Thursday, September 22, 2016

Ask the White House to define: What is “Palestinian Land”?

By David Bedein (Israel Behind The News)

President Obama delivered an address at the UN on September 20, 2016.
During that address. Obama asked Israel not to settle “Palestinian land”.
Today, we asked White House Press Spokespeople to define “Palestinian land”.
There are five possibilities.

1. Arab villages abandoned in 1948. 
Palestinians who live in 59 UNRWA facilities still lay to claim these villages as “Palestinian land”. The UNRWA school system , funded to a large part by the US, is based on promoting “right of return” to this ”Palestinian land”

2. Areas settled by Israel beyond the 1949 Rhodes Armistice Lines.
After the 1949 armistice, Israel settled its citizens in the Negev and Galilee, over US objections. The US has never removed these objections. Hence, the Bush letter of April 2004 to Arik Sharon invoked the 1949 lines as the basis for US government policy.

3. Areas purchased by Jews in Judea-Samaria/West Bank.
The US often claims: Jews have no human rights in areas acquired after 1967.

4. The Old City of Jerusalem.
The Old City is defined by the Arab world as “Palestinian land”. For that reason, no Jew was allowed entry into the Old City, 1949-1967 , despite US and UN assurances.

5. Neighborhoods built on no-man’s land in Jerusalem, post-1967.
The US often objects. The question remains: Do Ramot, Gilo,and Ramat Eshkol constitute “Palestinian land’ ?

We asked the White House to explain which definition applies.
We have asked this five-pronged question many times of the US government, with no response.
We do not expect to get a response today either.

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