Yesterday I read the lies and distortions of truth coming from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a piece in the Washiington Post by Joel Greenberg. I assume his quotes are accurate. The issue is whether Israel should be recognized as a Jewish state.
The issue is also that lies that come through the media from a political leader tend to be believed by an undiscerning public, which in turn may support the politician to the detrement of his opponents. In the case of Netanyahu's lies and distortions, it is the Palestinians who suffer the consequences.
(The problem is, when political leaders are quoted in the media, their words tend to stick in people's minds as if they were true.)
Netanyahu said that Palestinian acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state is not a precondion for peace talks, which makes it sound like no big deal if they do or don't accept it. But in reality it is a precondition, because unless Palestinians accept this new definition, Netanyahu will not extend the settlement freeze. Palestiinians cannot continue the talks if settlements continue to be built. Settlements equal the death of a Palestinian state.
Even talking about a settlement freeze is more than misleading. First of all, the freeze was never enforced; settlement construction went on, albeit at a slower pace, the entire nine- month period. Secondly, the freeze was lifted on September 25th, so why talk about extending it as if it were still in force? Since I arrived in Palestine on October 1st, I have read almost daily reports of settlement expansion.
Netanyahu says, in an apparently even-handed way, "Just as the Palestinians expect us to recognize the Palestinian state as their nation-state, we are permitted to expect that they recognize the Jewish state as our nationn-state." This sounds reasonable. But 20% of Israeli citizens are Palestinian, also known as Arab-Israelis. How can they be expected to pledge allegiance to a Jewish state? Furthermore, if a state is for only one ethnicity and excludes all others, is that not racist? Already many Israeli artists and intellectuals and even members of the Knesset have said just that.
In another distortion of reality, the Israeli prime minister tries to shift the peace process from ending the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza to defining the nature of the state of Israel. "Undoubtedly such a step (i.e. to accept Israel as a Jewish state) by the Palestinian Authority would be a confidence-building measure that will open a new horizon of hope as well as trust amoung broad parts of the Israeli public, which in light of events of the last decade, have lost faith in the desire of the Palestinians to end the conflict."
What this ignores is that Israel has closed the door on hope and trust among Palestinians over and over by continuing its takeover of Palestinian lands, starting with the 1948 war that resulted in the expulsion of 2/3's of the indigenous Palestinians and the establishment of the state of Israel on 78% of historic Palestine. O.K. - conquest by war, which was accepted by the U.N. at that time, ( although the refugees were supposed to be able to return to their homes, which has not been allowed by Israel). But in 1967 Israel militarily occupied the remaining 22% of Palestine, and has held onto it ever since, in violation of international law (the Geneva Conventions of 1948 and multiple U.N. resolutions).
After '67 Israel started to build settlements inside of occupied Palestine, also in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions. In the years following the Oslo Accords of 1993 until the 2nd Intifada errupted in 2000 settlement building doubled in volume. Thus Israel's response to the peace accords was expansion on Palestinian lands. Indeed, some say that Oslo prepared the way for this expansion.) There are now about 500,000 Israeli settlers living on land that was supposed to be the future state of Palestine. The location of these settlements, along with the roads that connect them to each other and to Israel proper, the military instalations built to protect the settlements, the checkpoints, closed roads and military invasions of cities and towns adds up to a tangle of obstructions which make the establishment of a state impossible to imagine.
Linking a settlement freeze to recognition of a Israel as a Jewish state adds a new dimension--actually a new obfuscation to peace talks, already choked by many thorny issues, such as the status of East Jerusalem, refugees, borders and water use. As a Palestinian spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority said, "There is no connection between halting settlements and recognizing the Jewish character of Israel."
To further confuse the public, Netanyahu is stalling on accepting an incentive from U.S. President Obama that would require a mere 60-day extension of the settlement freeze. Why stall unless to make it seem as if Israel is the agrieved party to whom something more is owed. Sixty days of halting an already illegal activity? Sixty days instead of a complete end to settlement building? A settlement "freeze", not even close to removal of all the illegal settlements? What are they talking about? How easy it is to lie and distort until indeed no one can figure out what they are talking about.
Today's news says that the U.S. recognizes Israel as a state for the Jewish people. The curtain falls. Having the backing of the most powerful country in the world, along with its enormous amount of military aid, proves that lies and deceit work.
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