then it’s the territory of what remains of Palestine since Jordan and Israel declared their Sovereign Independence from Palestine in 1946 & 1948. Neither are a part of Palestine, nor is Palestine a part of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt or Israel
ShortLink http://wp.me/pDB7k-D6
How many times have you heard “Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East” ?
HERE for the Full Text of The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel.
Partial text
“WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948,”
An Israeli Government has never been elected in accordance with A) the Declaration B) in accordance with the Constitution. An Israeli constitution has yet to be written. It was a legal condition accepted by the Jewish People’s Council for declaring Independent statehood.
It is arguable that no Israeli law has ever been passed by a legally elected Israeli Government. The Provisional Government was not elected, was not put in place by a referendum, nor was the Zionist Federation or any other body representing the world’s Jewish population towards the formation of the State of Israel.
“THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel;”
The prophets of Israel are a religious notion = theocratic. shades of Deuteronomy 20:15 perhaps?
“it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex;”
Depending on who those inhabitants might be, based on the prior ‘as envisaged by the prophets of Israel’
” it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions;”
‘as envisaged by the prophets of Israel’
” and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
‘as envisaged by the prophets of Israel’?
Israel was not a democracy for the first 8 months as an Independent Sovereign State. There was no elected Israeli Government between May 15th 1948 and the first Israeli election on 25 January 1949. No laws during this period were passed by a democratic Government.
62 years later, we see:
Not able to reconcile the two notions Democratic and Jewish State, successive Israeli Governments are still acting without a constitution.
Still usurping the Palestinians
Denying the Bedouin their nomadic culture
Ignoring the Geneva Conventions
Ignoring the Israeli High Court
Ignoring the UN Charter
Ignoring hundreds of UNSC Resolutions
Illegally ‘acquiring’ territory not sovereign to Israel
Illegally annexing “territories occupied”
Illegally instituting Israeli Civil Law in “territories occupied” and territories illegally acquired by war by 1950 and never legally annexed to Israel
Illegally building Israeli civilian infrastructure in “territories occupied” and territories illegally acquired by war by 1950
Illegally building AND illegally selling dwellings to Israeli citizens illegally in “territories occupied” and territories illegally acquired by war by 1950
Haaretz – [[ Rabbi Yosef, who has been known to make controversial comments in the past, cited rulings based on the Book of Deuteronomy related to the Jewish people’s inheritance of the land, the presence of other peoples on the land, and that the Jews should not make a covenant with them “nor show mercy unto them.”
According to Yosef, this has been understood to mean barring the sale of land to non-Jews, based on an interpretation by Rabbi Yosef Caro, the 16th-century author of the codification of Jewish law, the Shulhan Arukh. ]]
The International community, the UN, the UNSC has only ever asked that Israel adhere to it’s voluntary obligations under the law. The same laws guarantee Israel the right to defend itself from all comers. They do not require Israel to relinquish ANY sovereign territory.
However, Israel seems to operate under the assumption it’s only answerable to a higher power, perhaps that of the prophets of Israel?
The Palestinians have only asked that Israel recognize their rights, which are no more or less than the rights of every human granted under the UN Charter and International Humanitarian Law.
Have Israelis actually voted for policies resulting in the above? Or have they been duped into the current situation? At the time of writing this, two of the most pertinent documents relating to Israel’s actual recognized Sovereign territories are nowhere to be seen on the Israeli Govt web site. Ignorance is bliss?
Interesting essay by Amnon Rubinstein. Professor of law at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya and an Israel Prize laureate. (note the title though “The Curious Case of Jewish Democracy”)
First, find out what isn't true... 