02-6408203
yglick@knesset.gov.il
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Yehuda Glick, MK: Dear Friends, I was born on the 25th of Cheshvan 5726 – November 20, 1965.

I currently serve as a member of the 21st Knesset for the Likud Party, since the month of Iyar, May 2016.

I was born in the United States. When I was eight years old, I made Aliya with my family to Beer Sheva.

My father, Professor Shimon Glick, directed the Department of Internal Medicine at Soroka Hospital and was one of the founders of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University in the Negev.

I began my service in the Israeli army in a tank unit, and went on to serve in the Intelligence Corp as a combat medic.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in teaching Bible/Mishna/Talmudic studies, a Master’s degree in Israeli History, and am a certified tour-guide. I studied at the yeshivas of Tels Stone, Makor Hayim, Har Etzion and Otniel.

My public activities began when I served as the Spokesperson for the Immigrant Absorption Ministry, under Minister Yoel (Yuli) Edelstein. I managed the public relations department, the Jewish Identity unit and served as the Ministry’s overall manager of the Ashkelon area. In 2005, I resigned after ten years of civil service, due to the decision to disengage from Gush Katif. I was the highest ranking public official to resign due to the disengagement.

I served as the CEO of the Temple Institute for five years. I lectured on various topics such as Jerusalem, the Temple Mount & Beit Hamikdash. In 2008 I became the chairman of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation & of Haliba, which is engaged in the struggle for equal rights for Jews on the Temple Mount, including the right to ascend the Mount freely & pray there. Due to these efforts, I almost lost my life when a palestinian attempted to assassinate me.

I am happily married to my beloved wife Yaffy. We have eight children & seven granchildren & live in Otniel.
JERUSALEM OF PEACE:

I requested, for the first time in the Knesset’s history, that my office be named Jerusalem of Peace (instead of the chambers of MK Yehudah Glick).

When I understood that, to my surprise, I was going to become a Knesset member, I decided to call my office by a name that will express the ideas that I believe in & I fought for throughout the years. I came to the Knesset to promote an ideology, not my political career. I truly believe ultimately good will triumph over evil & peace will come.

I believe that the way to bring peace is to consolidate the status of Jerusalem & the Temple Mount in its center, as the global center for peace and reconciliation between peoples. The prophet Isaiah’s call: “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Hashem shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; & all the nations shall flow to it, … and they shall beat their swords into plowshares & their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” – is the very message that I would like to instill & drive.

The origin of the term Zionism comes from the word Zion, which is used in the bible when referring to the Temple Mount. King David says in Psalms: “I consecrate my king on Zion, my holy mountain”. In recent decades, there is a certain side of the political map has appropriated the term peace to itself, but peace is the name of God, and he leads me in my public doings.

I intend to carry out my public duty to promote civil dialogue within the Jewish people, within Israeli society & between us and the rest of the world. Respectful dialogue and listening to others are the keys to bringing about peace and friendship. My work in the Knesset is focused on these three circles: strengthening the solidarity in Israeli society, in the Jewish people and between religions in the whole world – around Zion.

I serve in the Knesset as a member of the Education, Culture, and Sports Committee, the Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse and the Committee for Distributive Justice and Social Equality.

Additionally, I set up a number of Knesset caucuses, in order to deal with issues that are at the top of my ideological agenda:

– Strengthening ties between Jews and Muslims

– Creating an Israeli consensus on national Shabbat observance

– Encouraging Bible study

– Strengthening the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount.

You are welcome to contact me and my office. I will try to answer to every one of you.

Best regards,

MK Yehudah Glick

Misc. Home pageAbout Us The Jerualem CovenantJerusalem of Peace Photo ExhibitContact Us

Contact:

Address: The Knesset, Jerusalem 9195000

Tel/Fax: 02-640-8203

Email: yglick@knesset.gov.il

6.Ariel to Trump: ‘Let Netanyahu bring Pollard home’

Minister appeals to US President from Jerusalem Conference podium: ‘Allow Prime Minister one more passenger on plane: Mr. Pollard.’ By Uzi Baruch, Arutz Sheva 14/02/17 18:19

Calling on Trump: Minister Uri Ariel – Yisrael Bardugo

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel spoke today (Tuesday) at the 14th Jerusalem Conference & discussed Netanyahu’s upcoming meeting with US President Trump: “It is absolutely clear that between Jordan & the sea there will be only one sovereign state, the State of Israel. I wish Prime Minister Netanyahu well & say to him: Do not surprise the US administration; tell them you are going to pass the Ma’ale Adumim annexation law first & then move on to [Sovereignty for] all of Area C in Judea & Samaria. This is what he should present the President.”

Minister Ariel added a call to the US president: “I want to appeal to the US President & tell him to allow the Head of State the option of taking one more passenger on the plane, Mr. Pollard. The Nation who dwells in Zion wishes after more than thirty years for Jonathan & his wife Esther to come to the land of our ancestors & be here together with all of us.”

The Minister also related to the Western Wall zoning plan: “Before all else, we must state at all times, in every place: We should be up on the mountain, the Temple Mount – that is the place. We have great respect for the Western Wall. But one must remember The Holy Place is on the Temple Mount.

“A few months ago Netanyahu’s government decided to approve the new zoning layout, effectively recognizing Reform Judaism. I voted against the resolution; it offends that which is holy to the Jewish People, and with all due respect to world Jewry, there is no reason to recognize Reform Judaism in Israel. In Israel it is different, and should be different. Therefore, together with the Chief Rabbinate and other members of the government, we told the Prime Minister to change the layout or we will fight it as much as we can,” said Ariel.

7.Trump will not [DID NOT] use term ‘two states’ during meeting with PM By Gary Willig, INN

US President Donald Trump will not use the term ‘two states’ during his meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this Wednesday, White House sources reported.

The sources also said that Trump wants to be the President who achieves peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The report by Channel 10 also stated Trump would not pressure Netanyahu regarding construction in Judea & Samaria.

Trump will not use term ‘two states’ during meeting with PM By Gary Willig, INN

IsraPundit by Ted Belman February 13, 2017

8.‘Trump won’t tell Israel what to do’INN

Marc Zell, head of Republicans Overseas Israel, says US will not condemn Israel over settlement policies, will move embassy to Jerusalem.

Attorney Marc Zell, the head of Republicans Overseas Israel, spoke with Arutz Sheva on the eve of the departure of Prime Minister Netanyahu to Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump. Zell said that it will be an extraordinary meeting “between leaders who respect one another.”

Will he condemn the settlement activity in Judea & Samaria?

The president looks to Israel to define its own strategic interests when it comes to building in Judea & Samaria or anywhere else. While the US may have its & own opinions and interests when it comes to the helpfulness of settlements in promoting peace or coexistence, the US will ultimately say that whatever Israel deems important for its own security & future will be acceptable to the US. This means that the US will not condemn Israel over its settlement policies -this is an amazing statement, a huge turnaround in US foreign policy which we’ve been awaiting for 50 years.
Will the president move the embassy to Jerusalem?

In my opinion, definitely, it’s only a matter of time & it will happen quicker rather than sooner. The waiver which president Obama signed regarding moving the embassy in accordance with the US law of 1995 runs out in May or June and at that point the president will announce the moving of the embassy. The embassy will move, since Donald Trump is a true leader & nobody will intimidate him with threats of bloodshed.

IsraPundit by Ted Belman February 13, 2017

9.Israeli PM Netanyahu Becomes D.C. Darling as Democrats Clamor for Meetings

After years of tense relations, Netanyahu most coveted meeting in D.C.

By Adam Kredo, NEW BEACON

After years of tense relations with the United States under former President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is emerging as one of the most prominent international personalities, according to multiple sources who told the Washington Free Beacon that Democrats, Republicans, and high-level White House officials are clamoring for a sit down with the Israeli leader when he arrives in town on Tuesday.

Senior officials across party lines hope to let Netanyahu know that America has Israel’s back and that years of tension during the Obama administration is just water under the bridge, according to both congressional sources and those close to the Trump administration.

Netanyahu’s schedule is already packed with powwows between President Trump, senior administration officials, and a cast of leading lawmakers on Capitol Hill from both sides of the aisle.
Meetings will center on U.S. lawmakers’ desire to reset relations with the Jewish state. Multiple sources told the Free Beacon that sit downs with White House officials will focus on holding Iran accountable for violations of the nuclear deal, moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and combatting efforts at the United Nations to delegitimize Israel.

Netanyahu already has confirmed a 6:30 p.m. dinner Tuesday evening with newly installed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The meeting will take place inside the State Department.

Netanyahu is expected to meet with Trump and other senior officials Wednesday before heading to Capitol Hill, where he will meet with leading Democrats and Republicans.

Netanyahu is expected to take separate meetings with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), sources told the Free Beacon.

Further meetings could take place with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before Netanyahu travels to the House side of the Capitol for an evening meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.).

There is a strong desire among all parties to show Netanyahu that after nearly a decade of chilly relations during the former administration, the United States is prepared to restore the historic relationship with the Jewish state.

“Netanyahu’s schedule is so full that he literally can’t find time for all the high level meetings people want to have with him,” said one veteran foreign policy adviser who is closely in touch with the White House on Middle East issues. “The truth of this is, nature is taking its course.”

Recent polling shows that support for Israel is at an all-time high among Democrats and Republicans. Democratic lawmakers in particular are no longer being pressured by the former administration to distance themselves from Netanyahu and Israel.

“Without Obama trying to force Democratic lawmakers to choose between Israel and the United States nature is taking its course and everyone wants to see how they can help bolster the U.S.-Israel relationship,” the source said. “Voters want to see this.”

One source characterized Netanyahu as the “cool kid in town.”

On Capitol Hill, senior sources focused on the Middle East expect that lawmakers will emphasize a reset in relations with Israel. They also will seek to reassure Netanyahu that key foreign aid packages to Israel will remain robust and fully funded.

“There’s broad recognition that it’s time to turn a page on years of hostility towards Israel from the Obama administration. President Trump and the Republican Congress are focused on strengthening Israel’s security and the U.S.-Israel relationship—not condemning housing projects in disputed territories and pushing anti-Semitic U.N. resolutions,” said one senior congressional aide familiar with the Israeli leader’s travel itinerary.

“This provides a major opportunity for both the United States and Israel to stand up to Iran and all those who seek to defame and destroy the Jewish state,” the source said. “Given the warm relationship between Bibi and Trump, everyone seems upbeat and optimistic about the future of the alliance moving forward.”

Dennis Ross, a veteran Middle East hand who worked for former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama, told reporters on Monday that there is a strong desire to cast sour relations between the United States and Israel as a byproduct of the Obama administration.

That, Ross said during a conference call hosted by the Israel Project, is the “overriding message that emerges from this week,”

“Democrats will be anxious to show they’re close to Israel as well,” Ross said, adding that Netanyahu will convey the message that Israel’s relationship is with America as a whole, not any one administration.

10.Min. Katz: ‘Israel is already coordinating construction with White House’By Yoni Kempinsky, INN

Transportation Minister tells Arutz Sheva relations with Trump Administration greatly improved, Israel coordinating building policy with WH.

Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said in an interview with Arutz Sheva that Israel has already discussions with the Trump Administration regarding construction in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and the announcements of new construction.

“The construction in the settlements is the most urgent issue at the moment,” Minister Katz said. The discussion with the administration is about building within the settlements and construction within the municipal jurisdictions of the settlements. Our position is to allow construction within the jurisdictions of the settlements in the coming years. This will allow us to reach a hundred thousand units, and this will be the ten percent is the scope of the built-up area, which today is [only] two to three percent.”

He said: “We can build in the coming years without further [outside] interference. Once we define the matter they won’t interfere in our affairs. The settlements will be able to flourish and develop, as well as the construction in Jerusalem.”

Katz added that “the important thing right now is to strengthen Jerusalem and the settlements in Judea and Samaria. A decade ago I initiated a law for Greater Jerusalem to attach the Ma’aleh Adumim, Givat Zeev, Betar Illit and Gush Etzion to Jerusalem, to apply Israeli sovereignty and to attach them to Jerusalem with municipal independence.”

Addressing the meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump this Wednesday, Katz said:

“It is clear that the positions of the new administration have changed [from the previous administration]. First of all, with regard to Iran, the rules of the game have been changed. [President Trump] has also pledged to protect Israel against all [biased] decisions by international organizations. Without the US there is no chance we get that [protection]. The new president also added Iran back to the ‘axis of evil’ and is enabling cooperation [against Iran]. The new administration has also stated that Israel is its primary ally in the region. These three things will allow the construction of a new defense base in the region.”

He rejected the creation of a new Arab state in Judea and Samaria as a threat to the security of the State of Israel. “I reject a Palestinian state in principle as a violation of human rights – and I endorse the position of [former Prime Minister Menachem] Begin, who said that a Palestinian state in the heart of our country would be an existential threat to Israel in the long term. They will never accept our existence, and the stronger they are the more they will threaten the State of Israel.”

“It is clear to everyone today that the issue of a Palestinian state is not on the agenda and is not realistic. Even the leader of the Opposition recently stated that the establishment of a Palestinian state is not feasible. I know about talks with the US and the messages which we pass along to them, and we tell them the same things. There is no chance for them to set up a Palestinian state.”

11.The Watered-Down Us Embassy Relocation Bill By David Bedein 2/8/17 The question remains: whether the US will ever recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel.

PALESTINIANS PROTEST in Nablus on Thursday against a promise by President Donald Trump to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem.. (photo credit:Reuters)

I was covering events in the US capitol when Congress passed the US embassy Jerusalem relocation bill in October 1995, also known as the “Jerusalem Embassy & Recognition Act.” There were expectations at the time that the US would renounce its position, adopted in 1948, that Jerusalem was not to be recognized as a part of Israel, along with the additional position, also dating from 1948, that Jerusalem, all of Jerusalem, must be an international zone.
However, the final version of the Jerusalem Embassy & Recognition Act removed explicit references to Jerusalem as a part of Israel and did not mention that Jerusalem would remain an exclusive capital of Israel. Faisal Husseini, in Washington, DC, at the time as the head of the PLO Jerusalem committee & Yossi Beilin, then deputy foreign minister of Israel, endorsed the Jerusalem Embassy & Recognition Act in 1995, as it was worded.

In other words, the US embassy relocation act did not violate 2 cardinal US premises from 1948: that Jerusalem was not to be recognized as a part of Israel: & that Jerusalem could still become an international zone.
The realities of the Jerusalem Embassy & Recognition Act were not lost on American citizens whose children were born in Jerusalem & whose children’s US passports said “Jerusalem” with no country listed, as their place of birth. For that reason, Jerusalem Americans initiated class action suit which reached the US Supreme Court last year, with a demand to stamp “Israel” on their passports –& they lost, because America’s highest court would not challenge US diplomatic policy.
As to the vocal Arab resentment & loud Jewish enthusiasm over the possible implementation of the Jerusalem Embassy & Recognition Act under President Donald Trump, it is doubtful that either side has read the wording of the legislation.
As to the PLO threat that Jerusalem will burn if the embassy moves, I covered the packed Faisel Husseini press conference in 1998 when the PLO warned that Jerusalem would burn if Jews moved into Har Homa. 19 years later, Har Homa thrives & no fires flicker on that hilly Jerusalem neighborhood.
Meanwhile, US citizens who want the US to recognize Jerusalem as a part of Israel may wish to advise Congress and White House that legislative changes may be in order. If there are US citizens who want the US to recognize Jerusalem as the exclusive capital of Israel, which no other entity can also claim as its Capital, legislative change may be in order.
The US adopted an official policy in 1948, in the months that preceded the War of Independence, declaring Jerusalem must be defined as an international zone under US trusteeship & remain extra-territorial to Israel. The US State Department went so far as to appoint its own governor for Jerusalem. The assassination of the UN envoy to Jerusalem in Sep. 1948 suspended that process, but did not cancel US policy.
A case in point: the family of a US citizen, Ben Blutstein, killed by a terrorists bomb in July 2002 while eating lunch in the Frank Sinatra cafeteria at the Hebrew University, could not get the US State Department to allow his US death certificate to read “Jerusalem, Israel”. The US same policy applies to birth certificates.
Four of my children were born in Jerusalem. The birthplace on their American birth certificates is listed as “Jerusalem”, with no mention of any nation.
The question remains as to whether the US will ever recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel.
Such a policy decision would be seem more crucial than the symbolic matter of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.
The author, a native of Philadelphia, has lived in Israel since 1970. In 1987, he established the Israel Resource News Agency at the Center for Near East Policy Research Center to guide journalists and diplomats in Jerusalem. His latest book: “ Inside the PLO: the Genesis of the Palestinian Authority”, was published by Amazon on February 1, 2017. www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

12.How The ‘Blue Liners’ Forced The Regulation Law’s Passing By Josh Hasten 2/13/17 20:52

But how did a situation arise to begin in which Israeli homes were built on land whose status was questionable?

Mounted Israeli police scuffle with pro-settler supporters at the Amona outpost, February 1, 2006. (photo credit:REUTERS)

With the engines of the bulldozers still warm from destroying the homes of the 42 Jewish Amona families, the Knesset on Monday night passed the “Regulation Law” in its final reading. The legislation, introduced by Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich, seeks to provide justice for thousands of families living in homes built throughout Judea & Samaria, in addition to the rightful landowners.
A Knesset press release explains the intricacies of the bill, which passed by a vote of 60-52, saying that “in many cases, settlements were built in agreed-upon areas & were even encouraged or built in coordination with the state, or were built in good faith by the Israeli residents, who were unaware that this was privately-owned land. Leaving the situation as is in these settlements, or their destruction, is liable to seriously, unjustifiably harm those who have lived there for many years. Therefore, the regulation of these settlements is necessary.”

13.How Obama is scheming to sabotage Trump’s presidency By Paul Sperry, NY POST

When former President Barack Obama said he was “heartened” by anti-Trump protests,he was sending a message of approval to his troops. Troops? Yes, Obama has an army of agitators — numbering more than 30,000 — who will fight his Republican successor at every turn of his historic presidency. And Obama will command them from a bunker less than two miles from the White House.

In what’s shaping up to be a highly unusual post-presidency, Obama isn’t just staying behind in Washington. He’s working behind the scenes to set up what will effectively be a

shadow government to not only protect his threatened legacy, but to sabotage the incoming administration and its popular “America First” agenda.
He’s doing it through a network of Leftist nonprofits led by Organizing for Action. Normally you’d expect an organization set up to support a politician and his agenda to close up shop after that candidate leaves office, but not Obama’s OFA. Rather, it’s gearing up for battle, with a growing war chest and more than 250 offices across the country.

Since Donald Trump’s election, this little-known but well-funded protesting arm has beefed up staff and ramped up recruitment of young liberal activists, declaring on its website, “We’re not backing down.” Determined to salvage Obama’s legacy,”it’s drawing battle lines on immigration, ObamaCare, race relations and climate change.

Obama is intimately involved in OFA operations and even tweets from the group’s account. In fact, he gave marching orders to OFA foot soldiers following Trump’s upset victory.

“It is fine for everybody to feel stressed, sad, discouraged,” he said in a conference call from the White House. “But get over it.” He demanded they “move forward to protect what we’ve accomplished.”

“Now is the time for some organizing,” he said. “So don’t mope.”

Far from sulking, OFA activists helped organize anti-Trump marches across US cities, some of which turned into riots. After Trump issued a temporary ban on immigration from seven terror-prone Muslim nations, the demonstrators jammed airports, chanting: “No ban, no wall, sanctuary for all!”

Run by old Obama aides and campaign workers, federal tax records show “nonpartisan” OFA marshals 32,525 volunteers nationwide. Registered as a 501(c)(4), it doesn’t have to disclose its donors, but they’ve been generous. OFA has raised more than $40 million in contributions and grants since evolving from Obama’s campaign organization Obama for America in 2013.

OFA, in IRS filings, says it trains young activists to develop “organizing skills.” Armed with Obama’s 2012 campaign database, OFA plans to get out the vote for Democratic candidates it’s grooming to win back Congress and erect a wall of resistance to Trump at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

It will be aided in that effort by the Obama Foundation, run by Obama’s former political director, and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, launched last month by Obama pal Eric Holder to end what he and Obama call GOP “gerrymandering” of congressional districts.

Obama will be overseeing it all from a shadow White House located within two miles of Trump. It features a mansion, which he’s fortifying with construction of a tall brick perimeter, and a nearby taxpayer-funded office with his own chief of staff and press secretary. Michelle Obama will also open an office there, along with the Obama Foundation.

55-year-old Obama is not content to go quietly into the night like other ex-presidents

Critical to the fight is rebuilding the ravaged Democrat Party. Obama hopes to install his former civil-rights chief Tom Perez at the helm of the Democratic National Committee.

Perez is running for the vacant DNC chairmanship, vowing “It’s time to organize and fight .?.?. We must stand up to protect President Obama’s accomplishments;” while also promising, “We’re going to build the strongest grass-roots organizing force this country has ever seen.”

“You’re going to see me early next year,” he said after the election, “and we’re going to be in a position where we can start cooking up all kinds of great stuff.”

Added the ex-president: “Point is, I’m still fired up and ready to go.”

Paul Sperry is the author of “The Great American Bank Robbery,” which details the link between race-based housing policies and the mortgage crisis.

14.Europe’s Occupation HypocrisyBy Michael Freund 2/08/17

It might sound silly, but instead of constantly being on the defensive, perhaps it is at last time for Israel to give Europe a taste of its own medicine.

THE GULF OF PORTO in the French island of Corsica. The beautiful beaches, tranquil bays & dense forests conceal an otherwise ugly historical act: France’s 1768-69 invasion & annexation of the island, which was at the time a nascent republic..

(photo credit:Reuters)

After Monday’s passage of the law aimed at regulating certain land issues in Judea & Samaria, Israel’s ostensible friends in Europe wasted little time before lambasting the Jewish state in remarkably harsh terms. Mustering all the vitriol at their disposal, which appears to be boundless when the subject is Israel, the leaders of the Continent went on a rhetorical rampage as obscene as it was offensive.
As usual, it was the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, who scaled the heights of hyperbole when she called the law “new and dangerous,” as though resolving land disputes through compensation was an entirely unheard-of concept in modern law. But then Mogherini went further, declaring “the Israeli parliament has legislated on the legal status of land within occupied territory which is an issue that remains beyond its jurisdiction.”

The irony of her own statement was apparently lost on her. After all, what “jurisdiction” does Mogherini have to interfere in Israel’s internal affairs, berate its democratically- elected parliament or interpret the legislation it chooses to pass?

Other leaders, such as French President Francois Hollande, denounced the legislation, saying it would “open the way to the annexation of the occupied territories,” while the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolai Mladenov said that by legislating “in the occupied Palestinian lands,” Israel had crossed “a very thick red line.”
Well if European & international statesmen really want to have a debate about “occupied territories,” I say: bring it on.
A good place to start would be with some of Europe’s own colonial relics, which it greedily clings to, like a hung-over hobo grasping a bottle with a few remaining drops of vodka.
Take, for example, the island of Corsica, whose beautiful beaches, tranquil bays & dense forests conceal an ugly historical act: France’s 1768-69 invasion & annexation of the nascent republic. Despite the passage of nearly 250 years, many Corsicans continue to yearn for greater autonomy or even independence.
In Dec. 2015, the nationalist Pè, a Corsica Party dramatically won the island’s regional elections, coming within just two seats of an outright majority. Opinion polls show 2/3^rds of Corsicans want to hold a referendum on independence from France.
Independence-minded Corsicans say that Paris has been deliberately trying to “Frenchify” the island, subduing its culture & language.
But when was the last time you heard European leaders, or anyone else for that matter, denouncing France for its “occupied territories”? Then, of course, there is Catalonia, where the regional government plans to hold a referendum on independence in September of this year despite opposition from Spanish authorities. Curiously, however, the Catalonians’ longing for independence doesn’t seem to elicit as much interest in Europe’s capitals as that of the Palestinians, even though the former have a much better case for a state of their own.
To begin with, there actually was a Catalonian state, albeit briefly, in the 17^th century, whereas there has never been an independent Palestine in all of history. ven if one believes the Palestinians have been occupied since 1967, Spain has been occupying Catalonia for more than three centuries. That makes it a longer-running dispute, and justice delayed is justice denied. Moreover, Catalans can legitimately claim to be a nation with its own distinct language; the Palestinian Arabs cannot.
The list,of course, goes on & includes places such as the Falklands.
It was 35 years ago this April that Britain dispatched a naval task force of more than 100 ships to take the islands back from Argentina, thereby reasserting their century- old colonial occupation.
More recently, in one of the biggest land-grabs in modern history, Norway cemented its hold on more than 2.7 million square kilometers of Antarctica when it unilaterally declared in June 2015 that its territory in the eastern part of the region extended all the way down to the South Pole. A white paper issued by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry stated openly that “the purpose of annexation was to subdue the land that now lies unclaimed,” and Norway asserts that the land belongs to it because it was there first.
Oddly, they don’t seem to apply the same logic to Judea & Samaria, where the Jewish presence predates the founding of Islam by over 1,500 years.
Clearly, when one puts things in historical perspective, Europe’s bellowing about Israel’s “occupied territories” is nothing more than diplomatic duplicity. This is especially true in light of the fact that Judea & Samaria are the ancient heartland of the Jewish people & the cradle of our civilization.
Unlike many of Europe’s own occupied territories, Israel has every right – morally, historically, theologically & militarily – to be in Judea & Samaria & so we shall remain.
So next time the EU decides to holler about the need for “ending the occupation”, Israel should announce that it is sending human rights monitors to Corsica, Catalonia & other such areas, to ensure that the European occupying powers are not trampling on the rights of the indigenous residents.
The Jewish state should also start working on some draft UN resolutions denouncing ongoing European occupation of various parts of land around the world.
It might sound silly, but instead of constantly being on the defensive, perhaps it is at last time for Israel to give Europe a taste of its own medicine.