By H. Applebaum
SAN DIEGO — “What’s in a name? Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Modern day propagandists understand the power of names. They would like to re-name Israel, “Palestine,” and Judea and Samaria, “the occupied territories.”
But facts are facts.
The city of Hebron is in the heart of the ancient kingdom of Judea, 20 miles south of Jerusalem. It is the place of the holiest Jewish site, the Cave of Machpelah, where the father of the Jewish people, Abraham, is buried with his family. Hebron was conquered by the Edomites, Hellenes, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, Mamluks, Ottomans, and Jordanians, but it has had a continual Jewish presence for 4,000 years. An Orthodox Jewish community lives there today, caring for the holy site.
IfNotNow(INN,) a fringe group that won’t even endorse Israel’s existence, wants those Jews to leave. It misleads Democratic candidates who have little historical understanding, about “the occupation.” In early July, as the candidates campaigned in New Hampshire, INN asked if they were against the “occupation.” Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, and Joe Biden all said yes, they were against it!
However, there never was a “Palestinian state,” so it is impossible for Israel to be an “occupier” of “Palestinian” land. The land in question was designated for the Jewish homeland under the 1922 British Mandate and confirmed by the 1946 UN Charter. Nonetheless, Jordan seized Judea/Samaria and the eastern portion of Jerusalem in the 1948 Arab war to destroy Israel.
During Jordan’s 19 year occupation, Jordan destroyed 58 synagogues, and persecuted the Jews. Under Jordanian jurisdiction, Jews who had lived in Jerusalem for centuries were expelled and refused access to religious sites; Jewish gravestones were used for latrines.
When Israel recaptured Judea/Samaria and the eastern portion of Jerusalem in the Six Day War in 1967, the soldiers immediately went to the Western Wall to pray, and Jews throughout the world rejoiced that Jerusalem was finally re-unified.
INN, dishonestly asked the Democratic candidates to support “ending the occupation.” They did not explain that they were really asking Democratic candidates to support the ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people from Hebron, and the Old City of Jerusalem. They did not explain that there is no “occupation” because Jewish communities only comprise about 2% of Judea/Samaria.
When IfNotNow asked Sen. Elizabeth Warren to “push the Israeli government to end occupation,” Warren responded: “Yes, yes. So I’m there.” South Bend, Indiana Mayor, Pete Buttigieg said: “The occupation must end,” and Joe Biden is on record blaming Israel’s “occupation” for the failed peace process.
The hateful IfNotNow group took its name from a famous maxim by the great teacher Hillel. Ironically, Hillel established his school in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago – on the very same land from which INN seeks to expel the Jewish people.
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Applebaum is a freelance writer based in San Diego.