| A total of | people interested in the truth have downloaded this page. |
This site will give you the information you need to understand the meaning of UN Security Council Resolution 242 (UNSCR 242), a key document in the history of Israel's conflict with the Arab Palestinians.
First, here is the actual text of the resolution, direct from the UN, as it was issued 22 November 1967. If you have never read it before, I suggest you do so now.
Various people speaking for the Palestinians (such as Hanan Ashwari) continuously say that UNSCR 242 requires Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza, and other areas. This is not true. In summary, here is what it actually means:
How do we know this is what was intended by UNSCR 242? Easy! There is a long record of public statements about how the resolution was negotiated and what was intended for it to accomplish. This article by Eugene V. Rostow (Distinguished Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, and former US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs) will set the record straight. Rostow was one of the US officials involved in drafting 242 so he knows first hand what was and was not intended. Various other officials have commented on the status of UNSCR 242 and how it relates to Israel's position. This page shows you their views.
No one, other than Arab apologists, expects Israel to withdraw before its security is assured. UNSCR 242 emphatically does not put any preconditions on Israel (or the Arab Palestinians for that matter). Israel is perfectly within its rights to remain in place until there is a negotiated peace agreement acceptable to Israel as well as to the Arab Palestinians. Israel moved into the West Bank and Gaza Strip areas as part of a defensive war started by the Arab enemies of Israel. Israel does not have to move out of those areas unless and until there is a negotiated peace that offers Israel security guarantees that make it unnecessary to keep control of the areas. Every terrorist incident proves that the time to trust the Arab Palestinians has not yet arrived.
While the decades have gone by without a peace agreement, Israelis have built settlements in the West Bank and Gaza areas. Settlements in the territories subject to UNSCR 242 are discussed in depth at this link from the Jewish Virtual Library and this link from ADL.
If you are open minded, you will quickly see that the Palestinian Arab position that Israel is an "occupying army" that is required to withdraw by UNSCR 242 is just not true. UNSCR 242 creates a framework for negotiating. If Arafat or his replacement will negotiate in good faith, instead of continuing with the combination of terrorist acts and propaganda, there can be a real peace for the benefit of Palestinian Arabs and Israelis both. Israel has already withdrawn from the Sinai based on peace agreements with Egypt and even dismantled Sinai settlements. Israel has already ceded control of large areas to the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo process. But every concession by Israel under agreements with the Arafat organization is followed by terrorist attacks and new demands. Until there is a real peace, Israel has every right to secure its country by remaining in the disputed areas.
Anne Miller
December 2001
| A total of | people interested in the truth have downloaded this page. |