Thursday, October 25, 2007
Reaching a Settlement (By Way of Route 443)
Anarchists, far-leftists, Palestinian Authority Arabs and associated supporters of terrorism blocked Route 443 this morning. The four-lane, two-way divided highway connects the city of Modiin and Jerusalem, as well as feeding into a major expressway taking travelers from Jerusalem all the way to Tel Aviv. 443 is also the only direct access route for residents of the Binyamin region wishing to travel to the capital.
The road-blockers were protesting the fact that since the start of the Oslo War (also called the Second Intifada) in 2000, 443 has been mostly off-limits to cars from the Palestinian Authority. The protesters claimed that the restriction on PA vehicles is an act of "apartheid."
So, what else is new? Anything the state of Israel does that protects Israelis from non-Israelis is, by warped leftist definition, an act of apartheid.
The terror-facilitating ISM issued its own press release on the 443 sabotage in which it quotes the self-defined Israeli "human rights group" B'tselem as contesting the military's claim that keeping PA vehicles off the roads protects Israelis from drive-by shootings and infiltrations.
According to the ISM, "B'tselem explains that if Israel was only interested in protecting the lives of Israelis, rather than annexing the area, it could limit or even prohibit the travel of Israelis on the road...."
Interesting. You see, for ISM, B'tselem and the others, to "prohibit the travel of Israelis on the road" is perfectly fine. However, Heaven forfend that you suggest to "prohibit the travel of PA residents on the road." That, you racist, is apartheid.
This got me thinking. What if B'tselem was not a "human rights organization" but a rape crisis center?
"Hello, this is B'tselem.... Yes, ma'am, I understand you've been raped, but if you really wanted to protect yourself, then you would have stayed indoors, rather than trying to prevent strange men from attacking you like you did."
"Oh, yes. And maybe wear a burka...."
Incidentally, in the above ISM press release, Modiin is called a "settlement". In other ISM materials, Maccabim, which is an older town that was absorbed into Modi'in, is also called a "settlement." And this is just the publicly available stuff - and without mentioning the Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem that the ISM folks see as "settlements."
This is no minor point. Modiin, a city of over 65,000 people, is within the pre-1967 borders of the State of Israel.
The road-blockers were protesting the fact that since the start of the Oslo War (also called the Second Intifada) in 2000, 443 has been mostly off-limits to cars from the Palestinian Authority. The protesters claimed that the restriction on PA vehicles is an act of "apartheid."
So, what else is new? Anything the state of Israel does that protects Israelis from non-Israelis is, by warped leftist definition, an act of apartheid.
The terror-facilitating ISM issued its own press release on the 443 sabotage in which it quotes the self-defined Israeli "human rights group" B'tselem as contesting the military's claim that keeping PA vehicles off the roads protects Israelis from drive-by shootings and infiltrations.
According to the ISM, "B'tselem explains that if Israel was only interested in protecting the lives of Israelis, rather than annexing the area, it could limit or even prohibit the travel of Israelis on the road...."
Interesting. You see, for ISM, B'tselem and the others, to "prohibit the travel of Israelis on the road" is perfectly fine. However, Heaven forfend that you suggest to "prohibit the travel of PA residents on the road." That, you racist, is apartheid.
This got me thinking. What if B'tselem was not a "human rights organization" but a rape crisis center?
"Hello, this is B'tselem.... Yes, ma'am, I understand you've been raped, but if you really wanted to protect yourself, then you would have stayed indoors, rather than trying to prevent strange men from attacking you like you did."
"Oh, yes. And maybe wear a burka...."
Incidentally, in the above ISM press release, Modiin is called a "settlement". In other ISM materials, Maccabim, which is an older town that was absorbed into Modi'in, is also called a "settlement." And this is just the publicly available stuff - and without mentioning the Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem that the ISM folks see as "settlements."
This is no minor point. Modiin, a city of over 65,000 people, is within the pre-1967 borders of the State of Israel.
