Welcome to Country: Israel’s response to the ICC, UN & Jew-haters
The introduction by Israel of a Welcome to Country ceremony – similar to that existing in Australia since 1973 – could be the perfect response by Israel to:
- Arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant
- The United Nations (UN) continuing efforts to create an independent Palestinian State in Gaza and Judea and Samaria (West Bank) under the Palestinian Authority pursuant to Security Council Resolutions 2334 (2016) and 2735 (2024) – whilst burying without discussion the 2022 Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution.
- Confronting Jew-haters worldwide since Gaza’s invasion of Israel on 7 October 2023
Israel is unique among the 193 UN member states: The only state that has reappeared on world maps after being erased for 3000 years.
Israel’s amazing rebirth began after World War 1 ended – when the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine authorised the Jewish people to “reconstitute the Jewish National Home” in the 22% of Palestine located west of the Jordan River provided nothing was done “which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
These rights are preserved in article 80 of the 1945 UN Charter.
I first proposed introducing a Welcome to Country ceremony in Israel on 14 September 2023 to bring Israelis together to help end political differences of opinion tearing the country apart:
“Such a ceremony would serve to bring the Jewish people together to publicly honour, recognise and acknowledge their forefathers as the traditional owners of the land on which the State of Israel has been established and to which Israel is entitled to lay claim in Judea and Samaria under articles 6 and 25 of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the United Nations Charter.
It would also unite Israelis in their fight against attempts by the UN and UNESCO to create political facts on the ground by erasing Jewish ownership of historic Jewish archaeological sites.
Their latest despicable effort is Jericho – containing Jewish heritage sites including the Hasmonean Winter Palaces, King Herod’s Third Palace, a Byzantine-era synagogue dating back to the 6th Century CE, ritual baths, and nearby burial caves used by priests of the Second Temple.”
The need for such a ceremony has increased exponentially since 7 October 2023 as Israel has become increasingly isolated internationally.
Encyclopaedia Britannica faithfully records the history of the Twelve Tribes of Israel arriving in Canaan and settling on both sides of the Jordan River as detailed in the Jewish Bible and designated on this map:
The Welcome to Country ceremony would pay respects to the 10 tribes who settled on the land located west of the Jordan River – now Israel, Gaza and Judea and Samaria (West Bank).
The ceremony would invoke a short recitation along the following lines:
“We gather today on the land settled by one of the twelve tribes of the Jewish people named [insert name of Tribe] 40 years after being freed from slavery in Egypt 3500 years ago.
We acknowledge the Tribe of [insert name of Tribe] its Leaders, their successors and tribal members in establishing and building the Jewish National Home on this land.
Am Yisrael Chai.
.. The people of Israel live”
The ceremony could open each session of the Knesset and Supreme Court, each school day assembly, communal, individual and sporting events and welcome travellers at Ben Gurion Airport.
Sign posts identifying each tribal areas boundaries’ could be erected.
The possibilities are endless.
The message sent to the world would be clear and unequivocal.
Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”
Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively by the author — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades
David Singer is a Sydney lawyer and a foundation member of the International Analysts Network
