I strongly oppose the passage of the U.N. Security Council resolution declaring that it is illegal for Israel to "occupy" land it won back from Jordan in the 1967 war. This land includes East Jerusalem, where the old city, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount are located. All of these are long-established holy and historic sites to the Jewish people and to Christians. The West Bank, also known as Judea/Samaria, is not illegal land occupied by Israel either.
I am even more infuriated at the Obama administration's failure to support the U.S.'s most stable ally in the Middle East by abstaining rather than vetoing the U.N. resolution. A veto by the U.S. would have prevented the passage of this destructive and unjust edict. It is interesting that the U.N. drama was timed to occur the day before Hanukkah and Christmas. We are seeing Mr. Obama's true intentions now that he doesn't have to run for re-election. He is not a friend to Israel.
The League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and the Balfour Declaration called for the creation of the modern state of Israel for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland. The United Nations later passed a resolution giving modern Israel the right to become a nation in 1948. Included in the U.N.'s proposal was a partition plan calling for a Jewish state and an Arab state, aka the original two-state solution. Instead of accepting this plan the Arab nations surrounding Israel chose war instead. The Palestinians have since rejected various land and peace offers proposed by Israel. Wars and attacks have continued. Until the Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist and stop their destructive terrorist and missile attacks there can be no peace agreement.
Though I know Israel has justice and human rights issues to address, I am tired of the U.N. and the world's governments telling Israel that its people have no right to live in land that was legitimately given to the Jewish people both in ancient and modern times.
Shelley Hedlund
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Willmar
