April 8, 2005 – It must be clear by now that the Sharon government looks at Gaza differently than it does Jerusalem’s Maale Adumim neighborhood, where more than 3,000 new housing units are being built. Besides expanding that 23-year-old community, which is only three miles from the heart of the city, this construction links the Israeli population that extends around Jerusalem.

Occasional comments by American diplomats Kurtzer, Rice, and Abrams notwithstanding, Israel and the Sharon government are setting out two principles for Israel which are accepted everywhere else in the world, but for some reason are debatable when it comes to the Jewish State.
The Sharon Government’s unilateral move out of Gaza and consolidation of the land in and around Jerusalem demonstrates the first principle: Israel is sovereign in her own land.
Israel’s claim to the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River is sound and long-standing. It is at least as solid as the French claim to Alsace and Lorraine, the Spanish to their Basque region and the British in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. It is also no less sound than the American claim to the States on the border of Mexico. How Israel disposes of her land is up to her to decide, just as it would be for France, Spain, England and the United States if any of the lands listed above were in question.
The second principle Israel is asserting is the Wilsonian right of a people to decide how they are governed. The right of self-determination is something Israel is claiming for both Arabs and Israelis. When Israel recognizes the right of Arab populations living in Gaza to determine their own government, she also clearly assumes that right for her own citizens in Ariel, Maale Adumim, the Golan and other places where Israelis are a clear majority.
Israel is giving self-rule to the million plus Arabs who live in Gaza not because they’ve been there for a long time. They haven’t. Israel is not leaving Gaza because the Arabs have any claim to that land other than their current possession. They don’t. What Israel is doing is telling the world that the Arabs of Gaza have the right of self-determination just as Israelis do throughout Israel. We hope the world listens.
We are not holding our breath, however. Logical consistency has not been the hallmark of the world when it comes to Jews and Israel. Allowing Arabs of Gaza the right to determine issues of their own sovereignty, but depriving Israelis of the same thing in Ariel, Beit El, Efrat and Jerusalem is discrimination against Israel that too many in the world are quick to accept.
Israel feels disengagement and division is the best antidote for the poisonous belligerence and violence that has plagued her for so many years. Arabs and Israelis are being separated on the basis of where they live, and Israel’s superior historical, moral and legal claim to this land allows her to make these judgments. Most of Israel’s people understand why she has to do this now and support this move.
In this historic time, Sharon is consistent, Israel is consistent and the United States needs to persevere. It is important to stand by Israel in a world that prefers to apply its prejudices against everything Jewish and Israeli.
The two principles that Israel is asserting are hers by right, and a world living by the rule of law is obligated to acknowledge them.
–nrg