Supporting Palestine at the UN today is a vote for peace in the Middle East — Updated!

DebbieNovember 30, 20120

Hanan Ashrawi, a top negotiator for the Palestinians and special envoy for President Mahmoud Abbas.

"Countries that do not vote with Palestine will be on the wrong side of history, morality and international law" — Hanan Ashrawi

Editor’s Note: Indeed! Madame Hanan Ashrawi. Congratulations! on the wonderful result of your long walk for Freedom and recognition in your own Homeland:

138- Yes votes 9- No votes and 41- Abstain.

In the meantime, we are being informed by the prime purveyors of Freedom & Democracy in the region that “Powerful (but fearful!) members of the U.S. Congress have introduced an amendment to a key defense budget bill that would pull U.S. funding from countries voting to support the vote, and even from the U.N. itself.” What are we to make of democracy in our time?
Israeli diplomats are apparently threatening to formally revoke the Oslo Accords and forcibly dismantle the Palestinian Authority, if Palestine’s UN status is upgraded.
Good! It will highlight as never before Israel’s true nature. This might be just what is needed for the UNGA to finally apply the “Uniting for Peace” Resolution to Israel, since the preceding Israeli actions would be – among many other things – a direct affront to all of the UN member states voting for Palestine, to the UN and to international law generally.
“The decision at the UN today won’t change anything on the ground,” Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu said. “It won’t promote the establishment of a Palestinian state, it will distance it.”

---

by Hanan Ashrawi

The Guardian, UK
It might seem stating the obvious that Palestinians and Israelis find solutions only through negotiation, until you look at the record. It is a story in which one side makes proposals for nothing in return; one side makes agreements that the other side breaks; and one side keeps commitments that the other side ignores.

Take a recent decision by Israel to approve 100 new homes for its Jewish citizens in the illegal settlement of Gilo, when the Israeli army was bombarding and shelling Gaza. This (along with numerous other settlement decisions by Israel) constitutes a clear breach of signed agreements and of international humanitarian law.

New construction in the settlement of Gilo, where Israel has recently approved 100 new homes. Photograph: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

Today we return to the UN general assembly, the world’s largest multinational arena, where each of 193 states has a vote of equal value and none has a veto.
Supporting our bid for enhanced status at the UN is a vote for the universal values of human rights embodied in the UN charter. Opposing it would make the Palestinian people the glaring exception to universal human rights, denying us the right to self-determination. Ironically, it would constitute a collective punitive measure against us for pursuing our freedom peacefully on the basis of international law and in adherence to what should be a global rule of law.
The question the international community should ask is not who wants negotiations, but who wants solutions. The answer is clear – one side wants to negotiate a permanent solution and the other wants permanent negotiations.
We are as far from having a serious peace partner than at any time since we began this “process”. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, at best views negotiations in the context of photo opportunities and handshakes to improve his international image and keep public opinion quiet. At worst he exploits the “process” to continue settlement expansion, the annexation of Jerusalem, and the “enjoyment” of an American-led legal cover to enable him to act with impunity. This, in fact, represents a severe provocation to our people who have been on the receiving end of such an enormous injustice without responding violently or illegally. While we have met our commitments, Israel continues to renege on its obligations and to build on the 22% of the remaining Palestinian land designated for the free sovereign state of Palestine.
Think for a moment of the absurdity of telling an occupied people to achieve their independence only by politely asking the occupier to kindly allow them to be free. While the world tunes out, Israel will continue its oppressive occupation with its continued settlement building and confiscation of land and resources, its control of everyday life with checkpoints and incursions, and its manipulation of the global political agenda by resorting to violence as the only solution, however futile it has proven itself to be.
Keeping this in mind, is it really any surprise that we Palestinians have decided to adopt the non-violent, diplomatic and multilateral legal approach of pursuing this status at the UN, to be accorded our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in our own country?

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, is greeted by Hanan Ashrawi, left, — AP Photo/David Karp

Rather than being perceived as a substitute for negotiations, our efforts are consistent with the international community’s objective of achieving a peaceful solution whereby Palestine and Israel can live side by side in peace and security.
This aim will never be achieved by giving one of these states a veto on the other’s existence. We are trying to create momentum for progress and credibility for legal and political solutions.
Negotiations can work only if Israel is given a clear signal that it must abide by the laws of nations and the values of humanity at large.
We are resolute in our decision to apply for observer-state status. Now is the time for the international community to act on its words and help us bring an end to the occupation. For those countries, like the UK, that are still wavering, it must be stressed that if they choose not to vote with Palestine they will find themselves on the wrong side of history, let alone morality, justice and international law. Israel is deliberately destroying the two-state solution, as well as the chances for peace and security in the region and beyond.
It is high time that all those countries that recognize the urgency of the moment become fully engaged in ending the cruel and illegal occupation and enabling the Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination and sovereignty and to live in freedom and dignity on their own land.

Updated

Related articles:

• Palestine Granted UN Observer State Status 29nov12

• Abbas: Time to move forward – that is why we are here today

• BREAKING NEWS : Palestinians win upgraded UN status by wide margin

• Did Britain try blackmail to cripple Palestinians’ UN bid? Yes! UPDATED

• Israeli Terror: The “Final Solution” to the Palestine Question

• The Palestinians’ only option

Palestinians Win Statehood Status at U.N. Over U.S. Objections - ABC News#.ULf5qGfNm_h

Palestinians Win Statehood Status at U.N. Over U.S. Objections - ABC News#.ULf5qGfNm_h

UN implicitly recognizes Palestinian statehood

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Admin

RT News
The UN General Assembly has voted to upgrade Palestinians’ diplomatic status to a “non-member observer state,” thus implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state. This comes despite strong opposition from the US and Israel.
The Palestinian bid has been upheld with 138 votes in favour, nine against and 41 abstentions.
Addressing the General Assembly Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the historic vote was the last chance to save the two-state solution. He also told the meeting that it “is being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the parties to renew their commitment to negotiating peace deal.
However the US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said the UN’s vote on the Palestinians’ status places further obstacles in the path of peace.

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, speaks to the United Nations General Assembly before the body votes on a resolution to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Authority to a nonmember observer state November 29, 2012.(AFP Photo / Henny Ray Abrams)

The Palestinian bid to join the global body as a full member state failed in 2011 due to lack of support at the UN Security Council. To get the “non-member observer state” status, the Palestinians only needed a simple majority at the 193-member General Assembly, such status is already held by the Vatican.
Among many other nations the Palestinian bid for an upgraded diplomatic status was backed by a number of EU states, including France, Spain, Denmark, Portugal and Austria.
The bid had overwhelming support from developing nations.
The Palestine Liberation Organization, the umbrella group of various Palestinian factions, had previously had only “permanent observer” status at the UN.
The new status now grants the Palestinians more weight in peace talks with Israel and gives it a greater chance of joining UN agencies and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Joining the ICC would give the Palestinians greater legal basis for pursuing possible war-crimes prosecutions against the Israeli military.
However despite the support, the French Foreign Minister has warned Palestinians against pursuing Israel in the International Criminal Court, calling such a move “counter-productive.”

War on Gaza is War over Natural Gas. This is a war of conquest.

This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline.



British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon’s Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.



The rights to the offshore gas field are respectively British Gas (60 percent); Consolidated Contractors (CCC) (30 percent); and the Investment Fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent). (Haaretz, October 21, 2007).



The PA-BG-CCC agreement includes field development and the construction of a gas pipeline.(Middle East Economic Digest, Jan 5, 2001).



The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.



The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine’s gas reserves could be much larger.

Map 1

Map 2

Who Owns the Gas Fields



The issue of sovereignty over Gaza’s gas fields is crucial. From a legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine.



The death of Yasser Arafat, the election of the Hamas government and the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish de facto control over Gaza’s offshore gas reserves.



British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields.



The election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001 was a major turning point. Palestine’s sovereignty over the offshore gas fields was challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. Sharon stated unequivocally that “Israel would never buy gas from Palestine” intimating that Gaza’s offshore gas reserves belong to Israel.



In 2003, Ariel Sharon, vetoed an initial deal, which would allow British Gas to supply Israel with natural gas from Gaza’s offshore wells. (The Independent, August 19, 2003)



The election victory of Hamas in 2006 was conducive to the demise of the Palestinian Authority, which became confined to the West Bank, under the proxy regime of Mahmoud Abbas.



In 2006, British Gas “was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt.” (Times, May, 23, 2007). According to reports, British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened on behalf of Israel with a view to shunting the agreement with Egypt.



The following year, in May 2007, the Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert “to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority.” The proposed contract was for $4 billion, with profits of the order of $2 billion of which one billion was to go the Palestinians.



Tel Aviv, however, had no intention on sharing the revenues with Palestine. An Israeli team of negotiators was set up by the Israeli Cabinet to thrash out a deal with the BG Group, bypassing both the Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority:



“Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods and services and insist that no money go to the Hamas-controlled Government.” (Ibid, emphasis added)



The objective was essentially to nullify the contract signed in 1999 between the BG Group and the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat.



Under the proposed 2007 agreement with BG, Palestinian gas from Gaza’s offshore wells was to be channeled by an undersea pipeline to the Israeli seaport of Ashkelon, thereby transferring control over the sale of the natural gas to Israel.



The deal fell through. The negotiations were suspended:



”Mossad Chief Meir Dagan opposed the transaction on security grounds, that the proceeds would fund terror”. (Member of Knesset Gilad Erdan, Address to the Knesset on “The Intention of Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Purchase Gas from the Palestinians When Payment Will Serve Hamas,” March 1, 2006, quoted in Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon, Does the Prospective Purchase of British Gas from Gaza’s Coastal Waters Threaten Israel’s National Security? Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, October 2007)



Israel’s intent was to foreclose the possibility that royalties be paid to the Palestinians. In December 2007, The BG Group withdrew from the negotiations with Israel and in January 2008 they closed their office in Israel.(BG website).



Invasion Plan on The Drawing Board



The invasion plan of the Gaza Strip under “Operation Cast Lead” was set in motion in June 2008, according to Israeli military sources:



“Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago [June or before June] , even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.”(Barak Ravid, Operation “Cast Lead”: Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008)



That very same month, the Israeli authorities contacted British Gas, with a view to resuming crucial negotiations pertaining to the purchase of Gaza’s natural gas:



“Both Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler agreed to inform BG of Israel’s wish to renew the talks.



The sources added that BG has not yet officially responded to Israel’s request, but that company executives would probably come to Israel in a few weeks to hold talks with government officials.” (Globes online- Israel’s Business Arena, June 23, 2008)



The decision to speed up negotiations with British Gas (BG Group) coincided, chronologically, with the planning of the invasion of Gaza initiated in June. It would appear that Israel was anxious to reach an agreement with the BG Group prior to the invasion, which was already in an advanced planning stage.



Moreover, these negotiations with British Gas were conducted by the Ehud Olmert government with the knowledge that a military invasion was on the drawing board. In all likelihood, a new “post war” political-territorial arrangement for the Gaza strip was also being contemplated by the Israeli government.



In fact, negotiations between British Gas and Israeli officials were ongoing in October 2008, 2-3 months prior to the commencement of the bombings on December 27th.



In November 2008, the Israeli Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Infrastructures instructed Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) to enter into negotiations with British Gas, on the purchase of natural gas from the BG’s offshore concession in Gaza. (Globes, November 13, 2008)



“Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler wrote to IEC CEO Amos Lasker recently, informing him of the government’s decision to allow negotiations to go forward, in line with the framework proposal it approved earlier this year.



The IEC board, headed by chairman Moti Friedman, approved the principles of the framework proposal a few weeks ago. The talks with BG Group will begin once the board approves the exemption from a tender.” (Globes Nov. 13, 2008)



Gaza and Energy Geopolitics



The military occupation of Gaza is intent upon transferring the sovereignty of the gas fields to Israel in violation of international law.



***



These various offshore installations are also linked up to Israel’s energy transport corridor, extending from the port of Eilat, which is an oil pipeline terminal, on the Red Sea to the seaport – pipeline terminal at Ashkelon, and northwards to Haifa, and eventually linking up through a proposed Israeli-Turkish pipeline with the Turkish port of Ceyhan.



Ceyhan is the terminal of the Baku, Tblisi Ceyhan Trans Caspian pipeline. “What is envisaged is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel’s Tipline.” (See Michel Chossudovsky, The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil, Global Research, July 23, 2006)

Map 3

Is Middle Eastern politics boiling down – yet again – to oil and gas?

Bonus: Hamas Shouldn’t Fire Rockets … But Israel Has Violated HUNDREDS of UN Resolutions

And WELCOME to these commenters (this is real, not sati

Contempt for UN resolutions

Contempt for UN resolutions

Why should Palestinians even entertain the idea of talking to their criminal tormentors when the path to peace is clearly set out in countless rulings by the United Nations and by the International Court of Justice? These are waiting to be implemented and enforced. Here are some examples…..

• Resolution 181 (the Partition Plan of 1947 accepted by the Jews) declares Jerusalem, including Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, a corpus separatum – to be run under an international UN administration. This was reiterated in Resolution 303 a year later. We’re still waiting.

• Resolution 194: resolves that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage. That was 64 years ago.

• Resolution 237: Israel to allow return of the “new” 1967 Palestinian refugees.

• Resolution 242: emphasizes the inadmissibility of acquiring territory by war and calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from land occupied in 1967.

• Resolution 252: declares invalid Israel’s attempts to unify Jerusalem as the Jewish capital.

• Resolution 271: condemns Israel’s failure to obey UN resolutions on Jerusalem.

• Resolution 298: deplores Israel’s changing of the status of Jerusalem.

• Resolution 446: determines that Israeli settlements are a “serious obstruction” to peace and calls on Israel to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention.

• Resolution 452: calls on Israel to cease building settlements in occupied territories.

• Resolution 465: deplores Israel’s settlements and asks all member states not to assist Israel’s settlements program.

• Resolution 469: strongly deplores Israel’s failure to observe the Council’s order not to deport Palestinians.

• Resolution 471: expresses deep concern at Israel’s failure to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention.

• Resolution 476: reiterates that Israel’s claims to Jerusalem are null and void.

• Resolution 478: censures Israel in the strongest terms for its claim to Jerusalem in its Basic Law.

• Resolution 605: strongly deplores Israel’s policies and practices denying the human rights of Palestinians.

• Resolution 608: deeply regrets that Israel has defied the United Nations and deported Palestinian civilians.

• Resolution 641: deplores Israel’s continuing deportation of Palestinians.

• Resolution 673: deplores Israel’s refusal to cooperate with the United Nations.

• Resolution 681: deplores Israel’s resumption of the deportation of Palestinians.

• Resolution 694: deplores Israel’s deportation of Palestinians and calls on it to ensure their safe and immediate return.

• Resolution 726: strongly condemns Israel’s deportation of Palestinians.

• Resolution 799: ditto

Crimes against humanity

Crimes against humanity

The Fourth Geneva Convention is supposed to protect civilians under military occupation. No violence to life or person is permitted; no cruelty or torture; no taking of hostages; no outrages upon personal dignity; no collective punishment, no sentencing or executions unless ordered by a properly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees demanded by civilized peoples.

The quarrel is not between the Palestinians and Israel. It is between the international community and Israel.

In 2004 the International Court of Justice – the “principal judicial organ of the United Nations” – ruled that the Separation Wall is illegal and must be dismantled, and the Palestinians compensated for damage. Furthermore, said the ICJ, all states are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and to ensure Israel complies with international humanitarian law.
The Israelis are still building it. And America and Britain snigger and carry on handing out rewards to the psychopaths.
The quarrel is not between the Palestinians and Israel. It is between the international community and Israel. The time for Palestinians to sit down and talk is when the major powers have ensured the relevant UN resolutions are respected, international law is conformed with and Israel’s forces have been pulled back behind the pre-1967 border to leave a level playing field.
What if Israel won’t comply? No problem: suspend all trade and technical cooperation. The international community must finally confront the problem it has created. Its negligence and cowardice over the decades mean it now has a hill to climb. It had better get started.

Erdogan on Gaza: This is not self defence, this is ethnic cleansing

Erdogan on Gaza: This is not self defence, this is ethnic cleansing

Turkish PM accuses Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza, as Palestinian death toll from six days of bombardment hits 116.

Middle East Online

‘Israel will answer for innocent blood’ ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, as six Palestinians were killed in a new wave of Israeli strikes on Gaza, medics said, raising the Palestinian toll from six days of bombardment to 116. The new raids ended a night of relative quiet in which no-one was killed for the first time since Israel launched its relentless aerial assault on rocket-firing militants in the enclave on November 14, Palestinian medics said. Erdogan said Israel's air raids could not be considered self defence. "Israel is committing ethnic cleansing by ignoring peace in this region and violating international law," Erdogan said. "It is occupying the Palestinian territory step by step." The infuriated premier said Israeli air raids against Gaza could not be deemed self defence, accusing Western countries of aiding what it called a "terrorist state" by condoning its violence in the Middle East. "Sooner or later, Israel will answer for the innocent blood it has shed so far," he said. On Monday, Erdogan said the United Nations "turned a blind eye" on Israeli attacks against Palestinians, accusing the international body of double standards against Muslims. More than 920 people have been injured in the bombing campaign. Emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya named the latest victims as Abdel Rahman Hamed, who died in Safina just north of Gaza City, and Mohammed Badr who was killed in a strike on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Earlier he said another three people died in separate strikes on the northern Gaza Strip and a fourth had been killed in an area just south of Gaza City. Among the latest victims were 15-year-old Yahya Mohammed Awad who was hunting birds near the beach when a missile hit the northern Sudaniya area, and two men who were killed in the nearby town of Beit Lahiya: Yahya Maaruf, a farmer who was working his land, and another man called Bilal Birawi, 20. And in Mughraqa, just south of Gaza City, another strike killed Mahmud Rizk al-Zahar, he said. Overnight, the Israeli military said it attacked about 100 targets with a combination of aircraft, warships and artillery, one of which targeted "a financial institution used by Hamas". Palestinian officials confirmed that National Islamic Bank in Gaza City, which was set up by the Islamist movement that runs Gaza, was severely damaged in a raid. Hamas officials and witnesses also said that strikes hit the homes of several leaders within its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. Among those targeted were the homes of senior Hamas military commander Raed Aatar in the southern city of Rafah, as well as that of Abu Anza, a Qassam official in Khan Yunis, also in the south, where raids also targeted Islamic Jihad offices. Monday was the bloodiest day of the Israeli operation since it was launched on Wednesday, with 33 people killed. During the late evening, a family of four was killed in an attack on Beit Lahiya, and two teenage brothers were killed in Rafah. During the day, warplanes had attacked Gaza City's Shuruq tower media centre -- the second time the building has been targeted -- killing a senior Islamic Jihad militant. Islamic Jihad sources named him as Ramez Harb and said he was a senior commander in its armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.

Noam Chomsky - US Israeli Crimes Against Palestine (FULL)

Israel’s Gaza Attack: Not Defence But Murder of Unarmed Civilians » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Israel’s Gaza Attack: Not Defence But Murder of Unarmed Civilians » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

BICOM suppresses critical voices in UK

BICOM suppresses critical voices in UK

US blocks UN Security Council statement on Gaza

• AP foreign, Tuesday November 20 2012

PETER JAMES SPIELMANNAssociated Press= UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States has blocked a U.N. Security Council call for an immediate cease-fire in Israel's weeklong offensive in Gaza against Hamas."The draft press statement failed to address the root cause of the current escalation — the continuing barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel," the spokeswoman for the U.S. Mission to the U.N., Erin Pelton, said in a statement."We made clear that we would measure any action by the Security Council based on whether it supported the ongoing diplomacy toward de-escalation of violence and a durable outcome that ends the rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns and restores a broader calm," Pelton said. "By failing to call for the immediate and permanent halt to rocket launches from Gaza into Israel, this press statement failed to contribute constructively to those goals. As such, we could not agree to this statement, which was counter-productive and unacceptable."Security Council press statements require unanimous approval. The draft press statement was circulated by Morocco.Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Monday that the United States was "filibustering" the council.There was also no sign of a meeting Tuesday on a Russian draft resolution calling for a cease-fire and halt to violence; expressing support for international and regional mediation efforts and urging the Palestinians and Israelis to resume overall Mideast peace talks.The Russia draft resolution also lacks any explicit reference to the Hamas rocket attacks leading up to the Israeli air strikes last week

how-many-children-will-israel-slaughter

http://www.redressonline.com/2012/11/how-many-children-will-israel-slaughter/