UN Resolution 2334 is a jolt to pro-settler plans of Eretz (Greater) Israel
The far right coalition ruling Israel is stunned at the December 23 Security Council Resolution calling on it to reverse its illegal settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Passed by a 14-0 majority the resolution contains nothing new, as there are numerous shelved ones on this issue, starting with Resolution 242 (1967), when these territories were annexed during the Six Day War. But there is one difference that is behind the vindictive reaction from Tel Aviv. In rare move, the US abstained instead of following its practice of vetoing international legislation critical of Israel, right or wrong. Another reason for the Israeli reaction is the rude fact that all the UNSC members, permanent and non-permanent, voted in favour, leading to the summoning of their ambassadors. It appears that the world is tired of Israeli subterfuge on its settlement expansion and its semantic ploys such as ‘natural growth’ to mask these overt Palestinian land grabs.
The US Administration’s move is a case of too little, too late. But it does underscore the vital breakthrough that the US could have achieved on the two state matter if it had followed an honest broker policy, or even maintained a hint of neutrality in the long simmering imbroglio. Even the present belated step comes from a lame duck US administration. And Donald Trump has promised his unqualified support to Israel on its settlement policy and also plans to shift the American embassy to Jerusalem, both moves fraught with inflammatory consequences.
In not allowing a Palestinian state, Israel has become its own worst enemy. The demographic picture between the Jordan River and the Red Sea is fast changing in favour of the Palestinians. By becoming a hostage to his far right coalition partner, Naftali Bennet and other of his pro-settler ilk, the Israeli Prime Minister ignores the views of countless moderate Jews and risks turning Israel into an apartheid pariah state. But at the moment, settler influence is widespread in Israeli society.
Tell to chinese
Comments are closed.