The Minuteman: The Official Newspaper of Newark Academy since 1940

The Minuteman

The Official Newark Academy Newspaper

“Uncovering” the Israelis’ Right to Jerusalem

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By Josh Faber ’12, Staff Writer

The Arab-Israeli conflict has raged for over six decades largely due to confusion over the history of Jerusalem. While Palestinians espouse the 1947 United Nations partition plan that made the sacred city a neutral territory, Jews claim right to the land by conquest.

In 2002 the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the UN worked together to devise a “Road Map for Peace” in Israel. This plan designated the western half of Israel to the Israelis and reserved the eastern half for the Palestinians. However, after eight years Israel maintains control over both regions.

On Thursday, November 14, Newark Academy’s Global Speaker Faraj Faraj offered a solution to this problem. He called for a single Israeli-Palestinian state where everyone could visit and live without fear within Jerusalem.  Though Faraj’s incredible experiences showed us the horrors that the Palestinian people must endure each day, they did not support Faraj’s desire for the implementation of a one-state solution. There are simply too many factors preventing this idealistic vision from becoming reality all at once.

A recent development in Eastern Jerusalem validates Jewish historical claims to the region. Seven years ago, the Israeli company El’Ad began the enormous project of unearthing King David’s buried Jerusalem. According to the director of El’Ad, the city represents both a spiritual connection to the Bible and a historical connection to the land. Unfortunately, this mythical city lies directly underneath dozens of Arab homes in the middle of Eastern Jerusalem. Believing the project to be a political ploy, the Arabs in the area demand a halt to the excavation. Oddly enough however, they continue to sell their land and houses to the company which, in turn, sells the houses to Jewish settlers.

Now, more than ever, Jews have a right to the land. They won it in the Arab-Israeli Wars when a united Arab force attacked them. They are now purchasing the land from voluntary Arab sellers. Additionally, Jerusalem is more valuable to them than any other place on Earth. As one member of El’Ad stated, “There’s no other place in the world that Jews want to live more than here. The Arabs have Mecca, they have Medina, and they may also be interested in Jerusalem. But for the Jews, this is our only home.” If this fantastic piece of Jewish history is to be preserved, Faraj Faraj and other opponents must accept the fact that they no longer have the ability to demand but rather, must learn to compromise.

Another roadblock to Faraj Faraj’s dream is the Palestinian birth rate. At the final break-out session in the Lautenberg Black Box on the day of Faraj’s visit, Mr. Goldfischer pointed out the high probability that a single state would eventually become Palestinian. Since Palestinian birth rates are twice those of Israel, according to the CIA World Fact Book, the single state’s population would become increasingly Palestinian. Eventually, Palestinians would have the potential to control the government. Faraj himself expressed a drive for vengeance in his youth. The murder of his friend and assault of a woman with her child has stuck with him. If the government of a joint Israeli-Palestinian state were composed of 120 Palestinians who shared similar experiences, the situation could go very bad very quickly.

So how can Faraj’s dreams become reality? They can be realized by dispelling the mutual fears of Israelis and Palestinians. If Palestinians were willing to accept a two-state solution first and practice a nonviolent campaign to gain public support, the issue could then be resolved.

Comments

2 responses to ““Uncovering” the Israelis’ Right to Jerusalem”

  1. Sam Wohlforth '13 Avatar
    Sam Wohlforth ’13

    Mr. Faber:

    Your comments, amounting to an Jewish claim to Israel, ignore the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people to their own homeland. You claim that Jews have a right to the West Bank because they won it from the Arabs after the War of Independence/ The Catastrophe. However, this ignores the fact that many of the Arabs, who did not fight at all, were nevertheless forced from their homes due to the fighting, moving to the West Bank refugee camps. This fair-and-square argument ignores the innocent pushed aside in the War. One could also argue that the Arabs objected to a new nation being carved out of their own territory without their consent (Arab nations voted against the Partition plan as a bloc, but were outvoted by the other nations in the UN), and were simply recovering territory stolen by the international community. Another objection I have is to the claim that since the Hebrew kingdom was in Israel, Jews deserve Israel. This is ridiculous; Jews don’t deserve Israel because their ancestors built a great civilization there. That civilization fell and crumbled, and to award land claims based on ancient history is absurd. I am not calling into question the Jewish love for Israel, but only their claim to a historical precedent to ownership of the land. Another objection: You quoted a man who in effect said that Jews deserve Jerusalem because they want to live there more. According to the man you quoted Jerusalem is “only” the third most holy site for Muslims, so they shouldn’t possess Jerusalem. Balderdash. You can’t award territory based on rankings! According to Mr. Faber’s logic, Mexico could demand Los Angeles back from the U.S. because it’s only our second most important city. Muslims have just as much a right to a city from which they believed Muhammad ascended into heaven. Jerusalem is sacred to Muslims. “Sacred” should be the only qualifier, not “third.” You also say that Israeli companies are buying Arab land, so they deserve the land. This would be true if the one of the actors in this transaction were not motivated by extreme poverty to get money, even at the cost of selling their homes. Arabs are living in desperate poverty, under occasionally harsh occupation and in refugee camps. One in four Israeli Arabs is internally displaced. The per-capita GDP is $2,900, compared with $28,393 in Israel. If many poor people are offered money for food and other living expenses in exchange for their homes, some will accept. It is not a fair bargain! The Israelis forced the Palestinian people into the position of poverty they are in, and now they are exploiting it. This claim to Israeli ownership of Palestinian homes loses some credibility when the desperate position of the Palestinians is taken into account.

    I agree with Mr. Goldfischer that the one-state solution is impractical. I believe in a two-state solution, and I agree that the Palestinians must cease violence in order for the peace process to begin. However, what about Israeli incursions into the West Bank? During the Second Intifada, the Israeli Defense Forces killed over 2,000 civilians. I think that Faraj Faraj’s presentation demonstrated a viewpoint that few get to hear, and should have been presented. This article is valid in that it presents the opposing viewpoint (the Israeli claim to Israel is valid, as well), but in doing so, it ignores the plight of the Palestinian people and their legitimate claim to Israel. In this conflict, no side is right. The line cannot be drawn between right and wrong; there is too much blood on both sides, and both sides have their legitimate claims to the land. However, by only presenting the Israeli claims, this article does not do due diligence to the Palestinian cause.

    -Sam Wohlforth ’13

    P.S. Thank you to Mrs. Schottland, whose Ancient World class gave me the knowledge to debate this competently (I hope).

  2. Anthony Fernandes '11 Avatar
    Anthony Fernandes ’11

    Mr. Faber,

    I believe you should read the latest edition of the National Geographic, as there is an interesting article on the validity of the various archaeological digs. Most importantly, the article points out that the agendas behind the conclusions reached at these many digs. Companies like El’ad have a funny habit of funding the digs that result in the uncovering of artefacts form the 10th century BC i.e. the time of David and Solomon. Other digs attribute the same type of artefacts to the various other civilizations that existed, including the Edomites, the Omnites and the Assyrians. Indeed, according to the article, it can be argued that there was no great city of David in the first place. The Old Testament/Torah were mostly written down well after the actual events, so naturally, the text will never be completely accurate. I’m still confused why documents over 2000 years old allow anyone to claim the right to anything anyway. Surely by that logic, the British Navy still rules the ocean in accordance with Rule Britannia. This kind of logic leads to fundamentalist interpretations of holy texts, and starts holy wars. Those don’t end well.

    Second of all, I’m not surprised some Palestinians are selling their land, their living conditions aren’t exactly the best. However, you neatly fail to mention the use of the ‘Absentees Property Law’ which takes away the rights of many Palestinians to buy or sell their property. This law has been used by the El’ad organisation to claim Palestinian owned land and rent it to Jewish settlers. To say that the Palestinians are wilfully abandoning their homes seems a rather simplistic way of interpreting the situation. And let’s be honest, the dig is exactly a political ploy, the aim of El’ad is to prove the kingdom of David existed and in doing so claim the land for Israel.

    As Sam Wohlforth said, Jerusalem isn’t simply a Jewish city. It’s the epicentre of uch of the last 2000 years of history. It is neither a Christian, Jewish, or Muslim city. All three religions can claim it as a holy site. Perhaps, the Israeli government should listen to the UN for once. Not to sound anti Israel, but this issue and the issue of Israeli settlements have been judged by the UN and the international community. However, Israel ignores the judgement, and in doing so continue to antagonize the Arab world. Despite international assertions that the settlements being built (El’ad happens to building some too) are illegal, construction continues. Because of this peace talks have stopped.

    Whilst I’m inclined to agree that a one state solution would be difficult, a two state solution would be no better. If anything it would be worse, as arguments over cities like Jerusalem would continue. Also, you do realize that saying that conquest takes precedent over UN mandate, is a bad idea, right? By that argument, if say, Iran invaded Israel and won, it would be theirs for the keeping.

    In short, the situation is an incredibly complex one, and articles like this stress, in my mind at atleast, what Faraj Faraj said. It’s time to get over the past. This present situation was caused by people saying ‘because this happened, we can do this.’ Not to say I have a solution, but if the two sides could at least talk to each other without the distractions of rockets and settlements that would be a start.

    -Anthony Fernandes ’11

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