UN must evaluate Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution

 

The General Debate of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held from 20 to 26 September will not be hearing the words “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine” mentioned even once by the Heads of State and Government meeting at the UN Headquarters for their annual talkfest to discuss world issues. 

All these high-powered speakers will continue to bury any discussion of the peace proposal emanating from Saudi Arabia and published in Al-Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 calling for:

• Jordan, Gaza, and part of the West Bank to be merged into one separate territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine 
• The capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to be Amman – not Jerusalem
• The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to grant Citizenship to all stateless Palestinian Arabs 
• Jewish sovereignty being established in part of the West Bank for the first time in 3000 years

This Saudi proposal offers a new two-State solution: Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine –with Israel sovereign in about 20% of former Palestine and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine sovereign in about the remaining 80%. 

Saudi Plan author – Ali Shihabi – was brutally frank in explaining why it was time to look at this possibly game-changing solution:

“We have seen from recent experience that state building is a virtually impossible task, particularly in a polarized environment so creating a “Palestinian State” from scratch is a fool's errand...  Yes, a false separate “Jordanian” identity has developed over the last decades from what is really a people with zero differences, ethnic or religious that have been one people since time immemorial..." 

The Annual Report of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People highlights the UN's continuing failure to progress its two-State solution:

“Throughout the reporting period, [2 September 2021 to 31 August 2022] the realization of the two-State solution, as per the relevant United Nations and the prevailing international consensus, failed to advance. The Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) did not resume, and the Middle East Quartet did not create opportunities for negotiations between Israel and the State of Palestine”

The Report misleadingly states:

“The stalled MEPP and the lack of new initiatives to benefit the Palestinian people's quest for self-determination have highlighted the need for enhanced global cooperation to reinvigorate negotiations and provide a political horizon leading to a just solution to the Question of Palestine and lasting peace”.

A new initiative and political horizon for a just solution to the Question of Palestine has emerged: The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution. 

This latest initiative seriously challenges the two-State solution unsuccessfully pursued by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland during their respective tenures - and by the UN for the last 19 years: Creating a brand-new Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan for the first time in recorded history 

Both Guterres and Wennesland have stubbornly refused to present this Saudi initiative to the Security Council for evaluation since its publication. Regrettably hubris has prevented them doing so. It is hard to admit that there might be an alternative solution to the one you have been claiming for years is the only solution.

Ending the 100 years-old conflict between Jews and Arabs - rather than perpetuating that conflict by continuing to pursue a decades-old failed solution – should be Guterres' and Wennesland's joint mantra. 

Guterres and Wennesland: Relent and recognise that the UN two-State solution is dead – that the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution to replace it needs to be evaluated by the Security Council. 

Doing so could change the course of history. 

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 and international media publications for decades.

Biden & Blinken silent on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

In the Arab-Israel conflict where every word is dissected and analysed to see whether there could be any change of policy - the use of the words “a two state solution” instead of “the President’s two-state solution” could well signal President Biden’s abandonment of his own two-state solution – Israel and Palestine - in favour of a Saudi two-state solution – Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine. 

Such speculation has arisen following this State Department Media Note issued on 4 September:

“The Assistant Secretary will travel to Israel and the West Bank September 1-3 to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss a range of priorities, including the ... Administration’s continued support for a two-state solution.

Was the State Department referring to “the two-state solution” articulated by President Biden on 15 July?

“President Biden ... underscored his commitment to a two-state solution on the 1967 lines with land swaps mutually agreed by the Israelis and Palestinians. He also highlighted the importance of direct negotiations leading to an independent, sovereign, viable, and contiguous Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, both enjoying secure and recognized borders, allowing the two peoples to live side-by-side in peace and security."

Or was the State Department referring to a different two-state solution  – Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine – emanating from Saudi Arabia on 8 June 2022 - calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one single territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine? 

The Saudi plan’s author – Ali Shihabi - is a confidante of Saudi Arabia’s next King – Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. Shihabi’s Plan was published in Al Arabiya News – owned 60% by the Saudi Government. This latest Saudi plan supersedes the 1981 and 2002 Saudi Peace Plans.  

The rationale for creating the Saudi-proposed merged state as against the Biden-proposed brand new state was recently explained by Shihabi: 

“We have seen from recent experience that state building is a virtually impossible task, particularly in a polarized environment - so creating a “Palestinian State” from scratch is a fool’s errand. At the same time Jordan is a decently run country by regional standards and hence its government infrastructure can be used to incorporate 'Palestine' which will instantly have a globally recognized and respected government with all the basics like security, government bureaucracy etc.”

Shihabi’s two-state solution – if implemented – would consign Biden’s two-state solution – “a fool’s errand” says Shihabi - to the diplomatic graveyard. 

Significantly - Palestinian Authority President Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Hamas leaders have not voiced any objection to the Saudi proposal since its June publication. Rejection by any of them would have stopped the Saudi plan in its tracks. 

I sought State Department clarification on 6 September:

“I refer to the Peace Plan emanating from Saudi Arabia published in the Al Arabiya Times on 8 June 2022 proposing the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine (Saudi Plan): https://english.alarabiya.net/in-translation/2022/06/08/The-Hashemite-Kingdom-of-Palestine 

Could you please advise in relation to Secretary of State Blinken: 

1. When he first became aware of the Saudi plan? 

2. Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on 8 June 2022? 

3. If so – when and where were such comments published? 

4. If he has made no comment – would he like to make any comment on the Saudi plan that I can publish verbatim and attribute to him in an article I am writing on the Saudi Plan? 

I would appreciate a reply within the next 72 hours."

The State Department has yet to reply.  

Biden and Blinken’s silence is baffling.

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 and international media publications for decades.

UN set to pillory Israel whilst condoning PLO & Hamas apartheid

 

The appointment of a new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 - Francesca Albanese - serves to highlight the anti-Israel bias that dominates the United Nations (UN) to its eternal shame. 

Albanese was appointed Special Rapporteur by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2022 - taking up her role on May 1, 2022. Albanese’s mandate as Special Rapporteur derives from Resolution 1993/2 passed by the UN Committee of Human Rights on February 19, 1993: 

“To investigate Israel's violations of the principles and bases of international law, international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of August 12, 1949, in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967;"

Albanese is limited to only investigating Israel - not Hamas or the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). 

Albanese is not a neutral appointment as her announcement makes clear: 

“She has widely published on the legal situation in Israel and the State of Palestine and regularly teaches and lectures on international law and forced displacement at universities in Europe and the Arab region.”

Albanese will therefore not be examining or reporting on apartheid policies being implemented by the PLO and Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank - where both the PLO and Hamas currently:

• Keep 27 refugee camps open which house 800000 Palestinian Arabs: 600000 in 8 camps in Gaza administered and policed by Hamas and 200000 in 19 camps in the West Bank administered and policed by the PLO --and
• Take no steps to close and resettle their camp populations within the villages and towns the PLO has controlled in the West Bank since 1995 and Hamas has controlled in Gaza since 2007.

Israel’s attempts to close these camps and resettle their occupants had been denied under UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/39/99 (A-K) passed on December 14, 1984 in which the General Assembly:

• Under article E 1: “Reiterates its demand that Israel desist from the removal and resettlement of Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip and from the destruction of their shelters”;
• Under article J 1: “Calls upon Israel to abandon its plans and to refrain from the removal, and from any action that may lead to the removal and resettlement, of Palestine refugees in the West Bank and from the destruction of their camps;”

Fast forward to 2022 and the UN still does not show the slightest interest in seeing these camps closed by their host authorities - the PLO in the West Bank since 1995 and Hamas in Gaza since 2007. 

In failing to call for the camps to be closed - the UN is condoning the continuation of those Palestinian Arabs living in Gaza and the West Bank being divided into two different groups living in two very different environments:

• One group: confined to these 27 camps suffering severe overcrowding problems, poor personal safety, high unemployment and poor infrastructure which are breeding grounds for planning and launching terrorist attacks on Israel and
• The other group: living normal lives in Gaza and West Bank towns and villages 

Even their classification as refugees is questionable as they continue to reside in a different part of former Palestine to where they or their families previously lived. 

The UN’s failure to condemn and demand an end to this apartheid being practised in Gaza and the West Bank is disgusting.  

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ continuing silence makes a mockery of everything the UN claims it stands for. 

Albanese will continue to pursue the UN’s anti-Israel agenda whilst 800000 Palestinian Arabs continue to suffer confinement in these degrading and dehumanizing camps. 

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 and international media publications for decades

San Remo Conference: Catalyst for Jewish and Arab independence

 

The San Remo Conference held on April 24-25, 1920 marked the beginning of self-determination for both the Jewish People after 3000 years of dispersion and the Arabs after 400 years of Ottoman rule. 

Among those participating in the Conference - indicating its historic importance and the significant decisions it would be tasked with making: 

• United States of America: Mr. Robert Underwood Johnson, American Ambassador in Rome; 
• British Empire: The Right Hon. D. Lloyd George, Prime Minister; The Right Hon; the Earl Curzon of Kedleston, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs;
• France: M. Millerand, President
• Italy: Signor Nitti, Prime Minister (in the Chair);
• Japan: Mr. Matsui

The Minutes of the Meeting were headed: MINUTES OF PALESTINE MEETING OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE ALLIED POWERS HELD IN SAN REMO AT THE VILLA DEVACHAN  APRIL 24. 1920.

However the agenda covered far more than Palestine – dealing with: -

“the question of mandates for those territories which had been Mandates formerly under Turkish domination and which it was proposed should, in the future be administered by the various Principal Allied Powers”

Those territories were identified as Mesopotamia and Syria as well as Palestine. 

San Remo granted the Arabs independence in:

• Syria (estimated population 2.22 million) and 
• Mesopotamia (estimated population 3 million)

Comprising an area of 624000 km2 - 85% of the total area of these three territories: The Conference resolved:

“that Syria and Mesopotamia shall in accordance with the fourth paragraph of article 22, Part I (Covenant of the League of Nations), be provisionally recognised as independent States subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The boundaries of the said States will be determined, and the selection of the mandatories made, by the Principal Allied Powers”

Mesopotamia gained independence in 1932 and Syria in 1946. 

The Jews were initially allotted all of Palestine at San Remo –117000km2 - the remaining 15% of these three liberated Turkish territories – within which the Jewish National Home was to be “reconstituted” after 3000 years.  

However 78% of Palestine east of the Jordan River (Transjordan) was whittled away for Arab independence by the time the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine was promulgated in July 1922 - leaving Jewish self-determination to happen in just 3% of the territories dealt with at San Remo. 

Transjordan (today called Jordan) became independent in 1946. 

The British Government’s 1921 Interim Report on the Civil Administration of Palestine recorded that hardly 700,000 people were living in Palestine west of the Jordan River– 560000 of whom were Moslems, 77000 Christians and 76000 Jews:

“a population much less than that of the province of Gallilee alone in the time of Christ * (*See Sir George Adam Smith "Historical Geography of the Holy Land", Chap. 20.)”.

About 350000 non-Jews lived in Palestine east of the Jordan River:

The San Remo Conference unanimously agreed that the civil and religious rights of these existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine were not to be prejudiced by San Remo’s decisions and that the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country were also not to be affected – guarantees that were expressly included in the terms of the Mandate for Palestine.

The Arabs have never accepted that the decisions simultaneously made in relation to Mesopotamia Syria and Palestine at San Remo in 1920 were part of a plan that by 1922 offered:

• The Arabs: independence in 97% of the liberated Ottoman territories.
• The Jews: independence in the remaining 3%

The Jewish-Arab conflict will remain unresolved whilst the Arabs remain in their 102 years-old state of denial.

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 and international media publications for decades.

UN, Jordan, Egypt, PLO & Hamas need to return to 5 June 1967

The United Nations (UN), Jordan, Egypt, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas need to focus on the current reality that the two-state solution called for in UN Security Council Resolution 2334 is impossible to achieve: Creating a second Arab State in 5% of former Palestine—in addition to Jordan — which presently exercises sovereignty in 78% of former Palestine.

That reality was made abundantly clear by Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process -Tor Wennesland — when addressing the Security Council on 19 January during its quarterly debate on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”.

“Efforts must also continue to encourage all Palestinian political factions towards political consensus and bringing Gaza and the occupied West Bank under one legitimate, democratic Palestinian authority. Gaza remains integral to a future Palestinian State as part of a two-State solution” 

Bringing “Gaza and the occupied West Bank” under “one legitimate, democratic Palestinian authority” requires a miracle of truly biblical proportions.

Neither Hamas — which has governed Gaza since 2007 — nor the PLO — which has governed Areas A and B — 40% of the West Bank — since 1994 — currently has any intention of allowing their respective populations to have any say in their own future by holding free and fair elections. Promises to do so have come and gone like the four seasons. These political antagonists are locked in a power struggle that sees no prospect of being resolved in the foreseeable future.

Other features of a democratic society — a free press, independent judiciary and freedom of speech and assembly — are nowhere to be seen in either Gaza or the West Bank (Judea and Samaria):

Until these essential conditions prevail — any talk of achieving the two-state solution as contemplated under UN Security Council Resolution 2334 is a complete waste of time.

A circuit breaker is needed — until one legitimate, democratic Palestinian authority emerges — to defuse and hopefully end the increasing violence between Jews and Arabs occurring on virtually  a daily basis.

That circuit breaker could involve the UN Security Council, Jordan, Egypt, the PLO and Hamas negotiating with Israel for a partial return to the status quo that existed in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem on 5 June 1967 — when:

• Egypt had been occupying a Jew-free Gaza since 1948

• The West Bank had been unified with Transjordan since 1950  to form a new country called “Jordan” – all Jews living in the West Bank having been driven out in 1948 whilst its then Arabs-only remaining population had become Jordanian citizens electing their own representatives to the Jordanian parliament

• The PLO was not claiming regional sovereignty in either the “West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” or “on the Gaza Strip”  -  its activities then being “on the national popular level in the liberational, organizational, political and financial fields”

• Hamas did not exist  —  its founding not occurring until 1988.

 Successful negotiations to turn back the political clock existing at 5 June 1967 between:

• Israel and 
• Egypt and Jordan — with whom Israel has had signed peace treaties since 1979 and 1994 respectively — backed by the PLO and Hamas
• Chaired by the UN Secretary-General 

could keep the future possibility of the two-state solution alive.

Such negotiations could also open up a variety of other solutions to end the Arab-Jewish conflict including:

• Gaza-Egypt: confederation or unification

• West Bank-Jordan: confederation or reunification of such areas of the West Bank with Jordan as is agreed between Israel and Jordan.

The Security Council should heed Wennesland’s advice and use its influence to make these negotiations happen.

Talking is always preferable to fighting.

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 and international media publications for decades.

Israel & Jordan need to negotiate on Trump 2020 Peace Plan

It is regrettable that Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz and Jordan’s King Abdullah did not discuss the possibility of Jordan-Israel negotiations on former US President Donald Trump’s 2020 Peace Plan for allocating sovereignty in Judea/Samaria (West Bank), Gaza and parts of Israel (Trump’s Plan) - when they met in Amman on January 5th.

Gantz enthusiastically supported Trump’s Plan (see image below) following its release on January 28 2020:

“The Trump administration’s peace plan is a significant and historic milestone indeed. Immediately after the elections, I will work toward implementing it from within a stable, functioning Israeli government, in tandem with the other countries in our region.”

Israel now has a stable functioning Government – so Gantz’s failure to raise Trump’s Plan with Abdullah when sitting face to face with the King runs counter to Israel’s national interest. 

This is especially so given Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s outright rejection of Trump’s Plan – reportedly telling an Arab League foreign ministers meeting on 1 February 2020: 

“They told me Trump wants to send me the deal of the century to read, I said I would not. 

Trump asked that I speak to him over the phone, so I said ‘no’, and that he wants to send me a letter, so I refused to receive it.”

Holding up a map that shows the gradual geographic reduction of Palestine through four stages from pre-1948 to Trump’s Middle East plan, Abbas said: “I challenge any of you, if you can even see us on the map. If you ask a child in first grade to draw Trump’s map he will never know how to.”

“This is a disgrace,” 

The map Abbas brandished (pictured below) was a phony map of “Historic Palestine” – dating from 1947 - not 1920.

Article 2 of the PLO Charter recognizes that Palestine between 1920 and 1946 included what is today called Jordan - 78% of the territory of Palestine under the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine:

“Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit.”

Jordan was granted independence by Great Britain in 1946 - terminating its Mandate in the remaining 22% of Palestine in 1948. 

The PLO never claimed sovereignty in Judea/Samaria (West Bank) or Gaza on its establishment in 1964 – article 24 of its founding Charter declaring:

This Organization does not exercise any regional sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or the Himmah Area. Its activities will be on the national popular level in the liberational, organizational, political and financial fields.

Jordan occupied Judea/Samaria between 1948 and 1967.

Jordan’s history certainly qualifies it to replace the PLO as Israel’s negotiating partner to implement Trump’s Plan.

Abdullah stressed to Gantz the: 

“importance of maintaining calm in the Palestinian Territories and taking all measures to create the horizon needed to achieve just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution”

Jordan - stepping into the negotiating void created by Abbas’s continuing rejection of Trump’s Plan – would become a major driver in maintaining that calm. 

Israel-Jordan negotiations to redraw their currently-agreed existing international border - using Trump’s Plan - could result in the following two-state solution first contemplated by the 1922 Mandate for Palestine: 

1. Israel acquiring sovereignty in about 30% of Judea/Samaria (West Bank) 
2. Jordan acquiring sovereignty in about 70% of Judea/Samaria (West Bank), all of Gaza and parts of Israel’s existing sovereign territory.
3. No Arab or Jewish residents being forced to move from their current homes or business locations.

Trump’s Plan has now become the definitive blueprint for resolving the 100-years old Arab-Jewish conflict in former Palestine. 

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 and international media publications for decades.

Christian Leaders play anti-Israel political games in Jerusalem

 

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem (Christian Leaders) request for an urgent dialogue with “Israel, Palestine and Jordan” on protecting the Christian community in Jerusalem and the integrity of the Christian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem – is an anti-Israel political ploy that should be rejected by Israel.

The requested dialogue is clearly against Israel’s national interest for the following reasons: 

• The Christian Leaders acknowledged that threats to Christians were not limited to Jerusalem only - but extended to Christians throughout the Holy Land:
  
  

  ”Throughout the Holy Land Christians have become the target of frequent and sustained attacks by fringe radical groups. Since 2012 there have been countless incidents of physical and verbal assaults against priests and other clergy, attacks on Christian churches, with holy sites regularly vandalized and desecrated, and ongoing intimidation of local Christians who simply seek to worship freely and go about their daily lives. These tactics are being used by such radical groups in a systematic attempt to drive the Christian community out of Jerusalem and other parts of the Holy Land.”

• Inviting “Palestine and Jordan” to participate in a dialogue solely on Jerusalem was a blatant attempt by these Christian Leaders to undermine Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem by replacing Israel as the sole Authority responsible for ensuring the security and safety of the Christian community in Jerusalem.

• Israel’s Christian community actually grew by 1.4 percent in 2020 and now numbers some 182,000 people

Certainly Israel should meet with these Christian Leaders to address and allay their concerns in relation to threats to the Christian community in Jerusalem. 

However these same Christian Leaders have not called for dialogues with “Palestine” and Jordan to deal with similar threats affecting their respective Christian communities. Failure to do so makes a mockery of these Christian Leaders expressed concerns for Christians living outside Jerusalem.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem comprise:

His Beatitude Theophilos III
Patriarch of Jerusalem
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

His Beatitude Patriarch Fuad Twal
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Latin Patriarchate

His Beatitude Patriarch Nourhan Manougian
Armenian Patriarch
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem

His Grace Archbishop Dr Anba Abraham
Coptic Orthodox Archbishop
Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem & the Near East

Very Rev. Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa
Custos of the Holy Land
Custody of the Holy Land

Bishop Munib A. Yunnan
Lutheran Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

Bishop Suheil Dawani
Archbishop
Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East

His Grace Archbishop Abba Kwestos
Ethiopian Orthodox Archbishop
Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate

His Grace Archbishop Mar Swerios Malki Murad
Syrian Orthodox Archbishop
Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate

Archbishop Joseph – Jules Zerey
General Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem
Greek Melkite Catholic Church

His Eminence Msgr. George Chihan
Patriarchal Administrator
Maronite Archdiocese of Haifa and the Holy Land

His Grace Bishop Gregor Peter Malki
Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate
Syrian Catholic Church

His Excellency Monsenieur Joseph Kallekelian
Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate
Armenian Catholic Church

These venerable clergymen should surely be also focusing on threats to Christians and Christian property not only in the Holy Land - but throughout the Middle East. Yet these communities did not rate a mention in their statement (see image below).

Threats to Christians and Christian properties are also increasing in Europe and America.

All threats against Christians – wherever occurring - must be condemned and ended.

Playing anti-Israel political games in Jerusalem at the expense of safeguarding their communities’ security and safety there by working closely with Israel is a foolhardy decision by these Christian Leaders and also runs the risk of fuelling Christian anti-Jewish hatred in Jerusalem.

These Christian Leaders are on a hiding to nothing for their highly irresponsible action.

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 and international media publications for decades.

Trump-Netanyahu legacy eclipses rancour over phone call to Biden

 

Former US President Trump’s unforgiving anger with former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu over Netanyahu’s congratulatory call to President Biden following Biden’s election win in November 2020—must not be allowed to detract from or bury Trump’s self-styled Deal of The Century (“Vision”) released on 28 January 2020.

Trump stated at that time—with Netanyahu standing next to him in the White House:

“This vision for peace is fundamentally different from past proposals. In the past, even the most well-intentioned plans were light on factual details and heavy on conceptual frameworks. By contrast, our plan is 80 pages and is the most detailed proposal ever put forward by far. As I have seen throughout my long career as a deal-maker, complex problems require nuanced, fact-based remedies. That is why our proposal provides precise technical solutions to make Israelis, Palestinians, and the region safer and much more prosperous. My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israel’s security.”

Trump continued:

“Today Israel has taken a giant step toward peace. Yesterday Prime Minister Netanyahu informed me that he is willing to endorse the vision as the basis for direct negotiations…

... This is the first time Israel has authorized the release of a conceptual map illustrating the territorial compromises it’s willing to make for the cause of peace and they’ve gone a long way. This is an unprecedented and highly significant development. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for having the courage to take this bold step forward…

... Under this vision, Jerusalem will remain Israel’s undivided, very important, undivided capital”

Netanyahu’s concession was indeed historic.

The conceptual map (see below) shows the areas in which Israel was prepared to allow the creation of an additional Arab state in former Palestine—in addition to Jordan—for the first time ever in recorded history.

Netanyahu’s concession required him to put aside his own personal view held since at least 1978 which he expressed on December 11, 1984 to the United Nations General Assembly: 

“Clearly, in Eastern and Western Palestine, there are only two peoples, the Arabs and the Jews. Just as clearly, there are only two states in that area, Jordan and Israel. The Arab State of Jordan, containing some three million Arabs, does not allow a single Jew to live there. It also contains 4/5 of the territory originally allocated by this body’s predecessor, the League of Nations, for the Jewish National Home. The other State, Israel, has a population of over four million, of which one sixth is Arab. It contains less than 1/5 of the territory originally allocated to the Jews under the Mandate…. It cannot be said, therefore, that the Arabs of Palestine are lacking a state of their own. The demand for a second Palestinian Arab State in Western Palestine, and a 22nd Arab State in the world, is merely the latest attempt to push Israel back into the hopelessly vulnerable armistice lines of 1949.”

Trump’s Vision was—however—unequivocally rejected by the:

• Arab League

• Palestine Liberation Organisation President Mahmoud Abbas declaring the day it was released: 

 “After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand no’s to the Deal of The Century,” 

Biden — and the United Nations — need to endorse Trump’s Vision and persuade Abbas to discard his rejectionist stance by commencing negotiations with Israel on Trump’s conceptual map — the key to ending the 100 years-old Arab-Jewish conflict.

Trump and Netanyahu’s legacy in achieving agreement on Trump’s historic milestone will always eclipse any continuing rancour between Trump and Netanyahu over Netanyahu’s phone call to Biden. 

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 and international media publications for decades.

UN abandons moral compass in waging semantic warfare on Israel

 

The language being used by the United Nations (UN) and its officials to characterise the unresolved 100-years old conflict between Jews and Arabs disqualifies the UN from having any meaningful role to play in ending that long-running dispute.

The Report to the Security Council on November 30,2021 by Tor Wennesland — Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process – is the latest in the ongoing saga of semantic warfare being waged against Israel. 

Wennesland’s Report is peppered with the following terminology that reeks of prejudice against Jewish claims but is heavily-biased in favour of Arab claims:

1. “Occupied Palestinian Territory”

“Occupied Palestinian Territory” is in fact “Disputed Territory”: Territory which is claimed by both Jews and Arabs.  

Use of “Occupied Palestinian Territory” rather than “Disputed Territory” signals that the UN does not accept Jewish claims to any of this “Disputed Territory ” – notwithstanding that article 80 of the UN’s own Charter preserves the right of Jews to live in that Territory for the purposes of reconstituting the Jewish National Home there under the terms of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine.

2. “West Bank”

The term “West Bank” was coined in 1950 to designate 4% of the territory of former Palestine west of the Jordan River - called “Judea and Samaria” for the previous 3000 years - which was unified with an additional 78% of the territory of former Palestine east of the Jordan River - called Transjordan — to form a new territorial entity renamed “Jordan”.

Wennesland’s use of the stand-alone term “West Bank” without any reference to its 3000 years old historic name indicates the immoral depths to which the UN and its officials have sunk.

After all — the UN itself had used the term “Judea and Samaria” in Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947:

“The boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River at the Wadi Malih south-east of Beisan”

The UN Special Commission on Palestine also used the term “Judea and Samaria” in its 1947 Report:

”...the interior of the country is very mountainous with the hills of Judea and Samaria in the centre” 

Removing any possible identification with Jews and Jewish history by expunging any reference to “Judea and Samaria” –-the Jewish People’s ancient and biblical heartland – exposes the UN’s anti-Jewish bias in papering over Jewish claims to this disputed territory in favour of an invented fake pro-Arab claim made for the first time in history in the 1964 PLO Charter.

3. “The Palestinian Authority”

On January 3, 2013 - the term “Palestinian Authority” was replaced by the term “State of Palestine” - when Mahmoud Abbas, acting in his capacities as President of the State of Palestine and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, signed “Decree No. 1 for the year 2013.” 

 Article 1 of the decree states:

“Official documents, seals, signs and letterheads of the Palestinian National Authority official and national institutions shall be amended by replacing the name ‘Palestinian National Authority’ whenever it appears by the name ‘State of Palestine’ and by adopting the emblem of the State of Palestine.” 

Article 4 states: 

“All competent authorities, each in their respective area, shall implement this Decree starting from its date.”

What motivates the UN and its officials to still turn a blind eye to this official name change after almost 9 years?

The UN continues to lose its credibility, neutrality and impartiality as it and its officials use language and terminology which is antithetical to seeking an end to the Arab-Jewish conflict.

Sticks and stones won’t break the UN’s bones – but waging semantic warfare against Israel is certainly doing just that.

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 and international media publications for decades.

UN anti-Jewish bias hinders end to Arab-Jewish conflict

 

The United Nations (UN) needs to end its ongoing deceptive misrepresentation of the Arab-Jewish conflict in former Palestine - as it once again prepares to celebrate its self-proclaimed International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People – but not the Jewish People - on 29 November.

The UN trumpets this date in the following terms:

"Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed annually on or around 29 November, solemnly commemorating the adoption by the Assembly, on 29 November 1947, of resolution 181 (II), which provided for the partition of Palestine into two States." 

This statement fails to mention that the Jews accepted Resolution 181(II) - whilst the Arabs rejected it and went to war to try and wipe out the nascent Jewish State of Israel that was subsequently declared on 14 May 1948. 

Arab acceptance of Resolution 181 (II) would have ended the Arab-Jewish conflict. 

This statement is also false and misleading:  Resolution 181(II) only dealt with the partition of 22% of the territory of Palestine located west of the Jordan River.

The remaining 78% of the territory of Palestine located east of the Jordan River (today called Jordan) had already become a sovereign Palestinian Arab State 18 months earlier - on 25 May 1946 - with not one Jew living there.  This Jew-free area in the major part of Palestine had been achieved because article 25 of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine provided that the Jewish National Home could not be extended east of the Jordan River.

Maintaining its International Day of Solidarity in 2021 without acknowledging that the Arabs-only State of Jordan has existed in 78% of former Palestine for more than 75 years continues to destroy the UN’s neutrality and credibility to broker an end to the Arab-Jewish conflict.

The continuing flagrant violation of Article 80 of the UN’s own 1945 Charter by its member States highlights the rapidly-increasing anti-Jewish bias that is infecting the UN and its agencies.

Article 80 preserves the right of the Jewish People to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in former Palestine west of the Jordan River – including Judea and Samaria (West Bank) – as authorised by article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine. 

Israel’s first Prime Minister - David Ben-Gurion – then the Representative of the Jewish Agency - emphasised the importance of the insertion of Article 80 into the UN Charter in evidence before the UN Special Committee for Palestine at Lake Success, New York on 7 July 1947: 

“Article 80 was adopted for this very special reason of Palestine… This is the special Article of the Charter which applies to Palestine. It was introduced only because of Palestine.”

Article 80 prevents any argument being made that the rights granted to the Jewish People under the Mandate for Palestine died with the demise of the League of Nations on 19 April 1946. Those rights remain as alive and exercisable today as they were when unanimously adopted by all 51 Member States of the League of Nations on 24 July 1922.

The UN’s continuing failure to recognise the Jewish People’s legal entitlement to settle in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) disqualifies the UN and its agencies from having any role in ending the Arab-Jewish conflict.

Acting in violation of article 80 of its own Charter ensures the UN has lost any hope of adopting a balanced and principled position to resolve a conflict which has lasted for 100 years and shows no signs of ending.

Continuing to hold this annual day of solidarity is a charade, a farce and engenders hatred of the Jewish People.

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 and international media publications for decades.

EU will defund UNWRA for using PA textbooks inciting Jew-hatred

 

The European Parliament has threatened to block €20 million in aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) — unless “substantive positive” changes are made by the next academic school year to Palestinian Authority (PA) textbooks used in UNWRA schools.

EU funding will instead go to organisations that “have a proven track record of promoting educational initiatives in school settings for children designed to foster tolerance, coexistence and respect towards the Jewish-Israeli ‘other’.”

Many PA textbooks currently:

• incite Jew-hatred, 
• prefer Jihad to peaceful resolution of the Jewish-Arab conflict and 
• do not recognize Israel on any of their maps 

The May 2021 Report of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) has highlighted hundreds of examples of intolerance and hatred in current PA textbooks—pointing out:  

“Schools are one of the most powerful tools to mitigate extremist influences. They are key to achieving the tolerant and open-minded societies of the future. But they can also be where negative influences—skewed historical narratives, hatred of others, gender inequalities and even political violence–can take root.” 

The Report looked at 222 textbooks used in the 2021 Palestinian School Curriculum Grades 1-12. Of those—105 textbooks had not changed at all and remained as they were in 2019—finding: 

• there were no substantive positive changes made to the current Palestinian curriculum
• the curriculum had moved further from meeting UNESCO standards and 
• newly published textbooks were more radical than those previously published 

The Report concluded:

“There is a systematic insertion of violence, martyrdom and jihad across all grades and subjects. Extreme nationalism and Islamist ideologies are widespread throughout the curriculum, including science and math textbooks. The possibility of peace with Israel is rejected. Any historical Jewish presence in the modern-day territories of Israel and the Palestinian Authority is entirely omitted from the textbooks.”

Specific examples provided in the IMPACT-se Report substantiate:

Jew-hatred

•  An eleventh-grade Palestinian history textbook implies that Jews control the world, using imagery of an arm with a Star of David holding a globe 
• Grade 10 students are taught that Jews control money, the media, and politics and use them for their own benefit 
• Jews are characterized in a Grade 5 textbook as sinful liars and fraudsters for turning their backs on the Prophet in early Islam 

Rejection of Peace and the two-state solution 

• All peace agreements, summits and proposals with Israel post-1993 Oslo Accords — previously included in PA textbooks — have been completely removed from the curriculum. 
• Peace advocacy as a universal ideal appearing in a 2018 social studies fifth grade textbook was deleted from the 2019 edition and not reintroduced for 2020. 
• The peace treaty with Jordan is absent after appearing in pre-2016 editions of a Grade 12 textbook.

Encouragement of martyrdom and Jihad

• A fifth grade textbook chapter glorifying Palestinian martyrs describes dying as better than living
• A tenth grade textbook presents Jihad “for the liberation of Palestine” as a “private obligation for every Muslim”

Absence of Israel on maps

• Out of more than two hundred maps across the PA textbook curriculum — not one mentions the name “Israel”.
• Most maps illustrating Palestine’s current borders show the word “Palestine” written across the entire territory — without demarcation lines — entirely disregarding Israel’s existence. 
• Palestine’s territory is mostly described as from "the river to the sea”

Jerusalem

Third-graders learn that Jerusalem is an Arab city holy to Muslims and Christians alone — without learning about its historical connection to Jews or Judaism

Any peaceful resolution of the 100-years old Jewish-Arab conflict seems further away than ever whilst PA textbooks inciting Jewish-Israeli hatred continue to poison young peoples’ minds. 

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 and international media publications for decades.

King Abdullah cannot exclude Jordan from any two-state solution

 

King Abdullah’s continuing attempt to exclude Jordan from being part of any two-state solution remains the major obstacle to ending the 100 years old unresolved Arab-Jewish conflict.

The King’s intransigent position came in this exchange with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria this week:

Zakaria: Dore Gold, an influential adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu, recently said, Jordan needs to start thinking of itself as the Palestinian state. In other words, there is a two-state solution, the Palestinian state is Jordan, I think the implication would be, of course, you have 60-70 percent Palestinians, you could absorb the Palestinians in the West Bank. This has been touted before, but here you have a fairly influential Israeli saying it. What is your reaction?

King: Well, again, that type of rhetoric is nothing new, and basically, those people have agendas that they want to do at the expense of others. Jordan is Jordan. We have a mixed society from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. I would maybe contest the percentage in the figures that you have mentioned, but it is our country. The Palestinians do not want to be in Jordan; they want their lands, they want their football team, they want their flag to fly above their houses.”

King Abdullah ignored Jordan’s chequered origins in asserting:

• "Jordan is Jordan”,
• “it is our country” and
• ”the Palestinians do not want to be in Jordan”

The following historic, geographic and demographic realities contradict King Abdullah’s remarks:

• Jordan — then called Transjordan — comprised 78% of the territory of former Palestine designated in the 1920-1948 Mandate for Palestine (British Mandate).
• Transjordan only became an independent state in 1946
• Abdullah’s great-grandfather and Transjordan’s first ruler — King Abdullah I — told a meeting of the Arab League in Cairo on April 12, 1948:

“Palestine and Transjordan are one, for Palestine is the coastline and Transjordan the hinterland of the same country”

• Israel achieved its independence in May 1948 in 17% of the territory comprised in the British Mandate.
• Transjordan was unified with Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem into one territorial entity and renamed Jordan in 1950 after Transjordan had conquered those areas in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War— which lasted until their loss to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.
• Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem were designated “the West Bank of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” in the founding 1964 Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Charter — whilst regional sovereignty was not claimed by the PLO.
• The 1964 PLO Charter asserted that “Palestine with its boundaries at the time of the British Mandate is a regional indivisible unit.”
• The revised 1968 PLO Charter confirmed that “Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit”.
• Arab residents of Judea and Samaria were Jordanian citizens between 1950 and 1988
• Abdullah’s uncle—Prince Hassan—told the Jordanian National Assembly on February 2, 1970:

"Palestine is Jordan and Jordan is Palestine, there is one people and one land, with one history and one and the same fate”

• The PLO unsuccessfully tried to seize power in Jordan in 1970
• Prime PLO political strategist—Abu Iyad—declared in Near East Report on January 8, 1990:

“All those who tried in the past and are still trying to create divisions between the Jordanian and Palestinian people have failed. We indeed constitute one people”

Abdullah ignores these long-standing realities at his peril.

Abdullah is deluding himself in denying the role Jordan must inevitably play in achieving the long sought-after two-state solution: Redrawing the international border between Jordan and Israel — the two successor States to the British Mandate — allocating sovereignty between them in Judea Samaria and Gaza — without creating another State.


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 and international media publications for decades.

New York Times and Washington Post bash Israel with false claims

 

The New York Times and the Washington Post have once again engaged in Israel bashing — spewing out fake maps and phony history about Israel, its origins and indeed its continued existence as the Jewish National Home — first articulated in the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and confirmed in article 80 of the United Nations Charter.

The following maps:                                                                                                                                     

• captioned: “Illustration by The New York Times/Photographs via Getty”
• appeared in: an article in the New York Times headlined “The myth of co-existence in Israel”
• was written by: Diana Buttu — identified as “a lawyer, former adviser to the negotiating team of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Palestinian citizen of Israel”

The Washington Post’s Glen Kessler — described as The Fact Checker — to his credit — was quick to point out the falsehoods in the maps:

“that showed a shrinking map of Palestine, from the borders of the British mandate for Palestine in 1947 to areas that would be under Palestinian control after adoption of a recent [Trump — ed] peace plan.”.

Kessler informed readers that:

“Patrick Healy, deputy opinion editor of the [New York] Times, issued a statement saying “it was not meant to be a literal, factual map ... this was an illustration conveying a sense of shrinking space for Palestinians. It is art.”

But obviously wanting to show up its arch competitor’s anti-Israel bias — Kessler then accurately pointed out:

“Still, a version of this map has been circulating for almost 20 years, supposedly showing how “Historic Palestine” had been taken over by Israel. As a technical matter, the map is a confusing mélange of images: it includes something that did not exist (Palestinian control over all the territory), something that did not happen (the proposed United Nations partition) and something odd (pre-1967 occupations by Jordan and Egypt are depicted as Palestinian-controlled).”

Fake maps such as these have been reproduced all over the media, internet and in textbooks published by respected publishers for decades.

McGraw Hill Publishing — in 2016—withdrew from sale and trashed unsold copies of one such textbook - Global Politics: Engaging a Complex World — containing these following maps:

McGraw’s Spokesperson — Catherine Mathis — then stated:

“As soon as we learned about the concerns with it, we placed sales of the book on hold and immediately initiated an academic review. The review determined that the map did not meet our academic standards. We have informed the authors and we are no longer selling the book. All existing inventory will be destroyed. We apologize and will refund payment to anyone who returns the book.”

The New York Times should be ashamed of itself for publishing their similarly false and misleading maps.

Brownie points earned by the Washington Post in exposing the New York Times anti-Israel bias were however forfeited when Kessler continued “to summarize the two versions of whether there was a historic Palestine for readers who want to hear both sides of the story.”

The Pro-Palestinian version — according to Kessler - maintains:

“In the 18th century, the area saw the emergence of a new Palestine-based autonomous rule, spurred in part by the region’s commercial dynamism, especially its trade in cotton and grain. In effect, between the 1720s and 1775 under the ruler Zahir al-Umar, there was an independent Palestinian state — longer than the British mandate."

Why publish such fabricated nonsense at all?

Palestine had then been part of the Ottoman Empire for 250 years and continued to remain so until the Allied and Central Powers made their decisions on its future at the 1920 San Remo Conference.

Ending the flow of false information published by “respectable publications” remains a continuing challenge for Israel to combat and finally defeat.


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 and international media publications for decades.

Israel Arab human rights group fuels Jew-hatred

 

Israeli-based Arab human rights organisation – B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories - is becoming politically involved in the unresolved 100-years conflict between Jews and Arabs over sovereignty in the territory formerly called Palestine.

The beneficiary of substantial international financial largesse – B’Tselem has adopted a belligerent political anti-Jewish stance.

In a recent Position Paper headlined: ”A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid” – B’Tselem claims:

"More than 14 million people, roughly half of them Jews and the other half Palestinians, live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea under a single rule … the entire area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River is organized under a single principle: advancing and cementing the supremacy of one group – Jews – over another – Palestinians… There is one regime governing the entire area and the people living in it, based on a single organizing principle."

There is no single rule – no Jewish supremacy - no apartheid.

B’Tselem’s claim is patently false - as the Oslo Accords clearly attest: Area A of the West Bank is totally ruled by the Palestine Liberation Organisation – which also exercises full administrative and shared security control over Area B of the West Bank – these areas totalling 40% of the West Bank and housing 95% of the West Bank Arab population.

Gaza is totally ruled by Hamas.

B’Tselem’s last published list of international donors in 2017 included:

Bread for the World: a non-partisan, Christian organization based in the United States advocating for policy changes to end hunger.

Catholic Relief Services: carrying out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas.

Christian Aid Ireland: a partnership of people, churches and local organisations committed to ending poverty worldwide.

The Church of Scotland: seeking to inspire the people of Scotland and beyond with the Good News of Jesus Christ through enthusiastic worshipping, witnessing, nurturing and serving communities.

The United Church of Christ (UCC): a distinct and diverse community of Christians coming together as one church to join faith and action - with over 5,000 churches and nearly one million members across the U.S.

Dan Church Aid (DCA): a Danish humanitarian, not for profit organisation based in Copenhagen - established in 1922 with its roots in the Danish Evangelical-Lutheran Church serving as a central pillar of DCA’s constituency

The European Commission: playing an active role in developing the EU’s overall strategy and in designing and implementing EU policies.

The European Endowment for Democracy (EED): an independent, grant-making organisation, established in 2013 by the European Union (EU) and EU member states as an autonomous International Trust Fund to foster democracy

The Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders (EMHRF): an independent regional foundation established and registered as a Danish foundation in 2004 by EuroMed Rights, a network of more than 80 human rights organisations

UNDP: The United Nations development agency helping to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience so countries can sustain progress.

These organisations are perfectly entitled to continue donating their money to B’Tselem.

But foreign entities - funding 69% of donations to B’Tselem in 2019 - must also expect to be subjected to trenchant criticism - knowing their future donations will be used to stir up resentment against the Jewish People and its legal right to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza as authorised by the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the United Nations Charter.

International donors funding Israeli-based Arab human rights organisations now need to tread very carefully.


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 and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog

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The 'State of Palestine' remains a United Nations mirage

 

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber 1 decision that the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate alleged war crimes committed in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem has infuriated Israel — but should bring no joy to Hamas, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) or the United Nations which continues to support the PLO’s claim for the creation of a second Arab State in former Palestine — in addition to Jordan.

The ICC Prosecutor believes:

"there is a reasonable basis to believe that members of Hamas and Palestinian armed groups […] committed the war crimes of: intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects (articles 8(2)(b)(i)-(ii), or 8(2)(e)(i)); using protected persons as shields (article 8(2)(b)(xxiii)); wilfully depriving protected persons of the rights of fair and regular trial (articles 8(2)(a)(vi) or 8(2)(c)(iv)) and wilful killing (articles 8(2)(a)(i), or 8(2)(c)(i)); and torture or inhuman treatment (article 8(2)(a)(ii), or 8(2)(c)(i)) and/or outrages upon personal dignity (articles 8(2)(b)(xxi), or 8(2)(c)(ii))’ (para 94)

The Prosecutor further concluded in para 94 that these potential cases would be currently admissible for prosecution once jurisdiction was established.

The Court noted:

“The identification of potential cases by the Prosecutor and her evolving investigation, which is likely to be protracted and resource-intensive, entails that the question of jurisdiction under consideration has concrete ramifications for the further conduct of the proceedings. The initiation of an investigation by the Prosecutor also means that States Parties are under the obligation to cooperate with the Court pursuant to part 9 of the Statute. It is, therefore, all the more necessary to place the present proceedings on a sound jurisdictional footing as early as possible.”(para 86)

The PLO and Hamas will be kept very busy answering the ICC Prosecutor’s enquiries regarding those Palestinian war crimes identified in para 94.

The Court further emphasised that:

“the present decision is strictly limited to the question of jurisdiction set forth in the Prosecutor’s Request and does not entail any determination on the border disputes between Palestine and Israel. The present decision shall thus not be construed as determining, prejudicing, impacting on, or otherwise affecting any other legal matter arising from the events in the Situation in Palestine either under the Statute or any other field of international law.”(para 60)

Any expectation Israel will return to the negotiating table after the PLO’s flirtation with the ICC is hard to visualise.

The 163 page partly dissenting opinion of Judge Péter Kovács’ dwarfs the Court’s actual 60 page decision. It is complicated and breathtaking in its scope and incredible research.

In it Judge Kovács’ made the following observations: 

“To sum up, no conclusion can be drawn that the ‘Non-Member Observer State’ status in the United Nations should be construed in abstracto to mean that its holder is a sovereign State.” (para 219) 

“Palestine is a State Party 9 (under the ICC Statute—ed) despite its current and perhaps peculiar international legal situation. As a State in statu nascendi, Palestine may also perform its rights and obligations. However, this does not mean that its ‘statehood’ has been achieved, that the issue of its territory as ‘territory of the State’ has been settled, or that its ‘borders’ can be conceived as State boundaries.” (para 267)

“Although Mr. Mahmoud Abbas is the Head of State of a State Party, Palestine has not yet achieved a full-fledged and sovereign State status” (Para 303)

His Honour also listed the recent statements (below) of leading Palestinian personalities on the ‘State of Palestine’ as an ‘aim to achieve’ and not as an existing, sovereign and independent State.

The State of Palestine remains a United Nations mirage based on fiction—not fact.

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 and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog