When I was growing up, I remember religious discussions about how God could create the entire world in just six days as described in Genesis. One idea I heard repeatedly was that those six days were not like days today; they were much longer since the time was on a Godly scale rather than a human one. I was reminded of these discussions today when I read about the so called "peace conference" opening in Paris. The conference is supposed to be about peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but the leadership of neither side is in attendance. There is also no one there speaking for the incoming American administration. Nevertheless, even before the first words are spoken at the conference, the media is already reporting the main outcome: 1. Israel and the Palestinians are asked/ordered to once again say that they favor a two-state solution; 2. The President Elect, Donald Trump is to be warned that he cannot condone Israeli settlements or move the American embassy to Jerusalem. The embassy move is not to happen because the status of Jerusalem is undecided.
From 1948 to 1967, Jerusalem was a divided city. The western half of the city was in Israel and was inhabited by Jews, Arabs and Christians. Jerusalem was also the capital city of Israel. The eastern half of the city, including the old walled city and all of the religious sites holy to Christians, Jews and Moslems was controlled by Jordan and Jews were barred from living there or even entering the city. Jordan had conquered the city in the war that ended in 1949. In 1967, there was the Six Day War. During that war, the Jordanian army attacked Israel and the Israelis counter-attacked. The end of that segment of the fighting resulted in Jordan's forces being expelled from all of Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel immediately tore down the barriers that had divided the city and once again allowed everyone, including Jews, to visit the holy sites in the old city of Jerusalem. Within a short time after the Six Day War, Israel officially annexed the portion of Jerusalem that it had taken in repulsing the Jordanian attack. The city was once again united and remained the capital of Israel. Under international law, Israel had every right to keep the city that had been won in a defensive war.
It seems, however, that for much of the so called international community, the Six Day War never ended. Those six days became, like the six days in Genesis, a much longer period. For the international community, the "status" of Jerusalem is undecided. Indeed, for the many in that community, when Israelis live in the eastern half of the city it is a "war crime". Assad and his Iranian and Russian allies used chemical weapons to murder thousands of civilians in Syria and nothing is done by the international community, but when Jews move into apartments in the section of the old city of Jerusalem which has been called the Jewish Quarter for the last 500 years in recognition of the long term residents of that area, the international community sees a war crime about which they claim outrage. That phony outrage is to be expressed once again in this Paris conference, and the international community is afraid that their hollow nonsense is about to be exposed as such by Donald Trump. After all, if the USA under President Trump moves its embassy to Jerusalem, it will be hard to still claim that the status of Jerusalem is undecided. Other countries will follow suit, and then the rest of the world will be forced to actually decide if Jerusalem is indeed Israel's capital. Does Israel, alone among the countries of the world, need international approval to name its own capital? The only plausible answer to that question is NO. What all this means is that Trump has it in his power to once again end the nonsense and put forward a plain and honest position for the USA.
Hopefully, the Paris conference will be the last vestige of the kind of diplomacy that has been the hallmark of the international community for the last few decades. We have lived in a world where speeches and shows have been what mattered; the reality of actions did not matter nearly as much. It is a diplomacy that undermined even the USA. The Obama administration was big on speeches without any action. Remember the Syrian red line proclaimed by Obama? It was a stern warning to Assad and it was clearly and repeatedly violated. Obama's response basically amounted to a panicked "nevermind" once the world saw what was happening. Reality made its way through the mist of the speeches. The Paris conference is just more fog and more speeches.
From 1948 to 1967, Jerusalem was a divided city. The western half of the city was in Israel and was inhabited by Jews, Arabs and Christians. Jerusalem was also the capital city of Israel. The eastern half of the city, including the old walled city and all of the religious sites holy to Christians, Jews and Moslems was controlled by Jordan and Jews were barred from living there or even entering the city. Jordan had conquered the city in the war that ended in 1949. In 1967, there was the Six Day War. During that war, the Jordanian army attacked Israel and the Israelis counter-attacked. The end of that segment of the fighting resulted in Jordan's forces being expelled from all of Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel immediately tore down the barriers that had divided the city and once again allowed everyone, including Jews, to visit the holy sites in the old city of Jerusalem. Within a short time after the Six Day War, Israel officially annexed the portion of Jerusalem that it had taken in repulsing the Jordanian attack. The city was once again united and remained the capital of Israel. Under international law, Israel had every right to keep the city that had been won in a defensive war.
It seems, however, that for much of the so called international community, the Six Day War never ended. Those six days became, like the six days in Genesis, a much longer period. For the international community, the "status" of Jerusalem is undecided. Indeed, for the many in that community, when Israelis live in the eastern half of the city it is a "war crime". Assad and his Iranian and Russian allies used chemical weapons to murder thousands of civilians in Syria and nothing is done by the international community, but when Jews move into apartments in the section of the old city of Jerusalem which has been called the Jewish Quarter for the last 500 years in recognition of the long term residents of that area, the international community sees a war crime about which they claim outrage. That phony outrage is to be expressed once again in this Paris conference, and the international community is afraid that their hollow nonsense is about to be exposed as such by Donald Trump. After all, if the USA under President Trump moves its embassy to Jerusalem, it will be hard to still claim that the status of Jerusalem is undecided. Other countries will follow suit, and then the rest of the world will be forced to actually decide if Jerusalem is indeed Israel's capital. Does Israel, alone among the countries of the world, need international approval to name its own capital? The only plausible answer to that question is NO. What all this means is that Trump has it in his power to once again end the nonsense and put forward a plain and honest position for the USA.
Hopefully, the Paris conference will be the last vestige of the kind of diplomacy that has been the hallmark of the international community for the last few decades. We have lived in a world where speeches and shows have been what mattered; the reality of actions did not matter nearly as much. It is a diplomacy that undermined even the USA. The Obama administration was big on speeches without any action. Remember the Syrian red line proclaimed by Obama? It was a stern warning to Assad and it was clearly and repeatedly violated. Obama's response basically amounted to a panicked "nevermind" once the world saw what was happening. Reality made its way through the mist of the speeches. The Paris conference is just more fog and more speeches.
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