Posted on 07/10/2012 8:41:52 AM PDT by dervish
Flouting international opinion, an Israeli government-appointed commission of jurists said Monday that Israel’s presence in the West Bank was not occupation and recommended that the state grant approval for scores of unauthorized Jewish settlement outposts there.
The committee’s legal arguments, while nonbinding, could provide backup for the government should it decide to grant the outposts retroactive official status. But such a move would inevitably stir international outrage and deal a significant blow to prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement.
“The report relates to the question of legality and legitimacy of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name. He added that the report’s conclusions would be submitted to a ministerial committee on settlement affairs for discussion and that “the facts and claims” presented in the report “merit serious examination.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Unauthorized = not authorized by the Israeli government, no building permit
Illegal = in violation of international law (whatever that is), occupied territory
For decades Israel participated in the conflation of these terms giving the world ammunition for its denunciation. This report and its findings are a way of straightening this out.
Also read
Report recommends legalizing West Bank outposts, easing settlement restrictions
You can only occupy what belonged to someone else.
Jordan occupied land that had been under the British Mandate. That was clearly illegal and only Britain, through unenlightened self-interest, and Pakistan recognized it. When Israel liberated Judea and Samaria in 1967 it was no-man’s land. The British had long renounced all claim. You follow the invaders back and you go through the Turks to the Byzantines to the Romans until you come to the actual owners of the land, the Jews who were domiciled there for a good 1,000 years including the capital Jerusalem.
International jurists (q.v.) who argue otherwise simply disgrace themselves. Sure the UN would vote 200 to 2 (is Micronesia still with us?) in their favor, but the UN voting record on Jews is no different than the German Reichstag in the 30s. Who cares?
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