Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine threatens conflict industry

 

Ten months have passed since the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution was published in Al-Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 (Saudi Solution) – yet not one word has appeared in the major international or any other news services – my publishers excepted – scarcely subjected to any analysis by the multiple think tanks, non-Government organisations [NGOs] and analysts around the world or been mentioned at the United Nations even once.

The perplexing question that needs to be answered is: 

Why this silence worldwide about a solution whose implementation promises:

• The merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be named the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine – to be ruled by the Hashemites with its capital in Amman – not Jerusalem
• Jerusalem to be the undivided capital of Israel only
• The Hashemites to retain control over the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem
• Israel to regain sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) after 3500 years
• Stateless Palestinian Arabs living anywhere in the world gaining citizenship in the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
• An end to the 100 years-old unresolved Arab-Jewish conflict

Not newsworthy enough to report for 400 foreign media representatives from 32 countries stationed in Israel?

Not sufficiently intriguing for any reporter in the past ten months to ask the following leaders at their regular press conferences for their opinion of the Saudi Solution – given none of them has voluntarily issued a media statement or comment rejecting it:

• King Abdullah of Jordan,
• Palestine Liberation Organisation President Mahmoud Abbas
• Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh
• Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
• UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?

My only explanation for the veil of silence covering this international conglomerate – that I have dubbed “the conflict industry” – is the threat they all see to their own existence if the Saudi Solution is successfully implemented and the Arab-Jewish conflict is ended.

Norman Finkelstein – a former professor famous for defending the Palestinian cause and fierce critic of Israel – admitted recently this phenomenon also exists in Ramallah – the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority:

“Whenever a cause has gone on so long as this one has, people develop an investment in its perpetuation. There are 10,000 NGOs in Ramallah now. That means 10,000 organizations which are paid for by foreign countries, mostly European, to ‘facilitate’ the peace process. And if you’re in an NGO, compared to the salaries of ordinary Palestinians, it’s quite good.”

“Ramallah is a pretty impressive lifestyle now. And so you develop a stake in perpetuating the situation. And so you don’t even want to think about realistic solutions, because part of you doesn’t even want it to end.”

“I have to admit myself – let’s say it ended tomorrow, what am I going to do tomorrow? I have to fight that.”

These culprits apparently cannot find anything to criticise in the Saudi Solution. If they did – they would have trashed it long ago in lengthy articles and detailed analysis – ridiculing it as a non-starter.

So they pretend the Saudi Solution does not exist – give it no oxygen – keep their readers in the dark about its potential to end the conflict.

A revolutionary game changer and circuit breaker – negotiations to implement the Saudi Solution are desperately needed to arrest the surging violence in Jerusalem, Gaza, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) – stoked by Syria, Iran and Lebanon.

The conflict industry stands condemned for breathlessly reporting the humanitarian disaster unfolding before its very eyes – whilst totally ignoring the Saudi Solution that could end it.

Shameful and disgusting.

@IsraeliPM,@special_royal,@SecBlinken,@UN_Spokesperson, @alishihabi, @JosepBorrellF  #israel, #palestine,#jordan, #saudiarabia, #middleeast

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine: Biden’s New Horizon for Peace?

The Aqaba Joint Communique issued by the US Department of State suggests that President Biden could be jettisoning his support for UN Security Council Resolution 2334 calling for the creation of a sovereign independent Palestinian Arab State between Israel and Jordan (two-State Solution).

Resolution 2334 was born in sin on December 23, 2016 when the Obama/Biden administration failed to veto its adoption as they were packing up and vacating the White House following their electoral defeat at the hands of Donald Trump.

The UN Security Council has totally failed to advance its two-State Solution in the last six years - as well-respected analyst Thomas Friedman - writing in the New York Times - makes clear:

"A week of reporting from Israel and the West Bank has left me feeling that the prospect for a two-state solution has all but vanished. But no one wants to formally declare it dead and buried--because categorically ruling it out would have enormous ramifications. So, diplomats, politicians and liberal Jewish organizations pretend that it still has a faint heartbeat. I do as well. But we all know that the two-state option is not in a hospital. It’s in hospice. Only a miracle cure could save it now."

US Secretary of State Blinken was still flogging this dead horse on 18 February - reiterating to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu America’s support for:

“a negotiated two-state solution and opposition to policies that endangered its viability.”

Blinken was closely followed on 20 February by UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process - Tor Wennesland - pathetically repeating his monthly mantra to the Security Council:

“As we continue to work with the parties and with regional and international partners to calm tensions, we must identify and pursue every opportunity to advance our long-term goal: an end to the occupation and the establishment of two States, living side-by-side in peace and security, on the basis of the 1967 lines, in line with UN resolutions, international law and previous agreements.”

Biden’s position seemingly changed in the next seven days.

The Aqaba Joint Communique issued on February 26, 2023 following the meeting of senior officials from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the US, Jordan and Egypt significantly omitted any reference to the two-State Solution--stating instead:

“The participants stressed the importance of the Aqaba meeting, the first of its kind in years. They agreed to continue meeting under this formula, maintain positive momentum and expand this agreement towards wider political process leading to a just and lasting peace...

..They also thanked the United States for its important role in efforts to reach understandings that led to this agreement today, emphasizing its indispensable role in efforts to prevent deterioration and find horizons for peace.”

Two senior officials present in Aqaba - Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and PLO Executive Committee Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh - had been engaged in secret back-channel negotiations for the previous two months.

“Wider political process leading to a just and lasting peace” suggests they had already buried the UN two-State Solution.

Emphasizing America’s “indispensable role in efforts to prevent deterioration and find horizons for peace” suggests Biden had finally put aside his personal loathing for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and is looking at the only other solution presently on the horizon for ending the deteriorating political and security situation in Judea-Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza: The Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published on June 8, 2022.

Meantime Biden’s lunchtime-confidant and disappointed-Saudi Whisperer Friedman sits weeping in the hospice - refusing to write one word about the Saudi plan in the ten months since its publication.

Another White House lunch with Friedman could prove to be historic...

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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

Wennesland and Guterres stay mum on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

Tor Wennesland – UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) - and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres – continue to ignore the existence of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (Saudi Solution) at their peril.

Neither Wennesland nor Guterres has mentioned the Saudi Solution once in their frequent meetings and briefings with the General Assembly and Security Council or in public comments since the Saudi-Solution was published on 8 June 2022.

The Saudi Solution calls for Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to be merged into one territorial entity – shredding the failed two-state solution proposed by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 2334 on 23 December 2016

Jordan, the PLO and Gaza have agreed to major revisions to the Saudi Solution - as I have recently revealed

I first drew Wennesland's attention to the Saudi Solution on 29 August 2022 in an email to two of Wennesland's staff: Murad Bakri Strategic Communications & Public Information Officer and Dvora Friedman Strategic Communications & Public Information Assistant:

"Following please find link to a peace proposal emanating from Saudi Arabia and published 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.

https://english.alarabiya.net/in-translation/2022/06/08/The-Hashemite-Kingdom-of-Palestine

Mr Wennesland has not to my knowledge made any comment on this proposal since its release. Is this correct? If not - could you please refer me to any statement he has made.

Mr Wennesland has not included any mention of this Saudi proposal in his last three monthly briefings to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East. Could Mr Wennesland please comment on why he has failed to do so?

I am a journalist and intend using Mr Wennesland's reply to these questions in an article I am writing on the Saudi Plan.

I would appreciate receiving a response within the next 72 hours.

Kindly acknowledge receipt of this email."

No response or acknowledgment of this email was received – a fate that has similarly befallen many emails I have sent to Guterres relating to the Saudi Solution

Now Wennesland has done it again – failing to make any mention of the Saudi Solution at his quarterly briefing with the UN Security Council on 18 January.

Instead Wennesland had the gall to continue telling the Security Council:

"The United Nations remains committed to supporting an end to the occupation and establishing a two State solution, with an independent and sovereign Palestinian State based on the 1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States in line with UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements."

Not a word about the Saudi Solution – whose successful implementation could see the Jewish-Arab conflict ended and the UN two State solution consigned to the diplomatic graveyard after six years of going nowhere. 

No mention that Jordan, the PLO and Hamas have already agreed to revised terms of the Saudi Solution that could possibly expedite a signed peace agreement in 2023.

Wennesland issued the following warning:

"Absent a collective effort by all, with strong support from the international community, spoilers and extremists will continue to pour more fuel on the fire and we will move still further from a peaceful resolution of the conflict."

The United Nations' continuing failure to replace its own failed two-state solution with the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution - as revised by Jordan, the PLO and Hamas-– is now the greatest threat to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

 

UN continues obscene silence on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

My latest article revealing that Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Hamas have seemingly agreed to the creation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - trashing the failed two-State solution proposed by the UN since 2016 - has brought no response from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. 

On 10 January I forwarded my article to Stephane Dujarric - Guterres' spokesperson - asking him:

"For how much longer can the Secretary-General refuse to acknowledge even the existence of this alternative solution to the UN's failed two-state solution?"

On January 3, 2023 I had written to Mr Dujarric:

"I note the Secretary General stated on 19 December: ‘We owe it to people to find solutions, to fight back, and to act", said Secretary-General António Guterres. "At times, discreetly but always with determination, we will fight back."  

I certainly hope the Secretary General has finally decided to bring the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution to the General Assembly and Security Council for consideration as an alternative to the two-State solution unsuccessfully pursued by the UN since the passing of UNSCR 2334 in 2016. I hope that I might receive an acknowledgement of this email by return and a considered statement from the Secretary General that I can publish in response to this latest article within the next 72 hours."

Both emails - along with many others enclosing earlier articles - were not even acknowledged by Mr Dujarric. 

Guterres should rename Dujarric: The Non-Spokesperson for the Secretary General.

Guterres heads the following massive UN anti-Israel administration that vilifies and denigrates Israel on a daily basis - that would disintegrate if the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution was successfully implemented:

• Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP):

Established in 1975 to enable the 1964-invented "Palestinians" to exercise falsely –claimed inalienable rights to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty without external interference; to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced. 

• United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):

Established in 1949 carrying out direct relief and works programmes solely for Palestinian Arab refugees involving expenditure of US$2.048 billion in 2022-2023

• Special Rapporteur - Francesca Albanese:

Assessing the human rights situation in the UN-falsely-designated "Occupied Palestinian Territories", reporting publicly about it, and working with governments, civil society and others to foster international cooperation

• The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary-General's Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority - Tor Wennesland: 

Focal point on the ground for UN support in all political and diplomatic efforts related to the peace process and for coordinating the activities of more than twenty UN agencies, funds and programmes on humanitarian and development assistance to a name-changed "Palestinian Authority" and falsely-claimed "Palestinian people".

• Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs' Division for Palestinian Rights: The Secretariat of CEIRPP  providing the following core functions:
• Organising meetings of CEIRPP and its Bureau at UN Headquarters;
• Monitoring political and other relevant developments;
• Organising programmes of international meetings, conferences and CEIRPP delegation visits;
• Implementing a publications programme;
• Developing and maintaining the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) and managing CEIRPP's outreach efforts including via social media;
• Cooperating with civil society organizations active on the Palestinian issue;
• Organising the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Maurice Hirsh's recent article headlined "The UN is cancerous and should not be allowed in Israel" expresses Israel's increasing frustration with the UN.

Secretary-General Guterres' continuing failure to recognise the existence of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution indicates he is apparently more concerned with preserving this UN Jew-hating behemoth than ending the 100 years-old Arab-Jewish conflict. 

Please join my Facebook Page: "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters" 

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.

Security Council should adopt Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

The United Nations Security Council needs to urgently consider adopting  the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution - following the warning delivered on December 19th by Tor Wennesland – UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process. 

Addressing the Security Council Wennesland advised:

“Clashes, protests, attacks, Israeli security operations, including in Area A, and settler-related violence have continued. In 2022 to date, over one hundred and fifty Palestinians and more than twenty Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and Israel, the highest numbers of fatalities in years”

Wennesland was concerned that  Security Council Resolution 2334 passed on December 23, 2016 had failed to achieve its objective six years later: the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab State between Israel and Jordan (two-State solution).

 Wennesland unwisely chose to blame Israel:

“Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, remains deeply concerning. Settlements constitute a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions and international law. They undermine the prospects of achieving a two-State solution by systematically eroding the possibility of establishing a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State.”

He reminded the Security Council:

"As I told the Council in my briefing last month, seeking to freeze this conflict or manage it in perpetuity are not viable options. There is no substitute for a legitimate political process that will resolve the core issues driving the conflict."

Wennesland was correct but his proposed recommendation for “a legitimate political process” fell far short of what is required:

“In line with the recommendations that I made to this Council in November, I urge the parties, along with regional States and the broader international community to take concrete steps that will change the negative trajectory on the ground and have an immediate impact on Palestinian and Israeli lives, while, at the same time, ensuring these steps are anchored in a political framework that moves the parties forward towards the establishment of two States.”

Clinging to the failed two-State solution 6 years after its endorsement by Security Council Resolution 2334 and 20 years after first being proposed by the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative – is a futile exercise.  

Wennesland’s recommendation will only see the conflict being indefinitely perpetuated – not ended.  

The Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published on June 8, 2022 (Saudi Solution) has amazingly never been mentioned or discussed in the Security Council. 

It will dramatically  “change the negative trajectory on the ground “:

• It challenges the Security Council’s pointless pursuit of the two-State  solution by calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine having its capital in Amman and being ruled by Jordan’s current Hashemite ruler – King Abdullah
• The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and 2003 Oslo Accords are superseded.
• Arab populations living in Gaza, the West Bank and the refugee camps in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon will become citizens of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.
• Sovereignty in the West Bank will be divided between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
• Its author – Ali Shihabi – is a confidant of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister – Mohammed Bin Salman.
• Publication of the plan in the Saudi Government–controlled Al-Arabiya News overrules current Saudi policy - strongly suggesting Mohammed Bin Salman’s approval was first obtained.
• King Abdullah (Jordan), Mahmoud Abbas (Palestinian Authority), Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas) Mohammed Bin Salman (Saudi Arabia) and Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel) have not expressly rejected the solution in the six months since its publication.
• Its successful implementation can end the 100 years-old Arab -Jewish conflict.

Adopting the Saudi Solution to replace the failed two-State solution is needed to arrest this worsening humanitarian nightmare. 

Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

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 set to uncork Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine genie at UN

 

Israel is readying to uncork the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine genie at the United Nations - ending UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process Torr Wennesland’s efforts to keep the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution (Saudi Solution) from being discussed as a replacement for the failed UN 20 years-old two state solution. 

The Saudi Solution was published on 8 June 2022 in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News. Its author - Ali Shihabi - advises Saudi Arabia’s King-designate, Crown Prince and Prime Minister - Mohammed Bin Salman - on the development of Neom - a new $500 billion mega city the size of Israel

The Saudi Solution calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - having its capital in Amman -not Jerusalem. 

It supersedes the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative - spawned by Saudi Arabia and embraced by the UN -which calls for:

"the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital."

The UN stands to become totally irrelevant if it continues to refuse to discuss the Saudi Solution following Danny Danon - Israel's former ambassador to the United Nations - claiming at the first Abraham Accords Global Leadership Summit - that Saudi Arabia may be one of the next nations to normalize relations with Israel.  

Danon stated:

"We have been in contact with the Saudis for years. I worked personally with them at the United Nations on matters of regional stability and security. It’s just a matter of time before courageous leaders step out of the shadows and full peace is achieved between all the children of Abraham. .. I expect we’ll see an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia this year"

This was good news for those seeking an end to the 100 years-old Jewish/Arab conflict - but bad news for the UN which continues to stubbornly support the two-state solution whilst refusing to even acknowledge the existence of the game-changing Saudi Solution since its publication six months ago.  

It beggars belief that on 30 November the UN General Assembly adopted five resolutions on the questions of Palestine and the Middle East without one speaker uttering the words - "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution" - whose successful implementation would see the Arab populations in Gaza, part of the West Bank and the wretched UNRWA camps in Lebanon and Syria becoming citizens of that newly-created territorial entity. 

Cheikh Niang (Senegal)- Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People - introduced its annual report containing developments relating to the question of Palestine between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022 - which contained not one reference to the Saudi Solution in its 27 pages. 

Israeli Prime Minister designate Bibi Netanyahu has made his intentions crystal-clear:

"I think the big prize is peace with Saudi Arabia, which I intend to achieve if I go back into office… The rise of Israeli power facilitated the Abraham Accords, and the continual nurturing of Israeli power will also nurture a broader peace with Saudi Arabia and nearly all of the rest of the Arab world. I intend to bring the Arab-Israeli conflict to a close."

The 2022 Saudi Solution offers Israel:

• sole sovereignty in Jerusalem, 
• sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and 
• abandonment of the 74 years-old Arab claim to return to Israel

The UN must respond to the hope of peace offered by the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine genie.  

Please join my Facebook Page: "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters"  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.

RIP UN two-State solution, Hello Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

The United Nations  two-State solution - first proposed on November 29, 1947 - needs to be finally buried and replaced with the Saudi peace solution proposed on June 8, 2022. 

The 1947 UN solution: Creating one Jewish State and one Arab state between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea (UN two-State solution) - was aimed at ending the Arab-Jewish conflict in Western Palestine which had then been raging for the previous 50 years.

This proposal was accepted by the Jews but rejected by the Arabs - becoming the catalyst for the War that broke out in May 1948.  

The Arabs ended up controlling some 22% of the territory between the River and the Sea. The major part was unified with Eastern Palestine located east of the Jordan River - (granted independence in 1946 as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan) - and renamed the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1950. The balance - the Gaza Strip -was occupied and administered by Egypt. 

The founding document of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1964 (PLO) expressly disavowed any claim to sovereignty "over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" and "the Gaza Strip". 

It was only in 1968 - after Jordan and Egypt had lost these lands to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War - that the PLO began to agitate for an independent Arab state west of the Jordan River - employing terrorism to try and achieve it. The PLO strategy failed. However the long-dormant UN two-State solution was resurrected by the international community in:

• 1980: Venice Declaration 
• 1993: Oslo Accords
• 2002: Arab Peace Initiative.
• 2003: President Bush Roadmap 
• 2011: President Obama 
• 2020: President Trump 

Powerful backers indeed - but no such two-State solution has appeared a remote possibility for the last forty years.

A radically-different proposal however surfaced in Saudi Arabia on June 8, 2022 that was both revolutionary and ground-breaking: Merge Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - no new Arab State between the River and the Sea. 

The UN's response has been disgraceful.

Instead of welcoming this Saudi proposal and the prospects its successful implementation offers for ending the Jewish-Arab conflict - the UN has failed to even acknowledge its existence - denying it any oxygen, exposure or traction in the UN. 

Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Process Torr Wennesland have made no public comments whatsoever on the Saudi proposal or included any reference to it in their monthly reports to the Security Council since its release. 

They need to break their silence. 

Until they do - they remain compromised and conflicted. 

A UN closed forum convened on 8 November by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) with Civil Society Organizations (CSO's) from "Palestine" Israel and the United States "Advocating for Accountability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" --asserted  that "Safeguarding the two-State solution" remained their prime objective. 

Not one of them apparently mentioned the Saudi proposal - whose successful implementation would put them all out of business by finally ending a conflict that has defied resolution for more than 100 years. 

Guterres continued parroting the UN's commitment to the two-state solution on November 22 - without mentioning the Saudi solution - which needs to be aired and debated in the UN General Assembly, Security Council and CEIRPP and no longer suppressed. 

The UN's 75 years-old failed two-State solution to end the Jewish-Arab conflict has well and truly passed its use by date. The time has come for the UN to adopt the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution to replace it. 

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.

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine key to ending Jew-bashing at UN

 

The United Nations favourite sport - Jew bashing - was on full display this past week at the 77th Session of the United Nations Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) - which approved six draft resolutions - all highly critical of Israel. 

One of these draft resolutions - approved by 98 voting in favour to 17 against, - with 52 abstentions--was titled "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem" (document A/C.4/77/L.12/Rev.1).

By its terms, the UN General Assembly would demand that Israel cease: 

"all measures that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people, including the killing and injuring of civilians, the arbitrary detention and imprisonment of civilians, the forced displacement of civilians, the transfer of its own population into the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem" 

and that:

"the General Assembly should request the International Court of Justice to render urgently an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967"

Vituperative verbal attacks on the Jewish State made by Bangladesh, Venezuela, South Africa, Iran, Libya, Niger, Türkiye, Algeria, Brunei Darussalam, Namibia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Japan, Qatar, Lebanon, Sudan, Malaysia and Yemen ensured Jew-bashing would continue at the United Nations whilst the 100 years-old Arab-Jewish conflict remains unresolved. 

Yet the implementation of a recently-published proposal that could end that conflict and similar future acrimonious debates was never raised or discussed. 

That proposal - published on June 8, 2022 in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News by Ali Shihabi - a confidant of Crown Prince and Saudi Arabian Prime Minister - Mohammed Bin Salman (Saudi Solution):

• Recognises Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted, however grudgingly, by the region around it.
• Calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - with its capital in Amman - not Jerusalem - to be governed by the current Hashemite dynasty ruling in Jordan
• Supersedes the 2002 Saudi-inspired Arab Peace Initiative
• Ends the 74 years old Palestinian Arab claim to the right of return to live in Israel.
• Grants citizenship and passports to all Arab residents living within the new entity's borders 
• Does not require any of the entity's population to pack up and move elsewhere. 
• Offers Palestinian Arab refugees the right to resettle there and acquire citizenship
• Recognises sole Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem
• Affirms Jordan's custodianship of the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem

Successful implementation of this Saudi Solution would immeasurably free up the UN's time to deal with other unresolved and emerging world conflicts. 

The fact that this ground-breaking and - indeed revolutionary - Saudi Solution has never been discussed by the UN General Assembly, Security Council or any of its Committees - its very existence not even being acknowledged by any of them - is a damning indictment on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Torr Wennesland. 

The UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People - whose 2022 Annual Report fails to mention the Saudi Solution - is also expressly complicit. 

The UN has become hopelessly conflicted - burying the Saudi Solution rather than considering it to replace its owned failed two-state solution to create an independent Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan that has gone nowhere in the last 20 years. 

Failure to examine and evaluate the Saudi Solution threatens the UN's relevance and continued existence. 

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.

Jordan - PLO - Hamas - UN - EU coy on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

Jordan, Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Hamas, United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) now have to choose between two very different two-state solutions to end the 100 years old Arab-Jewish conflict.

The first:

 

Unsuccessfully pursued by the United Nations for the last 19 years – was renewed again at the sidelines of the 77th Annual Meeting of the General Assembly on 21 September:

"The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan met in New York today in the presence of special guests Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process [UNSCMEP –ed] Tor Wennesland, to consult and coordinate their policies with a view to advancing the Middle East Peace Process towards a just, comprehensive and lasting peace on the basis of the two-state solution..."

..."We emphasize that the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-state solution is indispensable for comprehensive peace in the region. We remain firmly committed to enabling and supporting all efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on international law, relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and agreed parameters, including the Arab Peace Initiative. 

We reiterate our conviction that only a negotiated two-state solution based on June 4, 1967 lines, and consistent with relevant UN Security Council resolution ensuring an independent, contiguous and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel, can fulfil the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians."

The second:

Far murkier in its provenance - was published in Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022:

"The Palestinian problem can only be solved today if it is redefined. The issue in this day and age for people should be not so much the ownership of ancestral land but more the critical need to have a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world. Labor in this day and age is mobile and having citizenship in a country that facilitates such mobility is critical to human development.

The most logical vehicle for this redefinition and hence for the solution to the Palestine problem is the kingdom of Jordan. Over the last seventy-five years, Jordan has developed into a relatively well-governed state, although the impact of regional political turmoil has caused it to fail economically and become heavily reliant on foreign aid for its survival. It is this Jordanian governance infrastructure that needs to be captured and put to productive use in integrating the millions of Palestinians and Jordanians into a modern, reasonably well-functioning state that would, in an era of real peace and economic integration with Jordan's neighbors, have a much higher chance of growth and prosperity.

This proposed enlarged kingdom would include present-day Jordan, Gaza, and the West Bank (areas populated by Palestinians attached in a contiguous manner and physically connected to Jordan, i.e., not broken up into islands)."

The author Ali Shihabi is a close confidante of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Zalman – Saudi Arabia's next King designate. Al Arabiya News is reportedly 60% owned by the Saudi Government. 

This plan shreds the 1981 and 2002 Saudi Peace Plans and 1980 EU Venice Declaration.

Jordan's King Abdullah, PLO Leader Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and the EU have not uttered one word rejecting this Saudi alternative plan since its publication.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UNSCMEP Tor Wennesland have refused to discuss or even acknowledge the Saudi Plan's existence.

Israeli politicians: choose either - or neither. Being coy is no longer an option.

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 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.

Wennesland in La-La Land ignoring Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

It is amazing to think that one of the highest ranking United Nations officials dealing with the Palestine question - Tor Wennesland - could address the Security Council on the current situation without telling that august body of a significant new proposal that could finally end this 100-years old unresolved Jewish-Arab conflict.  

That proposal - emanating from Saudi Arabia - calls 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.

Its author Ali Shihabi is a confidant and staunch defender of Saudi Arabia's next King - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Shihabi is a member of the Advisory Board of  NEOM - Bin Salman's proposed US$500 billion megacity of the future to be built from the ground up in Northern Saudi Arabia strategically-located on an area of land equal to the size of Israel.

Shihabi's solution was published in Al Arabiya News - reportedly 60% majority owned by the Saudi Government.  

According to MEMRI - the political editor of the Jordanian news outlet jo24.net has written: 

"This article must not be seen as a mere opinion piece published by media, since that happens [only] in democratic countries. In contrast, on the [Saudi] Al-Arabiya channel, not one letter is published without a minute examination, and therefore the article necessarily expresses Al-Arabiya's [position]"

Wennesland:

• Is the most credentialed and best informed official in the UN on developments affecting the peace process in former Palestine.
• Possesses the longest title at the UN: United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary-General's Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Quartet
• Is the focal point on the ground for UN support in all political and diplomatic efforts related to the peace process
• Heads The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) that employs 65 people - established in June 1994 following the signing of the Oslo Accords. 

Yet Wennesland addressed the Security Council on June 27, 2022 and made not one reference to the Saudi Plan which Shihabi had released just 19 days earlier. 

It seems inconceivable that Wennesland was then unaware of this Saudi plan. 

Why didn't he inform the Security Council of its existence and direct his Deputy Special Coordinator Lynn Hastings to do so one month later?  

Wennesland simply continued to trot out the old shibboleths - part of the UN's patter since 1994:

"It is crucial that all parties take immediate steps to lower tensions and reverse negative trends that undermine prospects for a peaceful two-State resolution of the conflict, with a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State."

"Settlements constitute a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions and international law. They undermine the prospect of achieving a two-State solution by systematically eroding the possibility of establishing a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State."

Why not add:

"I bring to your attention a new two-state solution emanating from Saudi Arabia on 8 June that should be considered by the Security Council to replace the two-state solution unsuccessfully pursued by the Security Council for the last 29 years." 

The Saudi plan would be finalised in direct negotiations between Israel and Jordan that would delineate the international border between The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine and Israel and resolve Israel's security concerns. 

Suffering by both Jews and Arabs meticulously recorded at length by Wennesland in his monthly reports and escalating right now would end - as would the conflict and any further need for UNSCO.  

Wennesland is in la-la land and needs to return to the real world.  

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

Jordan, Arab League and UN fuel Jew-hatred on Temple Mount

 

Jordan, the Arab League and the UN's failure to condemn the virulent Jew-hatred on public display during Ramadan at Islam's third holiest religious site – the Al-Aqsa Mosque – located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem - is despicable. 

Thousands of rioters defiled what is venerated as a Muslim Holy Shrine - converting it into a rallying point for flag-waving slogan-shouting Palestinian Arabs armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails to vent their hatred against Jews pictured below:

Clauses 9.1 and 9.2 of the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty state:

9.1. Each Party will provide freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance.  

9.2. In this regard, in accordance with the Washington Declaration, Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines.

The reaction in the Jordanian Parliament to the rioting - expressed by Jordan's Prime Minister - Bisher Al-Khasawneh - was incredulous:

"I salute every Palestinian, and all the employees of the Jordanian Islamic Waqf, who proudly stand like minarets, hurling their stones in a volley of clay at the Zionist sympathizers defiling the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli occupation government"

Instead of publicly condemning his Prime Minister's provocative and offensive remarks and pledging to uphold the terms of Jordan's Peace Treaty with Israel – Jordan's King Abdullah phoned Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi when they:

"stressed the need to cease all illegal and provocative Israeli measures in Al-Aqsa Mosque."

The Arab League called on Israel to end Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount - warning it was a flagrant affront to Muslim feelings that could trigger wider conflict. 

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al Safadi - standing alongside Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit after an emergency Arab League meeting in Amman stated:

"Our demands are clear that Al-Aqsa and Haram al Sharif in all its area is a sole place of worship for Muslims,"

 Aboul Gheit reportedly said Israel was violating a centuries-old policy according to which non-Muslims may visit the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam's third most sacred site after Mecca and Medina, but not pray there. The briefing to the UN Security Council by Tor Wennesland Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process was equally disturbing.

 "... on 21 April, Jordan convened a ministerial of the Arab League to discuss tensions at the Holy Sites. The Committee issued a statement following the meeting calling for "the respect of the legal and historic status quo."

The legal status quo grants freedom of access for Jews and Christians worldwide to the Temple Mount which the rioters were preventing. The historic status quo involves the continuation of Islam's centuries old practice - agreed to by Israel since 1967 in the hope of helping end the Arab-Israel conflict –that now requires Jews to not mutter one syllable in prayer silently whilst on the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site. 

Wennesland amazingly told the Security Council:

"I welcome statements by senior Israeli officials reiterating Israel's commitment to upholding the status quo and ensuring that only Muslims would be allowed to pray on the Holy Esplanade."

The UN's abject surrender in not specifically demanding that Jordan ensure freedom of access for all people to the Temple Mount under the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty is deplorable 

That the UN should welcome the continuation of an ancient Islamic supremacist practice excluding non-Muslims praying on the Temple Mount represents the endorsement of a policy that in today's world smacks of racism and apartheid deserving of condemnation. 

Jew-hatred is a corrosive human condition that remains incurable. 

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.

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.