BILLY: Israels Land Grab was poorly timed, to be sure. If youre feeling it was completely reprehensible, give this a read. It was penned by Jonathan Tobin, senior editor of Commentary magazine, in his article, The Israeli Land Grab and Hopes for Peace. Just reminds us how complicated the issues are over there, and how important it is to try and get as many facts as possible. Again, theres no question the timing of such an announcement was poor, even regrettable. But the content is less incendiary than we might otherwise have thought. Thanks to Rabbi David Lyon for bringing this to my attention. Israels government declared that 988 acres of vacant land in the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem is state land and therefore might be used for development. But the way the story is being presented in the mainstream press is highly misleading. Though the move was condemned as one that would dramatically change the reality in the area, since it is already inside an area that is heavily populated by Jews, its hard to see how it would affect the future of other parts of the West Bank. This isnt just any settlement bloc; its Gush Etzion. This bloc is just south of Jerusalem and contains 22 Jewish communities with over 70,000 residents. Gush Etzion was populated and owned by Jews not only prior to 1967 but also prior to Israels War of Independence, before it was overrun by Jordanian army units and local Palestinians after a bitterly contested siege. Its inhabitants were either massacred or taken prisoner. As such, it was the first land to be reclaimed for Jewish settlement after the 1967 war put it back in Israeli hands. Neither the ownership nor the future of Gush Etzion is up for debate in any peace talks. In every peace plan, the bloc remains part of Israel, a reality that most sensible Palestinians accept.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 18:34:08 +0000
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