(Jerusalem Center/YouTube) Dore Gold - The Obama administration responded disapprovingly to Israel's decision to build housing in the eastern parts of Jerusalem. The whole notion that Jerusalem is occupied territory and that Israel has to therefore handle it in some kind of special way is a very difficult argument to accept. Israel captured the eastern parts of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. Previously, the Jordanians had annexed east Jerusalem, but only Pakistan had recognized Jordanian sovereignty in Jerusalem. It became a springboard for attacking Israel, and Israel recovered it in a war of self-defense. Can you say that Israel is occupying someone else's territory? Who did it belong to? Jordan? Israel has a claim to Jerusalem which is stronger than any other claimant. An international legal expert, Steven Schwebel, who was later Legal Advisor to the U.S. Department of State and President of the International Court of Justice at The Hague, asserted back in 1970 that of all the claimants to Jerusalem, Israel had the strongest claim. If Israel's claim is the strongest claim, then it becomes difficult to understand how Israel could be criticized for building in Jerusalem for both its Jewish and Arab residents.
2010-01-01 07:28:51Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive