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Congress Should Support Israel’s Right to All Land Ahead of UN Vote

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  September 12th, 2011 at 10:42 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

The video embedded above shows the jubilant celebrations taking place in Gaza, while we were attacked on September 11.  No, it wasn’t just a few “extremists” who were celebrating; it was the average Joe Palestinian.   Unfortunately, not only have we declined to treat them as an enemy, we have refused to cut off any foreign aid.  Instead, the Bush and Obama administrations have diverted our diplomatic resources towards the insane ‘peace process’ and the inexorable goal of a Palestinian state.

Over the past few years, we have given over $600 million a year to this terrorist entity, which receives more per capita aid than any other people or nation.  This includes, direct assistance, weapons, security training, infrastructure, and funds transferred through UNRWA.  In July, Congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) introduced the Palestinian Accountability Act (H.R. 2457), which seeks to cut off aid to the PA.  Last week, he introduced a resolution expressing the support of Congress for Israel to annex Judea and Samaria, if the PA unilaterally declares statehood.

Now, more than ever, is a time to stand with our ally, Israel.  Thanks in large part to the lovely Arab Spring of “democratic revolutionaries,” Israel is beleaguered and surrounded by hostility on all sides.  Additionally, their embassy in Cairo was almost seized, and Turkey, once a prominent ally, is practically threatening them with war.  In other old news, Hamas terrorists in Gaza are firing rockets into their cities on a daily basis.

On September 20, the PA plans to ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria, thereby sealing the fate of Israel’s destruction.  There is a realistic chance that many European countries will recognize a Palestinian state.  Russia is already offering enthusiastic support for a declaration of statehood.  Last year, Obama expressed his hope for such an outcome.  The Palestinians are now using Obama’s stated support for their media campaign.  Accordingly, it is imperative that we send them a strong message by expressing our support for Israel to counter such a move by annexing Judea and Samaria.  John Boehner and Eric Cantor should bring this resolution for a vote before next week’s meeting of the UN General Assembly.

This will also help expose the Democrats for their duplicity on the issue.  They tend to align themselves with Israel for political reasons, but are nowhere to be found when it comes time to offer robust assistance to this besieged ally.  Democrats are already opposing Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen’s commonsense bill (HR 2829) to reform UN funding.  They will only support vapid bills and resolutions that lack accountability measures.

Here is the statement from Congressman Walsh:

“The Palestinian Authority has repeatedly violated peace agreements and has even joined forces with the terrorist group Hamas.  But the United States has continued to give aid to the Palestinians on the one condition that they continue to negotiate with Israel for peace.  Now the Palestinians can’t even do that and have cut Israel completely out of the process by pushing for unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.  This is the last straw.  It is clear that the Palestinian Authority no longer has any interest in peace.”

“We must stand firmly by Israel because a strong and secure democracy in the Middle East is absolutely vital to American security.  The Palestinian Authority has to negotiate directly with Israel.  If it is going to continue to cut Israel out and violate its peace agreements, then the United States must support Israel’s efforts to defend its sovereignty and the security of its citizens.”

“A U.N. recognized Palestinian state would potentially put Israelis directly under the sovereignty of a group of people that have sworn the destruction of Israel and its people.  This is unacceptable, and, in the absence of a negotiated peace agreement, Israel has the right to protect its citizens living in Judea and Samaria by annexing those territories.”

Every recent president has attempted to forge a legacy out of the insanity that is known as the Middle East peace process.  The next president will achieve a true legacy by putting an end to this circuitous madness, and by pursuing victory in the Middle East.

Congressman Walsh’s H. Res. 394 will go a long way in embarking on that goal.  The Republican Study Committee is supporting the resolution.  Hopefully, other Republicans will co-sponsor the resolution.  During the tenth anniversary of 9/11, we all need to remember who is with us and who is against us.

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  • aeaeren

    I don’t think Obama is going to back Israel in the UN. Maybe Tuesdays house seat race in NY-9 might shake him up a bit and make him think about it before backing a Palestinian state. I see nothing good coming from this vote no matter which way the vote goes.

    • http://redmeatconservative.blogspot.com/ Daniel Horowitz

      has already backed down, due to pressure from American public opinion. That is why the Palestinians are embarrassing him with his past expression of support for the UN vote.

    • anjinconsulting

      but that loss would not jeapordize her existence; the regional Arab states got spanked like red-headed step kids the last time they rose against Israel while the U.S. just stood by and watched it.

      What would be worth seeing is a suggestion by our State Department that in order to establish Palestine (again), the surrounding countries who absorbed Palestine after siding with Nazi Germany in WWII should now relenquish that land to re-establish the country.

      • aeaeren

        things will be much different then the last time. Egypt has US weapons this round, maybe not all the same stuff but an F-16 is a DAMN mean aircraft. I don’t Syria being too big of a player because they have issues with their people so won’t be as committed at this time. Egypt is still up in the air on what the Military will do, I would place my bet on huffin and puffin but slapping down the wackos in their country.

        My concern is Turkey and being in NATO. If they are attacked what will BO do? You know he isn’t a friend of Israel at all but we will REALLY be in a pickle diplomatically. I don’t believe Turkey would be talking the way they are if they didn’t have the support of NATO treaty behind them, very few countries are capable of being able to defeat Israel but the damage that can happen could be very harsh!

        • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

          first of all, it would be harder than ever to get all the Arab states together on a coordinated attack. And Israel could easily beat back any two or three of them.

          Turkey, Islamic, but not Arab, is perhaps another matter, but even though Erdogan has moved the country away form secularism, he is not a dictator with huge powers. His ability to start such a war is negligible.

          Iran holds another type of threat to Israel. that is the threat of supplying nuclear weapons to terrorists. That is a real fear.

          • aeaeren

            Lessons learned from WWII fighting a war on 2 fronts is risky. We did it because well nothing of ours outside of Pearl Harbor was attacked so we could pour out stuff. Israel did it but they came very close to being wiped out. War is war and all your best laid out plans are useless as soon as the bullets start flying. One top of all the craziness around them they have issues inside with the liberals. I think a strong case could be made that some in the USA are behind their mess but that is for more research.

            Turkey can stir up trouble with it’s Gaza shipments. It doesn’t take much to blow the top off of things especailly when the world is facing a depression. A lot of people/governments are fragile at this time.

        • BigRedConservative

          Turkey is a (nominally at least) secular country, which makes it more friendly than most of the other Arab countries. Plus Turkey has is in the process of getting EU membership, which prevents it from being anti-Israel openly. As Kyle8 says below, RTE is incapable of starting a major war anyway. Besides, he’s a canny operator, and I don’t think it comes out in his interests to attack Israel.

          I would trust Turkey to neither aid nor attack Israel, and I think it’s current position suits America.

          • audax

            Turkey WAS a secular country, now with a Islamist Prime Minister and Parliment. My visits over the last several years have met with hostile immigration officials and police at the airports. I don’t feel comfortable there anymore.

            Turkey wants to be the BIG BOY on the Muslim block and is itching for a fight with Israel, why else would Erdagon say the Turkish Navy would escort the next flotilla to break the Gaza Blackade? Why would he not back down from his efforts to get Israel to apologize for the last flotilla debacle for Turkey? The new Islamist Turks have something to prove to their Arab neighbors. They want the Ottoman Caliphate back, or as much of it as they can manipulate.

            .Turkey has pretty much abanded it’s efforts to join the EU and the EU is not going to let an Islamic Turkey in.

          • aeaeren

            no way the EU was going to let them in even with US pressure. And with Libya and the way the EU is going I wouldn’t want to be in it anyways.

          • edintexas

            The Turkish military was the defender of Attaturk’s secular Constitution and country. Anyone noticed the recent resignations of senior military personnel, and the criminal investigations of others? The military didn’t take over the country, and I think their opportunity to do so has come and gone. Turkey is now an Islamic state, although one that is not governed by Sharia – yet (and may never be, let’s see where Egypt goes on that issue).

            “Big Red” apparently wasn’t paying attention the other day when Erdogan declared that the (legal according to the UN) Israeli blockade of Gaza was illegal under international law and their defense of the blockade was “an act of war” against Turkey. That is the proverbial “strong stuff” and there isn’t much left from a diplomatic standpoint to get to outright declarations of war (not that I think Erdogan will go to war – unless and until he gets the rest of the Islamic Middle East to go with him and actually contribute to a war).

          • mainstreamconservative

            We need to be careful not to pick and choose which bits of other countries we like and don’t like. We need to look at them as a whole.

            Yes, the army in Turkey is secularist – but it also mouned several coups in the past. The US army is secular – but apart from a few nut jobs, I don’t think many conservatives would advocate that the US army mounts coups every 20 years or so.

            In other words, simply to say that we should be more wary of Turkey because the PM is an islamist is too simplistic. Turkey remains a Westwards-looking, democratic country that has come a long way over the past few decades.

            Erdogan is a moderate islamist, but so what? The UK’s head of state is a monarch with close ties to the Christian church, but no one seriously consdiers the UK to be anything other than a secular country, despite the formal link between church and state.

            The current impasse bertween Israel and Turkey is great for the region. That might sound a bit odd, but think about it.

            Until now, a lot of the disaffected Palestinian youths looked at Iran as a potential savour. All that did was make Iran feel even more powerful.

            Turkey – part of Nato and STILL trying to join the EU – is not about to go to war with Israel, any more than the US is about to go to war with Venezuela. We’ve got to stop always equating diplomatic disagreements with preparations for war.

            If in the meantime, though, we have a friend of the West and a moderate member of Nato that is seen as the focal point of dissatisfaction with Israel, that’s a million times better than letting Iran lead the animosity towards our Israeli friends.

          • audax

            Caroline Glick column:

            “Monday morning Turkey took its anti-Israel campaign to a new level. Beyond downgrading diplomatic relations with Israel; beyond suspending military agreements; beyond threatening naval war; beyond threatening to foment an irredentist insurrection of Israeli Arabs; the Turks decided to terrorize Israeli tourists landing in Istanbul airport. Forty Israeli passengers, mainly businessmen who had landed in Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight from Tel Aviv, were separated from the rest of the flight passengers. Their passports were confiscated. They were placed in interrogation rooms and stripped down to their underwear. Their carry-on bags were checked. And then they were lined up against a wall, forbidden to sit down or use the washroom. Passengers who contacted the Foreign Ministry said they felt frightened and intimidated. The ordeal went on for 90 minutes, until Turkish authorities returned their Israeli passports and permitted them to pick up their suitcases and exit the airport. What were the Turks trying to accomplish by terrifying the Israeli tourists? They didn’t need to threaten trade ties. Their Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu already took care of that over the weekend.”

            If your still under the delusion that Turkey is “moderate” hopefully this will dispell that delusion.

          • mainstreamconservative

            Audax,

            It’s precisely BECAUSE Turkey is a moderate Islamic country that the EU must let it join.

            As well as being a massively important strategic ally in that part of the world, it would give a huge sign to the Muslim world that the future is not about a war between them and us.

            Funnily enough, on my recent trip to Turkey, most Turks I spoke to want to stay out of the EU not for heritage reasons but because they’ve seen what a mess the European economy is. But they think they will still join anyway, because their government really wants to be in.

            PS: I was last in Turkey in May, and I’ll be there again in 10 days. I’m not arrogant enough to assume I’m right in what I say, but I do speak with a little experience.

            We should be encouragin them, otherwise we risk them looing east and forming allicances overthere.

            i know which of the two I’d prefer.

          • audax

            Wish you the best on your upcoming trip to Turkey, Just be glad your not an Israeli…

            Caroline Glick column:

            ?Monday morning Turkey took its anti-Israel campaign to a new level. Beyond downgrading diplomatic relations with Israel; beyond suspending military agreements; beyond threatening naval war; beyond threatening to foment an irredentist insurrection of Israeli Arabs; the Turks decided to terrorize Israeli tourists landing in Istanbul airport. Forty Israeli passengers, mainly businessmen who had landed in Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight from Tel Aviv, were separated from the rest of the flight passengers. Their passports were confiscated. They were placed in interrogation rooms and stripped down to their underwear. Their carry-on bags were checked. And then they were lined up against a wall, forbidden to sit down or use the washroom. Passengers who contacted the Foreign Ministry said they felt frightened and intimidated. The ordeal went on for 90 minutes, until Turkish authorities returned their Israeli passports and permitted them to pick up their suitcases and exit the airport. What were the Turks trying to accomplish by terrifying the Israeli tourists? They didn?t need to threaten trade ties. Their Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu already took care of that over the weekend.?

            If your still under the delusion that Turkey is ?moderate? hopefully this will dispell that delusion. Agian, best wishes for your upcoming trip.

          • mainstreamconservative

            Audax,

            It’s precisely BECAUSE Turkey is a moderate Islamic country that the EU must let it join.

            As well as being a massively important strategic ally in that part of the world, it would give a huge sign to the Muslim world that the future is not about a war between them and us.

            Funnily enough, on my recent trip to Turkey, most Turks I spoke to want to stay out of the EU not for heritage reasons but because they’ve seen what a mess the European economy is. But they think they will still join anyway, because their government really wants to be in.

            We should be encouraging them, otherwise we risk them looking east and forming alliances over there.

            I know which of the two I’d prefer.

            PS: I was last in Turkey in May, and I’ll be there again in 10 days. I’m not arrogant enough to assume I’m right in what I say, but I do speak with a little experience.

          • RonLewenberg

            Demographics of Turkey is not secular. The Europeanized Turks in Thrace/Rumelia and Istanbul are now a minority. They had too few kids, while the religious poor grew in number and radicalized. It has been run by Islamists since 2002.

            Turks in Europe proper become alienated and Islamicized. Allowing them into Europe would do to Europe what Manzirt did to the Ottoman Empire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manzikert

            Better an Islamist Turkey, than an Islamic Europe and the hope of a moderate Turkey.

          • funwithknives

            Israel and Turkey did so many joint ventures {militarily} it was almost frightening to a layman.Aircraft updates, electronics,infrastructure, were just some of them. Now Look at the current situation. Can you see White Vs. Black? Erdogan challenged his own military and numerous resignations did result.Those who left were the *smart money*, in this ongoing situation.
            100 years ago, Turkey was labeled “The Prussia of the Middle East”. How many times has Radical Islam used the term “Crusaders” to describe the West? Why was the date: ’9/11′, so freaking important to them? HISTORY, that’s what/and why. They had it {Fealty}once, and want it again.
            For further info. about Turkey’s capabilities and aspirations, please see D T I .(periodical,monthly, McGraw-Hill) A 3 page article describes in detail just what they aspire to, and are planning. (Published within the last 4 months) The number of companies there doing defense production is astounding.
            I should add, that many (especially before Block 42,+/-) F-16′s made for Egypt and Turkey ,were made by TAI{under license}, in Turkey. Not just knocked down kits, but fabrication included. Think they don’t still have the CATIA files and jigs? HA–RUMPH!

  • mikeymike143

    and we need to stand with them!!! unfortunately anti israel politicans like ron paul and obama want to undercut them.

  • toothpick

    Who knows how much more damage the Obama regime could have done to our interests in the Middle East and elsewhere, had the House not gone to the Republicans in 2010. Thank goodness for Congressmen like Joe Walsh, and thank goodness we are now in the majority.

    November 2012 cannot come soon enough. America will be repairing the damage from its blunder in 2008 for decades.