David Singer: UN anti-Jewish bias blocks the road to peace
The United Nations (UN) needs to end its ongoing deceptive misrepresentation of the Arab-Jewish conflict in former Palestine - as it once again prepares to celebrate its self-proclaimed International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People – but not the Jewish People - on 29 November.
The UN trumpets this date in the following terms:
"Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed annually on or around 29 November, solemnly commemorating the adoption by the Assembly, on 29 November 1947, of resolution 181 (II), which provided for the partition of Palestine into two States."
This statement fails to mention that the Jews accepted Resolution 181(II) - whilst the Arabs rejected it and went to war to try and wipe out the nascent Jewish State of Israel that was subsequently declared on 14 May 1948.
1. Arab acceptance of Resolution 181 (II) would have ended the Arab-Jewish conflict.
2. This statement is also false and misleading: Resolution 181(II) only dealt with the partition of 22% of the territory of Palestine located west of the Jordan River.
3.The remaining 78% of the territory of Palestine located east of the Jordan River (today called Jordan) had already caused it to become a sovereign Palestinian Arab State 18 months earlier - on 25 May 1946 - with not one Jew living there.
The continuing flagrant violation of Article 80 of the UN’s own 1945 Charter by its member States highlights the rapidly-increasing anti-Jewish bias that is infecting the UN and its agencies.
This Jew-free area in the major part of Palestine had been achieved because article 25 of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine provided that the Jewish National Home could not be extended east of the Jordan River.
Maintaining its International Day of Solidarity in 2021 without acknowledging that the Arabs-only State of Jordan has existed in 78% of former Palestine for more than 75 years continues to destroy the UN’s neutrality and credibility to broker an end to the Arab-Jewish conflict.
26 Democrats Urge Biden Administration to Prevent Israeli Housing in E-1 Region
A group of 26 Democrats is calling on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to act to prevent the advancement of plans for Israeli construction in the E-1 corridor between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.JPost Editorial: Eli Kay was a role model for olim to Israel
The letter, led by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), who recently visited Israel on a J Street-sponsored trip, expressed “immense concern” over Israeli plans to approve 3,400 housing units in the E-1 region.
“The recent efforts by the Israeli government to advance the approval to build 3,400 housing units in the highly sensitive area known as E-1 pose an irreconcilable challenge to a lasting peace solution between Israel and the Palestinians,” said the letter.
“To ensure the prospects of peace, we urge the State Department to exert diplomatic pressure to prevent settlement construction in E-1,” it added.
The E-1 region has long been considered for construction, especially as the population of Jerusalem continues to grow, and housing becomes increasingly scarce and expensive in the city. However, construction in the area has been controversial with critics saying the plan to create a physical link between Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem would bisect the West Bank and jeopardize a future Palestinian state.
Eliyahu David Kay, 26, the South African immigrant who was fatally shot in a terrorist attack while walking to the Western Wall on Sunday morning and laid to rest in Jerusalem the next day, was a real hero.
As South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein wrote in his statement of condolences to the Kay family, “Eli, their son, was a hero of the Jewish people who made aliyah and served in the IDF – like their other sons – and made us all so proud.”
Noting that “the Kay family have for generations been pillars of the South African Jewish community – exemplars of kindness, contribution and faith,” Goldstein wrote: “They are a family renowned and beloved for making this world a better place through their good deeds, and Eli lived with the same spirit and values.”
Kay – the grandson of Rabbi Shlomo Levin, the rabbi of South Hampstead United Synagogue in London, and son of Avi and Devorah Kay – moved to Israel from Johannesburg on his own in 2016 to study at the Chabad yeshiva in Kiryat Gat. A year later he volunteered to serve in the IDF Paratroopers Brigade in the framework of Machal. Despite being injured a few times in the IDF, he marched on with courage and determination, completing his military service in August 2019.
After deciding to officially make aliyah, he volunteered on Kibbutz Nirim on the Gaza border for a year and most recently worked as a guide for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation in Jerusalem.
“He raised the spirits of everyone,” the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said. “He did his holy work with dedication and loyalty.”