European nations are showing eager excitement over who will be the next nation to signal their approval for the formation of a Palestinian state despite any concerns for the ramifications or difficulties such may represent. This has been spurred by the Swedish government having formally recognized the Palestinian state. They are the third Western European nation to do so after Malta and Cyprus who had followed the lead of South American nations Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile and Peru. This has had the impetus to send ripples through the remainder of the European countries and with the obvious pressures and support for a Palestinian state being so ham-handedly pushed by recently appointed European Union Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini during her introductory weeks in her new posting. Who would have ever thought that Lady Catherine Ashton might be missed? The coming European rush to excitedly etch out their ‘principled stand’ for the recognition of a Palestinian state will rush headlong ignoring any potential ramifications or harms their actions may produce. These recognitions in many nations will simply be non-binding votes affirming the Parliamentary support for the formation of a Palestinian state as the necessary votes or support of the Prime Minister stand in the way of an actual binding recognition, though this is not universally true as proven in Sweden. Still, these votes will have an immediate effect across Europe and will only serve to quicken the anti-Semitic attacks which have been on the increase already on the continent. What has also been an interesting item to note is that some of these recognitions from South America are lacking in stating recognized borders or even naming a capital city for the Palestinian state they claim they recognize. This does leave such recognitions to be quite lacking in any means for enforcement, not that any of the European nations would be eager to send troops to enforce their recognitions either even if they did actually state what they desired for recognized borders and such. It will be an embarrassment when the inevitable cries come from Mahmoud Abbas and he appraises his ambassadors across the European continent to demand the nations who have so boldly recognized the Palestinian state provide troops to enforce the borders and sovereignty of that very same entity. What a pickle that will create as many European nations would be hard pressed to enforce their own borders, let alone anyone else’s borders.
Still, there will be other embarrassments which will result from this headlong rush to grant some form of recognition for any potential future Palestinian state other than soured relations with the already existent state of Israel. There will be a quickening of the lashing out against the European Jewish population which was already picking up momentum with, oddly enough, Sweden being amongst the most dangerous of places to be a Jew. French Jewish organizations are frantically warning the French government of this potential ramification should they follow through even with a symbolic recognition. There was an assault on a Jewish man in Antwerp, Belgium where, according to the European Jewish Congress, the attacker “ran towards two Hassidim who were on their way to the synagogue, stabbed one of them in the throat and got away.” This was simply the latest of the reported assaults upon European Jews who have been victims of being assaulted for no other reason other than their being Jewish. These assaults are only the tip of an iceberg which includes taunts, firebombing of Synagogues and Jewish schools, daycares, senior centers and other institutions across Europe. Similar anti-Semitic attacks as have occurred in Europe have also been reported, but to a lesser extent, in the United States and Canada. In Germany, the neo-Nazi ‘Die Rechte’ Party demanded Mayor Ullrich Sierau of the city of Dortmund provide them a list of the city’s Jews and the Jews living in its surroundings, along with their addresses, a request which was fortunately refused. There will be those within the European populations who will see these ratifications of Palestinian statehood as an assault on Israel and even interpret them as signaling the end of Israel and ratification for the end of Judaism and take actions onto themselves towards that end. These political acts cannot have a positive influence on the Jewish communities who already are facing increasing attacks and antagonisms as the evils of anti-Semitism have not only returned to Europe, but appear to be gaining general acceptance amongst certain entities and social groups which had previously remained under the radar and refrained from acting out of fear or simply the social stigma against open hatred or acts against Jews. These official governmental statements, even if only symbolic, will appear to be an approval for such groups to become more active and potentially emerge from their hidden backroom enclaves into the open public and even seek political representation no longer fearing any social stigma for their once forbidden hatreds.
There will be those who will want to claim that such fears are simply the attempt to influence against recognition of the Palestinian right to have their own state. The weird thing is that Israel has not been the primary obstacle to a Palestinian state, not originally and not since the 1967 war when Israel gained control of previously held Arab lands. Here is the history once again, this time in a bare bones look. In November of 1947 the United Nations General Assembly passed a non-binding referendum suggesting a partitioning of the remainder of the British Mandate into an Arab and a Jewish state. The Arab League refused this partition and went to war to eradicate Israel and failed. In 1964 Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas along with the assistance of the KGB formed the PLO which declared their intent to liberate Palestine which they defined as Israel as there were no ‘occupied lands’ other than the original state of Israel. In June 1967 Egyptian President Nasser along with Syria threatened Israel’s destruction after which came the Six Day War which Jordan then joined the attack on Israel in the second day and by its conclusion Israel gained control of the Sinai, Golan Heights, Gaza and the West Bank. Israel made peace with Egypt which surrendered Gaza to Israel. Israel made peace with Jordan who surrendered the West Bank to Israel who returned their ancient and historic names of Judea and Samaria. Subsequently, Yasser Arafat complained that Jordan had actually bequeathed the West Bank to the Palestinians, a claim the King of Jordan granted as he desired no confrontation with Palestinians as his nation has a majority Palestinian population. The United States pressured Israel into permitting the return of Arafat and his henchmen with the signing of the Oslo Accords. The Palestinians have never made any changes to their charters as required in the ratification of the Oslo Accords which technically means they Oslo Accords have actually been in a state of nullification and never actually enforceable. Should Israel press the matter the Oslo Accords would fold but at this date such would create a firestorm similar to what is building as a direct result of the charge from across Europe to reward Palestinian violence with a state. The main obstacle to the Palestinian having their own state has been the Palestinian leadership who demand that they will only accept a state if it includes all of Israel and unless their state includes the destruction of Israel they prefer to scream and commit violent acts in a terror war they believe will either drive the Jews from all the lands or the world will force the Jews to give them all the lands from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Listen to the chants at the next rally for the Palestinians when it comes to your town or nearby college campus and you will hear this chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” What did you honestly think that meant?
Here is a dirty little secret, the entire world could ratify and recognize a Palestinian state with the 1949 Armistice Line* with East Jerusalem as its capital and that would not allow for the Palestinian state to be formed. Even should Israel finally give-in and agree and the Palestinians would make some claim which would prevent the formation of their state and, of course, blame Israel for the difficulty. They would lay claim to an additional piece of land or object to the stipulation that anybody be permitted to visit the holy sites within their lands or some other demand as it will always be something. The Palestinians have received offers to found their state in ninety-five percent of Judea and Samaria (West Bank), all of Gaza and with most of East Jerusalem as their capital city which was refused by Yasser Arafat resulting from the efforts of the Clinton Administration as part of the Camp David Summit and then in a desperate last minute effort by President Clinton himself in what was referred to as the Taba Summit. The European leaders and politicians should take a long hard look at the herculean efforts put forth by President Clinton who put more effort and placed his name directly upon the efforts going beyond any outside politician or head of state towards finding a solution only to be initially accepted by both sides only to have Yasser Arafat find some minutia he claimed to desire clarification and then to blow-up the entire effort in a pretend explosive upheaval over the explanation he received. Arafat knew exactly what he had agreed to when it was presented to him and to what I suspect is to be President Clinton’s credit, I believe he pretended the offer claiming he had not been able to force the Israelis to agree and was seeking to gain Arafat’s agreement of intention and full acceptance in order to further pressure the Israelis knowing full well that had Arafat known the Israelis had already agreed to the offer, that Arafat would have refused to accept the offer. Arafat agreed to the offer as he was convinced that the Israelis would never have accepted to grant him virtually any and everything he had ever demanded and assuredly they would refuse this offer, they had already agreed and had told President Clinton they would accept this deal if Arafat would. That placed Arafat in a tight spot as any Palestinian leader who ever accepted anything short of the destruction of Israel would be set upon and slaughtered by the very people they have taught and instilled a ravenous all-consuming hatred of Israel who would see such a deal as a betrayal of the highest order. That was the reason behind Arafat finding something which he demanded a full explanation and clarification despite having fully known the minutest of details as to what he had accepted, he was not a careless person who was oft to act without fully planning every little detail beforehand, and knew that accepting peace with Israel would have been the end of his life and he would have been murdered and disgraced forever held in highest contempt by the Palestinian people and much of the Arab world.
This is also what Abbas faces and why he will never accept any peace with Israel even if it has the appearances of having been force fed the Israelis against their will. In all honesty, if the Europeans could through their actions establish a final peace whereby the Palestinians accepted their statehood and forgot their hunger for the destruction of the Jewish state and the bloodletting they expect to fulfill upon their eventual victory over Israel and their conquest of the Jewish state, then the Israelis would likely thank the Europeans for managing the impossible. Thus far, every offer the Israelis have made to the Palestinians has had three points which they have completely rejected out of hand. These are the recognition of Israel as the state for the Jewish people, allowing freedom for all persons to visit the holy sites in Jerusalem (never mind the rest of Judea and Samaria which hold many of the holiest of sites for Judaism such as the Machpela, burial cave holding the burial of the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs outside Hevron, Joseph’s Tomb, Rachel’s Tomb and hundreds of other sites) including the Temple Mount, and to end all hostilities and consider the peace as a final peace between our peoples. Mahmoud Abbas has sworn that he will never allow for any end to the terror war against Israel until all of Palestine from the river to the sea has been liberated. The Palestinians do not desire a state living next to the Israelis in peace and security, they demand their state instead of Israel and demand that their state replace Israel and that the Jews be destroyed or delivered back into exile, except for Hamas whose charter states their desire not only to destroy Israel and murder the Jews within but to then continue and murder the Jews throughout the world and finally to spread their version of Islam across the entire world under their rule. There really is no difference between the goals set by Hamas and those claimed by ISIS despite the desire of so many in the Western world to try and differentiate between the terror war against Israel and the terror war they face. So, go ahead Europe and try to placate the growing monster which you have nurtured within your borders, but be warned, they are not able to be placated and will not rest until they are dancing on the grave of Europe as you know it. Once upon a time Europe knew who they were and what the world required for them to remain who they were, no longer apparently as they have become a shell of their former selves. In the various states of society, armies are recruited from very different motives. If I may, a question posed and an answer offered. What will it take to propel the civilized to stand and protect that which civility has fashioned, built and established, from a code of conduct to buildings scraping the skies and roads beyond the horizons leading to wonders on every shore? For the answer, a quote from Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume II, Chapter XVII. “Barbarians are urged by the love of war; the citizens of a free republic may be prompted by a principle of duty; the subjects, or at least the nobles, of a monarchy, are animated by a sentiment of honor; but the timid and luxurious inhabitants of a declining empire must be allured into the service by the hopes of profit, or compelled by the dread of punishment.”
Beyond the Cusp
* There is no such monstrosity as the 1967 border and only the armistice lines which when agreed upon after the failed war to annihilate the nascent Jewish state the morning after her founding was delineated to be the demarcation of the front lines at the noon hour of the last day set for the war by the United Nations. The Arab League and Arab nations in the armistice made one particularly unusual demand that the armistice lines would never be used to form a border for the Jewish state, ever. This was their way of being able to continue to claim there was no actual state of Israel because it did not have one of the necessary requirements for an actual state, a defined border. This is what is behind their insistence to this day that Israel does not exist, that and wishful thinking. (see Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States)
Beyond the Cusp 