27 apr 2014
Dan Roberts
Barack Obama on Friday acknowledged the collapse of the US-led Middle East peace process, the latest in a line of diplomatic setbacks to overshadow his trip to Japan and South Korea.
Speaking at the end of a bruising week for White House foreign policy, the president said that after nine months of pressure from the US, there wasn't the will among either Israeli or Palestinian politicians to take “tough decisions” necessary to reach a deal.
"Folks can posture, folks can cling to maximalist positions, but realistically there is one door, and that is the two parties getting together and making some very difficult political compromises in order to secure the future of Israelis and Palestinians for future generations," Obama told reporters in a press conference in Seoul.
"Do I expect that they will walk through that door next week, next month or even in the course of the next six months? No."
His pessimism, which followed the suspension of Israeli participation on Thursday after a controversial Palestinian alliance with Hamas, contrasted with early reaction at the State Department, which had insisted the moves were simply the latest in a line of “ups and downs”.
Attempts to pressure both sides to the negotiating table have been led by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, but Obama has also invested significant political capital in a process he now admits may have reached a stalemate.
Although also pledging the US would continue to offer "constructive approaches", Obama told reporters on Friday: "There may come a point at which there just needs to be a pause, and [where] both sides need to look at the alternatives."
"So far we have seen some movement on both sides to acknowledge that this is a long-running crisis that needs to be solved," he added. "What we haven't seen is, frankly, the kind of political will to actually make tough decisions. And that's been true on both sides."
But the US administration has yet to specify whether there will be any consequences for either side to resisting its pressure to reach a compromise – a factor critics say is also partly to blame to for a series of similar recent foreign policy setbacks.
On Thursday, the State Department said it was “up to Congress” to decide whether the Palestinian alliance with Hamas, which it brands a terrorist organisation, would lead to a ban on US financial aid.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon also announced it would restart US aid to Egypt, which was temporarily suspended after its military coup led to a crackdown on protesters, despite questions over whether such aid was legal under US law.
Similar questions have been raised over the US response to the collapse of a Ukrainian peace deal reached last week in Geneva.
On Thursday night, Kerry accused Russia of reneging on the deal by not pressuring pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine to disarm, but the US and Europe have yet to announce a response other than to warn of the possibility of further economic sanctions.
Economic co-operation among US allies was also under strain during Obama's trip to Japan, where the two governments failed to agree new farm agreements central to stalled talks on a broader international free trade deal.
Barack Obama on Friday acknowledged the collapse of the US-led Middle East peace process, the latest in a line of diplomatic setbacks to overshadow his trip to Japan and South Korea.
Speaking at the end of a bruising week for White House foreign policy, the president said that after nine months of pressure from the US, there wasn't the will among either Israeli or Palestinian politicians to take “tough decisions” necessary to reach a deal.
"Folks can posture, folks can cling to maximalist positions, but realistically there is one door, and that is the two parties getting together and making some very difficult political compromises in order to secure the future of Israelis and Palestinians for future generations," Obama told reporters in a press conference in Seoul.
"Do I expect that they will walk through that door next week, next month or even in the course of the next six months? No."
His pessimism, which followed the suspension of Israeli participation on Thursday after a controversial Palestinian alliance with Hamas, contrasted with early reaction at the State Department, which had insisted the moves were simply the latest in a line of “ups and downs”.
Attempts to pressure both sides to the negotiating table have been led by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, but Obama has also invested significant political capital in a process he now admits may have reached a stalemate.
Although also pledging the US would continue to offer "constructive approaches", Obama told reporters on Friday: "There may come a point at which there just needs to be a pause, and [where] both sides need to look at the alternatives."
"So far we have seen some movement on both sides to acknowledge that this is a long-running crisis that needs to be solved," he added. "What we haven't seen is, frankly, the kind of political will to actually make tough decisions. And that's been true on both sides."
But the US administration has yet to specify whether there will be any consequences for either side to resisting its pressure to reach a compromise – a factor critics say is also partly to blame to for a series of similar recent foreign policy setbacks.
On Thursday, the State Department said it was “up to Congress” to decide whether the Palestinian alliance with Hamas, which it brands a terrorist organisation, would lead to a ban on US financial aid.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon also announced it would restart US aid to Egypt, which was temporarily suspended after its military coup led to a crackdown on protesters, despite questions over whether such aid was legal under US law.
Similar questions have been raised over the US response to the collapse of a Ukrainian peace deal reached last week in Geneva.
On Thursday night, Kerry accused Russia of reneging on the deal by not pressuring pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine to disarm, but the US and Europe have yet to announce a response other than to warn of the possibility of further economic sanctions.
Economic co-operation among US allies was also under strain during Obama's trip to Japan, where the two governments failed to agree new farm agreements central to stalled talks on a broader international free trade deal.
25 apr 2014
US President Barack Obama said Friday that a decision by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to seek unity with Hamas was "unhelpful" for the peace process.
In his first public comments on the issue since Israel halted peace talks with Palestinians on Thursday, Obama lamented the lack of political will to make "tough decisions" on either side.
But he said his administration would not give up on Secretary of State John Kerry's peace push, despite the latest setbacks and Israel's declaration that the Palestinian move had scuppered the American initiative.
Obama's statements come a day after Israel halted all peace negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization after a major reconciliation deal was signed between the two major Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas.
The agreement would reintegrate Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, into the PLO, which currently controls the West Bank.
The move ends seven years of Palestinian political division, but Israeli authorities denounced the PLO for reconciling with Hamas, which it deems a terrorist group.
Israeli officials subsequently halted talks and said they would refuse to deal with any Palestinian government backed by Hamas.
PLO leaders have maintained, however, that any government that emerges from the deal will honor previous PLO commitments, including to the peace talks and recognition of Israel.
Although Hamas has accepted the idea of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, it has said it would not explicitly recognize the state of Israel.
Israel, however, has never explicitly recognized the right to exist of a Palestinian state.
In his first public comments on the issue since Israel halted peace talks with Palestinians on Thursday, Obama lamented the lack of political will to make "tough decisions" on either side.
But he said his administration would not give up on Secretary of State John Kerry's peace push, despite the latest setbacks and Israel's declaration that the Palestinian move had scuppered the American initiative.
Obama's statements come a day after Israel halted all peace negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization after a major reconciliation deal was signed between the two major Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas.
The agreement would reintegrate Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, into the PLO, which currently controls the West Bank.
The move ends seven years of Palestinian political division, but Israeli authorities denounced the PLO for reconciling with Hamas, which it deems a terrorist group.
Israeli officials subsequently halted talks and said they would refuse to deal with any Palestinian government backed by Hamas.
PLO leaders have maintained, however, that any government that emerges from the deal will honor previous PLO commitments, including to the peace talks and recognition of Israel.
Although Hamas has accepted the idea of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, it has said it would not explicitly recognize the state of Israel.
Israel, however, has never explicitly recognized the right to exist of a Palestinian state.
24 apr 2014
The United States government is always looking to foment wars. We can see this in the way the State was formed, how treaties were crumpled so that new aggressions could be launched. We can see this in the endless wars of this government, as well as in the “War on” the prevalent illegal disease called Drug Addiction: brought to you by the United States government who has been continually implicated in the lucrative Drug Trade – though, they don’t report on such things.
The United States government is always looking to foment wars. The Entertainment System of this country floods our eyes with wars, with violence, with murder, with destruction. (..Ever heard the saying “Monkey See, Monkey Do”?) The News System of this country reports on violence like, all things being equal, it would prefer to gorge on blood.
The United States government is always looking to foment wars. Wars with Muslims, wars with Iraqis, Vietnamese, Pakistanis, Chileans, Venezuelans, Cubans, Russians, Somalis, the Black Panther Party, Communists, Socialists, the list goes on and on.
The United States government is always looking to foment wars. Why won’t anyone here say it? Why, in this country are we so willing to gloss over the layers of criminality we are surrounded with? Why does anyone have any trust in this government at all? Why do the “free-est” people in the world speak the LEAST truth?
The United States government discusses proposals about militarizing the border with Mexico even more, adding tens of billions of dollars. They are looking to move in the guns and the jeeps, to pay for bullets, to erect walls and spy towers. They are looking to draw a line of guns across a border they made up, a border that in actual reality doesn’t even exist: just ask an Indigenous Person whose historical memory stretches back more than 150 years! Who knows how the Land stretches, how it was not so long ago, knows how deeply peace can live in the Desert here.
But yes, the United States government is always looking to build upon its destruction, to create destruction upon destruction, and simultaneously flood us with messages that it’s about Freedom, Democracy, Justice, and Security.
The people of the United States are some of the least politically sophisticated people in the world, living under one of the most politically sophisticated governments: this is not a coincidence. The United States government is well-known for its brutality (though you’ll rarely hear it talked about) and it appears to be an addiction: it enacts this brutality far and wide, on many levels. Many people in the United States live in a constant state of anxiety and fear, and they put their trust in a warmonger, and they make agreements like: it’s preferable to be entertained than to create healthy societies.
Sometimes in this country I just feel like screaming: Look at yourselves! Do you call that Life? What is the trade that makes this hell worth it? I want to scream: Don’t you care about anybody, anything?
I see that people care but the impotence with which people in the United States live their lives begs to be analyzed. I hope people from throughout the world will speak up on the United States government and society. Because it’s a sickness, and it needs to stop spreading.
Conscious people in the United States need to start living with our hearts instead of our heads, and – get outside the colonial mentality! It doesn’t all just boil down into dollars and cents. The alternatives to the hell of the United States are plentiful, probably endless. We don’t need to support this tyrant people call a democracy, hand on their hearts, and the rockets’ red glare. We do not need to support this government.
We need to create lots of alternatives that live the kind of lives that people should live and understand that we are ALL connected.
We need to make healing a priority and find new ways of “leadership” that doesn’t disempower and alienate so many of us.
We need to deal with the brutal colonial history of this country and support Indigenous rights, vision, and struggles: this is an absolute necessity to dealing with truth. Break with the system, go with the people all over the world who want to be free. Author of the article: Chelli Stanley
The United States government is always looking to foment wars. The Entertainment System of this country floods our eyes with wars, with violence, with murder, with destruction. (..Ever heard the saying “Monkey See, Monkey Do”?) The News System of this country reports on violence like, all things being equal, it would prefer to gorge on blood.
The United States government is always looking to foment wars. Wars with Muslims, wars with Iraqis, Vietnamese, Pakistanis, Chileans, Venezuelans, Cubans, Russians, Somalis, the Black Panther Party, Communists, Socialists, the list goes on and on.
The United States government is always looking to foment wars. Why won’t anyone here say it? Why, in this country are we so willing to gloss over the layers of criminality we are surrounded with? Why does anyone have any trust in this government at all? Why do the “free-est” people in the world speak the LEAST truth?
The United States government discusses proposals about militarizing the border with Mexico even more, adding tens of billions of dollars. They are looking to move in the guns and the jeeps, to pay for bullets, to erect walls and spy towers. They are looking to draw a line of guns across a border they made up, a border that in actual reality doesn’t even exist: just ask an Indigenous Person whose historical memory stretches back more than 150 years! Who knows how the Land stretches, how it was not so long ago, knows how deeply peace can live in the Desert here.
But yes, the United States government is always looking to build upon its destruction, to create destruction upon destruction, and simultaneously flood us with messages that it’s about Freedom, Democracy, Justice, and Security.
The people of the United States are some of the least politically sophisticated people in the world, living under one of the most politically sophisticated governments: this is not a coincidence. The United States government is well-known for its brutality (though you’ll rarely hear it talked about) and it appears to be an addiction: it enacts this brutality far and wide, on many levels. Many people in the United States live in a constant state of anxiety and fear, and they put their trust in a warmonger, and they make agreements like: it’s preferable to be entertained than to create healthy societies.
Sometimes in this country I just feel like screaming: Look at yourselves! Do you call that Life? What is the trade that makes this hell worth it? I want to scream: Don’t you care about anybody, anything?
I see that people care but the impotence with which people in the United States live their lives begs to be analyzed. I hope people from throughout the world will speak up on the United States government and society. Because it’s a sickness, and it needs to stop spreading.
Conscious people in the United States need to start living with our hearts instead of our heads, and – get outside the colonial mentality! It doesn’t all just boil down into dollars and cents. The alternatives to the hell of the United States are plentiful, probably endless. We don’t need to support this tyrant people call a democracy, hand on their hearts, and the rockets’ red glare. We do not need to support this government.
We need to create lots of alternatives that live the kind of lives that people should live and understand that we are ALL connected.
We need to make healing a priority and find new ways of “leadership” that doesn’t disempower and alienate so many of us.
We need to deal with the brutal colonial history of this country and support Indigenous rights, vision, and struggles: this is an absolute necessity to dealing with truth. Break with the system, go with the people all over the world who want to be free. Author of the article: Chelli Stanley
In one of its first comments on the signed reconciliation agreement between Fateh and Hamas movements, and the decision to form a unity government, the United States said its support, including financial, to any Palestinian government is based on respecting all signed peace agreements with Israel.
Media sources quoted a U.S. official stating that the new government must respect all signed treaties and peace agreements once it is formed, the Palestine News Network (PNN) has reported.
The official added that this also includes a clear recognition of Israel, and a clear “renunciation of violence”.
The official further said that the U.S. Administration would evaluate the new Palestinian government, to ensure that it abides by all agreements and, then, it will decide whether or not to continue to provide fanatical support.
The statement did not include a demand that Israel must respect all signed agreements, including stopping its ongoing invasions and assaults, which led to dozens of casualties and hundreds of arrests since the beginning of this year.
Media sources quoted a U.S. official stating that the new government must respect all signed treaties and peace agreements once it is formed, the Palestine News Network (PNN) has reported.
The official added that this also includes a clear recognition of Israel, and a clear “renunciation of violence”.
The official further said that the U.S. Administration would evaluate the new Palestinian government, to ensure that it abides by all agreements and, then, it will decide whether or not to continue to provide fanatical support.
The statement did not include a demand that Israel must respect all signed agreements, including stopping its ongoing invasions and assaults, which led to dozens of casualties and hundreds of arrests since the beginning of this year.
23 apr 2014
By Khalid Amayreh
Like most Arabs and Muslims, I never counted on the United States to be on the side of justice and democracy, especially in this part of the world. America, which babbles and preaches about democracy more than any other country under the sun, is probably the number-1 enemy of true democracy in the Arab world. This is at least the feeling of most Arabs and Muslims in this region.
America's record of embracing notoriously criminal regimes-from that of the Shah of Iran to Egypt's Abdul Fattah el-Sissi- is too scandalous to be described in polite language.
Similarly, America's unlimited and unrestricted backing of Israeli Nazism has ostensibly killed any real chance for achieving an honorable peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
This gigantic and willful failure, however, doesn't prevent the US from continuing to claim it is acting as "honest broker" between the two sides. However, we all know that calling the U.S. "honest broker" in connection to Mid-east peace efforts is probably more mendacious than calling Adolph Hitler "pious, righteous and God-fearing."
In the final analysis, it was the U.S. that allowed and enabled Israel to steal Arab lands, build numerous Jewish colonies on occupied land and effectively decapitate any remaining prospects for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.
Today, even Israel shows very little respect for America. America, for Israel, is just a stupid milking cow for the Jewish state and for Jews. And American politicians, or most of them, are mere political whores who would sell their own wives and daughters for Jewish money.
This is how Israel and most Israelis view the US, irrespective of the diplomatic niceties we often hear about the two countries sharing common values.
The truth, however, is that apart from a similar history based on genocide and ethnic cleansing, the two countries follow decidedly paradoxical values. America is a civil state while Israel is largely racist and Talmudic. America, at least ostensibly, treats citizens more or less equally whereas Israel obscenely and brashly discriminates against non-Jews who constitute nearly one fourth of its population.
More to the point, while the American justice system is based on a generally equitable though not perfect constitution, the Israeli justice system is dominated by Talmudic-minded men and women who don't even ascribe humanity to non-Jews.
Hence, one really wonders why a country that prides itself on having "the Statue of Liberty" and teaches its school children the iconic slogan "Give me liberty or give me death," enthusiastically embraces a manifestly racist entity that murders innocent people and steals their homes and property on no ground other than the fact that the victims don't belong to the "holy tribe."
The farce of American-style democracy
The disgraceful American stance vis-à-vis the manifestly criminal and fascist regimes in Damascus and Cairo have already dried up any respect for America and its democracy pretensions in this part of the world.
In Syria, a Nazi-like sectarian cannibalistic regime has murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people and forced millions out of their homes in order to keep himself and his small sect in power for a few more years.
The Hitler of Damascus has effectively replayed the hair-raising atrocities of WWII in Syria, annihilating Syrian civilians with chemical agents.
The U.S. had warned that the use of chemical weapons was a red line. However, as we all know the Obama administration eventually retreated, handing the thug of Damascus a moral victory he doesn't deserve.
But the Syrian tyrant continues to murder Syrians en masse, using conventional weapons, while Washington, London and Paris are watching rather passively if not gleefully, as if the carnage were taking place in a distant galaxy.
Needless to say, this is an indelible shame upon the conscience of the West which can intervene to save lives in Syria but chooses not to for expedient but immoral considerations.
The same logic applies to America's shilly-shally approach to the murderous Sissi regime in Cairo. It is really strange after all that despite what occurred in Egypt since the ouster of the democratically-elected President Muhammad Mursi last July, the Obama administration is yet to decide whether what happened was a military coup.
Does the U.S. really lack brain power to determine that the bloody coup against democracy in Egypt was a coup, pure and simple?
It is not the dearth of brain power or scarcity of information that makes the U.S. adopt this unethical approach to the Egyptian crisis.
It is rather the same old hypocrisy that always characterized and shaped American policy toward the Muslim world.
Otherwise, what explains America's deafening silence in the face of Sissi's decapitation of every political value America claims to hold dear, including killing of human rights and civil liberties and the mass incarceration of political opponents as well as the muzzling of all non-conformist media?
But the Arab and Muslim peoples won't forget this clarion betrayal which conceals behind it a deep embrace by the Obama administration of the murderous regime.
America has a huge leverage on any Egyptian government and especially on the Egyptian armed forces, the main political player in the country ever since the 1952 coup which overthrew King Farouk in 1952.
However, America's hostility to liberty and democracy in the Arab world prevents Washington from pursuing a policy based on honesty, justice and true commitment to democratic values.
We know that Sissi is Israel's man in Egypt. We also know that he will ruin the country even further before Egyptians regain their political sobriety. That is why America's and Israel's opportunistic advantage won't last long.
In any case, the American betrayal the cause of democracy and liberty in the Arab world is not an entirely negative feat. From now on, people in this part of the world will realize that American democracy is a charade and an illusion. This realization alone, though belated, should put us on the right track.
Khalid Amayreh is a Palestinian journalist living in occupied Palestine
Like most Arabs and Muslims, I never counted on the United States to be on the side of justice and democracy, especially in this part of the world. America, which babbles and preaches about democracy more than any other country under the sun, is probably the number-1 enemy of true democracy in the Arab world. This is at least the feeling of most Arabs and Muslims in this region.
America's record of embracing notoriously criminal regimes-from that of the Shah of Iran to Egypt's Abdul Fattah el-Sissi- is too scandalous to be described in polite language.
Similarly, America's unlimited and unrestricted backing of Israeli Nazism has ostensibly killed any real chance for achieving an honorable peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
This gigantic and willful failure, however, doesn't prevent the US from continuing to claim it is acting as "honest broker" between the two sides. However, we all know that calling the U.S. "honest broker" in connection to Mid-east peace efforts is probably more mendacious than calling Adolph Hitler "pious, righteous and God-fearing."
In the final analysis, it was the U.S. that allowed and enabled Israel to steal Arab lands, build numerous Jewish colonies on occupied land and effectively decapitate any remaining prospects for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.
Today, even Israel shows very little respect for America. America, for Israel, is just a stupid milking cow for the Jewish state and for Jews. And American politicians, or most of them, are mere political whores who would sell their own wives and daughters for Jewish money.
This is how Israel and most Israelis view the US, irrespective of the diplomatic niceties we often hear about the two countries sharing common values.
The truth, however, is that apart from a similar history based on genocide and ethnic cleansing, the two countries follow decidedly paradoxical values. America is a civil state while Israel is largely racist and Talmudic. America, at least ostensibly, treats citizens more or less equally whereas Israel obscenely and brashly discriminates against non-Jews who constitute nearly one fourth of its population.
More to the point, while the American justice system is based on a generally equitable though not perfect constitution, the Israeli justice system is dominated by Talmudic-minded men and women who don't even ascribe humanity to non-Jews.
Hence, one really wonders why a country that prides itself on having "the Statue of Liberty" and teaches its school children the iconic slogan "Give me liberty or give me death," enthusiastically embraces a manifestly racist entity that murders innocent people and steals their homes and property on no ground other than the fact that the victims don't belong to the "holy tribe."
The farce of American-style democracy
The disgraceful American stance vis-à-vis the manifestly criminal and fascist regimes in Damascus and Cairo have already dried up any respect for America and its democracy pretensions in this part of the world.
In Syria, a Nazi-like sectarian cannibalistic regime has murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people and forced millions out of their homes in order to keep himself and his small sect in power for a few more years.
The Hitler of Damascus has effectively replayed the hair-raising atrocities of WWII in Syria, annihilating Syrian civilians with chemical agents.
The U.S. had warned that the use of chemical weapons was a red line. However, as we all know the Obama administration eventually retreated, handing the thug of Damascus a moral victory he doesn't deserve.
But the Syrian tyrant continues to murder Syrians en masse, using conventional weapons, while Washington, London and Paris are watching rather passively if not gleefully, as if the carnage were taking place in a distant galaxy.
Needless to say, this is an indelible shame upon the conscience of the West which can intervene to save lives in Syria but chooses not to for expedient but immoral considerations.
The same logic applies to America's shilly-shally approach to the murderous Sissi regime in Cairo. It is really strange after all that despite what occurred in Egypt since the ouster of the democratically-elected President Muhammad Mursi last July, the Obama administration is yet to decide whether what happened was a military coup.
Does the U.S. really lack brain power to determine that the bloody coup against democracy in Egypt was a coup, pure and simple?
It is not the dearth of brain power or scarcity of information that makes the U.S. adopt this unethical approach to the Egyptian crisis.
It is rather the same old hypocrisy that always characterized and shaped American policy toward the Muslim world.
Otherwise, what explains America's deafening silence in the face of Sissi's decapitation of every political value America claims to hold dear, including killing of human rights and civil liberties and the mass incarceration of political opponents as well as the muzzling of all non-conformist media?
But the Arab and Muslim peoples won't forget this clarion betrayal which conceals behind it a deep embrace by the Obama administration of the murderous regime.
America has a huge leverage on any Egyptian government and especially on the Egyptian armed forces, the main political player in the country ever since the 1952 coup which overthrew King Farouk in 1952.
However, America's hostility to liberty and democracy in the Arab world prevents Washington from pursuing a policy based on honesty, justice and true commitment to democratic values.
We know that Sissi is Israel's man in Egypt. We also know that he will ruin the country even further before Egyptians regain their political sobriety. That is why America's and Israel's opportunistic advantage won't last long.
In any case, the American betrayal the cause of democracy and liberty in the Arab world is not an entirely negative feat. From now on, people in this part of the world will realize that American democracy is a charade and an illusion. This realization alone, though belated, should put us on the right track.
Khalid Amayreh is a Palestinian journalist living in occupied Palestine
screen-shot-from-CNN
Palestinians are demanding the execution of the American jew Jonathan Pollard for passing military and atomic secrets to israel while working as a civilian intelligence analyst. The history of the Americans has the known episode of executing traitors like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were sentenced to death for their roles in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets.
The secrets which Pollard passed to israel were far mote than what the Rosenbergs passed to the Soviets. Pollard stole and passed everything that was not bolted down to israel. Palestinians were shocked about the latest news about John Kerry’s “deal” based on heaping the release of the traitor and spy Pollard on the back of Palestinians, using our cause of Nakba and legitimate rights of building a Palestinian State in our own homeland and ending the longest zionist jewish occupation, to release a traitor who sold the USA to Israel.
Palestinians reacted immediately, asking for the execution of Pollard by implementing the death penalty as is foreseen in American law against this traitorous spy even if the so-called “peace negotiations” between the zionists and the PA would collapse. The dirty deal foisted upon these negotiations by the zionist traitor Kerry, a war criminal and former member of the US military who is supported by AIPAC and many jewish senators against the will of the American people, who see his collaboration with the Pollard cause as a crime and a betrayal to USA and all Americans. Kerry’s betrayal of his country’s interests is seen as a “reward” given by Kerry to israel for the continuation of the theft of the Palestinian land and expanding the colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
Palestinians call upon American citizens to march against the traitorous deal of Kerry across the streets at the major cities and in front of Pollard’s jail, to force their government to stop this most shameful deal in the history of America.
We Palestinians are not honored by the news of release of the traitor Pollard, and we see that Kerry and his government and zionist israel are directing the Palestinian cause and the so-called “peace process” in the wrong direction, subverting it to achieve the goals of zionism while at the same time insulting and betraying the American people for to release a spy who did them great damage.
We Palestinians do not rely on the so-called “peace negotiations” under American-zionist auspices, we even see any “agreements” coming out of this that may be signed by the so-called “Palestinian Authority”, Israel and USA as neither legitimate nor binding. Israel and the USA are negotiating with the PA headed by “President” Abbas, whose term of presidency expired in January 2009.
Below follows the reaction by of American citizen Chelli Stanley to Kerry’s traitorous deal to release Pollard.
Palestinians are demanding the execution of the American jew Jonathan Pollard for passing military and atomic secrets to israel while working as a civilian intelligence analyst. The history of the Americans has the known episode of executing traitors like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were sentenced to death for their roles in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets.
The secrets which Pollard passed to israel were far mote than what the Rosenbergs passed to the Soviets. Pollard stole and passed everything that was not bolted down to israel. Palestinians were shocked about the latest news about John Kerry’s “deal” based on heaping the release of the traitor and spy Pollard on the back of Palestinians, using our cause of Nakba and legitimate rights of building a Palestinian State in our own homeland and ending the longest zionist jewish occupation, to release a traitor who sold the USA to Israel.
Palestinians reacted immediately, asking for the execution of Pollard by implementing the death penalty as is foreseen in American law against this traitorous spy even if the so-called “peace negotiations” between the zionists and the PA would collapse. The dirty deal foisted upon these negotiations by the zionist traitor Kerry, a war criminal and former member of the US military who is supported by AIPAC and many jewish senators against the will of the American people, who see his collaboration with the Pollard cause as a crime and a betrayal to USA and all Americans. Kerry’s betrayal of his country’s interests is seen as a “reward” given by Kerry to israel for the continuation of the theft of the Palestinian land and expanding the colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
Palestinians call upon American citizens to march against the traitorous deal of Kerry across the streets at the major cities and in front of Pollard’s jail, to force their government to stop this most shameful deal in the history of America.
We Palestinians are not honored by the news of release of the traitor Pollard, and we see that Kerry and his government and zionist israel are directing the Palestinian cause and the so-called “peace process” in the wrong direction, subverting it to achieve the goals of zionism while at the same time insulting and betraying the American people for to release a spy who did them great damage.
We Palestinians do not rely on the so-called “peace negotiations” under American-zionist auspices, we even see any “agreements” coming out of this that may be signed by the so-called “Palestinian Authority”, Israel and USA as neither legitimate nor binding. Israel and the USA are negotiating with the PA headed by “President” Abbas, whose term of presidency expired in January 2009.
Below follows the reaction by of American citizen Chelli Stanley to Kerry’s traitorous deal to release Pollard.
What would possess the United States government to release Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. intelligence agent who was convicted as spying on the U.S. for Israel, as part of the negotiations for “Peace” with Palestine? Apparently the White House has not indicated how Pollard’s release would even factor into these “Peace” negotiations, though various news agencies report it being used as a carrot the United States government might use to keep the “Peace” negotiations from falling apart.
This is just another indication of the sham-circus being paraded before us suggesting that “Peace” rides on negotiations between three corrupt governments: the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority. While these governments consider Pollard’s release, Palestinians continued to be murdered, continue to live under hellish circumstances, continue to struggle for their Lands and their communities, and continue to carry on the world-renowned struggle for liberation from the colonial hell that they have been forced to face.
While thousands of Palestinian prisoners languish in brutal conditions for being Palestinians, the wise United States government thinks releasing Pollard might help keep the “Peace” negotiations alive. What good has the United States government ever done in Palestine? This question begs an answer. For all its supposed help at creating “Peace,” the situation in Palestine has only gotten worse and worse and more and more brutal as a result.
The “Peace” negotiations between the three corrupt governments are reportedly in “jeopardy” because the Israeli government refuses to stop building new settlements and release Palestinian prisoners, yet the United States government does not consider cutting back the millions of dollars it sends Israel everyday. No, instead it considers giving Israel a great reward, something which the Israeli government and settler establishment have long been calling for. It’s being suggested in the media that releasing Pollard might be used in exchange for Israel agreeing to release Palestinian prisoners and doing (yet another) “settlement freeze”, things which Israel had already agreed to do (then backed out of) and which have very little to do with the actual negotiations themselves. Further, both of these things are issues that Israel has historically backed out of on any pretense of any whim anyway!
The majorities of Palestinians don’t even believe in, nor want these sham “Peace” talks between the three corrupt “savior” governments to continue anyway. Why would they? None of the governments ever considers grassroots Palestinian voices in these negotiations, and none of the “negotiations” initiated by the United States government throughout the years have brought anything resembling Peace to Palestine. Given this reality, the United States government continues to make known its real intentions and its real priorities in this situation.
Some of the arguments Israeli government officials and settlers have made for years concerning Pollard’s release have to do with the harshness of Pollard’s sentence considering the reality that Israel and the United States are such great friends. It seems this great friendship supersedes all things. Sham-circus aside, this “great friendship” between two brutal colonial governments is the bottom line.
This is just another indication of the sham-circus being paraded before us suggesting that “Peace” rides on negotiations between three corrupt governments: the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority. While these governments consider Pollard’s release, Palestinians continued to be murdered, continue to live under hellish circumstances, continue to struggle for their Lands and their communities, and continue to carry on the world-renowned struggle for liberation from the colonial hell that they have been forced to face.
While thousands of Palestinian prisoners languish in brutal conditions for being Palestinians, the wise United States government thinks releasing Pollard might help keep the “Peace” negotiations alive. What good has the United States government ever done in Palestine? This question begs an answer. For all its supposed help at creating “Peace,” the situation in Palestine has only gotten worse and worse and more and more brutal as a result.
The “Peace” negotiations between the three corrupt governments are reportedly in “jeopardy” because the Israeli government refuses to stop building new settlements and release Palestinian prisoners, yet the United States government does not consider cutting back the millions of dollars it sends Israel everyday. No, instead it considers giving Israel a great reward, something which the Israeli government and settler establishment have long been calling for. It’s being suggested in the media that releasing Pollard might be used in exchange for Israel agreeing to release Palestinian prisoners and doing (yet another) “settlement freeze”, things which Israel had already agreed to do (then backed out of) and which have very little to do with the actual negotiations themselves. Further, both of these things are issues that Israel has historically backed out of on any pretense of any whim anyway!
The majorities of Palestinians don’t even believe in, nor want these sham “Peace” talks between the three corrupt “savior” governments to continue anyway. Why would they? None of the governments ever considers grassroots Palestinian voices in these negotiations, and none of the “negotiations” initiated by the United States government throughout the years have brought anything resembling Peace to Palestine. Given this reality, the United States government continues to make known its real intentions and its real priorities in this situation.
Some of the arguments Israeli government officials and settlers have made for years concerning Pollard’s release have to do with the harshness of Pollard’s sentence considering the reality that Israel and the United States are such great friends. It seems this great friendship supersedes all things. Sham-circus aside, this “great friendship” between two brutal colonial governments is the bottom line.
22 apr 2014
The US warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority, and described it as an "extreme step" which could fundamentally alter relations between Washington and Ramallah.
US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington that such a move would have "grave implications" on the relationship between the United States and the Palestinians, including American assistance, the Palestinian News Network has reported.
She added, "A great deal of effort has gone into building Palestinian institutions, by Palestinians as well as the international community, and it would certainly not be in the interests of the Palestinian people for all of that to be lost. We — the United States have put millions of dollars into this effort. It would obviously have very serious implications for our relationship, including our assistance going forward."
Psaki expressed hope that the Palestinian and Israeli parties would agree to extend the negotiations.
Psaki emphasized that the US Secretary of State John Kerry is willing to return to the region to continue with the efforts to salvage the peace talks.
US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington that such a move would have "grave implications" on the relationship between the United States and the Palestinians, including American assistance, the Palestinian News Network has reported.
She added, "A great deal of effort has gone into building Palestinian institutions, by Palestinians as well as the international community, and it would certainly not be in the interests of the Palestinian people for all of that to be lost. We — the United States have put millions of dollars into this effort. It would obviously have very serious implications for our relationship, including our assistance going forward."
Psaki expressed hope that the Palestinian and Israeli parties would agree to extend the negotiations.
Psaki emphasized that the US Secretary of State John Kerry is willing to return to the region to continue with the efforts to salvage the peace talks.
21 apr 2014
A picture taken on March 19, 2014, shows the central post office building in East Jerusalem
The US Supreme Court, today, decided to hear the case of an American born in Jerusalem, once again taking up the sensitive issue of the status of the contested city.
The justices will hear arguments within the case, in the fall, before deciding on the constitutionality of a 2002 law which directs the State Department to give Israel as the country of birth, in passports of Americans born in Jerusalem.
At the center of the struggle between the Congress and the presidency is Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem in 2002 to two American parents.
His passport says "born in Jerusalem" but his parents want Israel added to the place of birth, putting them at odds with the State Department.
Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital, but neither the United States nor the international community recognizes the city -- holy to three faiths -- as such.
Then president George W. Bush signed the 2002 bill into law, but he added a signed statement condemning it as unacceptable interference in the president's powers to conduct foreign policy.
In March of 2012, the top court ruled that the Zivotofsky suit was legally admissible, without pronouncing on the underlying issue.
This time, it will decide whether the president alone has the authority to say who Jerusalem belongs to, in the eyes of the United States.
The Obama administration argued at a hearing, in November 2011, that to list Israel as the country of birth would be tantamount to recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the country.
The PLO claims East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, but Israeli negotiators want Jerusalem to be recognized as the "undivided" capital of Israel.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, and later annexed it, in a move never recognized by the international community.
The US Supreme Court, today, decided to hear the case of an American born in Jerusalem, once again taking up the sensitive issue of the status of the contested city.
The justices will hear arguments within the case, in the fall, before deciding on the constitutionality of a 2002 law which directs the State Department to give Israel as the country of birth, in passports of Americans born in Jerusalem.
At the center of the struggle between the Congress and the presidency is Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem in 2002 to two American parents.
His passport says "born in Jerusalem" but his parents want Israel added to the place of birth, putting them at odds with the State Department.
Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital, but neither the United States nor the international community recognizes the city -- holy to three faiths -- as such.
Then president George W. Bush signed the 2002 bill into law, but he added a signed statement condemning it as unacceptable interference in the president's powers to conduct foreign policy.
In March of 2012, the top court ruled that the Zivotofsky suit was legally admissible, without pronouncing on the underlying issue.
This time, it will decide whether the president alone has the authority to say who Jerusalem belongs to, in the eyes of the United States.
The Obama administration argued at a hearing, in November 2011, that to list Israel as the country of birth would be tantamount to recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the country.
The PLO claims East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, but Israeli negotiators want Jerusalem to be recognized as the "undivided" capital of Israel.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, and later annexed it, in a move never recognized by the international community.
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A political analyst has described Israel as the United States’ “worst enemy,” saying the American intelligence and law enforcement community “despises” Israel, Press TV reports.
In an interview with Press TV on Sunday, Mark Glenn from the Crescent and Cross Solidarity Movement said that in numerous cases, Tel Aviv “has not just engaged in spying, but in false flag attacks against the people and the government of the United States.” Glenn further stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves no stone unturned to “embroil America in yet another war for Israel’s benefit,” adding, “the intelligence community has got to literally be sleeping with one eye open at night, keeping an eye on what Israel is doing.” |
The analyst further recalled his personal conversation with Philip Giraldi, a former US military intelligence officer, about the sentiments towards Israel within the American intelligence community.
“When I asked about what the feelings were in the intelligence community about Israel and before I’d even finished my sentence, he said they hate them, they despise them. And I asked about the other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and others, he said they despise them,” the analyst said.
On Sunday, Capitol Hill news website Roll Call cited a senior US House aide as saying, “the US intelligence community is concerned that adding Israel to the Visa Waiver program would make it easier for Israeli spies to enter the country.”
There are fears in the United States that admitting Israel into the country’s Visa Waiver Program would facilitate espionage activities by the Zionist regime in Washington.
Israel has long sought entry into the 38-nation visa program which allows foreigners into the US for 90 days without visa requirement.
So far, US officials have refused Israel’s admission into the program only because it has failed to meet requirements. But several Senators are drafting a bill to lift those requirements for Tel Aviv.
“When I asked about what the feelings were in the intelligence community about Israel and before I’d even finished my sentence, he said they hate them, they despise them. And I asked about the other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and others, he said they despise them,” the analyst said.
On Sunday, Capitol Hill news website Roll Call cited a senior US House aide as saying, “the US intelligence community is concerned that adding Israel to the Visa Waiver program would make it easier for Israeli spies to enter the country.”
There are fears in the United States that admitting Israel into the country’s Visa Waiver Program would facilitate espionage activities by the Zionist regime in Washington.
Israel has long sought entry into the 38-nation visa program which allows foreigners into the US for 90 days without visa requirement.
So far, US officials have refused Israel’s admission into the program only because it has failed to meet requirements. But several Senators are drafting a bill to lift those requirements for Tel Aviv.
16 apr 2014
Pro-Palestinian activists have staged a protest outside the US Embassy in London, calling for an end to Washington’s financial support for Israel.
The protest was held in the British capital on the occasion of April 15, which marks America’s Tax Day.
Demonstrators said American taxpayers unknowingly pay USD 4 to 6 billion to Israel every year in the forms of financial and military aid.
They also said the US administration is aiding the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories by using its veto power against any UN resolution condemning Israel.
Protesters carried placards reading, “USA: Stop funding genocide in Gaza,” “What $9.8 million US aid a day buys,” “Israel kills one child every 3 days,” and ”End siege of Gaza.”
Israel occupied the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but Israeli forces have been carrying out regular deadly forays into the sliver ever since the pullout.
The Gaza strip with a population of about 1.8 million has been under Israeli siege since 2007.
The protest was held in the British capital on the occasion of April 15, which marks America’s Tax Day.
Demonstrators said American taxpayers unknowingly pay USD 4 to 6 billion to Israel every year in the forms of financial and military aid.
They also said the US administration is aiding the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories by using its veto power against any UN resolution condemning Israel.
Protesters carried placards reading, “USA: Stop funding genocide in Gaza,” “What $9.8 million US aid a day buys,” “Israel kills one child every 3 days,” and ”End siege of Gaza.”
Israel occupied the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but Israeli forces have been carrying out regular deadly forays into the sliver ever since the pullout.
The Gaza strip with a population of about 1.8 million has been under Israeli siege since 2007.
8 apr 2014
By: Janet Leslie
The Israeli government has done it again: reneged on an agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
And the U.S. media — including our local paper — have done it again: presented this as "Palestinian President Abbas resumes a Palestinian bid for further U.N. recognition despite a promise to suspend such efforts" (E-R, April 2). What is not said is that that promise was made in exchange for an Israeli government promise to release certain Palestinian prisoners from its (extensive) prisons, a pledge it just broke.
And in the E-R article, U.S spokespeople talk about more incentives the U.S. might offer Israel to keep its side of the agreement — including the possible release from U.S. prison of a convicted Israeli spy — so that these so-called negotiations might not collapse (again).
When will we — the U.S. — recognize that the Israeli government has no interest in any outcome of any "negotiations" other than total control of all of Palestine? The Israeli government has always focused on "facts on the ground," and continues to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, demolish Palestinian homes, and do everything possible to make economic, social and religious life so restricted and difficult for Palestinian people that they will leave and this "problem" of non-Jewish people living in the land of Israeli will go away.
When will we — the U.S. — stop enabling this with our funding and our constant siding with the Israeli government , against our national interest and our values as a people.
The Israeli government has done it again: reneged on an agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
And the U.S. media — including our local paper — have done it again: presented this as "Palestinian President Abbas resumes a Palestinian bid for further U.N. recognition despite a promise to suspend such efforts" (E-R, April 2). What is not said is that that promise was made in exchange for an Israeli government promise to release certain Palestinian prisoners from its (extensive) prisons, a pledge it just broke.
And in the E-R article, U.S spokespeople talk about more incentives the U.S. might offer Israel to keep its side of the agreement — including the possible release from U.S. prison of a convicted Israeli spy — so that these so-called negotiations might not collapse (again).
When will we — the U.S. — recognize that the Israeli government has no interest in any outcome of any "negotiations" other than total control of all of Palestine? The Israeli government has always focused on "facts on the ground," and continues to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, demolish Palestinian homes, and do everything possible to make economic, social and religious life so restricted and difficult for Palestinian people that they will leave and this "problem" of non-Jewish people living in the land of Israeli will go away.
When will we — the U.S. — stop enabling this with our funding and our constant siding with the Israeli government , against our national interest and our values as a people.
7 apr 2014
The US government should support rather than oppose Palestinian actions to join international treaties that promote respect for human rights. On April 1, 2014, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, signed accession instruments for 15 treaties, including the core treaties on human rights and the laws of war. On April 2, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, testified in front of Congress, that in response to the “new Palestinian actions” that the “solemn commitment” by the US to “stand with Israel,” “extends to our firm opposition to any and all unilateral [Palestinian] actions in the international arena.”
“It is disturbing that the Obama administration, which already has a record of resisting international accountability for Israeli rights abuses, would also oppose steps to adopt treaties requiring Palestinian authorities to uphold human rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The US should press both the Palestinians and the Israelis to better abide by international human rights standards.”
Palestine’s adoption of human rights and laws-of-war treaties would not cause any change in Israel’s international legal obligations.
Abbas signed letters of accession to core human rights treaties including the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the conventions on the rights of the child; the elimination of discrimination against women; and against torture, apartheid, and genocide. Abbas also signed requests for Palestine to accede to treaties on the laws of war, including the Hague Regulations of 1907, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and their first additional protocol.
The human rights treaties he signed would impose obligations on the Palestinian government to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights of people under their authority and effective control. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was not eligible to sign human rights treaties but its officials had repeatedly pledged to uphold human rights norms. Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses by Palestinian security forces, including torture, arbitrary arrest, and the suppression of free speech and assembly.
Ratification of the Hague Regulations and Geneva Conventions would strengthen the obligations of Palestinian forces to abide by international rules on armed conflict. Palestinian armed groups are already obliged by customary international law on armed conflict, including prohibitions on targeting civilians and on carrying out attacks that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants. Armed groups in Gaza, which operate outside the authority or effective control of the Palestinian leadership that signed the treaties, have committed war crimes by launching indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli population centers.
Abbas signed the treaties for the state of Palestine, which the UN General Assembly granted non-member observer state status in 2012.
The US appears to oppose Palestine joining human rights treaties in part because it is afraid they will gain greater support for Palestinian statehood outside the framework of negotiations with Israel. According to Power’s testimony to a congressional subcommitteeon April 2, the US has “a monthly meeting with the Israelis” to coordinate responses to possible Palestinian actions at the UN, which the US is concerned could upset peace negotiations. Power said that the US had been “fighting on every front” before peace negotiations restarted in 2013 to prevent such Palestinian actions. Discussing US legislation that bars US funding from UN agencies that accept Palestine as a member, Power noted, “The spirit behind the legislation is to deter Palestinian action [at the UN], that is what we do all the time and that is what we will continue to do.”
The US may also fear that the Palestinian moves are only a first step towards joining the International Criminal Court (ICC). But Abbas did not sign the Rome Statute of the ICC, which would allow the court to have jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed in Palestine or by Palestinians. Power, in her remarks, said that the US is “absolutely adamant” that Palestine should not join the ICC because it “really poses a profound threat to Israel” and would be “devastating to the peace process.”
In either case, the US is mistaken to oppose a step that might lead to greater respect for rights, which could help create a better environment for peace negotiations, Human Rights Watch said.
“The US should stop allowing its separate concerns to stand in the way of a step that could enhance Palestinian authorities’ and armed groups’ respect for basic rights,” Stork said. “The US made the wrong decision to oppose greater rights protections.”
On April 1, the day Abbas signed the accession instruments for the treaties, Israel reissued tenders for the construction of 708 settlement housing units in the Israeli settlement of Gilo, while Israeli forces demolished 32 Palestinian-owned homes and other structures in the occupied West Bank, forcibly displacing 60 people, according to data collected by Ir Amim, an Israeli civil society group, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Under the Geneva Conventions and the ICC statute, settlement construction and the deliberate forcible transfer of civilians from their homes and communities in occupied territory are war crimes.
Israel has ratified core human rights treaties but officially claims that its rights obligations do not extend to Palestinians in the territory it occupies, where it says the laws of armed conflict apply exclusively. UN rights bodies have completely rejected this argument on the basis that an occupying power’s human rights obligations extend to people living under its effective control. Israel additionally claims, also in the face of nearly universal rejection, that the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits transferring its civilian population into occupied territory, does not apply to its settlements in the West Bank.
Source: HUMAN RIHGHTS WATCH
“It is disturbing that the Obama administration, which already has a record of resisting international accountability for Israeli rights abuses, would also oppose steps to adopt treaties requiring Palestinian authorities to uphold human rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The US should press both the Palestinians and the Israelis to better abide by international human rights standards.”
Palestine’s adoption of human rights and laws-of-war treaties would not cause any change in Israel’s international legal obligations.
Abbas signed letters of accession to core human rights treaties including the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the conventions on the rights of the child; the elimination of discrimination against women; and against torture, apartheid, and genocide. Abbas also signed requests for Palestine to accede to treaties on the laws of war, including the Hague Regulations of 1907, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and their first additional protocol.
The human rights treaties he signed would impose obligations on the Palestinian government to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights of people under their authority and effective control. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was not eligible to sign human rights treaties but its officials had repeatedly pledged to uphold human rights norms. Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses by Palestinian security forces, including torture, arbitrary arrest, and the suppression of free speech and assembly.
Ratification of the Hague Regulations and Geneva Conventions would strengthen the obligations of Palestinian forces to abide by international rules on armed conflict. Palestinian armed groups are already obliged by customary international law on armed conflict, including prohibitions on targeting civilians and on carrying out attacks that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants. Armed groups in Gaza, which operate outside the authority or effective control of the Palestinian leadership that signed the treaties, have committed war crimes by launching indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli population centers.
Abbas signed the treaties for the state of Palestine, which the UN General Assembly granted non-member observer state status in 2012.
The US appears to oppose Palestine joining human rights treaties in part because it is afraid they will gain greater support for Palestinian statehood outside the framework of negotiations with Israel. According to Power’s testimony to a congressional subcommitteeon April 2, the US has “a monthly meeting with the Israelis” to coordinate responses to possible Palestinian actions at the UN, which the US is concerned could upset peace negotiations. Power said that the US had been “fighting on every front” before peace negotiations restarted in 2013 to prevent such Palestinian actions. Discussing US legislation that bars US funding from UN agencies that accept Palestine as a member, Power noted, “The spirit behind the legislation is to deter Palestinian action [at the UN], that is what we do all the time and that is what we will continue to do.”
The US may also fear that the Palestinian moves are only a first step towards joining the International Criminal Court (ICC). But Abbas did not sign the Rome Statute of the ICC, which would allow the court to have jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed in Palestine or by Palestinians. Power, in her remarks, said that the US is “absolutely adamant” that Palestine should not join the ICC because it “really poses a profound threat to Israel” and would be “devastating to the peace process.”
In either case, the US is mistaken to oppose a step that might lead to greater respect for rights, which could help create a better environment for peace negotiations, Human Rights Watch said.
“The US should stop allowing its separate concerns to stand in the way of a step that could enhance Palestinian authorities’ and armed groups’ respect for basic rights,” Stork said. “The US made the wrong decision to oppose greater rights protections.”
On April 1, the day Abbas signed the accession instruments for the treaties, Israel reissued tenders for the construction of 708 settlement housing units in the Israeli settlement of Gilo, while Israeli forces demolished 32 Palestinian-owned homes and other structures in the occupied West Bank, forcibly displacing 60 people, according to data collected by Ir Amim, an Israeli civil society group, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Under the Geneva Conventions and the ICC statute, settlement construction and the deliberate forcible transfer of civilians from their homes and communities in occupied territory are war crimes.
Israel has ratified core human rights treaties but officially claims that its rights obligations do not extend to Palestinians in the territory it occupies, where it says the laws of armed conflict apply exclusively. UN rights bodies have completely rejected this argument on the basis that an occupying power’s human rights obligations extend to people living under its effective control. Israel additionally claims, also in the face of nearly universal rejection, that the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits transferring its civilian population into occupied territory, does not apply to its settlements in the West Bank.
Source: HUMAN RIHGHTS WATCH