WhatsappIsrael has every right to build homes for her citizens in Judea and Samaria, aka the West Bank. Ever since President Obama forced Israel to institute a building freeze in 2009, very few homes have been built in Judea and Samaria for Jews. This reality is now finally changing.
Just this week Prime Minister Netanyahu announced the building of 2,500 new homes across Judea and Samaria. This is the first major sign of future building we are seeing since the 2009 building freeze. Even thoug Netanyahu agreed to Obama’s demand for a 10 month building freeze, Netanyahu never stopped the freeze throughout Obama’s eight year Presidency. Netanyahu was also cautious for the first year of Trump’s Presidency. Only now are we starting to see Netanyahu giving permission for building on a bigger scale across Judea and Samaria. As Netanyahu said himself, this is just the beginning, more building permits in the settlements are coming.
Settlements
The world likes to say settlements are a contentious issue and an obstacle to peace. Yet nothing is further from the truth.
First of all, the Bible uses that exact terminology for Jews “to settle the land of Israel.” There is no greater act for a Jew in Israel than settling in our ancestral homeland. While it is sad that the world has turned the term “settler” and “settlement” into negative terms, the truth is that they are very positive terms. Hence we use them proudly. It just means we are building homes in our ancestral homeland as we are supposed to do.
NOT an Obstacle to Peace
Let’s burst this lie out in the open. Israel is now 70 years old. Israel did not have control of Judea and Samaria from 1948 through 1967. The West Bank of the Jordan River was occupied by the Jordanians at that time. Jews were forbidden from entering the areas under Jordanian control, including the Old City of Jerusalem and the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. There were NO settlements or settlers for those 19 years of Jordanian occupation of the West Bank, yet there was NO peace either.
Who are the real obstacles to peace?
Anyone who says that settlements are the obstacles to peace is oblivious to facts. The basic history of our region tells the true story. First of all, it is the Arabs who are the colonizers of the region, not the Jews! The Arabs colonized the Middle East and Northern Africa ever since their conquests began in the 7th century. While the Jews are the indigenous population of the land of Israel, it is the Arab Muslims who are the outsiders, the true colonizers of the region.
The reason there is no peace between Jews and Muslims is simple. Because the Muslims have continuously said no to every peace deal ever presented since the beginning of the twentieth century. This is decades before Israel liberated our Biblical homeland of Judea and Samaria and built settlements in Judea and Samaria.
