?It won’t be long before it’s the liberals who are seeking to have the Green Line erased from the maps, once it has been permanently transformed from a symbol of the aspiration for peace to a line delineating the realms of apartheid.? <\/p>\n
[closing statement below]<\/p>\n
Well, dear All, <\/p>\n
In effect, from the actuality on the ground, the ?green line? has been erased. Israeli leaders, expansionist at the core from the beginning, since conquering the West Bank never wanted a line delineating a border between the so-called Israel proper and the WB, because conquest of the WB gave further room for expansion. That was the name of the game, and continues to be. <\/p>\n
The ?Greater Israel? now exists. The means to it has been and is a devastating Military Occupation, which via all manner of excuses (the most popular one being ?security?) stole land, deprived Palestinian farmers of their fields, uprooted trees, demolished homes, killed and imprisoned, and continues to do all these while ever expanding settlements. All that is needed to complete the job is ethnic cleansing?not of the settlers, of course, but of the indigenous peoples: the Palestinians. And this is well underway. <\/p>\n
Will the ?Greater Israel? bring security to Israelis? Very unlikely. Will it make Israelis moral? Very unlikely. Will it encourage immigrants to come? Very unlikely. Instead, more wars and more violence will encourage emigration (there have been 10 wars during Israel?s 58 years!?quite a record). <\/p>\n
Until a leader such as a Mandela or a Gandhi comes along, Israelis will continue to close their eyes to the catastrophe that approaches. This is not to say that justice always wins out. History has shown that it justice often loses. It is only to say that a puddle of 5 million Jews surrounded by a sea of 350 million Muslims is unlikely to survive forever unless it furnishes a strong reason for its survival, as, for instance, instead of constantly threatening its neighbors it holds out stability by furnishing a promising and just future for all the inhabitants of its own immediate area, namely historical Palestine.<\/p>\n
– – Dorothy<\/a><\/p>\n Implement which law? Amid cabinet members’ expressions of shock in response to a female settler seen abusing a Hebron family came this comment by Ephraim Sneh: “The laws of the state are not being implemented in the city with due haste, particularly regarding Israeli citizens.” The deputy defense minister’s words were meant as criticism of how the security forces impose law and order in Hebron, but they contained the idea that the problem lies not in the “laws of the state,” but only in their “implementation.” <\/p>\n To which laws and which state was the deputy minister referring? After all, Hebron has not been annexed to Israel, and ostensibly is subject to military rule. But in the 40th year of the occupation, a deputy minister can disregard such legal nuances and refer to Hebron as if it were annexed territory – just like any Israeli community, Israeli vehicle or Jew in the territories can be referred to as Israel’s. Nothing could be more mistaken. The difference is solely in how the annexation is accomplished. Unlike the declared, comprehensive annexations of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, where the principle was set first and applied later, here the opposite method has been taken: annexation in a piecemeal, selective fashion until, after a few decades, the sum of the parts amount to full annexation despite the facade of “non-imposition of the law.” <\/p>\n This fiction is convenient for all concerned. The left can keep on deluding itself that the Green Line marks open possibilities, and that rule in the territories is “military” and therefore temporary. The right can emphatically insist upon a “declarative implementation” of the law and meanwhile enjoy selective annexation, which applies only to Jews – wherein lies its cleverness. <\/p>\n The annexation for Jews alone has created a dual system under which rule of law is determined based on an individual’s or a community’s national identity. The “local” population is subject to only the original law, as amended in thousands of military injunctions. The right to choose is reserved for Jews. When it’s convenient, they are Israeli citizens in every way. When it’s less convenient, like when it comes to matters of higher education and especially infrastructure planning, they are subject to the local law. The latter lags behind the Israeli law, and therefore allows for manipulations. <\/p>\n The confrontation between the female settler and the Palestinian woman from Hebron was a clash between two parallel worlds: The Jewish woman possesses all the rights of a citizen of a free country, who is entitled to the protection of its security forces. On the other side is a woman from an occupied people, who is also entitled to protection. However, the army of the occupation forgot long ago that under international law, its role is to protect the “protected population.” The army has become the settlers’ militia and views the local people as hostile elements. <\/p>\n It’s easy to condemn the vulgarity of the settler from Hebron, and it’s easy to dismiss the Jewish enclave there as a gang of violent thugs. But they are only weeds that sprout from the rotten ground of the cruel regime that prevails beyond the Green Line. It’s a regime based on ethnic discrimination and separation, double standards and an absence of the rule of law. <\/p>\n Just which law does the deputy minister wish to see applied with “all due haste”? That of the settler woman or of the Palestinian woman? In a place where laws differ and discriminate based on national and personal identities, no law prevails. What do we expect of soldiers and police officers? Not to be influenced by orders that instruct them to act in a discriminatory and selective fashion? <\/p>\n The outrage over the woman’s crude tirade is just a distraction from the reality that prevails beyond the Green Line, where life is ostensibly normal. It won’t be long before it’s the liberals who are seeking to have the Green Line erased from the maps, once it has been permanently transformed from a symbol of the aspiration for peace to a line delineating the realms of apartheid.<\/p>\n Also from New Profile:<\/strong><\/p>\n Dorothy introduces the translation<\/a> of a portion of Amira Hass?s article, Impossible Travel, that did not appear in the English version<\/a> published by Ha’aretz<\/em> on 19.01.2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (from my e-mail) ?It won’t be long before it’s the liberals who are seeking to have the Green Line erased from the maps, once it has been permanently transformed from a symbol of the aspiration for peace to a line … Continue reading
\nBy Meron Benvenisti, Ha’aretz<\/em>, 19 January 2007
\nEnglish<\/a> | Hebrew<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nThe education minister’s directive to restore the Green Line to textbook maps stirred much response, showing that many of those who support the move believe there is an essential difference between the two sides of the Green Line: With the exception of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, Israel did not impose its laws on the territories on the other side. <\/p>\n