To: fnord
The settlements background. Balfour Declaration states that Jews may settle “anywhere in Palestine.” League of Nations ratifies Balfour Declaration as international law. United Nations endorses League of Nations ratification in its Charter, Article 80. This is the UN constitution so all resolutions to the contrary are unconstitutional.
Along the way during the 15 years of negotiations with the PLO, Israel agreed to establish no new settlements in Judea and Samaria. No government agreed to limiting natural growth of established settlements approved legally. Illegal outputs are taken down.
The Arabs also claim developments in Jerusalem are “settlements.” Israel rejects this, Jerusalem has been the capital for 3000 years and it will never be turned over to the Arabs in this and or another peace deal. The Arabs are claiming non-stop building in Jerusalem are violations of agreements. It is not clear where Obama stands on this. The big highly developed towns in the territories would be choked if they couldn’t add new subdivisions and industries and that’s not going to stop either nor did any government agree to this.
Arab propaganda always refers to Judea and Samaria as “occupied territories” and illegal under “international law.” If they were “occupied territories” settlements might very well be illegal despite Article 80 and the historic ties of the Jews to the territory predating that of the Arabs. But the Geneva Conventions define “occupied territory” as that occupied from another state. These are disputed territories. Israel liberated Judea and Samaria from a conquest land grab by Jordan.
Arab propaganda distorts another issue as well, their so-called refugees. Resolution 242 of the UN Security Council calls for a resolution of the refugee problem, the members having rejected a Soviet attempt to make it “Arab” refugee problem. That means the Arabs pay up for the property confiscated from the 850,000 Jewish refugees which exceeds by $4 billion the property abandoned by 500,000 Arab refugees and we can call that one square. Anything else?
