Arutz Sheva spoke on Sunday with Rep. Alan Clemmons (R-SC), who is in Israel as part of a delegation of 27 members of parliament from around the world who are visiting Rachel’s Tomb during the holiday of Sukkot.
Clemmons is taking part in the 6th annual Israel Allies Foundation Jerusalem Chairman’s Conference, which focuses on the 50th anniversary of the liberation and unification of Jerusalem and on instituting a new definition of anti-Semitism to include Anti-Zionism, in countries around the world.
Clemmons has attained world-wide attention due to his particularly unabashed support for Israel’s “right and duty to determine the destiny of her own God-given lands in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem without pressure from the United States.”
“We believe that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel, and we call for moving the American embassy to Israel. We believe that’s the right thing to do and, as a Republican, that’s part of our Republican platform. We look forward to that eventuality occurring under President Trump,” he stressed.
“Some would call this ‘the West Bank,’” said Clemmons regarding Judea and Samaria, “but in reality this is the heartland of Israel. This is where Israel in ancient times first came when they entered into the Promised Land.”
He rejected the notion that Israel could be described as an “occupier” in Judea and Samaria.
“A popular lie told throughout the world is that Israel is an ‘illegal occupier’ of Judea and Samaria, and I have a simple response to that,” said Clemmons. “I don’t understand how a Jew can be an illegal occupier of Judea any more than an Arab can be an illegal occupier of Arabia.”
“Jews are here in their homeland,” he stressed. “This is the Jewish homeland and we are standing in the heartland of the Jewish world. There have been periods of forced separation, but for the last 100 years there was an effort to return the land of Israel to its rightful owner, the rightful owner reflected back in the oldest deed known to mankind. That deed is recorded in the Bible. A deed from God to Abraham, of this land upon which we’re standing as an eternal inheritance for the people of Israel.”