I bet you don't believe that headline.

Well, click on this link and read his 2002 speech at the Likud Convention.

I need not add any further comment.

As you probably are aware, an American citizen whose child is born in Jerusalem, anywhere is Jerusalem, east or west, will have his birth registration and passport marked as being stateless.  Just "Jerusalem" will be penned in on the line.

Now, there's something new, seemingly as of last year.

If a child is born at home in one of the Jewish communities in Yesha, the registration of birth and passport will carry (Shiloh or Efrat or Hebron), "West Bank".

That is an amazing "natural growth" phenomenom.  Creating a country where there isn't one.

Official channels - American Citizen Services, Special Consular Services at the Jerusalem Consulate General - I turned to explained: "If a child is born in the West Bank, whether they are Israelis or Palestinians, place of birth on the U.S. passport is either the city (Efrat, Ramallah, etc.) or the area – the West Bank in that case."

But the "West Bank" doesn't exist as a geo-political entity. The 1947 UN Resolution referred to Judea and Samaria. There's nothing "natural" in this.

What gives?

Well, I searched and came up with this:

7 FAM 1360 APPENDIX D BIRTH IN ISRAEL, JERUSALEM, AND ISRAELI-OCCUPIED AREAS (CT:CON-254; 04-29-2008)

U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 7 – Consular Affairs 7 FAM 1300 Appendix D Page 11-13

...b. Birth in the Golan Heights: The birthplace that should appear on passports whose bearers were born in the Golan Heights is SYRIA.

c. Birth in the West Bank or in the No Man’s Lands between the West Bank and Israel: The birthplace for people born in the West Bank or in the No Man's Lands between the West Bank and Israel is WEST BANK; Those persons born before May, 1948 in the area known as the West Bank may have PALESTINE listed as an alternate entry. Those born in 1948 or later may have their city of birth as an alternate entry. Persons born in the West Bank in 1948 or later may not have Palestine transcribed as an alternate entry.

d. Birth in the Gaza Strip: The birthplace for people born in the Gaza Strip, is GAZA STRIP. PALESTINE is the alternate acceptable entry provided the applicant was born before 1948.

e. Birthplace in Israel: Write ISRAEL as the place of birth in the passport if and only if the applicant was born in Israel itself (this does not include the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, the West Bank or the No Mans Lands between the West Bank and Israel). Do not enter ISRAEL in U.S. passports as the place of birth for applicants born in the occupied territories.

f. Birthplace in Jerusalem: For a person born in Jerusalem, write JERUSALEM as the place of birth in the passport. Do not write Israel, Jordan or West Bank for a person born within the current municipal borders of Jerusalem. For applicants born before May 14, 1948 in a place that was within the municipal borders of Jerusalem, enter JERUSALEM as their place of birth. For persons born before May 14, 1948 in a location that was outside Jerusalem’s municipal limits and later was annexed by the city, enter either PALESTINE or the name of the location (area/city) as it was known prior to annexation. For persons born after May 14, 1948 in a location that was outside Jerusalem’s municipal limits and later was annexed by the city, it is acceptable to enter the name of the location (area/city) as it was known prior to annexation...

And it goes on.

So, first contemplate this: if my child's passport reads just "Jerusalem" as his/her birthplace, could it be that he/she/ was born in Jerusalem, New Zealand? Or Jerusalem, Georgia, United States of America? Or in Michigan? Or Maryland? Or either Ohio, Alabama, North Carolina or maybe Arkansas? And what about Jerusalem, UK?

Which Jerusalem then is it if no country is added?

As we all know, even in Washington, the name "West Bank" was apparently first used by Jordanians at the time of their annexation of the region in 1950, and has become the most common name used in English and some of the other Germanic languages.

So, in other words, the "West Bank" which doesn't really exist as a geo-political entity, and let us not forget as I was reminded, that in 1988, Jordan yielded any claim to represent the Arabs who prefer to be called "Palestinians", now takes precedence over a city 3000 years old which was the capital of the two Jewish commonwealths during the monarchy, the First and Second Temple periods and throughout the years of exile?

This is politics at its worse.

As there is no such a thing as "West Bank" for, if the US claims it is sticking to the 1947 UN Resolution as its basis, the WB never existed even then, and I would argue that not even now does it officially exist as a geopolitical entity.

But even so, can a Jew or anyone for that matter, since alternatives are allowed, ask that the terms "Judea" or "Samaria" since "Gaza" is permitted? Why not?

And let's continue our search for names that would illustrate the silliness of the State Dept. attempt to whitewash geopolitical reality.

Hebron, Wales
Palestine, Texas, US
Bethel, Alaska (maybe Governor Sarah Palin can help?)
Bethel in the Berkshires that's CT
Bethel, Anglesey, Scotland

But now contemplate this: the Consulate officilas want to reverse history.  If, perhaps,  previous children were born in Yesha, but not registered in accordance with the new regulation, their passports would have to be amended the next time they are renewed.

This must be countered.

P.S.  All those locations above are real.

As you've read, horses were used in yesterday's terror raid. Some say they were actually booby-trapped as if to be used in place of suicide bombers.

I initiated a campaign back in 2003, after friends of mine narrowly escaped injury and death when a donkey packed with explosives was blown up at the Gush Etzion checkpoint.  I targeted PETA, wrote to the head office and 15 other branches complaining about the misuse of animals this way and achieved the sending of a letter of protest by them.

Every little bit counts.

Why don't you write to PETA and simply ask them to condemn the terrorists who not only have no regard for Jewish lives but for animals, too.

There's a funny game going on in Washington.  It reminds me of the Mad Hatter Chase in May 1967 when, after Abba Eban reminded the Americans that as a result of the 1950 Tripartite Agreement they signed, Israel demanded assistance in opening up the blocked sea passages.  The State Department couldn't find a signed copy of the paper.

Now, Secretary of State Hillary (Kiss-Me-Souha) Clinton had this to say on ABC TV:

Well, that was an understanding that was entered into, so far as we are told, orally.

I'm sure you all realize there's quite an irony in there but be that as it may, there are quotations from Colin Powell and Daniel Kurtzer and a few other State Dept. officials attesting to actual negotiations and discussions the UAS and Israel were engaged in on the issue of the so-called 'settlement blocs' of Jewish communities, expansion, natural growth and freeze.

So what does Hillary think she's doing?  Has she no memory?  Or is it that she has no honor?

For anyone reading the reports in the media, in blogs and elsewhere on the issue of natural growth, the amount of material and its complexity is overwhelming.  Well, it certainly is for me.  It is also, sometimes, frustrating.  Take this New York Times graphic presentation, for example.

It appears quite impressive but what it is actually doing is imparting a sense of Jewish dominance, of something slithering along.  First of all, besides four Arab cities, where are the hundreds of Arab villages.  Second, if Arab population growth were placed on the same map, it would overrun the outlines and become a blob.

I am sure that if I had a real head for mathematics I could explain issues such as demographics, density, birth rates, etc.

I don't so just let me say: I admit it.  There really is no "natural growth".  It's all unnatural.

Jews have returned home.  They are revenants, coming back to their ancestral homes after centuries.

Despite difficulties, terror, opposition from within, pressure from without and many other obstacles, our growth is almost miraculous.

Maybe we do have God on our side.