Tuesday, July 18, 2017

JUDEA AND SAMARIA IS ISRAEL - Draiman


JUDEA AND SAMARIA IS ISRAEL


The indisputable facts of the so-called delusion of "disputed territories."


Judea and Samaria (aka the West Bank) belong to Israel for over 3,700 years.
Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) indisputably belong to Israel.  These areas are Jewish areas of the State of Israel and historically part of the Land of Israel period.  While U.S. and others pressure Israel to cede these so-called disputed territories, which is contrary to international law and treaties, the reality is that the conflict in the Middle East is about the fact that the Arabs cannot accept a Jewish state.  (And even if Israel did cede these territories, there wouldn’t be peace – for the Arabs who could not win any war with Israel, they want to use their false peace efforts to destroy Israel piece by piece.) The past has shown that the Arabs gained more ground playing the peace pretense than any war.
The world at large must understand and recognize that our people are called Jews because we come from Judea. The fact remains that these territories west of the Jordan River are an integral part of the State of Israel, and have always been connected to the Jewish people since time immemorial.
Ten great quotes affirming beyond a doubt that this region belongs to Israel:
Archeological excavations throughout Israel confirm and substantiate the Jewish history in the Land of Israel for thousands of years and that includes territories east of the Jordan River.
• Yoram Ettinger, a consultant at the Ariel Center for Policy Research: “Many world-renowned travelers, historians and archeologists of earlier centuries refer to 'Judea and Samaria,' while the term 'West Bank' was coined only 60 years ago. Jordan which is on Jewish territory gave the region this name when it occupied it after Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. No nation on earth other than Britain and Pakistan recognized Jordan’s claim to Judea and Samaria. … Even the Encyclopedia Britannica, as well as official British and Ottoman records until 1950, used the term Judea and Samaria, and not the West Bank.” 
• The San Remo Resolution of 1920 “recognized the exclusive national Jewish rights to the Land of Israel under international law, on the strength of the historical connection of the Jewish people to the territory previously known as Palestine. The outcome of this declaration gave birth to the 'Mandate for Palestine,' an historical League of Nations document that carried out the implementation and while violating agreements by allocating over 77% of Jewish territory east of the Jordan River to the Arabs and laid down the Jewish legal right to settle anywhere in western Palestine, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.” (This document clearly establishes that Israeli settlements are completely legal.)
• Books and history which detailed Judea and Samaria include “H. B. Tristram (The Land of Israel, 1865); Mark Twain (Innocents Abroad, 1867); R.A. MacAlister and Masterman (“Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly”); A.P. Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, 1887); E. Robinson and E. Smith (Biblical Researches in Palestine, 1841); C.W. Van de Velde (Peise durch Syrien und Paletsinea, 1861); and Felix Bovet (Voyage en Taire Sainte, 1864)."
• “Israel's days without Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria are gone and will not return.” Yitzchak Shamir, former Prime Minister of the State of Israel
• “Israel won the war – after they were attacked by Arab nations. In the real world, winners win – and even when the Jews win, they keep the land.” Ronn Torossian to the winner goes the spoils and possession is nine tenths of the law.
• "Since the territories of Judea and Samaria were Jewish territory for over 3,000 years and was never a legitimate part of any Arab state or any other nation, including the Kingdom of Jordan, it is impossible to determine that Israel is an occupier in Judea and Samaria and is inconceivable in the accepted legal definition. What's more is that the Jewish people have a historic, legal, and physical link to Judea and Samaria."  -- Col. (res.) Daniel Reisner, former head of the international law department in the Military Advocate General's Corps
• “Israel's presence in the West Bank is its liberated territory and not occupation, the Israeli communities and settlements are legal under international law[.]" -- The 2012 Edmund Levy Report
• “We must operate out of a sense of advancing our rights, the rights of the Jewish people as an indigenous nation in its land. The Jews are the oldest nation here, but the State of Israel rarely mentioned this. It has rarely mentioned the fact that these are territories where we have had rights from time immemorial. It has rarely mentioned international documents like the Balfour Declaration, the 1920 San Remo Declaration, the U.N. Charter, and the British Mandate as approved by the League of Nations, all of which are very relevant as they relate to our Jewish rights here. ... That what we are dealing with is liberation and not occupation ... It is inconceivable that the entire world will repeat the false mantra about Judea and Samaria being occupied territory when from a factual standpoint there is no legal basis for this. ... When the U.S. claims erroneously, even before the negotiations ended, that we have no rights in our historical Jewish territories over which negotiations are being held and where Jewish communities and settlements are falsely considered illegitimate, they are in essence adopting the Arab-Palestinian position and harming the negotiations. If the negotiations are intended to determine the fate of the Jewish communities and settlements, then by all means. Even if you are the representative of the U.S. government, don't prejudice the negotiations by stating beforehand that they are illegitimate." -- Alan Baker, an attorney & former Israel Ambassador to Canada 
• “If Judea and Samaria should ever be ceded up to the Arabs (which is not likely) by any irrationally imposed Mid-east peace settlement, Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel, Tel Aviv and the Coastal Plain would be in jeopardy.” -- Dani Dayan, Council of Jewish Settlers
• “The connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel has lasted for more than 3,700 years. Judea and Samaria, the places where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, David and Solomon, and Isaiah and Jeremiah lived are not alien to us. This is the land of our forefathers.” -- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Indeed, what Israel should remember always is that the Jewish right to Israel is eternal and non-negotiable.  Politics – and politicians – too shall come and go. 
As the Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky said many years ago: “Do not say, so what if we concede Hebron, Nablus and beyond the Jordan — this concession is not comprised of words devoid of meaning, and everyone will understand this to be the case. Do not underestimate the power of a concession! … Do not underestimate the power of a right, and don’t exaggerate the value of a building that is being built. I, too, respect the construction of a building, but woe upon us if we extract the basis of our right to exist from it.”
Zionism and Israel is moral and just and the Jewish right to the entire Land of Israel is eternal and not negotiable.
P.S. Historically “The Land of Israel” is Jewish Land for about four thousand years and any foreign power that was there, was an occupier and treated the land as occupied territory abused its resources and turned it into a desolate land. The Jewish people who were there for thousands of years were joined by the Jewish people from the Diaspora and turned the Land of Israel into green pastures and a marvel of innovations in technology and medicine. The Arab/Muslims after WWI received over 12 million sq. km. of territory with a wealth of oil reserves and no-one is questioning their territorial borders. The Jewish people were allocated the territory known as Palestine.

The Arabs expelled over a million Jewish families and confiscated all their assets including homes and over 120,000 sq. km of Jewish owned Real Estate plus Jordan which is Jewish territory. Most of the Jewish families expelled from Arab/Muslim countries were resettled in the Land of Israel.


TEACHING EXODUS


TEACHING EXODUS


As we pass the 70th anniversary of the Exodus, join us in emphasizing for learners of all ages the significance of the experience, the involvement of Americans, and how the stories remain timeless for continued engagement with history, humanity and the dream of our return to our homeland.
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We are proud to present a comprehensive set of resources including an informational booklet about Exodus 1947 that educators, leaders and laypersons alike can utilize and benefit from as we seek to protect and safeguard the memory of the Exodus for future generations.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE INFORMATIONAL RESOURCE BOOKLET


EXODUS ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

  • JOURNEY TO STATEHOOD: EDUCATIONAL BOOKLET
    Teach the Exodus story through thematic use the materials assembled within to bring the story to life for the next generation of learners. View and Download Now »
  • READ AND DISCUSS the testimonies of survivors of the Exodus as they share their harrowing experiences aboard the ship and afterward.
  • DILEMMAS OF THE EXODUS: REFLECTION PROGRAM
    Bring to life the characters, the dilemmas and the challenges that the exodus leadership faced as they struggled to carry over 4,500 refugees to safety in the Jewish homeland. Learn More »
  • SAILING HOME: Art Activity Create Now »
  • SHARE the Exodus content with your family, friends, and community to ensure that the meaning of this voyage is remembered. Share Now »

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  • What do you think is the significance of the re-naming of the ship from President Warfield to Exodus?
  • What was the purpose of the Exodus? Do you think you would have traveled on it if given the choice? Why or why not?
  • How do you think the passengers on the Exodus, comprised of Holocaust survivors, felt as they raised the blue and white flag with the Star of David? Having survived the horrors of the Holocaust could they have imagined being able to raise this type of flag?
  • Bill Bernstein was killed in battle while trying to help his people. Can you name other Jewish heroes who risked their lives to try to secure safety for the Jewish people?
  • Why do you think the Jewish people were so determined to get to the land of Israel even though the British had made it so difficult?
  • How would you feel if you were a survivor of the Shoah, having made the arduous journey by boat to Palestine, being returned on prison ships and being forced into a Displaced Persons (former concentration camp) in Germany?
  • Why do you think the Jews who identified themselves as having been born in Palestine did so? What point were they trying to make?
  • If you had survived the Holocaust and the plight of the Exodus, how would you feel living in the land of Israel in May 1948 when David Ben-Gurion declared statehood.
  • What do you think was the world's reaction to witnessing these events on newsreels and reading about it in newspapers? Would it have been different if TV news was covering the events every day and bringing it into your living room?
  • What can we learn from the determination and perseverance of the survivors of the Exodus and all those who helped them reach the Jewish homeland?


JOURNEY TO STATEHOOD: EXODUS 1947

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Learn more about The Exodus 1947 today!

Children Of The Exodus


Children Of The Exodus

The lives of the children of the Exodus is aptly captured in the historical film created by UJA on their quest to trace what became of the children after they built their lives in Palestine.


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JOURNEY TO STATEHOOD: EXODUS 1947

Names, Memories And Legacies: The Meaning Of Exodus


Names, Memories And Legacies: The Meaning Of Exodus

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The Exodus is a ship with a legacy.
Most people know about Exodus either from the book by Leon Uris, or the film starring the ever-so-sexy Paul Newman as the pioneering young Jewish leader that brought survivors of the Holocaust back to their ancient homeland where they would be allowed to live free. Whichever version one is most familiar with, either one is a distorted version of the reality.
On the 17th of July, 1947, the President Warfield ship being used to transport survivors of the Holocaust from their Displaced Persons camp in France was renamed "Exodus 1947." In the midst of the open sea, the pride of the refugees swelled with the waters as the Zionist blue-white flag with the Star of David was raised and the Hatikvah was sung.
Everyone on board shared the same passion with which that song had been written so many years earlier by Jews who perpetually dreamed of a return to our ancient homeland.
After years of persecution, murder, and dehumanization, the Jews aboard the Exodus and other Aliyah Bet ships were determined to regain their dignity by finding freedom in Palestine, in the Land of Israel.
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While Leon Uris was blamed as having Americanized Israel for the sake of his fictionalized accounts of the Exodus story, and Otto Preminger for Hollywoodizing it so much that Israel and the characters are stripped of anything resembling reality, both versions provided a much-needed reflection of this dramatic chapter of Jewish history.

This was, indeed, a turning point.
A time at which humanity was at odds with itself over the tragedy of the Holocaust, how could it come to terms with the extermination of millions of Jews under the silent eyes of the nations of the world?
The Exodus represented an opportunity to give voice against the brutality of the British in their treatment of these surviving remnants of a lost world.
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On July 18, the Exodus was rammed and boarded by the British, and 2 passengers and 1 crewman were killed -
William Bernstein, an American Jew from San Francisco who served as first mate;
Mordechai Bunstein, 23, concentration camp survivor, and Hirsh Yacubovitch, 15, having survived from Poland.
Another 27 were wounded in the violent battle and hospitalized after the attack, including
William Millman, 24, from Chelsea, Massachusetts, and survivors Moses Engel, 20; Ernst Weiss, 24; Arien Birnbaum, 24; and Nathan Berkovitch, 71.
There is a certain pride in knowing that there were Americans on board, helping the heroic struggle for the creation of a Jewish State.
They embody the spirit of Zionism as it was embodied in that era: a dream that united Jews from around the world as we faced the stark realization of our need for a national home.
Listen and watch stories of members of the crew from Exodus 1947!
What meaning do these names have now all these years later? We don’t know the names of the other 4,554 men, women and children on board the ship. Their experiences on board the prison ships were captured by Ruth Gruber,the sole journalist allowed to accompany them on their journey back to France and Germany aboard the British caged prison ships.
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And the legacy of the experience in the lives of the children of the Exodus is aptly captured in the historical film created by UJA and what became of them after they built their lives in Palestine.
The value of the Exodus story isn’t in its romanticism. It is in the impact it had on Jews around the world in understanding the need for a Jewish state, the fulfillment of the ancient dream that would soon become reality. It aroused, for many, an understanding of the connection we all share.
“The stand taken aboard the Exodus was a response to a world that didn't even realize a question had been asked; it was a demand, to a world that had forgotten Jews had a right to demand. Decades after the ship was sent back to Germany, I read the story and it changed my life. It sent me on a journey to learn about Israel, about the Holocaust, about my people's history, and ultimately, about myself and my place in this world. It was the first time I learned that such a people existed - beaten and humiliated, starved and persecuted - these people crossed a continent and let nothing stop them to come and help build the land of their forefathers. These survivors came here to make their stand, to tell the world that there was simply no other place for a Jew, here, in Israel.” Paula Stern, A Soldier’s Mother
Leon Uris once wrote about his passion he poured into the book that changed the way the world saw the Jewish People. “There was an aggressiveness and pride about them … and they were always filled with the songs and dances and ideals of the redemption of the homeland … These were the ancient Hebrews! These were the faces of Dan and Reuben and Judah and Ehphraim. These were Samsons and Deborahs and Joabs and Sauls.”
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No longer victims, but a national army made up of common individuals ready to fight for the fulfillment of a national dream of freedom.
Today that dream continues to perpetuate as we struggle against a world set out to again dehumanize us, to make us ashamed of our pride as a nation, and turning too many away by emphasizing the political issues that plague the popular understanding of Israel.
But there are still Jews from around the world who see the struggles of Israel as their own, who find a way to use their voice for the sake of our one and only Jewish State, and who feel a connection to her legacy from wherever they may be in the world.
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Dr. Elana Yael Heideman, Executive Director of The Israel Forever Foundation, is a dynamic and passionate educator who works creatively and collaboratively in developing content and programming to deepen and activate the personal connection to Israel for Diaspora Jews. Elana’s extensive experience in public speaking, educational consulting and analytic research and writing has served to advance her vision of Israel-inspired Jewish identity that incorporates the relevance of the Holocaust, Antisemitism and Zionism to contemporary issues faced throughout the Jewish world in a continuous effort to facilitate dialogue and build bridges between the past, present and future.

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JOURNEY TO STATEHOOD: EXODUS 1947