Nov 19, 2019, 12:23 pm
On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abandoned the position that settlements in Israeli-occupied territory were “inconsistent with international law”, reversing a position taken by the United States under President Jimmy Carter in 1978.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost no time in making political capital out of the announcement, as he struggles to remain in power following two inconclusive Israeli elections and possible criminal prosecution over corruption charges, which he denies.
Although President Donald Trump told Netanyahu in early 2017 that he would “like to see you hold back on settlement for a little bit”, the intervening period has seen repeated postponement of the White House’s “Deal of the Century” peace plan.
Trump has also made a succession of pro-Israeli initiatives.
These include U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017, moving the U.S. embassy to the city in 2018 and cuts in U.S. aid to Palestinians. In March, Trump recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967.
The U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory remain in breach of international law, rejecting the Trump administration’s position.
“We continue to follow the long-standing position of the U.N. that Israeli settlements are in breach of international law,” U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing.
The International Court of Justice, in an advisory opinion issued in 2004, said that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, were established in breach of international law.
The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 - which both the United States and Israel have ratified - lays down that an occupying power shall not transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, he said.
Hagit Ofran, Settlements Watch Director of the Israeli group Peace Now, said there were 430,000 settlers in the West Bank and 200,000 in East Jerusalem, living in 132 settlements and 121 unofficial settlement outposts. About 3 million Palestinians live throughout the West Bank.
“If you want to know what the Deal of the Century plan was, we know what it is now,” said Ofran after Pompeo’s announcement. “It is to say to the Palestinians ‘you are not going to get any of your basic demands and rights’.”
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour said he was consulting other nations at the Security Council to “lobby a unified international position to confront the American illegal announcement regarding settlements.”
Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the U.S. decision had been decades in the making.
“Each U.S. administration, since Reagan, has pandered to Israel on settlements,” she told Reuters.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said such an “unfortunate change” in the American position would not bring Israel security, peace or normal relations with Arab countries.
Egyptian state news agency MENA quoted him as saying it would “push the legions of Israeli settlers to practice more violence and brutality against the Palestinian population.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter: “No country is above international law” and “fait accompli style declarations” had no validity.
Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said a U.S. change of position on settlements would have “dangerous consequences”. Calling the settlements illegal, he said they killed prospects for a Palestinian state existing side-by-side with Israel.
Non-governmental activist groups also rejected the Trump administration’s new stance.
“This changes nothing. President Trump can’t wipe away decades of established international law that settlements are a war crime,” Andrea Prasow, acting Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Philippe Nassif of Amnesty International said the construction and maintenance of the settlements breached international law and amounted to war crimes.
“Today, the United States government announced to the rest of the world that it believes the U.S. and Israel are above the law: that Israel can continue to violate international law and Palestinians’ human rights and the U.S. will firmly support it in doing so,” he said in a statement.
Loss of living space and human rights - the slow genocide of the Palestinian people.
![[Image: 80613c00fd543d67469022d5c9e96afa.jpg]](https://extraimage.net/images/2019/11/19/80613c00fd543d67469022d5c9e96afa.jpg)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israe...XT1DB?il=0
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israe...XT1UE?il=0
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost no time in making political capital out of the announcement, as he struggles to remain in power following two inconclusive Israeli elections and possible criminal prosecution over corruption charges, which he denies.
Although President Donald Trump told Netanyahu in early 2017 that he would “like to see you hold back on settlement for a little bit”, the intervening period has seen repeated postponement of the White House’s “Deal of the Century” peace plan.
Trump has also made a succession of pro-Israeli initiatives.
These include U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017, moving the U.S. embassy to the city in 2018 and cuts in U.S. aid to Palestinians. In March, Trump recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967.
The U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory remain in breach of international law, rejecting the Trump administration’s position.
“We continue to follow the long-standing position of the U.N. that Israeli settlements are in breach of international law,” U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing.
The International Court of Justice, in an advisory opinion issued in 2004, said that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, were established in breach of international law.
The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 - which both the United States and Israel have ratified - lays down that an occupying power shall not transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, he said.
Hagit Ofran, Settlements Watch Director of the Israeli group Peace Now, said there were 430,000 settlers in the West Bank and 200,000 in East Jerusalem, living in 132 settlements and 121 unofficial settlement outposts. About 3 million Palestinians live throughout the West Bank.
“If you want to know what the Deal of the Century plan was, we know what it is now,” said Ofran after Pompeo’s announcement. “It is to say to the Palestinians ‘you are not going to get any of your basic demands and rights’.”
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour said he was consulting other nations at the Security Council to “lobby a unified international position to confront the American illegal announcement regarding settlements.”
Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the U.S. decision had been decades in the making.
“Each U.S. administration, since Reagan, has pandered to Israel on settlements,” she told Reuters.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said such an “unfortunate change” in the American position would not bring Israel security, peace or normal relations with Arab countries.
Egyptian state news agency MENA quoted him as saying it would “push the legions of Israeli settlers to practice more violence and brutality against the Palestinian population.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter: “No country is above international law” and “fait accompli style declarations” had no validity.
Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said a U.S. change of position on settlements would have “dangerous consequences”. Calling the settlements illegal, he said they killed prospects for a Palestinian state existing side-by-side with Israel.
Non-governmental activist groups also rejected the Trump administration’s new stance.
“This changes nothing. President Trump can’t wipe away decades of established international law that settlements are a war crime,” Andrea Prasow, acting Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Philippe Nassif of Amnesty International said the construction and maintenance of the settlements breached international law and amounted to war crimes.
“Today, the United States government announced to the rest of the world that it believes the U.S. and Israel are above the law: that Israel can continue to violate international law and Palestinians’ human rights and the U.S. will firmly support it in doing so,” he said in a statement.
Loss of living space and human rights - the slow genocide of the Palestinian people.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israe...XT1DB?il=0
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israe...XT1UE?il=0
