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PA draft resolution: Declare settlements illegal
Yitzhak Benhorin
Published: 20.01.11, 09:04
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46 Talkbacks for this article
1. NOT yet "palestinian" land
nadav ,   tlv israel   (01.20.11)
until peace treaty between israel and "palestinians" determines that it is.. until then, the land is disputed according to international law. period. the arabs and their commy allies should stop trying to bulldoze the peace process!
2. palestinian actions/foreign ministry strike
LT COL HOWARD ,   WASHINGTON DC USA   (01.20.11)
Pass emergency regulation to draft all strike is immediately. If Israelis can and will be called up to give their lives for their country then these strikers who are destroying Israel for their own selfishness should be impressed into immediate duty. Remember, President Reagan and the air controllers? Now is the time to show the resolve that says Israel will survive and anyone who undercuts that survival is a traitor!!!
3. your foreign ministry is so ridiculous...
eporue ,   europe   (01.20.11)
never they are there when needed... lol
4.  America's Credibility at Stake.
Salma ,   Palestine   (01.20.11)
Raise the Palestinian flag in Washington is a good step, but America can do more. Hopefully, the US won't turn its back on the Palestinians.
5. lebanon is falling apart, yet they still obscess
david ,   uk   (01.20.11)
about bashing Israel!?
6. Ridiculous that Israel was absent
Gila ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (01.20.11)
It is utterly ridiculous that there was no Israeli presence. Strike or no strike, an official Israeli presence MUST be there!
7. Is the whole government on strike?
moshe ,   jerusalem   (01.20.11)
Where is the PM ? Why is the UN Amb the only one who can respond?
8. Ah, the impotent UN gets another woodie over Israel
Brian Cohen ,   Judean Peoples Front   (01.20.11)
3 cheers for the UN calling halt to all activity in the west bank, and ignoring all the Palestinian rockets, bombs and bullets! More proof of the uselessness of the UN and the incompetence of its overpaid silly servants like Pascoe.
9. Judenrein.... where did we hear this before?
(01.20.11)
10. New approach to the age old debate
Yosef ,   Rehovot, Israel   (01.20.11)
Israel should go on the offensive with at counter UN resolution condemning all the illegal Arab settlements in Judea and Shomron and the illegal housing and buildings in and around Jerusalem.
11. #1 - There is no dispute that the Occupation
Doug ,   Rochester, USA   (01.20.11)
and the colonization of W. Bank, E. Jerusalem and Golan Heights are ILLEGAL. Just read UNSCR 242 and the Fourth Geneva Convention. If I break into your house and refuse to leave, that does not make your house disputed territory.
12. Fire Foreign Ministry protestors immediately & pass law...
Paqid Yirmeyahu ,   Ra'anana, Israel   (01.20.11)
These anti-patriot traitors are conceding Israeli land and security acquired by the blood of patriotic Jews for a pot of lentils. Pass a law making such egregious abandonment, by Foreign Ministry employees, of Israeli national interests and security treason, with the full effect of its punishment. Do it NOW! It's a national crisis that may do irreversible and existential harm to Israel. Work in the Foreign Ministry must be no less patriotic than soldiers giving their lives on the battlefield. We need patriots in the Foreign Ministry no less than on the battlefield. If they aren't willing to do that then let them fix appliances or sell shoes. Paqid Yirmeyahu Paqid 16, The Netzarim, Ra'anana, Israel Israeli Torah-reverer & Orthodox Jew: Teimani, Baladi, Dor Dai Advocate for Logic as Hermeneutic Halakhic Authority Welcoming all who choose to keep Torah (When questions to me go unanswered, ynet has refused to post it. Ck our Web Café at www.netzarim.co.il)
13. @8 Brian, impotent with a woodie??
Name Withheld   (01.20.11)
I should have such luck.
14. 4 Salma - US Position Murky - Rightly So
Mark of Lewiston ,   Lewiston USA   (01.20.11)
The US has taken the position stated in the article. But at State, all attempts by reporters to get the US to commit to veto or not veto have been shunted aside. What the US may actually do is either undecided or the subject of negotiations with both the governments of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Neither Israel nor the PA have exactly been cooperative with US efforts and both blame the US for all the ills in the world. It may just be in the US interest to be in the restroom when the vote is taken or actively abstain. Israel signed on to Geneva IV which bans land acquisition by conquest. Conquest is the basis for any Israeli "dispute" over the land. But Israel has been and acted like a US ally in the past. The present status is not as clear. Israeli treatment of the current US administration has not been friendly, to say the least. So it is difficult to predict how the US will or may act in this circumstance.
15. If the intent is to achieve an accommodation of peaceful....
Jehudah Ben-Israel ,   Qatzrin, Israel   (01.20.11)
... coexistence between the Muslim-Arab world and the tiny nation-state of the Jewish people, the focus should be just that. And based on UN Security Council Resolution 242, passed unanimously and accepted by all relevant parties to the conflict, the main matters that need to be resolved, through direct negotiations and without precondition, is the "secure and recognized boundaries" called for by 242. Note, the conflict at hand began in 1920 when the Muslim-Arabs, in an organized fashioned, attacked the Jewish community of the Land. The war-of-attrition-through-terror which has not ceased since came about 28 years before the attempt by the Muslim-Arab world to wipe Israel off the face of earth upon its proclamation, 1948, and 47 years before the Six-Day War during which the Muslim-Arab world attempted again to eliminate Israel. "Settlements" were not the cause of lack of peace then and they are not today. The fundamental reason peace is not with us is the fact that the Muslim-Arab world, local and regional, refuses to accept Israel's RIGHT to be, to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people on ANY parcel of land between the River and the Sea. "Settlements" is just an excuse for not coming to the negotiating table and, based on UN Security Council Resolution 242, resolve the dispute in a way that all states in the region, including Israel, will be able to exist beyond "secure and recognized boundaries", including the nation-state of the Jewish people, Israel.
16. #1 Wrong
Sam   (01.20.11)
The whole world agrees that according to international law, the land in question is occupied territory. You are alone in your isolated point of view. Israel has been "bulldozing" the peace process with every house it demolishes.
17. So Israeli of us.
noa ,   israel   (01.20.11)
What if we lose Israel because of a strike?
18. Salma
jUDAH THE LION   (01.20.11)
You can raise the ugly Palestinians flag over the WHITEHOUSE no objection, but for sure not in our COUNTRY which is called ISRAIL and in the Quran called BNEI ISRAIL
19. Re: # 14 Mark of Lewiston
Ariel Ben Yochanan ,   Kfar Tapuah, Efraim,   (01.20.11)
B"H Geneva doesn't apply as Israel conquested Judea and Samaria in '67 not from a sovereign state, but from Jordan, an illegal occupier.
20. Israel is lost
noa ,   israel   (01.20.11)
21. 19 Ariel - Read the Convention
Mark of Lewiston ,   Lewiston USA   (01.20.11)
You really should read the convention. Israel did sign and ratify it. Acquisition by conquest does not distinguish from whom. It merely prohibits the acquisition and right of conquest entirely.
22. #14 Mark ,
Salma ,   Palestine   (01.20.11)
Palestinian Authority Government has fulfilled all its obligations under so-called road map plan. Mark, to be fair & balanced you should tell the truth as it.......to my great regret the the United States to favor only "Israeli" positions, and so there will be no peace in the Middle East as long as America is completely biased to "Israel". America wants to be the sole arbiter of the peace process, whom you suggest to blame, Mark ?! Honolulu ; )
23. #13...yep, just like I said
Brian Cohen ,   Judean Peoples Front   (01.20.11)
The UN gets hard on the subject of Israel, but is totally limp when it comes to human rights and conflicts anywhere else in the world.
24. #11,#14 Not so simple..
Ted ,   UK   (01.20.11)
Firstly all occupied teeritories are a result of a War that was forced on Israel in 67. So, after a war some agrrements have to take place to resolve issues (For how long the US and Britain were staying in Berlin as a result od a dispute after WW2 ?) Golan Heights are a different issue from the West bank and Gaza.. Syria is still in a "virtual" state of war with Israel...so Why Israel should give back the Golan heights without a proper peace agrrement? The west Bank and Gaza were taken from Jordan and Egypt , NOT from any "palestinian entity". The question is: why the Palestinians didvn'y have any claims for sovereignty before 67??... so it is a disputed area...
25. Clarification of Settlement Issue
Robert Blum ,   New York USA   (01.20.11)
US President Barack Obama consistently couches his demand that Israel prohibit Jewish people from constructing or expanding our homes and communities in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria in legal-sounding language. Obama has called settlements "illegitimate." And he has said that Israel "has obligations under the road map," while referring disparagingly to "settlements that, in past agreements, have been categorized as illegal." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell have repeatedly uttered similar statements. By characterizing its demand that Israel prohibit Jews from building homes in Israel's capital city and its heartland as a legal requirement, the Obama administration portrays Israel as an international outlaw. After all, if building homes for Jews is a crime, and Israel is not prohibiting Jews from building homes, then Israel is at best guilty of enabling a crime to take place, and at worst, it is a criminal state. It makes good political sense for the Obama administration to make its case against Israel in this fashion. According to a survey of US public opinion published in early 2006 by the Boston Review, whereas only 7 percent of Democrats support going to war to spread democracy - versus 53% of Republicans; 71% of Democrats - versus 36% of Republicans - support going to war to help the United Nations "uphold international law." What this poll shows is that for Obama supporters, the idea that Israel should be treated poorly because it is in breach of international law resonates deeply. The problem with the Obama administration's characterization of a ban on Jewish building in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as an Israeli legal obligation is that Israel has never taken upon itself a legal obligation to prohibit such building activities. Israel has never signed an agreement that has characterized any Jewish communities as "illegal." Moreover, both former prime minister Ariel Sharon's chief of staff Dov Weisglass and former president George W. Bush's deputy national security adviser for the Middle East Elliot Abrams have gone on record stating that Sharon's much vaunted decision to curtail Jewish building in Judea and Samaria (never Jerusalem), in line with the road map negotiating framework, was based on a series of explicit understandings with the Bush administration that spelled out the scope of Jewish building that Israel would maintain for the duration of the peace process. As Abrams wrote on Thursday in The Wall Street Journal, "Not only were there agreements, but the prime minister of Israel relied on them..." Then, too, since the road map was approved as a mere cabinet decision - as opposed to an international agreement - the Netanyahu government has no legal obligation to actively advance it. Indeed, if it wishes, it can abrogate Israel's acceptance of the document at any time simply by calling for another vote. More importantly perhaps from the Obama administration's perspective is that the road map itself lacks the force of international law. Although it was adopted by the Security Council, it was not adopted as an internationally binding document under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Consequently, Israel has no international legal obligation to end Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria or Jerusalem. Like the US, Israel is a signatory to the 1976 International Convention for Civil and Political Rights, which among other things prohibits all forms of discrimination against people on the basis of religion and nationality. Consequently, Israel is barred from discriminating specifically against Jews who wish to build homes on legally controlled lands in Judea and Samaria. As a binding treaty, this convention takes precedence over the nonbinding road map. Indeed, given the road map's prejudicial position on Jewish building it can be reasonably argued that the road map itself calls for a breach of international law.
26. Part 2 Clarification of The Settlements Issue
Robert Blum ,   New York USA   (01.20.11)
Finally, there is always the claim made by Israel's critics that Jewish communities located beyond the 1949 armistice lines are illegal by dint of the Fourth Geneva Convention from 1949. That convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring parts of its population to occupied territory. Legal authorities have long disputed whether this convention is applicable to Judea and Samaria, but even if it is applicable, according to Prof. Avi Bell from Bar-Ilan University Law School, it "only proscribes state actions." Bell explains, "The Fourth Geneva Convention does not purport to limit in any way what individual Jews may or may not do on their legally held property or where they may or may not choose to live." WHEREAS UPON examination it is clear that the Obama administration is wrong in insinuating that Israel is in breach of its international legal commitments through its refusal to bar Jewish construction in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, the Obama administration's own policy toward the Palestinians places it in clear breach of both binding international law and domestic US law. On September 28, 2001, the UN Security Council passed binding Resolution 1373. Resolution 1373, which was initiated by the US government, and was passed by authority of Chapter VII, committed all UN member states to "refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts." Resolution 1373 further required UN member states to "deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts or provide safe haven" to those that do. In 1995, the US State Department acknowledged that Hamas fits the legal definition of a terrorist organization. Today, due to its policies toward Hamas, the Obama administration is in breach of both Resolution 1373 - that is, of international law - and of US domestic law barring the provision of support and financing to foreign terrorist organizations. According to an internal State Department document cited Wednesday by the Atlas Shrugs Web site, the US has already transferred or is in the process of allocating $300 million dollars to Gaza through USAID and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Since Hamas controls "humanitarian" organizations in Gaza, and Hamas has openly and repeatedly stolen "humanitarian aid," there is little doubt the transfer of funds to Gaza constitutes indirect assistance to Hamas and is therefore prohibited by Resolution 1373 as well as by US statute. The Obama administration is further in breach of international and domestic US law due to its attempts to coerce Israel into opening international passages between Israel and Gaza to enable trade and commerce with Hamas-controlled Gaza and to end or curtail travel restrictions for people between Gaza and Israel.
27. Response To # 11
Robert Blum ,   New York USA   (01.20.11)
Jerusalem, Judea & Samaria were given eternally to the Jews by G-d, though you may not like this. Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Qoran which came thousands of years after our Torah, yet it is mentioned in our Torah more than 100 times. The land was occupied by the Turks Ottoman Empire & thereafter by Trans-Jordan which became Jordan, created by the British who have persecuted & hated Jews from the years of the 1200's until now, & they did not allow Jews or Christians to enter the Holy city (holy to Jews, NOT to Muslims, except the Al Aqsa mosque which they wrongfully built upon the Jewish 'Holy of Holies', trying to eradicate all evidence of a Jewish presence ever being there. When Israel defeated Jordan which was united with Egypt, Syria etc. in its attack upon Israel in 1967, they were soundly defeated. The Arabs cleverly renamed Judea & Samaria as The West Bank, for political purposes, & renamed the displaced Jordanians as "Palestinians", in order to establish refugee status & claim the Jewish land as theirs, & gain world sympathy for their cause to destroy Israel, especially among the leftists & future uneducated generations who bought their revised history of events. The Jews reclaimed the Holy City of Jerusalem, BUT they allowed the muslims who had stolen & taken up residence in Jewish land to stay provided they pay rent. Arafat incited those Muslims not to pay the Jews. So the Jews removed them. It is Jewish land & they have every right to build settlements upon Israeli land.
28. Through the Looking Glass
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (01.20.11)
Since neither construction in East Jerusalem (which, having been annexed, is now part of Israel) nor settlement construction in non-sovereign Judea and Samaria, acquired by Israel in the course of fighting a defensive war, is illegal, the United Nations is faced with an interesting choice: they can go with international law, or they can give in to their Jew-hating and Israel-hating instincts, and make a complete fool of the United Nations organization, in which case Israel is better off unilaterally withdrawing from the U.N., in which case there is no longer an issue of leverage. For more on the legal status of Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem and settlement construction in Judea and Samaria, read here: http://www.globalpolitician.com/24388-israel-jerusalem Does anyone appreciate the ridiculousness of a non-state proposing a resolution in the United Nations?
29. To: No. 21
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (01.20.11)
First of all, the Geneva Convention does not apply with respect to non-sovereign land. The Geneva Convention addresses exclusively sovereign territory. Secondly, Israel did not ratify all of the protocols of the Convention.
30. PART 4 CLARIFICATION OF THE SETTLEMENT ISSUE
Robert Blum ,   New York USA   (01.20.11)
GOING BACK for a moment to the Palestinians, Hamas of course is not the only terrorist organization that is materially assisted by the Obama administration's policies. As Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook wrote in The Jerusalem Post last month, the US is financing the construction of a Palestinian computer center named for arch Fatah terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who led the 1978 bus bombing on Israel's coastal highway in which 37 civilians, including 12 children and US citizen Gail Rubin, were murdered. As Marcus and Crook note, the 2008 US Foreign Operations Bill bars US assistance to the Palestinians from being used "for the purpose of recognizing or otherwise honoring individuals who commit or have committed acts of terrorism." Obama, the former law professor, never tires of invoking international law. And yet, when one considers his policies toward Israel on the one hand, and his policies toward illegal terrorist organizations on the other, it is clear that Obama's respect for international law is mere rhetoric. True champions of law in both Israel and the US should demand an end to his administration's contempt for the US's actual - rather than imaginary - legal obligations. Originally published in The Jerusale
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