History lesson

The Aug. 18 editorial “A Big Step Toward Peace” presents misinformation when it states, “The annexation, just like the occupation and all of the settlements, [is] illegal under international law.” From the time of the Romans until the 20th century, one invader after another took control of the Land of Israel until, after 400 years, the Ottoman Empire fell to the British in 1917. That same year Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, stating that a national home for the Jewish People should be established there.

The 1920 San Remo Conference of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Command adopted the Balfour Declaration and it became law. Two years later, the League of Nations unanimously approved the British Mandate directing Great Britain to establish a Jewish state. And when it was established, the United Nations, under Section 80 of its charter, assumed the obligations of the League of Nations. These agreements, which are the true international laws, give Israel its legal rights to its land and Judea and Samaria, commonly known as the “West Bank,” which the Jordanians illegally occupied from 1948 until 1967.

Furthermore, the “settlements,” which are really modern cities, in every negotiation between the parties since Oslo, have always been intended to be a part of Israel. If one would rename this area Pennsylvania, which consists of only 30% of the “West Bank,” the cities and their half a million residents are going nowhere and will always be in Israel. When Israel declares sovereignty over these communities, Israel will only be doing what it should have done years ago.

STUART V. PAVILACK

Executive Director Zionist Organization of America: Pittsburgh

Point Breeze