Tel-Chai Nation

The deputy foreign minister has produced a video on the following page (they seem to have deliberately disabled the embed option, or I'd post direct) to tell the truth about the so-called "west bank":

In the video Ayalon answers the use of such terms as "West Bank," "occupied territories," and "1967-lines," and makes Israel's case in clear, factual terms without equivocation.

Ayalon says Judea and Samaria were taken from the occupying Jordanians during a defensive war and therefore the "settlements" are legal.

"The idea behind the creation of the video is distributed in an innovative way and explains the Israeli position in fighting unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state," Ayalon said.

"Israel's argument based on facts get lost in the headlines and pictures. The challenge is to adjust the message to the medium and nature of the online world," he added.

It has predictably enraged the PA:

The new diplomatic effort by Israel has clearly rattled the Palestinian Authority, whose chief negotiator Saeb Erekat stated to the official PA news agency WAFA, “With this video, the Israeli government has left no doubt on its pro-conflict agenda. Now, the international community knows the Israeli government is committed to denying the Palestinian people their inalienable right to self-determination and on continuing their [sic] illegal and colonial enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Ayalon pointed out in the video that United Nations resolutions on the status of Judea, Samaria and Gaza are just that – resolutions – and are not international law. Erekat was incensed at Ayalon’s stating that “the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank" (in erekat's words) are "a legitimate part of Israel.”

The Palestinian Authority negotiator added, “This is not an amateur video prepared by an extremist group. An official representing the State of Israel presents a cynical and falsified account of history and international law."

“In its desperate attempt to gear international discourse away from the pursuit of genuine peace to the outdated arguments of those who oppose it, this official video went as far as discarding the United Nations," he accused.

Since the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign against Hamas, the ensuing Goldstone Report, and the IHH terror-linked flotilla last year, Israel has began to turn around worldwide attempts to make the Jewish state appear illegitimate.

Erekat can go take a jump, as far as I'm concerned.

Labels: anti-semitism, islam, Israel, terrorism, UN corruption