Clarifying "River to the Sea"

From the Arabic:

Meshaal to CNN: Palestine land from the sea to the river Saturday, 22 December 2012

DUBAI (Reuters) - Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas's political bureau, denied to CNN that his movement was behind the bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv on Wednesday...

"The Israeli side is responsible for the escalation in Gaza and we are not targeting civilians," Meshaal said in an interview with Christian Amanpour, CNN reported that Israel is responsible for the recent escalation in the Gaza Strip after it carried out incursions and assassinations of the military wing of the movement. I do not like shedding any point of blood. "

When asked about the extent to which the movement considers its right to kill civilians in Israel, Meshaal said: "The resistance is not targeting civilians. We must return to the root of the issue. The Palestinian people lived in peace before the Israelis occupied their land. In accordance with international law, Israel has an advanced army and has committed many massacres from Deir Yassin to Sabra and Shatila."

"We are defending our people and we are responding. I am the Hamas leader. I say on CNN that we are ready to conduct peaceful means without shedding blood or using weapons if we get our Palestinian national demands of ending occupation, establishing a state and meeting all other national goals," he said...

Asked about the movement's earlier decision not to recognize Israel and the possibility of returning later, Meshaal said the recognition should come from "the party that launches the attacks and has a military arsenal, not the victim."

He explained his point of view by saying: "We have only two paths. Either there is an international will from America, Europe and the international community that will push Israel to the path of peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with the right of return. We continue to resist, I accept a state on the 1967 borders, but how can I accept Israel as a land occupant? I need recognition, not Israel. "

Meshaal stressed that his movement will not back down on the issue of the "right of return" for the Palestinians, saying: "Why is the international community silent about laws that allow the return of the Israelis and silence about it?"

"I want to establish a state for the Palestinians. After that, this state will decide its position on Israel. This question can not be addressed to me (recognizing Israel). I am in prison and under Israeli pressure," he said.

Meshaal said: "Palestine from the sea to the river and from the north to the south is my land and the land of my fathers and my grandfathers...

__________________

And also the PLO

Faysal Al-Husseini in his Last Interview: The Oslo Accords Were a Trojan Horse; The Strategic Goal is the Liberation of Palestine from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea'

Q: "What are the borders of the Palestinian state you are referring to, and what kind of 'Jerusalem' would you accept as the capital of your state?"

A: "With this question you are dragging me into talking about what we refer to as our "strategic" goals and our "political" goals, or the phased goals. The "strategic" goals are the "higher goals," the "long-term goals," or the "unwavering goals," the goals that are based on solid Pan-Arab historic rights and principles. Whereas the "political" goals are those goals which were set for a temporary timeframe, considering the [constraints of] the existing international system, the balance of power, our own abilities, and other considerations which "vary" from time to time."

"When we are asking all the Palestinian forces and factions to look at the Oslo Agreement and at other agreements as "temporary" procedures, or phased goals, this means that we are ambushing the Israelis and cheating them. However, the truth is that we are doing exactly what they are doing. The proof for that is that they are aware of, and are not trying to hide, the fact that there is nothing that unites them more around the territory which extends from the Nile to the Euphrates, than their slogan, which was taken from the Torah, and reads: 'These are the borders of the greater land of Israel.'"

"If, for some reason, they had to temporarily declare their state over "a part" of the greater land of Israel, they would publicly declare that this is their "political" strategy, which they will have to temporarily accept due to international circumstances. On the other hand, their "higher strategy" is always "The Greater Land of Israel."

"We are [acting] exactly like them. In 1947, in accordance with [the UN] Partition Plan, they decided to declare statehood on 55% of the land of Palestine, which they later increased to 78% during the War of 1948, and then again [increased it] to 100% during the War of 1967. Despite all that, they never attempted to make secret of their long-term goal, which is "Greater Israel" from the Nile to the Euphrates. Similarly, if we agree to declare our state over what is now only 22% of Palestine, meaning the West Bank and Gaza – our ultimate goal is [still] the liberation of all historical Palestine from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea, even if this means that the conflict will last for another thousand years or for many generations."

"In short, we are exactly like they are. We distinguish the strategic, long-term goals from the political phased goals, which we are compelled to temporarily accept due to international pressure. If you are asking me as a Pan-Arab nationalist what are the Palestinian borders according to the higher strategy, I will immediately reply: "From the river to the sea." Palestine in its entirety is an Arab land, the land of the Arab nation, a land no one can sell or buy, and it is impossible to remain silent while someone is stealing it, even if this requires time and even [if it means paying] a high price."

"If you are asking me, as a man who belongs to the Islamic faith, my answer is also "From the river to the sea," the entire land is an Islamic Waqf which can not be bought or sold, and it is impossible to remain silent while someone is stealing it …"

"If you are asking me as an ordinary Palestinian, from the "inside" or from the Diaspora, you will get the same answer and without any hesitations. However, what I am able to achieve and live on right now, due to [constraints of] the international system, is not, of course, Palestine "From the river to the sea." In order for us to fulfill all of our dreams regarding Palestine, we must, first of all, wake up and realize where we are standing. On the other hand, if we will continue to behave as if we are still dreaming, we will not find a place to put our feet on..."

"As I once said in the past: our eyes must continue to focus on the higher goal. The real danger is that I might forget [it], and while advancing towards my short-term goal I might turn my back on my long-term goal, which is the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea…"

______________

UPDATE

See this

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M Lamont Hill is Looking for a Verb

According to the official press release

Marc Lamont Hill, a representative of civil society, stressed:  

“Our solidarity must be more than a noun; our solidarity must become a verb.”  

So, how would that be, linguistically?

Solidarize?

Solidarate? 

Solidare?

And if we are engaged in language and Hill said that

solidarity means recognizing the Palestinian right to self-defence, stressing that Palestinians must not be shamed for resisting in the face of State violence and ethnic cleansing. 

he should know that "resistance" in the history of the Arabs of historic Palestine means one thing and one thing only, killing Jews. Violently.

Oh, and "historic Palestine" includes Jordan. So what do we do with the King?

P.S.  Does he know that thousands of Jews had been ethnically-cleansed from their Historic Homeland in Judea and Samaria and also Gaza during 1920-1948 by...Arabs?

P.P.S.  The sole national group who has had its "historic" connection to Historic Palestine is...the Jews:

recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country

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Did You Read "Quo Vadis"?

Quo Vadis is the historical novel of Henryk Sienkiewicz published in 1896 and the basis for the 1951 film.

Due to it being mentioned by Jabotinsky in an article I am editing, "Exchange of Compliments", I looked through it for a reference Jabotinsky made regarding two Rabbis.

As one scholar has noted,

there is not a single friendly reference to the Jews anywhere in the novel. What is worse, nearly every mention of them is tied to some ugly rumor or malicious deed. But it must be recalled that Sienkiewicz merely followed the received opinions of his day. 

And these are the sections I found relating to Jews:

1.
Vinicius ceased talking and rode on.

“O lord,” said Chilo, after a while, “thou wouldst not have found the maiden but for me, and if we find her now, thou wilt not forget the needy sage?”

“Thou wilt receive a house with a vineyard at Ameriola.”

“Thanks to thee, O Hercules! With a vineyard? Thanks to thee! Oh, yes, with a vineyard!”

They were passing the Vatican Hill now, which was ruddy from the fire; but beyond the Naumachia they turned to the right, so that when they had passed the Vatican Field they would reach the river, and, crossing it, go to the Flaminian Gate. Suddenly Chilo reined in his mule, and said,--

“A good thought has come to my head, lord!”

“Speak!” answered Vinicius.

“Between the Janiculum and the Vatican Hill, beyond the gardens of Agrippina, are excavations from which stones and sand were taken to build the Circus of Nero. Hear me, lord. Recently the Jews, of whom, as thou knowest, there is a multitude in Trans-Tiber, have begun to persecute Christians cruelly. Thou hast in mind that in the time of the divine Claudius there were such disturbances that Cæsar was forced to expel them from Rome. Now, when they have returned, and when, thanks
to the protection of the Augusta, they feel safe, they annoy Christians more insolently. I know this; I have seen it. No edict against Christians has been issued; but the Jews complain to the prefect of the city that Christians murder infants, worship an ass, and preach a religion not recognized by the Senate; they beat them, and attack their houses of prayer so fiercely that the Christians are forced to hide.”

“What dost thou wish to say?” inquired Vinicius.

“This, lord, that synagogues exist openly in the Trans-Tiber; but that Christians, in their wish to avoid persecution, are forced to pray in secret and assemble in ruined sheds outside the city or in sand-pits.
Those who dwell in the Trans-Tiber have chosen just that place which was excavated for the building of the Circus and various houses along the Tiber. Now, when the city is perishing, the adherents of Christ are praying. Beyond doubt we shall find a countless number of them in the excavation; so my advice is to go in there along the road.”

2.
[Vinicius]commanded the slaves to hasten; and along the road he thought without order, now of Lygia, now of revenge. He had heard that Egyptian priests of the goddess Pasht could bring disease on whomever they wished, and he determined to learn the means of doing this. In the Orient they had told him, too, that Jews have certain invocations by which they cover their enemies’ bodies with ulcers. He had a number of Jews among his domestic slaves; hence he promised himself to torture them on his return till they divulged the secret.

3.
Petronius meditated a while and added,--“Poppæa, it is said, follows the religion of the Jews, and believes in evil spirits. Cæsar is superstitious. If we spread the report that evil spirits carried off
Lygia, the news will find belief, especially as neither Cæsar nor Aulus Plautius intercepted her; her escape was really mysterious. The Lygian could not have effected it alone; he must have had help. And where could a slave find so many people in the course of one day?”

“Vatinius described to us a remarkable fight of gladiators, which is to take place in Beneventum. See to what cobblers rise in our time, in spite of the saying, ‘Ne sutor ultra crepidam!’ Vitelius is the
descendant of a cobbler; but Vatinius is the son of one! Perhaps he drew thread himself! The actor Aliturus represented Oedipus yesterday wonderfully. I asked him, by the way, as a Jew, if Christians and Jews were the same. He answered that the Jews have an eternal religion, but that Christians are a new sect risen recently in Judea; that in the time of Tiberius the Jews crucified a certain man, whose adherents increase daily, and that the Christians consider him as God. They refuse, it seems, to recognize other gods, ours especially. I cannot understand what harm it would do them to recognize these gods.

Vinicius promised him once more the desired sum, forbidding him to mention Glaucus again; but asked what other news he brought, where he had been all the time, what he had seen, and what he had discovered. But Chilo was not able to tell much. He had been in two more houses of prayer,--had observed each person carefully, especially the women,--but had seen no one who resembled Lygia: the Christians, however, looked on him as one of their own sect, and, since he redeemed the son of
Euricius, they honored him as a man following in the steps of “Christ.”  He had learned from them, also, that a great lawgiver of theirs, a certain Paul of Tarsus, was in Rome, imprisoned because of charges preferred by the Jews, and with this man he had resolved to become acquainted.

“Peace be with thee, faithful servant of the Lamb! True, it is permitted to forgive wrongs done ourselves; but who has the right to forgive a wrong done to God? But as a serpent engenders a serpent, as malice breeds malice, and treason breeds treason, so from the poison of Judas another traitor has come; and as that one delivered to Jews and Roman soldiers the Saviour, so this man who lives among us intends to give Christ’s sheep to the wolves; and if no one will anticipate the treason,
if no one will crush the head of the serpent in time, destruction is waiting for us all, and with us will perish the honor of the Lamb.”

4.
The Christians, however, hide themselves from Jews, and from the populace, who, as is known to
thee, accuse them of crimes and hate them.”

5.
when Nazarius went out to get water for the birds, he said,--“Lygia, canst thou endure that he should give thee gifts? Dost thou not know that the Greeks call people of his nation Jewish dogs?”

“I do not know what the Greeks call them; but I know that Nazarius is a Christian and my brother.”

6.
Petronius went home. Nero and Tigellinus went to Poppæa’s atrium, where they were expected by people with whom the prefect had spoken already. There were two Trans-Tiber rabbis in long solemn robes and mitred, a young copyist, their assistant, together with Chilo. At sight of Cæsar the priests grew pale from emotion, and, raising their hands an arm’s length, bent their heads to his hands.
“Be greeted, O ruler of the earth, guardian of the chosen people, and Cæsar, lion among men, whose reign is like sunlight, like the cedar of Lebanon, like a spring, like a palm, like the balsam of Jericho.”

“Do ye refuse to call me god?” inquired Nero.

The priests grew still paler. The chief one spoke again,--

“Thy words, O lord, are as sweet as a cluster of grapes, as a ripe fig,--for Jehovah filled thy heart with goodness! Thy father’s predecessor, Cæsar Caius, was stern; still our envoys did not call him god, preferring death itself to violation of the law.”

“And did not Caligula give command to throw them to the lions?”

“No, lord; Cæsar Caius feared Jehovah’s anger.”

And they raised their heads, for the name of the powerful Jehovah gave them courage; confident in his might, they looked into Nero’s eyes with  more boldness.

“Do ye accuse the Christians of burning Rome?” inquired Cæsar. “We, lord, accuse them of this alone,--that they are enemies of the law, of the human race, of Rome, and of thee; that long since they have threatened the city and the world with fire! The rest will be told thee by this man, whose lips are unstained by a lie, for in his mother’s veins flowed the blood of the chosen people.”

So, what do you think?

Did he have to portray Jews that way?

^

I Apologize to the Residents of Samaria

I didn't know until this Airbnb affair broke out, the delisting decision of accommodations in Judea and Samaria, that there was a Samaria Gorge National Park. 

In Crete.

I found that out by searching to see if indeed Judea and Samaria Jewish listings were delisted.

I hope they don't suffer due to geographical misunderstandings. I apologize.

There's a Bethlehem in Tauranga, New Zealand.  I hope they don't mixed up with the original in Judea.

There's a Shiloh, IL, USA.

In short, I want to express apologies to all those seeking guest rooms in places that can mistakenly be identified as in Judea and Samaria, the heartland of the Jewish people for over 3000 years, where there is a dispute which cause Airbnb to err by discriminating against the area (which they do not do in other areas of land disputes, as maybe it's a Jewish thing?).

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The Way to Your Heart

There's a new cookbook published.

PC sent me a review:

So, I had to check it out. Previously, I had blogged about a restaurant with Palestinian-themed dishes.

The cover:

Palestine:

On her 2009 trip, she couldn't get in to Gaza as, well, she couldn't as it was shut, she claimed.  Maybe there were Hamas-instigated hostilities?

A review notes:

...when Khan returned for research trips for Zaitoun (Arabic for “olive tree”), she was shocked by how much the situation had deteriorated since her first visit in 2009. “It’s so much more dire than when I used to work on it,” she says. “I think history is going to look back on what’s happened to Palestinians in the last century with…” she pauses, choosing her words, “with a lot of shame, actually.”

Another review provides a bit of a warning:

The recipes are interspersed with Khan’s recollections of her travels in Palestine, which follow (I think) some kind of geographical trajectory. I found these interesting but their relation to the rest of the book – helpfully ordered by courses, beginning with starters and winding towards desserts – was occasionally somewhat confusing.

Nigella Lawson is aware that it is

 a politically engaged and hungry travelogue

Yes, there are politics in the book

but there are great recipes as well that can be adapted. How many are exclusively "Palestinian" rather than Middle Eastern (or even Jewish), I do not know.

Just be careful about kashrut requirements when cooking.

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Quaint Qumran Bothers the BDSers

In an Al Jazeera piece attacking tourism that, supposedly, brings tourists to visit "an illegal settlement", that is, Qumran, and that "only six mention or imply that one will be outside Israeli territory" and that "Thomas Cook, Collette and On the Go Tours, for example, make stops at the Ahava Visitor Center without telling tourists they are leaving Israel", you can read this:

For the unsuspecting visitor, it is not easy to tell that one is no longer within the internationally recognised borders of Israel, but in the occupied West Bank, in an Israeli settlement, illegal under international law.

The same goes for nearby Qumran, a popular tourist attraction where a Bedouin shepherd once found the famous Dead Sea Scrolls.

Notwithstanding it being situated in the West Bank, Israel now controls the site,

And someone really wants to threaten these tourists:

According to John Dugard, professor of international law and former UN special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, the travel agencies' customers are unknowingly "aiding and abetting" the crime of establishing illegal settlements.

"In theory, this exposes tourists to prosecution for having purchased illegal goods," said Dugard, who added that although holidaymakers are not going to be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court for such an offence, travel agencies should be warning tourists that they are about to commit a crime.

"The tourists ought to have a cause of action against the tour companies and claim compensation for having been fraudulently misled and exposed to criminal activity," Dugard said.

Dugard is a long-time opponent of Israel's rights to its historic national homeland. And some international law he gets wrong. And he's been called a 'racist'.

Let's start with "internationally recognised borders".

Israel had none.

Today, its borders with Egypt and Jordan are and, to a great extent also Lebanon, through UN agreements, are "internationally recognized".  But not so as regards the areas of Judea and Samaria, and Gaza for that matter.

They were defined by armistice lines, cease-fire boundaries, etc. which would not "in any way prejudice the rights, claims and positions of either Party hereto in the ultimate peaceful settlement of the Palestine question". No peace treaty or any final settlement arrangement exists as regards that territory.

But more to the issue, Qumran had nothing to do with Palestine if what is meant is an Arab entity. It is a Jewish site.

As we all should know, 

The Hellenistic period settlement [!] was constructed during the reign of John Hyrcanus (134–104 BCE) or somewhat later, and was occupied most of the time until it was destroyed by the Romans in 68 CE or shortly after. It is best known as the settlement nearest to the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden

The Dead Sea Scrolls are Jewish documents. The residents were Jewish. No Arabs lived there although some nearby Bedouins stole some of the Dead Sea scrolls created at Qumran in the 1940s.

If not for Israel's archaeological units, little of Arab remains would be preserved.

Of course, Israel could simply term the area the "Holy Land" and avoid the whole concern of these BDSers:

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Who Triggered That War?

Sometimes, you read something that just takes your breath away.

Here's an example:

three decades later, British forces withdrew from Palestine and Israel declared independence shortly after, triggering a civil war and heralding the Israeli-Arab conflict, rendering the prospect of an independent Arab Palestine a distant mirage. 

That's just one snippet of history misrepresented in an op-ed in Haaretz:

In Palestine, World War I Has Never Really Ended

Let's ignore violent murderous riots in 1920, 1921, 1929, 1936-1939 which could be described as a "civil war" if, indeed, the Arabs thought that Jews belonged in what they thought was their country, which they didn't. And let's ignore that that period was very much one of a Jewish-Arab conflict.

But the violence of 1948 when Israel was declared began at least on November 30, 1947, the day after the UN vote on Partition which was actually still before midnight Nov. 29 in Palestine. Arabs started shooting at Jews already then.

Here's from the Palestine Post's December 1 edition:

Here's a second:

The Arabs rebels were fighting against the Ottomans on a promise of British support for Arab interdependence after the war, as envisioned in the famous Hussein-McMahon Correspondence of 1915–16. The British were indeed keen to fulfill their promises - but not to the Arabs.

The British promise was that the entire Middle East from east of Egypt that had been in Ottoman hands would become a free and independent state albeit at first under a Mandate system just as Palestine would be a Mandate. Abdullah became Emir and then King of Jordan and Feisal was King of Iraq. That the Husseins were kicked out of Saudi Arabia was not Britain's fault.

When history is treated in such a cavalier fashion, you know you simply cannot trust anything the author promotes.

----
Thanks to EH

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How To Solve the BDS Labeling Difficulty

You've read this?

Israeli farmers take fight against BDS to consumersThey plan to combat anti-Israel boycott efforts by more aggressively appealing to shoppers in Europe and America • Plan includes increasing product visibility, hosting public-opinion leaders in tours of Judea and Samaria, Golan and Jordan Valley.

My solution:

A previous 2009 idea.
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Diminishing Eretz-Yisrael

"Diminishing/Shrinking Palestine" is a favorite ploy of the anti-Zionists.

You can find examples here, and here.

But there's a Zionist version.

This one from 1938, one in Polish, the other in Hebrew:

First, Transjordan was removed from the Mandate territory.

Then, the Peel Commission and then the Woodhead Proposal.

Use the maps as counter narrative tools.

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Update on Temple Mount 'Sinkholes'

You may have read of the problems of  a 'sinking' of some pathways located on the Temple Mount.

I primed that story and provided pictures from a WhatsApp group of Temple Mount activists.

Well, the situation now looks like this:

More here and a YouTube clip.

More Israel-Erasing Fashion

From here:

Erases Israel from that territory and operates on behalf of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

That fund, founded in 1991, although it claims to represent "Palestine", which is a territory which included originally what is today Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, has as its mission

to address the medical needs of Arab children in the Middle East.

So, not only does that fashion erase Israel, it obliterates Jews. 

____________

UPDATE

The refugee tree design is out:

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Bansky, Batia and the Two Banks "Historic Palestine"

Batia Ofer has taken on Bansky.  Background at Israelycool.

His pro Palestinian and anti-Israel posters:

a.

and

b.


Her counter poster:

So I commented:

If they insist on "Historic Palestine", well, that means all of Jordan need be included as only in 1922 was it officially separated from the original territory of the reconstituted-to-be Jewish National Home. Oops.

So Bansky becomes Two Banks.

Do read the comments left at her poster.


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Ilhan's Ill-wind

It may be that the new Congresswoman from Minnesota is becoming a problem.

We've all seen this:

and this

She is now claiming to be not only the first hijab-wearing Muslim elected to Congress but the first Congresswoman who has begun fabricating history and erasing Jews from it on her election victory evening.

How?

By declaring

“I stand here before you tonight, as your congresswoman-elect, with many firsts behind my name...The first woman of color to represent our state in Congress...The first woman to wear a hijab...The first refugee ever elected to Congress [here at 4:33]”

"The first refugee ever elected to Congress”?

Really?  The first?

As Sefi Kogan pointed out, Jews and others preceded her:

Shouldn't Tom Lantos, who was born in Budapest, enslaved in Nazi-occupied Hungary, and, penniless and with much of his family murdered, made his way to the US on a scholarship after the war, count? Or Rudy Boschwitz, who was born in Berlin and fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1933? Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who will retire from Congress at the end of this year, is a refugee from Cuba [and whose maternal grandparents were Sephardic Jews]. Joseph Cao is a refugee from Vietnam.

Perhaps she was ill-informed? Or an aide wrote that and she was ignorant?

Or she is engaged in creating a new narrative.  Perhaps a bit like another newly-elected politician, NY's State Senator Julia Salazar.

I hope this making up facts, or not knowing them, does not continue or there'll be an ill-wind, and not only a cold one, blowing in from Minnesota.

^