INTERNATIONAL LAW: On West Bank-Professor Eugene Kontorovich on The Legal Case for Israel

Nadene Goldfoot
I just listened to a fantastic lecturer on youtube (below) The Legal Case For Israel through international law.  People throw this law around like peanuts, but it has specific parameters.

Professor Eugene Kontorovich  teaches at Northwestern University, School of Law, and specializes in constitutional and international law.  He is one man that knows the history of Israel and how it was dealt with through the League of Nations to start its history.

He  " is an internationally sought-after lecturer, and speaks frequently about the legal and historical aspects of the Israeli-Arab conflict at synagogues, Chabad houses, and student groups at dozens of universities across the country, such as Columbia, NYU, Berkley, Chicago, Georgetown, Michigan, and dozens of others, as well as the Israeli Military Advocate General’s International Law Department, CAMERA, the AJC, Decalogue Society."

"He attended the University of Chicago for college and law school, and ultimately taught there. After law school, he clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In a previous career, he was a newspaperman at Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and for many years at the Forward, where he reported from New York, Washington, Israel and Lebanon."

You will hear him explain that "The 1949 Armistice Lines (mistakenly called the "1967 borders") are emphatically not national boundaries."  The video below is about an hour and well worth the time spent listening.  It's like attending a fantastic class with points well explained with some dry humor added.    Did you know that "War" is illegal?  Self defense is legal.  Aggressive conquest is illegal according to international law.  There are laws that do make sense, only it seems that many disregard them.  Please listen if you care about what the international law really is saying.

Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub2x5UvjUs4
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/profiles/EugeneKontorovich/
http://www.torahcafe.com/scholar/professor-eugene-kontorovich_0000000742.html
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/01/eugene-kontorovichs-talk-at-nyu-on.html

Gene Simmons, KISS Star Speaks Up for Israel

Nadene Goldfoot
Gene Simmons, co founder of the hard rock supergroup, KISS,  is a Sabra, the Israeli-born Chaim Witz, born in  Tirat, Carmel, Israel in August of 1949, the year after the declaration of Israel as a  state.  His family had immigrated to New York when he was a child. 

Gene was like many Jews who had voted for Obama, but is speaking out now and telling him that he has no idea about Israel and would if he lived there.  Gene realizes that it is terrible to suggest that Israel should be at the 67 line and then make concessions. 

Gene is a musician,  an American rock bassist, singer, songwriter, actor, businessman and member of KISS.  His parents were from Hungary.  His mother is Flora Klein.  In German Klein means "small" but in Hungarian it means "kiss."  She and her brother  Larry were the only ones to survive the Holocaust out of their family.  His father, Firi Witz, stayed in Israel while his wife and child left for New York.  Gene attended the Yeshiva Torah Vodaath in Williamsburg in Brooklyn from the age of 7 on. 

He is best known as a member of KISS and for his TV show, "Gene Simmons-Family Jewels". 

Like he said, "When you grow up, you see that life is not like you thought it was."  He suggests that Obama go live in the 9 mile wide section of Israel to see how he likes it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YK7UGytvs8&feature=share
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005430/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Simmons

Obama Endorsing Palestinians Forcing Israel to 67 Lines

Nadene Goldfoot
The biggest disappointment came today in Barak Hussein Obama's speech where he endorsed the demand of Israel's neighbors, the Palestinians in Gaza and Judea and Samaria,  to force Israel back to the indefensible 1967 lines, which imply boarders.   

Our President hasn't visited Israel.  He hasn't experienced how small it already is, and he's telling Israel to go back to borders where Syria can  rain down rockets, missiles and anything else from the ledge above onto a very thin strip about 9 miles wide called Israel.  Has he looked at a map?  Obviously he has and is okay with his decision.  I'm not.

I have his speech concerning Israel.  His words are lovely.  The message is not.  He mentions knowing about the change and uncertainty in the region and believes that with it all  it is the time to move forward, but he is only seeing the Arab viewpoint, I'm afraid.  He feels he's coming out with THE TRUTH as he sees it: that the present status quo is unsustaninable.  It sounds to me like he has given up and that there is no hope for Israel.  He doesn't know Israel.  He thinks that now "Israel too must act boldy" as if she hasn't always done this.  At the same time in his speech he raises the issue of Hamas recognizing Israel and just drops it as "it's an issue."  Obama talked about swaps but Israel first has to be concerned with defensible borders.  Swap what?  Israel is already so tiny from losing past land that she gave up that there isn't much left to give up without completely disappearing.  Obama is endangering Israel by suggesting that she become a 9 mile strip and allow missiles to reach every corner of her as it has been in Southern Israel from Gaza.

He feels that the Palestinians must be able to govern themselves in order to reach their potential.  They were given the chance when with the USA's assistance, held elections in Gaza, something no Arabs in any Arab country has been able to do to my knowledge.  They voted in Hamas.  That shows their true colors.  When the Israeli Jews pulled out of Gaza they left all their businesses for them and what kind of potential did they display?  They destroyed them.  It's easier to remain on the dole with the UN, and besides, they didn't want Jewish businesses.  

Israel has already said that they will go along with a two state solution, but they really want some nice people next door who respect them if they want to be respected and it hasn't happened, has it.  Hamas just wants to destroy Israel.  Some trustworthy neighbors Obama is pushing onto Israel.  He feels the Palestinians really need a state and now.  Oh yes, they certainly do; they did not come from a Palestine.  They came from the assorted states in the Middle East looking for jobs and  work,  and building was going on in what became Israel.  That's where the action was and now they want a piece of the action, or the whole thing, depending on how powerful Hamas's charter becomes.  Obama approaches his speech with the closing of that this is a choice between hate and hope.  Well, I think he should have made it clear to the Palestinians to quit hating Jews and Israel and get over it for "tomorrow's" sake.  It's been their hatred of Jews that they have been born into and raised with in the families and schools.  Israelis have been the ones to have been hoping for only peace, so much so that they have given many pieces of their already slithered piece of land away in the name of peace and have received bubkus for it. 

If we had had a president today that had stood up for Israel in no uncertain terms saying with strength that the Palestinians must recognize Israel for the sake of peace for all and cut out all the shooting and killing, they just may have realized they couldn't continue on this destructive path.  No, that isn't happening.  Instead I'm afraid that Obama is trying to make points with the Arabs who still regard him suspiciously. 

As Netanyahu is saying sternly, a Palestinian state cannot come about at the expense of Israel. 

This was all announced the day before Netanyahu's meeting with Obama, who Obama knew was coming with a proposal of his own.  Now Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel is NOT going back to the 67 borders. 

 http://www.theblaze.com/stories/read-the-presidents-prepared-remarks-for-arab-spring-speech/
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/obama-endorses-palestinian-border-demands/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110519/wl_nm/us_obama_mideast_netanyahu
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110519/pl_afp/mideastusdiplomacypoliticsvote