OneJerusalem.com

Dr. Mordechai Kedar, an expert on Arab politics from Bar Ilan University, was invited for an interview on Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based cable news channel. From the very start, the interview turned into a heated argument.

Despite his rude manner, Dr. Kedar presented the Israeli-Jewish dogma in a clear and simple fashion. In short, he says that Jerusalem is historically and religiously connected to Judaism, while the Quran doesn’t explicitly mentions Jerusalem (Al-Quds in Arabic) even once. Furthermore, he claims that while the Golan Heights might be considered an “occupied territory” since it was conquered from the Syrians, no country has an historical claim on the West Bank. Jordan conquered this region when the Brits departed in 1948, but the land did not belong to the Jordanians nor to the Brits. Since 1967, Israel is in control of the West Bank, yet it isn’t an occupied territory taken from another country. He even compares the West Bank to Antarctica, which doesn’t belong to any one country.

Personally, I think he has valid points. No other country has a claim on the West Bank. Nevertheless, there are millions of people living in that region, without formal rights. They were not granted Israeli citizenship, and they don’t hold no other citizenship as well. One cannot ignore the reality of their presence.