Frustrated with Israel’s lack of movement toward a peace deal, the Palestinians issued a statement Sunday that they will now appeal directly to the U.N. for recognition of a free and independent sovereign state of Palestine. “We have reached a decision ... to go to the UN Se-curity Council to ask for recognition of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and with June 1967 borders,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP. The Palestinians are upset over continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and are disappointed with the U.S. failure to put pressure on Israel to halt the construction. The lack of progress led Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to threaten to quit politics earlier this month. As events unfolded, that, too, appeared to be an indirect appeal for international backing by Abbas, who enjoys considerable world support. Erakat went on to state, “Now is our defining moment. We went into this peace process in order to achieve a two-state solution. The endgame is to tell the Israelis that now the international community has recognized the two-state solution on the ‘67 borders.”
Considering the many preconditions the Israelis have demanded of the Palestinians, such as recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, not to mention Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s adamant refusal to cease the illegal construction of settlements in occupied Palestinian territories it is no wonder they have finally decided to approach the international body. The biggest question would appear why did the Palestinians wait so long?
It took less than three years after WWII for the Zionists to press their case and see the U.N.’s unilateral creation of Israel out of what had been Palestine. Western guilt over European events during WWII played a huge role in the U.S. backing of the Zionist state. Harry Truman pragmatically observed when questioned about his support for the creation of Israel over the objections of the State Department, “I’m sorry gentlemen, but I have to answer to hundreds of thousands who are anxious for the success of Zionism. I do not have hundreds of thousands of Arabs among my constituents.” Not surprisingly Truman refrained from suggesting that all of those displaced Jews come to the U.S. instead of Palestine. Sixty-three years later the Palestinians are still waiting for their sovereign state.
For the over six decades the U.S. has turned a blind eye to Israel’s violations of international law, apartheid policies and the commission of war crimes. This is in no small part the result of the strong-arm lobbying techniques employed by AIPAC and the ADL. Anyone who does not dance to their tune is instantly tarred and feathered as an anti-Semite. Jews who have decided that Netanyahu’s right-wing government has gone beyond the pale are met with just as outrageous and vicious attacks. The pro Israeli moderate lobby group J Street was referred to as a group of “toy Jews” because they found credence in the Goldstone report. Canadian journalist Naomi Klein was tarred with the anti-Semitic label because she questioned celebrating Tel Aviv at a recent Canadian film festival, liking it to celebrating South Africa during its apartheid period.
Israel has of course rattled their saber and warned the Palestinians against any attempt at what they perceive as a unilateral action. Obviously Prime Minister Netanyahu has a selective memory and has conveniently forgotten about the dozens of unilateral moves Israel has made against the Palestinians. Turning Gaza into the world’s largest prison is but one such incident. Netanyahu cautioned that “Any unilateral action will undo the framework of past accords and lead to unilateral actions from Israel.” Israel has already made the very recent unilateral move of disregarding the U.N. Human Rights Commission’s Goldstone report accusing the country of committing war crimes.
Israel has been swift to condemn Palestinian peace negotiator, Erakat’s remarks. Israeli Infra-structure Minister Uzi Landau, a hardliner, observed that if the Palestinians took unilateral steps, Israel should annex the parts of the West Bank that contain major Jewish settlement blocs. Israeli Minister of Information, Yuli Edelstein told AFP “Erakat's comments prove that among the Palestinian leaders, there are many who still believe that they can achieve their goals through violence and terrorism.” Appealing to the U.N. for recognition of your country clearly misses the mark when it comes to an act of terrorism, but not in Edlestein’s book. The minister went on to say, “I hope the international community will not cooperate in this project and will speak out clearly in favor of the only possible approach, namely direct negotiations.” This is truly an odd response coming from an Israeli minister whose country labeled Yasser Arafat “irrelevant” and refused to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority just a few short years ago.
True to form, Israel dismisses the U.N. when it finds it expedient then whines that the Palestinians are making a unilateral move by approaching the very organization that Israel considered irrelevant. Taking into account Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks along with the bellicose statements of other Israeli officials’ regarding this matter, it would appear that Israel is setting itself up for doing even more damage to Palestinian civilians and children than they accomplished last December and January. Israel might dismiss the Goldstone report, the U.N. and unilaterally decide they will not being held accountable for their war crimes. If the Obama administration’s foreign policies are to remain credible they have no other option than to championing this latest move by the Palestinians and condemn Israel’s response. Contrary to what Israel may believe, no nation is above international law. Those that set themselves above it are nothing short of rogue nations and must be condemned and isolated.
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