionist crazies in power. Never mind that Abbas has said so in just so many words, unfortunately in that coded language which none appear capable of translating or even reading other sources who have translated them for the lazy such as us, there can be no peace as long as even a millimeter of Palestinian Land is occupied. Here is part of a press conference from 2015 where Mahmoud Abbas speaks his truth on occupation, sixty-seven years, since 1948 and the founding of Israel.

 

 

The maps used by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian and UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) schools all show the truth according to the Arab Palestinians teach their reality which has no room for an Israel and especially an Israel as the homeland for the Jewish People. It is the totality demands that resistance of the occupation has been claimed to remain even after any two state settlement may be reached as for the Arabs the only result they will accept is the ‘liberation’ of all of Israel and the eradication of all Jews.

 

 

 

The evidence of the real Palestinian agenda is often laid bare for all to see but most just ignore the evidence and instead believe fairy-tales they have heard repeated by Western diplomats and politicians who want a Nobel Peace Prize which comes along with even a long handshake between Arabs and Israelis. When Soda Stream moved its Judea factory within the Green Line in the northern Negev, they were met by BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanction of Israel) claiming a victory and then made known their new program against Soda Stream. The BDS claim was Soda Stream buckled under their pressure and then they immediately claimed that the new Soda Stream factory was built on ‘occupied, stolen’ land from the Bedouin town of Rahat, Israel. This is simply a case that the only thing acceptable to the BDS campaign is the eradication of Israel and every Jew residing there after which they would likely turn their sights on all other Jews. There is a reason their chant goes as it does other than to rhyme but to express their true goals when they proclaim, From the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea; Palestine Must Be Free!

 

 

These small and inconvenient facts do not bother the likes as the Retired Generals and Security Chiefs nor does it bother Moshe Ya’alon or Ehud Barak as any weapon in a fight is to be utilized and the war against Bibi Netanyahu must proceed despite any dangers which might arise. In this case not only does reality bite, but these opportunists chomp and chomp again at the bit just salivating for their chance to take home the prize. That is the reality that these opportunists live for and what they would be willing to allow all Israel to die for as a result. Just as long as they get to sit in the big chair in the big office being sought by small and petty men, that any consequence be damned as they demand their rightful prize. Further, it is tough out there but before jumping ship, and trust that we have our misgivings about Bibi and would love another choice of a viable and true Zionist, how much tougher will it be when the economic heart and soul of Israel lie smoldering with the acrid stench of death and chemicals fills the air? What is the use of new leadership at the helm steering the ship of state through coral shoals and waters if the mutineers have no true map, just this crazed notion that the sweet song from the shores is irresistible and they must draw nigh ignoring the jagged and sharp rocks and the broken timbers from previous ships who too ignored the warnings and answered the sweet Siren’s song. The sweet song of peace in our time has been tried countless times but there is a way which guarantees that Israel will live, that Am Yisroel Chai, and it comes from the Spartan phrase, the words of King Leonidas,

Molon Labe

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Gaza Rocket Terror War Resumes

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the sixty or so rockets out of almost ninety launched from within Gaza City that fell on southern Israel. As the rockets slowly abated came the expected demands from the United Nations and other usual suspects demanding that both sides show restraint and calling for an end to hostilities. I hope the world will not be excessively put out as Israel chose to respond by striking close to thirty targets which were known to be terror weapons storage or rocket manufacturing shops owned mostly by Islamic Jihad but also including some Hamas targets as they are responsible for any actions originating within Gaza. The following morning Islamic Jihad launched additional rockets including some with sufficient range to strike Sderot, Ashdod and Ashkelon to which Israel made a limited response striking additional terror targets. Islamic Jihad claimed that a cease fire has been negotiated by Egypt. Whether their claims are true matters little as should they cease to shower Israel with rockets there will be no necessity for Israel to strike Gaza further. It has never failed that Israel ceases all strikes on Gaza once the terrorists from within Gaza cease firing on Israeli civilians. The major difference is the Terrorists in Gaza aim to strike Israeli civilians while Israel targets only terrorist weapons stores and manufacturing or terrorists in the act of attempting to launch rockets or fire other indirect fire weapons into Israel. The one strangely fascinating fact about these exchanges is that Islamic Jihad struck Gaza with more failed short-fired rockets than Israeli strikes from the IAF and possibly including the additional rounds from Israeli armor units. There were approximately thirty rockets that struck within Gaza never reaching the Israel-Gaza border from the launching points deep within a residential neighborhood of Gaza City. The choice of firing from within a crowded civilian residential neighborhood by Islamic Jihad is standard practice whenever terrorist units plan on firing a steady stream and large number of projectiles as by using civilians for cover they feel assured that Israel will not return fire on their location thus they can loiter long enough to utilize launchers for numerous rockets in complete safety. When they only fire a couple of rockets each from its own launcher they can choose to risk firing from open areas as they can launch and flee before any Israeli response is launched. This has a lot to do with the known fact by the terrorists that the Israeli military must first receive approval from civilian government authorities before returning fire except in the most specific of scenarios that meet predefined qualifiers.

 

This recent attack has been threatened for a few months and thus was not a complete surprise. A number of weeks back Hamas announced they were no longer going to prevent other terror groups from launching rockets into Israel. When Israel announced in a reply that this would place Hamas targets equally at the top of targets Israel would strike should rockets be launched while Hamas was giving their blessings through inaction. This brought an almost immediate return of Hamas preventing rocket launches, or at least their statement of such intent. Still, there were fewer that twelve rockets launched during the Hamas stand-down. This recent barrage comes almost two months after those incidents. This was probably part of the reason for the high preponderance of targets belonging to Islamic Jihad and only a few belonging to Hamas. Of course there have been the usual suspects who immediately called for Israel to retake control over the Gaza Strip. Such is not likely to become policy as Israel has little or no interest in retaking Gaza and the nasty snarled mess that would entail. The only hope in Israel is the blessing that thus far nobody has been injured or worse. This has been true on both sides of the border as Israeli strikes are usually made at night with one of the factors being that there is a much lower chance of casualties, especially of innocent civilians, than striking during the day when people are out and may be in the proximity of the terror resources being targeted.

 

What was saddening, other than the obvious fact that Israelis of all stripes were forced to retreat and live in bomb shelters, were the immediate response from numerous sources calling for an end to hostilities demanding for both sides to stand down even before the Israeli strikes targeting terror storage and weapon manufacturing shops had been launched. It is not accidental that there are immediate calls, sometimes even before the rockets have finished falling on Israelis, for restraint and an end to all violence when the only violence has been the terrorists launching rockets on Israelis. Should Israel actually heed these calls the result would be free runs for the terrorists to launch rockets without any fear of retribution for their actions. This demand that appears to demand that Israel simply accept that her civilians are targets for terror rockets and that any response from Israel is considered over the top and unnecessary is no different than the numerous other double standards applied to Israel and Israelis. We heard another of these double standards a few short hours before the rockets rained down on Israelis when visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron equated Palestinian inciting through virtually every available media and other possible approach to their people compelling them to commit acts of terror and violence against Israelis with the fact that Israelis live within the contested territories.

 

So, in Prime Minister Cameron’s official opinion, Jews living in houses they often built with their own hands following the laws is equal to Palestinian government officially calling for the murdering of Israelis and especially Jewish Israelis. This has been a libel that has been widely practiced which cheapens the value of Israeli and Jewish lives and is a general insult to every Zionist. What makes it even more so when committed by the British Prime Minister is that it was Britain which guaranteed the Israelis after the San Remo Conference had established that the British Mandate Lands were to be used solely for the establishment of a Jewish State that if the Zionists agreed to not oppose the amending of those instructions by the Churchill White Paper allowing the formation for the Arab Palestinians a state in all of the lands east of the Jordan River, that is seventy-eight-percent of Mandate Lands, then Britain, under the guarantee of the Crown, would ensure permanently into the future that all of the remaining Mandate Territories west of the Jordan River in perpetuity for the Jewish State. Prime Minister Cameron probably should be excused as who can remember such remote treaties as the San Remo Conference or the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Sèvres, let alone that United Nations Charter in Article 80 accepts all the definitions and stipulations from the entire series of treaties, accords, conferences and agreements which resulted in the decade after the end of World War I as valid for all time as long as the United Nations and its charter stand. After all, is it not International Law which everybody demands that Israel abide by when they condemn Israel for allowing those who desire to live beyond the Green Line (the 1949 Armistice Line that the Arab League refused to recognize as a border then or for perpetuity) and west of the Jordan River (an area guaranteed by the League of Nations, United Nations, numerous treaties and agreements from post-World War I, and Britain in an actual formal document with the Zionist leadership as being solely reserved for the Jewish State) on lands they claim do not belong to Israel simply due to a very persistent and successful propaganda campaign by the Palestinians and their Arab allies which redefined reality which has been accepted by a league of world leaders who display glaring examples of extreme ignorance of International Law as defined by treaties of which many of these same nations are signatories. This is a case where ignorance is very destructive of bliss, period.

 

Beyond the Cusp