by Douglas Altabef
Hat tip: Dr. Jean-Charles Bensoussan
The clear implication is that Israel has no right to patrol and guard and control its sovereign territory as it sees fit.

Thousands of Gazans riot at the border with Israel, throwing live grenades and explosives at IDF soldiers and into Israeli territory
Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Office via Twitter
We have internalized the idea that individual 
nations are sovereign – independent, and in control of their respective 
countries. They protect their own borders, using soldiers who are part 
of an army of that sovereign power.
All countries respect the rights of other countries to exert their sovereignty in such ways as a particular nation sees fit.
It all sounds well and good, but it all 
breaks down in the case of Israel. When Israel seeks to protect its 
borders or transition points to sensitive areas, it is frequently met 
with contempt – contempt for its soldiers guarding these locations, and,
 by extension, contempt for the nation itself.
How is this manifested? “Observers” routinely 
hover at checkpoints or guardhouses to “monitor” the behavior of the 
soldiers manning them. In practice, this monitoring often takes the form
 of subtle or not so subtle harassment, in which observers film soldiers
 at extremely close range, hoping to provoke a reaction from a soldier 
that can go viral as an act of oppression, or even a war crime.
Much of this contemptuous behavior is undertaken 
or sponsored by the European Union, individual European governments or 
NGOs connected with them.
What is the significance of this despicable 
behavior?  First and foremost, it shows a complete disregard and 
derogation of Israeli sovereignty. The clear implication is that Israel 
has no right to patrol and guard and control its sovereign territory as it sees fit.
Did these countries not get the memo informing 
the world some 70 years ago that Israel was now an independent nation, 
just like all the member states of the United Nations? Or is this part 
of the creeping and creepy morphing of the European Union into an 
imperialist entity that is uncaring as to national borders and nation 
states in general?
One senses that even with the EU’s transnational 
orientation, Israel is a special case. There is the clear sense that 
somehow Israel’s sovereignty is contingent and conditional; it exists at
 the sufferance of the European nations from whom most of Israel’s 
founders fled.
It is no secret that the EU and most Western 
European countries support the Palestinians. They are eager to see a 
Palestinian state come into existence, regardless of the security 
implications that would entail for Israel.
The policies of successive Israeli governments 
have therefore been maddening to varying degrees. From the European 
perspective, the Netanyahu government has been one of the worst, because
 there has been no movement, no meaningful concessions, to reaching the 
goal of Palestinian statehood.
So, Europeans have decided to use the back door. 
They employ anti-Zionist Israeli NGOs to espouse the policies that they,
 the Europeans, are seeking to implement. The idea here is that if 
actual Israelis push for these policies there will be a greater 
likelihood that their government will comply.
At the same time, the Europeans have chosen to 
react as if the problem didn’t exist, meaning as if there was no Israeli
 sovereignty to begin with.
This attitude is manifested in the harassment of 
soldiers at checkpoints and at sensitive locations such as Hebron. 
Harassing the soldiers of a foreign country is akin to not recognizing 
the legitimacy of that country, nor the soldiers who serve it.
Until recently, Israel has chosen to endure this 
state of affairs. Army protocols allow for civilians to approach 
soldiers and to film them in close proximity. The government typically 
does not interfere with the resulting harassment by arresting or 
deporting those who undertake it.
Fortunately, change is coming because Zionist 
organizations and citizens are revolted by the free hand that these 
loathers have had.
One effort undertaken by Im Tirtzu, Israel’s 
largest grassroots Zionist organization, is particularly promising. Im 
Tirtzu has recruited a group of volunteer “Video Commandos,” who have 
been fighting fire with fire, employing the same rights of proximity 
exploited by the demonizers.
The Video Commandos recently achieved a 
significant victory when the primarily Scandinavian EAPPI, an affiliate 
of the anti-Zionist World Council of Churches, announced that they were 
leaving Hebron because of the “harassment” their volunteers had recently
 been subjected to.
That “harassment” was nothing more than turning 
the tables on them, presenting EAPPI with a new reality. Suddenly, the 
Video Commandos were showing exactly what EAPPI members were doing in 
their efforts to demonize soldiers.
That new reality, and the prospect that the 
anti-Israel activities of these provocateurs will be widely broadcasted 
to the Israeli public, is a powerful tool.
Douglas Altabef
Source: https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/what-happened-to-israels-sovereignty-at-its-borders/2019/03/04/
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