UN Calls Israeli Settlements A 'Flagrant Violation' Of Inter

UN Calls Israeli Settlements A 'Flagrant Violation' Of Inter

Postby Oscar » Sat Dec 24, 2016 9:37 am

UN Calls Israeli Settlements A 'Flagrant Violation' Of International Law

[ http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/12/23 ... 22548.html? ]

CP | By Edith M. Lederer, Bradley Klapper And Josef Federman, The Associated Press

December 23, 2016

In a striking rupture with past practice, the United States allowed the U.N. Security Council on Friday to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as a "flagrant violation" of international law. In doing so, the outgoing Obama administration brushed aside Donald Trump's demands that the U.S. exercise its veto and provided a climax to years of icy relations with Israel's leadership.

The decision to abstain from the council's 14-0 vote is one of the biggest American rebukes of its longstanding ally in recent memory. And it could have significant ramifications for the Jewish state, potentially hindering Israel's negotiating position in future peace talks. Given the world's widespread opposition to settlements, the action will be almost impossible for anyone, including Trump, to reverse.

Nevertheless, Trump vowed via Twitter: "As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th."

The resolution said Israel's settlements in lands the Palestinians want to include in their future state have "no legal validity.'' It demanded a halt to such activities for the sake of ``salvaging the two-state solution." Loud applause erupted in the council chamber after U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power permitted the resolution to pass.

Friday's condemnation, a day after Egypt suddenly postponed a scheduled showdown, capped days of frantic diplomacy in capitals around the world.

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[ http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/12/23 ... 22548.html? ]
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Re: UN Calls Israeli Settlements A 'Flagrant Violation' Of I

Postby Oscar » Sat Feb 18, 2017 9:08 am

Canadians at odds with their government on Israel

[ http://rabble.ca/columnists/2017/02/can ... -on-israel ]

Murray Dobbin February 17, 2017

As the future of Israeli Jews and Palestinians spirals down into an inevitable and inexorable apartheid struggle, Canadians are being denied their fundamental right in a democracy. That is the right to an honest and frank debate about one of the most important issues faced by the international community -- the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the brutal suppression of Palestinian human rights. . . .

It's not that Canadians don't care or don't try to inform themselves. It's that both the media and federal governments are loath to even talk about it. With these two institutions maintaining a steadfast silence there can be no genuine debate. And so we betray both Israelis and Palestinians by condemning them to a future of violence.

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[ http://rabble.ca/columnists/2017/02/can ... -on-israel ]
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Re: UN Calls Israeli Settlements A 'Flagrant Violation' Of I

Postby Oscar » Sat Feb 18, 2017 4:12 pm

Lifting the veil on American foreign policy: Part One

[ http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=24744 ]

February 17, 2017 Ceasefire.ca

“The absolute irony of the Trump presidency is that he is inadvertently exposing the terrible hypocrisies underlying an extremely hawkish American foreign policy consensus [ http://progressive.org/dispatches/pick- ... gn-policy/ ] that in many ways does not serve America’s national interests well, if at all." – Peggy Mason, President of the Rideau Institute

Backed by ferociously powerful domestic lobbies, America’s blind support for Israel and Saudi Arabia — and therefore against their mutual adversary, Iran — is perhaps the best example. Especially during his second term, President Obama fought hard to begin to limit [ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... ne/471525/ ] Saudi and Israeli influence and did make some progress: witness the historic nuclear deal with Iran [ https://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=21521 ] and the non-veto of a UN Security Council [ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/na ... 8d387fbf1f ] resolution condemning yet more illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.

Similarly, President Obama, through the dedicated and persistent diplomatic efforts of his Secretary of State, John Kerry, actually reached a deal with Russia over Syria. But Pentagon civilians and military officers refused to play ball [ http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/ho ... 1932525374 ] , publicly declaring that they would “never cooperate” with Russia.

When Trump inartfully admitted to Bill O’Reilly that the USA, like Russia, “has a lot of killers,” [ http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politic ... nt-n716906 ], he was telling the truth. But western publics will not easily allow their governments to support naked aggression, so it has to be dressed up as morally superior.

Trump is exposing the same hypocrisy with his glib support for “one state or two states or whatever the parties agree upon.”[ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/worl ... .html?_r=1 ] Surely he knows that the longstanding and oft professed American preference for a “two-state solution” to the Israel-Palestine conflict serves as a useful smokescreen behind which Israel builds ever more illegal settlements, encroaching on ever more Palestinian land until presumably there is simply none left for them?

Bernie Sanders started a conversation with the American public on how to pursue genuine economic and social justice, one that continues apace today, despite Trump’s cynical hijacking of populist rage to further enrich himself and his billionaire buddies.

The same type of honest conversation is urgently needed over American foreign policy. The status quo is increasingly untenable and President Trump has nothing to offer but bluster and threats, at best, and malevolent chaos and conflict at worst.

And Canada is not immune to this cynical misdirection in our foreign policy either, as Peter Larson’s latest blog, Canada appears more interested in supporting a “2 state solution” than in defending Palestinian human rights graphically illustrates. [ https://canadatalksisraelpalestine.ca/2 ... an-rights/ ]

For more on the emptiness of the American policy on Israel-Palestine see: One-State Two-State Blues (Roger Cohen, NYTimes 17 Feb 2017 [ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/opin ... pe=article ]
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Re: UN Calls Israeli Settlements A 'Flagrant Violation' Of I

Postby Oscar » Thu Mar 02, 2017 12:04 pm

Canada should support Israeli sanctions, not demonize them

[ http://rabble.ca/columnists/2017-03-02t ... onize-them ]

Murray Dobbin March 2, 2017

Foreign policy is one of those areas of democratic governance that doesn't often get on the public's radar. But when it does it provides citizens with a kind of unsullied opportunity to apply their values. That is, unsullied by considerations of self-interest, we get to ask: what is the right thing to do?

Governments, of course, aren't quite as free to make such decisions given that they have so-called "national interests" to consider. But Canadians should be able to expect from their federal government that its foreign policy conforms closely to their values.

When it comes to Canada's policy towards Israel the Trudeau government, aping its predecessor, is several country miles from reflecting Canadian values. That is the irrefutable conclusion of an EKOS poll whose partial results were released February 16. A second batch of survey results released yesterday (all survey results can be found here) focussed on the issue of whether or not Canadians think it is appropriate to use sanctions and/or boycotts to pressure Israel to obey international law.

- - - SNIP - - -

And lastly, Trudeau's inexplicable stance is overwhelmingly at odds with Canadian values. Not only do large majorities see Israel in a negative light, they reject by 91 per cent the notion that criticism of Israel is necessarily anti-Semitic as implied in the Commons resolution. Flying in the face of Trudeau's cowardly denunciation of BDS supporters are 75 per cent of his own party supporters who are open to sanctions and 88 per cent who say the same of boycotts.

Justin Trudeau has a lot of explaining to do.

- - -

Murray Dobbin has been a journalist, broadcaster, author and social activist for 40 years. He writes rabble's State of the Nation column.

Related Items

Canadians at odds with their government on Israel
[ http://rabble.ca/columnists/2017/02/can ... -on-israel ]
Pro-Israeli government policy is built on a foundation of untested assumptions about Canadian attitudes. A new EKOS poll reveals this to be convenient but quite false.

Trudeau's pro-Israel stance offside with Canadians -- and hampers bid for UN seat
[ http://rabble.ca/columnists/2017/02/tru ... id-un-seat ]
While Trudeau's persona of a progressive internationalist has won him kudos at home and abroad, his staunch support for Israel at the UN has left Canada significantly offside with public opinion.

Liberals' shameful BDS stand gives carte blanche to Israel
[ http://rabble.ca/columnists/2016/03/lib ... -to-israel ]
Justin Trudeau and his government could not be more mistaken if they believe they are doing Israel a favour by supporting the repugnant Conservative anti-BDS resolution.
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Re: UN Calls Israeli Settlements A 'Flagrant Violation' Of I

Postby Oscar » Wed May 17, 2017 9:00 am

London chapter rallies for the rights of Palestinian prisoners

[ https://canadians.org/blog/london-chapt ... -prisoners ]

May 16, 2017 - 7:14 pm

The Council of Canadians London chapter took part in a Nakba (Catastrophe) Day gathering yesterday afternoon.

Nakba Day refers to an annual commemoration of the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians that occurred in 1948 when Palestine was partitioned. Aljazeera reports, "Nearly seven decades on, the number of registered Palestinian refugees has swelled to more than 5.3 million. They live in United Nations-run camps throughout the region, including in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria."

The Gaza Strip and the West Bank, separated from each other geographically by Israeli territory, now comprise the Palestinian territories. Gaza, which is now under a naval blockade deemed by the United Nations as illegal, has been described by Noam Chomsky as "the world's largest open-air prison".

In October 2011, the Council of Canadians passed a resolution calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza in accordance with international law. In July 2014, Council of Canadians vice-chairperson Leo Broderick stated, "We need to show that the people of Canada are opposed to the collective punishment of civilians in Gaza and that we support peace and justice in the area — not violence."

Since April 17, more than 1,600 Palestinian prisoners have been on an open-ended hunger strike. Those prisoners are demanding the reinstatement of bimonthly family visits, better medical treatment, the right to education in prison, an end to solitary confinement, and an end to so-called administrative detention (detention for months or even years based on 'secret evidence' without charge or trial).

Jewish Voice for Peace says, "This hunger strike comes in a long tradition of hunger strikes and prisoners strikes as non-violent protest tactics used by movements for liberation around the world."

The group further explains, "Since the occupation of 1967, roughly 20 per cent of the Palestinian population has been imprisoned by the occupying power at one point or another. The Palestinian prisoners organization Addameer reports that Israel currently holds approximately 6300 Palestinian political prisoners, including 300 children and approximately 56 women as well as an estimated 500 Palestinians in administrative detention (including 2 children)."

On May 12, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) passed a resolution that says it will: 1) call on the Canadian Government to pressure Israel to stop violating international law by illegally detaining Palestinians and depriving them of their basic human, civil and political rights; and 2) work with global union federations, affiliates and civil society organizations in Canada on campaigns in support of Palestinian prisoners.

The London chapter responded to that CLC call to civil society with their participation in yesterday's rally in Victoria Park.


Tags: chapters
[ https://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]


Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
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