Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Occupied Territories Revisited

This article is lengthy but it is one of the best review articles relating to Israel's recent history that I have seen.

If you have some time and a lot of interest, here it is, complete with maps, topography, strategic vulnerabilities and threatening rocket ranges.

The Occupied Territories Revisited: the Doctrine of Defensible Borders

Just a couple of introductory quotes below:

It's a puzzle - isn't it? A a tiny state of a few million industrious souls is viewed as a truculent, sneering imperialist bully. Surely there's a story behind such a cognitive burr. Why would we dispute the morality of a nation that retains territory of high military value gained in a defensive war?

At bottom, Israel is seen by its enemies as a blemish on the regional caliphate and a rent in the fabric of pan-Arabism. This viewpoint was stated with spareness and clarity during the run-up to the 1967 Six-Day War by then Iraqi President Abdel-Rahman Aref who said in a radio interview

"The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified." With refreshing directness, for a head of state, he added "This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear - to wipe Israel off the map."

The probability of a negotiated peace is vanishingly small given the philosophical moorings of Israel's neighbors; they will only temporize as they maneuver to eliminate the stain, the "error which must be rectified." Illustrative is the Islamic principle hudna, for cease-fire, understood to mean a truce that is maintained until the balance of power changes. A related concept is taqiyya, which is the practice of deception, legitimated by the Koran, to advance Islam geopolitically.


The above really just introduces this detailed piece, which describes what has happened in the region since 1948, and how we have gotten to the situation that we see today. A little bit more of the introduction:

It follows then that Arab strategists reformulated their approach toward the destruction of Israel after their defeat in the Six-Day War. They have, for decades now, waged an economic, diplomatic and propaganda campaign whose object is to isolate Israel and shrink her to indefensible size and configuration.

A key element of this strategy was the refusal to absorb Arab refugees into Arab countries to perpetuate the meme of the homeless, beleaguered Palestinian people.

The doctrine of defensible borders was reaffirmed last year by current PM Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel's further challenge is to enforce that military defensibility of its borders be self-reliantly robust, as much as possible. Its security arrangements cannot be dependent on transitory political conditions in the US or the Arab states, whose overt hostility to Israel waxes and wanes but whose ingrained commitment to its destruction is well-nigh a law of nature.


This one is worth bookmarking and keeping around for reference.

One aspect of the land giveaway (if it occurs) is crystal clear: If Israel gives up the West Bank and the Golan Heights, they will be placed in a very weak and vulnerable position - a situation that will most certainly invite future attacks.

On the other hand, we know that Israel will be placed in such a dire situation that only God's direct intervention can rescue them. With that in mind, we can rest assured that all of this is part of a bigger plan.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scott >>>> Please go to the link
listed below....

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=201611

I think you will like this one...

Stephen in Hawaii !!!!

Expected Imminently said...

Hello Scott

I could never have imagined Israel giving up the Golan, its elevation as a look-out for incoming armies has been invaluable. In the days of satellite ‘watchmen’, I suppose they could be lulled into a false sense of security using this method alone and physically give up the high ground?

Do they have their own ‘spy in the sky’ to rely upon, or are they trusting other nations to tell them the truth? Even so, what if they was nothing for the satellite to actually see.

Without a direct Israeli presence in all high places, I fear their enemy would be able to do a sneak attack from underground. An enemy force could swarm the land before any Israeli soldiers could be mustered.

I may be in Lala Land, but I well remember when Israel discovered the huge man made caverns filled with Soviet tanks, trucks and a vast array of weapons, opening out into the Med, the enormity of it was breathtaking. Can’t quite remember, was it connected with Beirut – Lebanon? It would be interesting to view those old pictures again. The thing is; it so very nearly worked; they were on a green light if I remember correctly.

With the advancements made decades later, and we know they are fond of tunnelling; all of Gog’s armies could be at Israel’s borders even as we ‘speak’ arriving through an underground motorway (on horse back?) Pipes for fresh water, fuel and ventilation and a conveyor with food stuffs would be no problem. Even an efficient sanitary system. Imo.

I have seen film of Turkey’s ancient, fully defensible, well stocked, underground cities. (Early Christians escaped into them.) They were hewn out by hand, so if they could achieve that centuries ago, with modern mining equipment – no problem. Imo

Sue
God bless, keep, and protect Israel,

Scott said...

Stephen--many thanks for the link!

Sue, Thats fascinating, I wasn't aware of that scenario involving tunnels etc, but it would be in keeping with the Gog-MaGog invasion. hmmmm....thats food for thought indeed. Also, there have been a number of reports of the US trying to get Syria and Israel into negotiations...I have a feeling that the Golan Heights are 'back in play' at the moment and that is very disturbing. I sure hope and pray that Bibi knows his business ( I still believe that he does). We shall see.

Scott said...

Stephen- I'm not the least bit surprised that Iran has been doing this...They control Hamas. The build-up to war continues - its just a matter of time now.

Expected Imminently said...

Hello Scott

I have managed to ferret out just a little info on the tunnels I wrote about. It’s a pity I can’t take a picture of my memory!

Roots of Hezbollah

Massive tunnel openings bored with Russian machinery connected miles of tunnels stocked with tons of Russian made ammunition used by Arafat’s PLO fighters based in southern Lebanon.

Just in the last few days Israeli ground forces have needed to go into Lebanon. The above tunnels from the 1980s have been enlarged, some with holding areas 10 stories deep in the earth. Terrorists are now firing from underground and their locations are almost impossible to pinpoint and destroy.

http://www.shalom-shalom-jerusalem.org/hezbollahroots.html

Scott said...

Wow- thats an interesting find, Sue. It makes sense that they'd do something like this. Very interesting - I'll go to that link --- many thanks!

Expected Imminently said...

Hello Scott

I repeatedly tried last night to post the following, to no avail.

Bit more info worth seeing. Scroll down to about the 42nd paragraph.

The war torn history of Israel


In June, 1982, while responding to a PLO attack from a terrorist base in southern Lebanon, Israeli Intelligence discovered that Russia had enough arms and foodstuffs in huge caves under the town of Sidon to supply a million-man army, including uniforms, assault rifles, ammunition, shells, missiles, and tanks. They found two huge digging machines that were used to dig the underground fortress. The smaller one of the two was able to dig a hole 30 feet wide, 24 feet high, and 60 feet deep, in eight hours. They were part of a six-machine shipment to Austria by a U.S. manufacturer. The whereabouts of the other four were not known. The shocking implication of that discovery, was that the shelf life of the K-rations (meal packets) were only six months, which led many to believe the Israel thwarted a Russian invasion of Israel that was planned for the fall of 1982.

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/history_nwo/history_nwo11.htm

Scott said...

Thats amazing. You have to consider that something like this will be used again...The other four? Hmmm...