PrintJune 9, 2009
Obama Demands Ethnic Cleansing as an Israeli Concession for Peace
The Obama administration demands a complete freeze of "settlements" including suburbs of Jerusalem and the area of the old city which holds Judaism most holy site: the Western Wall. Hillary Rodham Clinton said, "He wants to see a stop to settlements - not some settlements, not outposts, not ‘natural growth' exceptions." That means a complete halt to any Jewish population growth in those areas.
As Charles Krauthammer and other serious experts in the Middle East point out, such a freeze may well destroy the towns but will do nothing in the way of moving Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran any closer to accepting the Jewish State of Israel.
The question here is not whether a demand for a settlement freeze is practical but whether it is racist in the extreme. Why does the U.S. insist that it is not only acceptable but necessary for all lands that may one day fall under Palestinian jurisdiction be Judenrein? (German: clean of Jews and a central step towards the Nazi policy of eliminating all Jews area by area.) Currently over one million Muslims live in Israel, and their population is growing much faster than the Jewish population.
Would Obama ever propose limiting Muslim growth? Would he ever suggest that as part of final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, all Jews move out of Palestinian territory and all Muslims move out of Jewish Israel? Would Obama insist that any other racial, ethnic, or religious group be turned out of their homes or face losing the support of the American government? Of course not! Then why is it not a moral outrage to demand that Jews stop growing and prepare for the day when they must give up their homes to enemies who continue to seek their destruction?
If the day ever arrives that Palestinians want a two-state solution and that one of those states is the Jewish State of Israel, the parties can negotiate the boundaries. A settlement freeze is not an issue of sovereignty; it is a morally reprehensible demand for ethnic cleansing. No Israeli leader can accept such a demand. No American leader should ask for it.
As Charles Krauthammer and other serious experts in the Middle East point out, such a freeze may well destroy the towns but will do nothing in the way of moving Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran any closer to accepting the Jewish State of Israel.
The question here is not whether a demand for a settlement freeze is practical but whether it is racist in the extreme. Why does the U.S. insist that it is not only acceptable but necessary for all lands that may one day fall under Palestinian jurisdiction be Judenrein? (German: clean of Jews and a central step towards the Nazi policy of eliminating all Jews area by area.) Currently over one million Muslims live in Israel, and their population is growing much faster than the Jewish population.
Would Obama ever propose limiting Muslim growth? Would he ever suggest that as part of final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, all Jews move out of Palestinian territory and all Muslims move out of Jewish Israel? Would Obama insist that any other racial, ethnic, or religious group be turned out of their homes or face losing the support of the American government? Of course not! Then why is it not a moral outrage to demand that Jews stop growing and prepare for the day when they must give up their homes to enemies who continue to seek their destruction?
If the day ever arrives that Palestinians want a two-state solution and that one of those states is the Jewish State of Israel, the parties can negotiate the boundaries. A settlement freeze is not an issue of sovereignty; it is a morally reprehensible demand for ethnic cleansing. No Israeli leader can accept such a demand. No American leader should ask for it.
