A British Conference on Israel's Right to Exist: Really?

by George Phillips • April 12, 2015 at 5:00 am

Iran has violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty time after time, often undetected; it also continues to violate Article 2, clause 4, of the United Nations Charter: "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state..."

During the British Mandate, the entire area was known as Palestine. The official listing for "Place of Birth" on all passports at the time -- for everyone, including Jews -- was Palestine.

One can only hope that what clearly seems such a fatally dangerous deal -- that threatens the existence of not only Israel, the Middle East and Europe, but, with Iran's intercontinental ballistic missile program, also the United States -- will not be allowed to happen.

In 1799, as Napoleon Bonaparte's army was besieging the city of Acre, Napoleon issued a letter, offering the Palestine as a homeland to the Jews, referring to them as "Rightful heirs of Palestine." Above, a painting depicting the siege of Acre.

The notion of Israel's "right to exist" has been in the news twice in recent days.

First, the University of Southampton, in Britain, announced that due to "safety fears," it was cancelling a conference, scheduled for later this month, to question Israel's right to exist.

Were the "security concerns" related to the fact that the conference would promote the rising infestation of Jew-hatred in Britain? A recent U.K. parliamentary report shows that hate crimes against British Jews have doubled in the past decade, and has called upon the British government to take urgent action.

The second time was when Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the Obama Administration's nuclear "framework" with Iran, said that in any deal, Iran should recognize Israel's right to exist.

Despite being a member of the United Nations along with Israel, Iran nevertheless does not recognize Israel's right to exist.