OPINION:
Britain, Australia, Portugal, Canada — these countries all just recognized Palestinian statehood, and all just in time for this week’s U.S. General Assembly gathering — a move aimed at exerting extra pressure on Israel and the White House to get in line with the two-state solution that’s not so much a solution as an antisemitic means of eradicating the Jewish people.
Hamas has just scored a massive win.
Terrorists ought not be rewarded for their acts of terrorism. But this is exactly what is unfolding among world powers.
France, too, has pledged to recognize a Palestinian state.
“The coordinated initiative from the three Commonwealth nations [of U.K., Australia, Canada] and longtime allies reflects growing outrage at Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and the steps taken by the Israeli government to thwart efforts to create a Palestinian state, including by the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank,” The Associated Press reported.
OK. But first: It’s Judea and Samaria, not the West Bank.
The West Bank is a term used by Jordan as a means of claiming ownership of that land. Judea and Samaria, on the other hand, are the biblical names of the properties, noted for their ties to Jewish ancestry and identity. Wipe out Samaria and Judea and wipe out much of King David’s reign; wipe out the covenantal histories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with God; wipe out Bethlehem — and more.
Words matter.
Names matter.
Judea and Samaria rightfully belong to the Israeli people.
And getting back to the AP statement — and “Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza” — fact is, the Israeli government has gone above and beyond to protect civilians in its war on Hamas, even to the point of jeopardizing the safety and security of its own IDF troops. Israel has announced where it’s going to strike in Gaza, before initiating the strikes; Israel has facilitated the flight of civilians from spots in Gaza that were set for IDF attacks against Hamas — even while acknowledging that true “civilians” in Gaza are difficult to determine. The population of Gaza, after all, voted for Hamas — cheered the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas against Israel — allowed Hamas to build tunnels beneath their homes and store weapons beneath their beds. In Gaza, the degrees of separation between Hamas terrorist and innocent civilian are minute, if existent at all.
And all that talk about the poor, starving Palestinian people of Gaza?
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been delivering massive amounts of food to the people of Gaza — and in a way that ensures the food actually lands in the hands of the people, not Hamas. On Sept. 19, GHF reported, “More than 168 million meals distributed to date” and “more than half a million meals delivered today across two distribution sites.” Unlike the aid coming from the United Nations, the vast majority of which is intercepted and stolen by weapons-wielding Hamas terrorists, the food from GHF is protected and secured, and the lines of people who form to receive the food are protected and secured, so that terrorists aren’t benefiting from the donations of the world.
“UN Reports 88 Percent of Aid Trucks Slated for Delivery in Gaza Since [month of] May Looted Along Routes,” the Foundation for Defense of Democracies reported in August.
The United Nations cites the insecurities of war as reason for the interceptions.
But this is the same United Nations that finds fault with Israel at every turn, all the while defending Hamas.
Enter: the latest U.N.-related defense of terrorism — pressing the recognition of a Palestinian state.
Gaza was already home for the Palestinian people. Look what they did. They started a war against Israel using the millions upon millions of dollars that poured into the land from outside governments. Rather than building schools and bridges and businesses, the Gazans built tunnels. Rather than living peacefully aside their Jewish neighbors, the Gazans plotted the destruction of the Israeli nation and launched an unprecedented and savage attack on innocence. October 7 is the day Israelis gave up the notion of any two-state solution.
Oct. 7 is the day the Israeli people understood once and for all that peaceful coexistence with those who simply want to eradicate you from the face of the earth is impossible.
“Palestinian state ‘will not happen,’ Netanyahu vows, says Israel’s response forthcoming,” The Times of Israel wrote.
His statement: “I have a clear message to those leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre on October 7 — you are handing a huge reward to terror. It will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan.”
America should stand in full support of Israel.
To allow Hamas this win would send a clear message to all the antisemitic, anti-West, anti-America terrorists of the world that says: If you wait it out, you’ll get your way.
That’s not only dangerous for Israel. That’s dangerous for all of civil society.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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