The Leonard Lopate Show

how can 300,000 people be allow to cause the world so much trouble?

interesting how they are not mentioning that the settlements are illegal and a violation of israeli and international law.

<<< interesting how they are not mentioning that the settlements are illegal and a violation of israeli and international law.>>>

'Illegal,' 'violation' -- such fine words. Compare, if you will, the situation you apparently find so illegal and in violation from our taking this land away from the Indians. Want to give it back?

At least Israel has been motivated by self-preservation.

How often do you see any country on this planet hand back land obtained through victory in a war of self-defense to those who attacked it?

such nonsnese....

Arab terror is also "illegal"

Arab butchering of their own innocent children by strapping them with bombs to murder Israeli children is alos "illegal" isn't.

Ethnic cleansing of Jews who live on a previously barren hilltop is "illegal".

As a matter of fact, Leonard *did* ask guest Akiva Eldar what is the legal status of the settlements, and he clearly stated that they are against Israeli & International law.

P{oint of Fact is 100% correct.

Of course said guest is a proud member of the Israeli far-left and suffers from an anti-settlement fetish. There will always be some books that argue against human rights. Perhaps they'll argue in favor of slavery. Or of genocide. Or some other sort of arbitrary oppression.

Akiva Eldar's is one such book.

It starts out by boasting that it is contrary to international law for Israelis to live in the disputed West Bank! Well, that's not true. But that's not the only problem with that claim or with this book.

First of all, suppose the West Bank really were the sovereign land of some nation other than Israel. That nation might indeed make it illegal for Jews to reside there. But that would be a bad rule, not worthy of even being called a law. And it would set a precedent: people in other nations might create similar rules to keep out all sorts of people: Pagans, Muslims, Christians, Jews, or almost any other group.

In fact, the West Bank is disputed land. Given that most folks agree that Arabs ought to have a right to be there, it would be arbitrary (and possibly illegal) for Israel or anyone else to prevent Jews from being there as well.

And, of course, suppose that some or all of the West Bank turns out to be Israeli after all. In that case, it surely is not illegal for Israelis to be there.

This book is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

It is a violation of any kind of journalistic integrity to feature a person such as Akiva Eldar as a voice of authority on such a controversial issue. He is one of very few Israelis (along with Amira Haas and Gideon Levy) who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity to be truthful and objective and to demonize Jews/Israel/Zionism. I don't know why this is considered to be therapy but a counter-balanced voice is never heard on NPR/WNYC.

Like Eldar states, the US condemned the occupied territories and always said that Israel had to give them back.

But then along came President Bush II and said that Israel did not have to give them back.

That is b/c Bush II is part of the religious right and takes the Bible literally. The Bible says to whom the world's real estate belongs.

Good for Leonard Lopate (and us, the listening audience) for being such a fair and rationale interviewer. This is what makes NPR great. Controversial issues can be discussed in an intelligent manner without the rhetoric, grand-standing and one-dimensional views heard elsewhere.