Did the UN General Assembly agree: From River to Sea, Palestine must be free?

It does do damage. But in the first place, to the UN. In second place to the countries that approved of it. And no less to those that abstained. Just like the Holocaust was the moral downfall of the West, not of the Jews.

In short:

In short, it seems to say that all Jews should permanently leave Gaza, the West Bank, and the Center of Jerusalem, including the Wailing Wall.

And not by a slim majority:

At first glance, many assumed it was taking about returning to the pre-Six-Day War border of 1967, which FM Abba Eban called ‘Auschwitz borders.’ PM Menachem Begin described a retreat to the pre-1967 borders as ‘national suicide.’

Details

Resolutions by the UN Security Council are binding. UNSC Resolution 242 was not vetoed. In fact, Israel agreed to it because it stipulated the Arab States agree to Israel’s right ‘to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.’ But it demands of Israel to withdraw from ‘territories occupied in the recent conflict.’ How can Israel agree? Well, it says ‘territories,’ meaning: ‘some of the territories,’ not: ‘all territory,’ or ‘the territories.’ That’s how precise legal formulations count.

In contrast, the recent General Assembly Resolution is not binding. It discusses the ‘Occupied Palestinian Territory.’ How does it define that?

Page 2: ‘the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.’

Page 4: ‘renders Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory unlawful, and that this illegality relates to the entirety of the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967.’ Was Tel Aviv occupied by Israel in 1967? And Eilat? And Safed? And Beersheba7? And Acre? And was all of Jerusalem occupied by Israel in 1967? Yes, they were all held by Israel!

Page 4: ‘the Israeli occupation that began in 1967.’

Page 5: ‘since its occupation started in 1967.’

Page 6: ‘the territory occupied by Israel on 5 June 1967.’ That date is the beginning of the Six-Day War. It doesn’t say ‘since’ or ‘beginning.’ This is the whole territory held by the State of Israel until the 1967 War!

Page 6: ‘Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.’

Occupy (condensed)

1: to engage the attention or energies of

2a: to take up (a place or extent in space)

2b: to take or fill (an extent in time)

3a: to take or hold possession or control of

3b: to fill or perform the functions of (an office or position)

4: to reside in as an owner or tenant

Conclusion

Add it all up, and you get the territories before and after the Six-Day War!

In simple English: All Jews must leave all of Zion, from River to Sea.

A leading Dutch diplomat rejected my reading. ‘Judicially, it meant only the areas gained in 1967.’ I checked a lawyer. He agreed with her. “‘[T]he territory occupied by Israel on 5 June 1967′ must be an honest mistake.” I worry these ‘mistakes’ will be incorporated in a binding UNSC Resolution. All Palestinian organizations always see all of Israel as Occupied Territory.

Our difference of opinion consists of this. They hold that occupation must mean: 3a: to take possession or control of. But it may also mean: 3a: to hold possession or control of and 2a: to take up a place. They call the text clear and my alternative reading irrelevant in this context. I say there is a serious chance the text is purposely ambivalent to have it fit their uncompromising position. No one could convince me that this text was not deliberately created ambiguously. Therefore, it is problematic.

For me, it’s clear that this anti-Israel text was pretending to deal only with the territory conquered in 1967 to gain the most support and the least opposition, while, in fact, talking about all of Israel. Buyer beware.

Argentina, Czechia, Fiji, Hungary, Israel, Malawi, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the US rejected it.

No country had a valid excuse not to have joined them. J’accuse! Maybe Israel should refuse entrance to all subjects from the other countries since, according to their own governments, we have no jurisdiction here.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1