At a conference held at the Knesset next week, an attempt was made to coordinate international and domestic recognition of Israel's sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, based on international law. Many important public figures participated in the conference, which was hosted by MK Tzipi Hotoveli (Likud) and MK Nissim Ze'ev (Shas).

Recently, we learned that Minister of Defense Barak approved turning Ariel College to a University. The college has been the center of a controversy due to its "sin" – that it is in the so-called West Bank. This news, although it is encouraging, shows how absurd the reality is in Judea and Samaria – the Defense Minister needs to approve Academic processes that have nothing to do with defense…

This shows, once again, the importance of a law that will resolve the status of Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, granting their residents rights that are equal to those of the rest of Israel's citizens. Last week, in order to raise public awareness for this law, The Israeli Initiative published a position paper – the first in a series titled "Think Again" – on "Applying the Law to Israeli Municipalities in Judea and Samaria – Background and Significance."

In the paper, we discuss the status of Judea and Samaria under International Law, and review the current, complicated legal situation. We end the booklet with a survey of the significant gains Israel will make as a result of applying Israeli law to the municipalities in Judea and Samaria.

The booklet was sent to Knesset members, journalists and public figures in order to raise awareness about Israel's historical and legal right to this land, and to promote the law that may be brought to a vote in the Knesset.

To read the booklet (in Hebrew):
http://www.hayozma.org/SiteContent/UplodedContent/94.pdf

"The Jewish Statesmanship Center for Strategic Planning" (http://jsc1.org/eng) held a conference for Hebrew University students in the Jerusalem Begin Center on the topic of "Refugees and the Jewish State". The event featured two lectures: Miki Bavli, the representative of UNHCR (the United Nations Refugee Agency) in Israel, who reviewed the organization's activities and Israel's policies in connection to the refugees. As readers of this update know, this organization takes care of all the refugees in the world – except for the Palestinians. As Bavli explained in his lecture, the organization does not deal with the Palestinian refugee problem because "our organization deals with solving refugee problems," and not perpetuating them. Bavli said that UNHCR's goal is to change the refugees' status, and assume that that is what the refugees want, as well.

After his lecture, I represented The Israeli Initiative, and spoke about UNRWA and the Palestinian Refugee problem. I emphasized the strategic significance of perpetuating the refugee problem and its ramifications as far as the continuing international de-legitimization of Israel. Everything I said was based on known facts that are available to all, but once again I saw that very few people are aware of the situation, even majors in Political Science or Middle Eastern Studies. The world is beginning to see UNRWA for the absurdity that it is. The Canadian government, the seventh-largest state donor to UNRWA, decided to reallocate some of its support for UNRWA to Palestinian Authority projects, due to their lack of faith in the UN agency. For more information: http://www.embassymag.ca/page/view/outcry-01-20-2010

For our blog post on the subject: http://theisraelinitiative.blogspot.com/2010/01/canada-reallocates-unrwa-funds-as.html

At The Israeli Initiative, we hope that this will be the first in a series of steps that will lead to states no longer funding UNRWA. The world is slowly recognizing that not only are they indirectly funding terror, the greatest crime is UNRWA's existence. Leaving millions of people as refugees without aiming to rehabilitate them is an anti-humanitarian act, and a true step towards ending the conflict and continuing the cycle of violence in the Middle East.

The Israeli Initiative is looking for volunteers who would like to help spread the word and share the Initiative's ideas. If you're interested, send an e-mail to:
israelinitiative1@gmail.com
Please write your full name, phone number, e-mail address and languages you speak\read, and we will get back to you with the ways you can spread the news about the Initiative.


Sincerely,

Yoav Sorek
Manager, The Israeli Initiative
www.Israelinitiative.com