Mahmoud Abbas
Photo: EPA
Abbas’ huge land grab
Op-ed: Palestinians have no interest in peaceful coexistence with Jewish state of Israel
With the United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood
looming, the issue of Israel returning to the '67 borders will once again be in the spotlight. Even so-called "friends" such as the United States and Britain have pressured Israel to return to these lines. They also say any agreement must include "defensible borders" for Israel.
Israel is on record as accepting a Palestinian State. In return it asks to be accepted by the Palestinians as a Jewish state. The response from Mahmoud Abbas
has been a constant drumbeat of "no."
However, a return to said lines would leave Israel a mere nine miles wide north of Tel Aviv. To put this in perspective, nine miles is less than the driving distance from Wall Street to the George Washington Bridge inside New York City. With today's advanced weaponry and technology defining such borders as "defensible" is not only a logical absurdity; it demonstrates a profound lack of concern for Israel's security.
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Moreover, the Palestinian leader decided to use construction of homes on the eastern side of Jerusalem as a reason to suspend direct negotiations. This is based on his assumption Israel is going to willingly divide its capital and holiest city and turn it over to the Palestinians as capitol of their presumed state.
Israel froze construction for 10 months. Did Abbas return to the table? No. Now he has come to the UN, presenting the General Assembly with a formal application for statehood.
Ironically, in 1947 the very body he stood before approved an Arab state by virtue of UN resolution 181. Yet his own Arab brethren refused to accept the UN vote. Why? Because it included two states, one of which was Jewish. Sixty-four years, six wars, and two intifadas later we face an identical stalemate - the refusal to accept a Jewish state.
As Abbas knows Prime Minister Netanyahu will require Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, the PA president has instead turned to the UN and asked it to approve a 23rd Arab state to avoid being in the position of having to accept the “unacceptable.”
Yet while the eyes of the world were focused on Abbas as he handed Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the formal statehood application, it seems those same eyes missed something quite significant.
Relocating 500,000 Jews
The assumption has been that if a Palestinian State is approved, it would be based on pre '67 borders, which many believe are indefensible. Yet the application presented by Abbas is not based on pre '67 borders. It is based on the original 1947 partition plan of UN resolution 181.First, aside from the irony of requesting the identical item from the identical body rejected by his Arab brethren in 1947, Abbas’ application negates what virtually all proponents of the "two-state solution" have supported, (including the proposal put forth by Saudi Arabia in 2002) - a return to '67 borders.
Second, the area of land designated for Israel under the '47 partition is 5,500 sq. miles. This is 30% smaller than the 8,000 sq. miles the '67 borders encompass.
Third, it would mean several hundred thousand Jews now living inside the pre '67 borders would end up outside Israel and inside a hostile Palestinian state. This is in addition to the roughly 300,000 Jews who have been living in Judea and Samaria who also will be required to move, as Mr. Abbas is already on record saying "there will be no room for a single Jew to live in Palestine."
Thus, potentially over 500,000 Jews would be forced to relocate, even though Israel has a 20% Arab population who is not being asked to move.
Fourth, Jerusalem would no longer be inside Israel. It would be cut off, well inside and completely surrounded by the Palestinian state.
Even though the application is available for all to see, this astonishing effort on Abbas' part has gone virtually without comment. Yet the moment Israel designates new homes within its own sovereign territory the media cannot wait to splash such "inflammatory" moves all over the news.
Abbas (whose signature on the statehood application appears as "President of the State of Palestine) by virtue of requesting the '47 partition lines is essentially asking for a second chance to accept a UN resolution his Arab brethren rejected 64 years ago. This alone is precedent setting. It also demonstrates he has no interest in peaceful coexistence with a Jewish state of Israel within secure and defensible borders. Rather, his goal is to grab as much land as he can, while remaining committed to "the complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence." (Article 12 of his Fatah Party's Charter.)
The Middle East already has 22 Arab countries, with a combined population of more than 300 million. Israel's six million Jews represent 2% of that figure, yet in order for "justice" to be played out, the Arabs require a 23rd state and the Jews are being asked to slice up their already tiny state. Moreover, if Mr. Abbas has his way, Israel will be 30% smaller than the already indefensible pre '67 borders, and its capital will be in the middle of his hostile state. With such "justice" who needs injustice?
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