Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Wednesday 15 May 2019

David Singer: Trump Set to Reject UN and PLO on Jews' Legal Rights in West Bank


Here's the latest post by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.



He writes:

President Trump is set to reject the United Nations (UN)and Palestine Liberation Organization(PLO) claim that Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) is illegal in international law.

 The UN and PLO have for decades denied thel egal rights vested in theJewish people to reconstitute the Jewish NatIonal Home in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) pursuant to article 6 of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine – preserved until today under article 80 of the UN Charter.

Some 400,000 Jews now live in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and  Trump is going to recognize that those areas “will remain in Israeli hands under a permanent accord,” according to a report on Israel’s Channel 12.

To that end, the report said, “the Americans will not oppose Israeli steps relating to the settlements”.

Specifically, while the US will not explicitly back the formal “extension of Israeli sovereignty” to the settlements, or their “annexation,” the report said, it will not object to the “extension of Israeli law” to the settlements.

Trump’s decision – if correctly reported – will send the UN and the PLO into dual tailspins of their own making.

Acting in breach of its own Charter has reduced the UN to an organization held hostage by the 134 anti-Israel nations comprising the G77 that have long sponsored this canard of Jewish illegality.

The PLO’s claim since its formation in 1964 that the Mandate for Palestine was “null and void” ignored the fact that all 51 member states of the League of Nations had unanimously conferred those rights on the Jewish people in recognition of the “the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country”.

Trump’s decision would not go as far as the promise made by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the run up to last month’s Israeli election:
“I am going to apply Israeli sovereignty, but I don’t distinguish between settlement blocs and isolated settlements.  From my perspective, each of those settlement points is Israeli. We have responsibility [for them] as the government of Israel. I don’t uproot any, and I won’t transfer them to the sovereignty of the Palestinians. I take care of them all.”
Trump’s decision would not resolve the issue of Jewish and Arab sovereignty in specifically designated areas of Judea and Samaria (WestBank) which would still remain to be resolved in direct negotiations.

 However Trump would be clearly signaling that the PLO claim to establish a second UN-backed Palestinian Arab State in every square meter of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) – in addition to Jordan – is dead in the water.

Seven weeks ago at a White House ceremony with Netanyahu present, Trump signed a proclamation declaring it “appropriate to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights” and that “the United States recognizes that the Golan Heights are part of the State of Israel.”

Trump’s reported position on Judea and Samaria (West Bank) is a natural progression in his plan to end the 100 years old Jewish-Arab conflict.

The decades of denial by the UN and PLO of any legal rights vested in the Jews to live in  – and claim sovereignty over  – any part of the 22 per cent of the territory of former Palestine allocated to them for that purpose by the Mandate will be ended by President Trump.

Trump would be finally restoring the League of Nations decision on Palestine to its preeminent position in international law. Excising the greatest obstacle to resolving the Jewish-Arab conflict would be one of Trump’s greatest political achievements.

(Author’s note: The cartoon—commissioned exclusively for this article—is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”-one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators—whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli andinternational media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

2 comments:

  1. U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman said:

    “If anyone speaks to the editors
    of the [New York] Times,
    they should tell the Times
    to spend a little less time defending
    terrorists and spend a little more
    time defending the truth.”

    SOURCE:
    Friedman fires back at New York Times
    by Alex Traiman, 2019 May 15
    www.jns.org/friedman-fires-back-at-the-new-york-times-where-am-i-off-saying-god-is-on-the-side-of-israel/

    ===================================

    New York Times narrative protects Hamas:

    www.jns.org/opinion/new-york-times-narrative-protects-hamas/

    ReplyDelete

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