Great Article by Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi of The Israel Project

This article written by Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi of the Israel Project speaks volumes. It summarizes what the Israelis have been and continue to be up against. We are in a very difficult time - the world continues to judge Israel by a different set of standards from any other country.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2010

Contact:
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi: 202-857-6644 (office), 202-365-0787 (cell), jenniferm@theisraelproject.org
www.theisraelproject.org

Subscribe to The Israel Project's RSS Feed

Statement by Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, TIP Founder & President
on Jerusalem and U.S.-Israel Relations

At this very moment, 3,000 Israeli security officials are protecting Jerusalem because extremist Arabs are using the re-dedication of the Hurva Synagogue as an excuse to incite violence.

No religion should fear that its religious sites in Jerusalem – or anywhere else – might be destroyed at any time. And no one should use religion as an excuse for violence. Americans know that. In fact, by an 8 - 1 margin, a recent poll shows that Americans say the United States should side with Israel in a conflict with the Palestinians. The time for peace is now.

Additionally, while Israel apologized for the timing of the announcement of new housing units in Jerusalem, Israel should not be put in a position of apologizing for Jews living in their holiest city and capital, Jerusalem.

Jews have not only been connected to Jerusalem for thousands of years, they are the only group in recent history that has protected Jerusalem’s holy sites for Christians, Muslims, Jews and others -- keeping them open and safe to all faiths. Indeed, Arab and Christian citizens of Israel have freedom of religion, speech, press and the right to vote. By contrast, when Israel gave up all of Gaza in 2005 in hopes of peace, all Jews (including those buried in the cemetery there) had to leave Gaza. Indeed, the only Jew in Gaza is kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

So why did Vice President Joe Biden say in Ramallah: “The decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermined that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin as well as produce -- have profitable negotiations. That is why I immediately condemned the action”?

Shouldn’t American leaders save the word “condemned” for terrorists and for Iran’s dangerous nuclear program? Not once did we hear Biden “condemn” the fact that Palestinians were planning – during his trip there – to honor a terrorist by dedicating a town square in her name.

Yes, Israel made a mistake in the timing of its housing announcement. But it is also a mistake to think that the road to peace can be paved by imposing discriminatory housing policies in Jerusalem. Division along the '67 lines would leave major Christian sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Via Dolorosa under Muslim control. It could also put Israelis at risk of attack by terrorists lobbing grenades and launching rockets that could strike the heart of Jerusalem in seconds. The final boundaries for a two-state solution should be achieved in face-to-face negotiations with the parties, not imposed upon Israel, a democracy which has worked towards a two-state solution for 62 years.

Has the world forgotten that in 2002, dozens of armed Palestinian militants took over the Church of the Nativity, trapping about 60 Christian clergy? Has the global community they forgotten that from 1948 - 1967, when Jerusalem was under Arab control, that Jordanian forces destroyed 58 synagogues in the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and 38,000 Jewish tombstones on the Mount of Olives?

Have they forgotten that access to the Western Wall and other places of worship was denied to Israeli Jews by the government of Jordan and only limited access was granted to Israeli Christians to visit Christian holy sites? Have they forgotten that when Israel gave up all of Gaza, Palestinian extremists returned the gesture with thousands of rockets aimed at innocent civilians – and the international community did nothing more than provide empty promises about Israel’s security?

Have they forgotten that Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon started a war against Israel less than three years ago and that Israel stopped its defensive actions in return for yet more empty promises from the international community that it would stop Iran from re-arming Hezbollah? Today Hezbollah has tens of thousands of rockets, ready to again attack Israel.

The road to security and peace in the Middle East does not lie in wishful thinking. True, there are Palestinians in the West Bank, including Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who seem serious about peace. But his party doesn’t control Gaza and has no influence over Hamas, the Iran-backed terrorist group that acts at Iran’s will. Indeed, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in Tunis this week, "Iran doesn't want Hamas to sign the Cairo reconciliation document," and that his own goal is to "pull our people out from Iranian tutelage."

Israel’s government and the majority of its citizens support a two-state solution. Despite years of empty promises and attacks, they remain willing to make painful territorial sacrifices. But for the last 14 months Abbas has not been willing to negotiate with Israel. If the Palestinians really want a state, shouldn’t they start talking without pre-conditions today?

And given that Israel protects the rights and freedoms of its Muslim citizens, shouldn’t any future Palestinian state do the same for its Jewish citizens?

Meanwhile, it is in America’s interest to stop the threat of Iran. The Islamic Republic not only is building nuclear materials in defiance of the world, it is undermining Palestinian leaders Abbas and Fayyad by supporting terrorism by Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The United States must enforce existing sanctions laws, forbid U.S. tax dollars from going to companies aiding and abetting Iran, and do all it can to expand sanctions on Iran to peacefully resolve this crisis.

We need a GPS that works. The road to peace isn’t through Jerusalem. It’s through Tehran.