Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Israel's Right to the 'Disputed' Territories


Danny Ayalon
Wall Street Journal
30 December 09

The recent statements by the European Union's new foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton criticizing Israel have once again brought international attention to Jerusalem and the settlements. However, little appears to be truly understood about Israel's rights to what are generally called the "occupied territories" but what really are "disputed territories."

That's because the land now known as the West Bank cannot be considered "occupied" in the legal sense of the word as it had not attained recognized sovereignty before Israel's conquest. Contrary to some beliefs there has never been a Palestinian state, and no other nation has ever established Jerusalem as its capital despite it being under Islamic control for hundreds of years.

The name "West Bank" was first used in 1950 by the Jordanians when they annexed the land to differentiate it from the rest of the country, which is on the east bank of the river Jordan. The boundaries of this territory were set only one year before during the armistice agreement between Israel and Jordan that ended the war that began in 1948 when five Arab armies invaded the nascent Jewish State. It was at Jordan's insistence that the 1949 armistice line became not a recognized international border but only a line separating armies. The Armistice Agreement specifically stated: "No provision of this Agreement shall in any way prejudice the rights, claims, and positions of either Party hereto in the peaceful settlement of the Palestine questions, the provisions of this Agreement being dictated exclusively by military considerations." (Italics added.) This boundary became the famous "Green Line," so named because the military officials during the armistice talks used a green pen to draw the line on the map.

(Read full article)

Mr. Ayalon is the deputy foreign minister of Israel
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2 comments:

  1. The Green Line is not a real border and it makes no demographic, economic or military sense. There is no way Israel will go back to having a waist only 15 miles wide. Most of Israel's population is located in that waist. Unless Israel retains the Jordan Valley and the Samarian-Judean mountain range, it will be impossible to defend the low country from an Arab attack. Only a fool in Israel would advocate a complete return to the 1949 line.

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  2. Norman:

    You are correct, and we are apparently a nation of folly when it comes to leadership. The worst people seem to be making fateful decisions here, and everyone is waiting for the day when they will all be swept away by unanimous sentiment against their bungling errors and sellouts.

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