(Jerusalem Post) Editorial - Anyone with a modicum of intellectual honesty and a basic ability to reason can recognize the weakness of the claim that the West Bank is "occupied" by Israel. The term "occupied" implies that Israel took, even stole, this land from another people. That is not the case. After Britain ended its mandate over Palestine, Jordan conquered the West Bank in 1948 and unilaterally annexed it in 1950. Today the West Bank remains a "disputed" territory with Palestinians and Israelis claiming that some, or all, of the land is rightfully theirs. For the first time since 1979, a State Department report on human rights has dropped the term "occupied" in reference to the West Bank. Palestinian and Arab intransigence, not Israeli "occupation," have prevented a pragmatic resolution of the conflict. The likely alternative to an Israeli military and administrative presence in the West Bank would be anarchy and the renewal of Islamist-inspired terrorist attacks directed at Israelis.
2018-04-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive