Hamas War

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Jewish versus Arab Building in Judea and Samaria and SOVEREIGNTY

Let's just start with two pictures I took yesterday.



Over the years I've photographed lots of Arab homes, from the distance of the roads, traveling to and from Shiloh.  My "Arab Mansions" series includes some of my all-time most popular/viewed blog posts.  That series is from 2007, and as you can see from the upper photo, the Arabs are getting even more "creative" and grandiose in their building styles than ever before.

Unlike when Jews build, the Arabs don't need all sorts of political and engineering permits; they just build to their heart's desire and pocketbook/bank account.

Displaying a total lack of true sovereignty the State of Israel allows foreign leaders to dictate when and where we build.  A de facto or de jure building freeze is immoral, no matter how you slice it.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been quietly enforcing a de facto building freeze on all construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria and areas in Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinian Authority, Israeli media reported Tuesday.
The Prime Minister promised U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to curtail construction for Jews until mid-June to give PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas time to fulfill his condition for a return to face-to-face negotiations with Israel.
Army Radio reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu told Housing Minister Uri Ariel, who lives in  the Judea and is a senior member of the Jewish Home party, to suspend publishing tenders for 3,000 residential housing units, including those to advance plans and construction of homes in the E-1 area of Maaleh Adumim.
It's a total disgrace and embarrassment that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu doesn't send United States Secretary of State Kerry and others packing as diplomatic sanctions.

The keyword/concept at the memorial event for the late Emanuel Winston was "sovereignty." Israel's totally irrational cancellation of the Lavi fighter plane project was a display of dependence, not sovereignty.  That is the true tragedy of that decision.  It wasn't about airplanes; it was about Israeli military independence and security.  That's what sovereignty is all about.  It's when a country does what's best for itself and doesn't search for approval and support from others.

The Israeli Left's fear of true independence isn't new.  One of the things I understood from the late Benzion Netanyahu's The Founding Fathers of Zionism is that Chaim Weizmann held very anti-Jewish independence views.  After reading that book I couldn't understand why he had been chosen as Israel's President.  According to Professor Netanyahu, Weizmann wanted to make Israel more a dependent of Britain rather than an independent country.

We're still fighting that same ideological/political battle now.  And unfortunately, it's the pro-Weizmann faction that is winning.  (Obviously substitute the USA for Great Britain.)

2 comments:

Leah, Maaleh Adumim said...

Ben Gurion wanted to make sure that the PM (i.e. BG himself) would be in charge, so he wanted to make sure that the "president" would just be a figurehead. therefore he suggested the role to "famous scientists" - first to Einstein, who wasn't interested, then to Weizmann.

Batya said...

Leah, it's interesting that he chose people who didn't really live in Israel...