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A Chance to Change the Agenda?

(Canadian Jewish News) Gerald M. Steinberg - The public proceedings at the International Court of Justice may provide an opportunity for Israel to demonstrate the core morality of its case. A high-profile presentation of the history of Palestinian and Arab rejectionism, beginning in 1947 and continuing to this day, could be an important opportunity. The Israeli team would need to demonstrate that unilateral separation is necessary to protect lives, and that there is no other realistic way of preventing terrorism. The alternative of maintaining the status quo would sentence hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of additional Israelis to death from terror attacks. The Israeli team will also need to show that the armistice line that was drawn in 1949, following the Arab invasion, and held until the 1967 war, lacks the status of an international boundary and is not, therefore, sacrosanct. In addition, the history of the 1967 war will need to be presented, including the fact that the Israeli capture of the "occupied territories" was an appropriate response to Arab preparations to drive the Jews into the sea. Under international law, territory gained in a defensive war has an entirely different status than the ill-gotten gains of an aggressive one.
2004-01-09 00:00:00
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