Jerusalem Watchman

Around the world, as this year fades away, almost all eyes are on the economy. And when people worry about their pocket books they care a lot less about other issues “out there.” As far as the global situation goes, top economists in America and Europe warned this week that “we ain’t seen nothing yet.”

It looks like we who live in and care about Israel can say the same thing as far as the battle for the Jews’ historic homeland is concerned. If the incoming Obama administration, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations have their way - as spelled out by this self-appointed Quartet this past week - 2009 could well see Israel’s loosening grip finally relinquish its hold of Samaria and Judea - the home and burial place of Israel’s founding fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the land of the Bible.

December 16 saw the United Nations Security Council pass a resolution endorsing the so-called two-state-solution. It reads:

“Lasting peace can only be based on an enduring commitment to mutual recognition, freedom from violence, incitement, and terror, and the two-state solution, building upon previous agreements and obligations.”

It was, said the Jerusalem-based news service of Israel Today, a transparent effort to make irreversible the Annapolis Process begun by George W Bush in November 2007, and pushed relentlessly by his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice since then. Tzipi Livni - who according to today’s polls is edging ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu in the race for Israel’s next prime minister, and who has spent hours closeted away with Secretary Rice - welcomed the resolution.

When he becomes president, Barack Obama is widely expected to put his shoulder to the stalled wheels of the “peace process” and use the massive momentum he is carrying from the election polls to power the process forward - at Israel’s expense.

Smelling blood, the British government this week reportedly posted recommendations on the website of the Foreign Office to discourage any British people who may be considering purchasing property in the “West Bank” from doing so.

According to Ynetnews, “the advice…will warn potential buyers of settlement property that any future peace agreement between Israel  and the Palestinians ‘could have consequences for that property’”.

And an Associated Press report on December 19 claimed to expose the fraudulent purchase by Jews of “Palestinian land” for the settlement of Migron about five kilometers north of Jerusalem. This came just days after Israeli police forcefully ejected Jews from a Hebron house they insist they paid an Arab more than a million dollars for, and which the seller subsequently denied having sold.

Will Israel’s security forces be used by this or the next government to uproot the half-a-million Jews who live in Samaria and Judea?

A week ago, 6000 Israeli policemen carried out a mass exercise in riot control. More than 50 officers were reportedly injured in the training - some had hands and fingers broken. A few had to be hospitalized.

Representatives of Jews living in Samaria and Judea, who in the past have accused the police of using excessive force against the so-called settlers, were quick to respond to this news.

“The violent show put on by Israel’s Police is the best proof of our claims regarding the iron fist that the police use against the Jewish residents,” the Shomron Residents Committee said in a statement.

“If this is how they hit their friends during a drill, then it can certainly be understood what happens when this violence is turned towards the Jewish residents, with the approval and encouragement of the media and the political echelons.”

The Civil Rights Organization of Yesha issued a statement saying it has been “warning for years of the continuing disregard by the police of regulations and restrictions on using force. When the victims were ‘just’ demonstrators or regular citizens, no one cared to investigate seriously. But now that those hurt were policemen, perhaps the real lessons will finally be learned.”

Another reaction came from the Land of Israel Legal Forum, which called upon Public Security Minister Avi Dichter to initiate a public inquiry into the events.

“If dozens of policemen are injured in a mere exercise, we can see that we have a big problem and that we have unrestrained policemen who employ unreasonable violence,” the Forum director said, according to Israel National News.

Unsurprisingly, these concerns did not register with police officials, including Commissioner Dudi Cohen, who reportedly summed up the exercise as “a success.”

Forces will clash over these lands again in the coming year. The Muslim world will threaten and demand. The western world, led by a new American president and secretary of state, will push. Depending on who is put in the Israeli driver’s seat on February 10 (as well as on what happens between now and then) Israel will readily or reluctantly comply.

Where, oh where will things stand by the time the next New Year rolls around? And where, O where, will WE stand?

Only God knows the answer to both questions. If we don’t yet know the answer to the first, we should already know the answer to the second.