Israel-USA-Palestine Relations: Is the US Trump Administration starting to embrace international lawlessness?

The US Trump Administration’s declaration that it no longer considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal marks another step away from the principles of international law.

The illegality of the settlements by Israeli citizens on Palestinian land is quite clear from Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: “The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”

The 600,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have already colonized much of Palestine, fragmenting its territory — over which the Israeli occupier retains complete military control — criss-crossing it with roads barred to Palestinian users, stealing much of the most fertile land and depriving the Palestinian population of most of the available water.

The Israeli towns that have been planted across Palestinian territory are a serious barrier to the independent Palestine to which almost all countries, including the US and Israel, remain technically committed — though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown up how hollow this commitment is by repeatedly stating explicitly that there will never be a Palestinian state on his watch.

The pro-forma international condemnation has not halted the settlement programme nor prompted any Israeli government to consider meeting its obligations towards Palestine under the Oslo Accords.

The US has also regularly used its veto to block UN resolutions condemning the settlements even while officially viewing them as illegal.

It’s also against international law to apply sanctions with the aim of changing the government in the targeted country.

The US Trump Administration decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, is in fact encouraging ever more reckless and aggressive ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by the Israeli Right-Wing authorities and assures them that racist legislation such as the Nation State Law, reducing Israeli Arabs to second-class citizens, will not affect the enormous economic and military sponsorship they receive from the US.

Relying on Israeli allies to rein in its expansionist government has never worked. A US thumbs-up to illegal settlements makes that clearer than ever.

Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said: "The United States is neither qualified nor is authorised to negate international legitimacy resolutions, and it has no right to give any legitimacy to Israeli settlement."

Palestinian militant groups also weighed in, calling it the official funeral of the Oslo peace process - which laid the foundations for Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip - and urging stepped-up resistance to the Israeli occupation.

Bottom-line: the US Trump Administration has basically ripped-up the Oslo Agreement of which the US was a co-signer and is now applying the "Trump doctrine of the jungle"

 EU-Digest

United Nations - "US and Israel get a black eye at the UN": In blow to U.S. administration and Israel, UN fails to pass anti-Hamas resolution - by Amir Tibon and Noa Landau

 The resolution condemning Hamas, which was presented by the U.S. before the UN General Assembly on Thursday, fell short of the required two-thirds majority and failed to pass.

The resolution condemning Hamas, which was presented by the U.S. before the UN General Assembly on Thursday, fell short of the required two-thirds majority and failed to pass.

Read more: In blow to U.S. administration and Israel, UN fails to pass anti-Hamas resolution - U.S. News - Haaretz.com

Middle East: Israel marks its 70th anniversary, but not everyone shares the joy

Sirens sounded throughout the country at 11:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, when even in Israel's most vibrant cities life is being paused for two silent minutes, with cars pulling over at the side of the road and people standing still, paying their respects to the dead. Independence Day itself, however, is anything but silent.

Just a few meters outside Jerusalem's Damascus Gate, young Jewish settlers are raising donations "to expand Jewish presence in the West Bank," they shout at passersby. "Every Shekel will bring us closer to redemption," 15-year-old-Naomi tells DW. She generally refuses to talk to the media, but said that "for the holy sake of rebuilding Judea and Samaria, no measure is too extreme."

Meanwhile, two kilometers west of the Old City, 28-year-old Ahmed is helping tourists find their way around the lively quarter. He manages a boutique hotel and is constantly in touch with visitors from all over the world – as well as from other parts of Israel.

"Israel's Independence Day is like any other day for me," he says. "A constant reminder of what I don't have – but also of what I can have." Ahmed is hoping to move to Germany with his girlfriend, to get his master's degree there and eventually find a job. "My parents obviously don't want me to leave," he admits. "Not only because I will be far from them, but also because – in their words – they don't want us [Palestinians] to leave this land for the Jews."

When he was younger, he reveals, he couldn't stand Israelis. "I cursed soldiers. I cursed all of them." But now that he speaks fluent Hebrew and is in daily contact with many Israelis, he thinks differently. "When you are taught from day one that the other people want to destroy you – what are you supposed to think? I don't blame Israelis. I don't blame Palestinians either."

"We have every reason to celebrate,” says 42-year-old Miri Hajbi, a high school teacher who brought her two teenage daughters to watch the annual airshow passing above Sacher Park, one of the most attended events in the city. "We are strong, we are united, we have a blooming high-tech industry and a powerful army – we made it against all odds,” she pauses for a bit, "and whoever's got a problem with that is welcome to test us."

Her words resonate with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statements at the ceremony, in which he declared that the Jewish state was becoming a "world power," adding that its light would overcome what he called its enemies' "darkness."

In another 70 years' time, he continued, "you'll find a country that is many times stronger because what we've done until today is just the beginning.”

Read more: Israel marks its 70th anniversary, but not everyone shares the joy | News | DW | 19.04.2018

EU diplomats plot against Trump on Jerusalem - by Andrew Rettman

EU diplomats in the Middle East will try to undermine Donald Trump's plan to establish Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The blueprint for the EU counter-measures was contained in a confidential report filed by EU states' ambassadors in East Jerusalem and Ramallah, in Israeli-occupied Palestine, after the US president, on 6 December, unilaterally recognised Israel's claim to the holy city.

Trump's decision was "a fundamental shift in US policy", the 49-page EU report, seen by EUobserver, said.

"This is the first time that one of the final status issues has been subject to a policy change by a third party since the … Oslo Accords [in 1993]," the report added.

EU leaders should send out a "common message", the text said, that Europe will "continue to respect the international consensus" that Jerusalem should be shared by Israel and Palestine in a two-state solution.

EU states should also "ensure that the location of their diplomatic missions remains in line with its provisions on location until the final status of Jerusalem is resolved," the report said, after Trump promised to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The EU report on Jerusalem is a yearly exercise meant to steer talks by ministers in Brussels.

The 2017 edition contained several new recommendations designed to hamper Trump's plan.

It urged EU capitals: to push their line on Jerusalem in all "bilateral and multilateral contacts" in 2018; to "unequivocally oppose" Israeli laws to alter the city's status; and to consider "development of further actions on distinguishing between the territory of the state of Israel and the occupied territories".

Previous EU actions included blocking grants for Israeli settler firms and publishing label guidelines for settler products in European retailers.

The 2017 report also called for "systematic media outreach in support of … [the] EU policy on Jerusalem".

It said high-level EU visits to the city should "ensure that logistics follow EU policy, e.g. through choice of hotel, change of transport between East and West", referring to Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and Israel's West Jerusalem.

There was less violence in the city last year despite some "confrontations" between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police after Trump's announcement, the EU text noted.

Thirteen Palestinians and seven Israelis were killed in violent incidents in total in Jerusalem in 2017, compared to 23 people the year before, and 41 the year before that.

But Israeli settlers were seizing Palestinian land at a "record" pace "including in areas identified by the EU and its member states as [being] key to the two-state solution", the EU report warned.

Israel advanced plans for more than 3,000 housing units in East Jerusalem last year, it said.

This added to the 215,000 settlers who have moved there since Israel conquered it in 1967 to live among the 317,000 Palestinians who are still left.

"Developments in 2016 to 2017 indicate that the Israeli authorities are taking active measures to prepare for settlement expansion in [the E1] area," the EU ambassadors added, referring to a zone that would cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and cut the West Bank into two cantons if it fell into settlers' hands.

The EU said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had systematically ignored its appeals on the issue.

"International objections were met by more announcements [of settlement expansion]," the EU ambassadors said.

The diplomats painted a grim picture of life under Israeli occupation.

They spoke of Israel's "long-standing policy of political, economic, and social marginalisation" of Palestinians, which "worsened" last year and which caused the kind of "high levels of stress and depression" that were fertile ground for violence.

They condemned killings on both sides, but singled out Israeli soldiers for "excessive use of force".

They also said Palestinian economic activity in East Jerusalem halved over the past 10 years and that 75 percent of Palestinians now lived below the poverty line.

That figure rose to 84 percent among Palestinian children, half of whom dropped out of school.

"The city has largely ceased to be the Palestinian economic, urban, and commercial centre it used to be," the EU report said. 

Read more: EU diplomats plot against Trump on Jerusalem

Israel: EU urges Israel to end demolition of Palestinian housing

EU diplomats with the European External Action Service (EEAS) on Saturday called for Israel to halt the demolition of Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank after more than 100 Palestinians were left homeless by demolitions on February 2.

"In the past weeks there have been a number of developments in Area C of the West Bank, which risk undermining the viability of a future Palestinian state and driving the parties yet further apart," the EEAS said in a statement.

"This is particularly concerning both because of the extent of the demolitions and also the number of vulnerable individuals affected, including children who need support," the statement noted.

The EEAS reported that "EU-funded structures" were also targeted by demolitions conducted by Israeli forces, saying they were built to provide "humanitarian support to most vulnerable people."

The diplomatic service reiterated the "EU's firm opposition to Israel's settlement policy" and actions taken in this context, including demolitions and confiscation, evictions, forced transfers or restrictions of movement and access, in line with conclusions made by EU foreign ministers on January 18.

"We call on the Israeli authorities to reserve the decision taken and to halt further demolitions," the statement added.

Read more: EU urges Israel to end demolition of Palestinian housing | News | DW.COM | 06.02.2016

Middle East - Palestinians to EU: Suspend trade agreements with Israel to protest demolition of homes

European support for Sussiya must be backed with action, the community spokesman Nasser Muhammed Nawajah wrote in a letter he sent to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

“Until today European support of the Israeli economy is expressed in the preferential conditions that Israel receives under its Trade and Association Agreements with Europe. The association agreement stipulates that ‘relations between the parties, as well as all the provisions of the agreement itself shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles’ and that this ‘constitutes an essential element of this agreement,’” he wrote

“In our opinion Sussiya is one example of how Israel continues to violate these principles and therefore we urge you to suspend Europe’s trade agreement with Israel as well as end trade with companies operating in settlements on occupied territories until Israel fulfills its obligation under international law,” he wrote.

A copy of the letter was posted on the twitter site of the NGO, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Coordination committee.
The US on Thursday warned Israel against the pending demolition of structures both in Sussiya and nearby Wadi Jahish.

“Demolition of this Palestinian village or of parts of it, and evictions of Palestinians from their homes would be harmful and provocative,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington on Thursday, as he focused his public comments on Sussiya.

Read more: Palestinians to EU: Suspend trade agreements with Israel to protest demolition of homes - Arab-Israeli Conflict - Jerusalem Post

Netherlands - The Hague-based ICC accepts Palestine's status

The International Criminal Court has accepted the status of Palestine, clearing the way for war crimes in the Occupied Territories to be investigated, Al Jazeera has learned.

Monday's decision amounts to a symbolic victory for the Palestinians who will get a seat at the ICC: in theory, it is now legally possible for war crimes to be investigated in the Occupied Territories if requested.

The ICC, which is governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

The court, whose headquarters is at The Hague in the Netherlands, is an independent international organisation and is not part of the UN system.

While its expenses are funded primarily by "states parties", the ICC also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

Al Jazeera's Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said the acceptance happened at an open meeting on Monday of the assembly of states parties of the ICC.

"What this means is that Palestine is now listed as a 'non-state party observer' - exactly the same status as the US or Russia or every other country that is not a signatory of the Rome Statute," he said.

Read more: Hague-based ICC accepts Palestine's status - Americas - Al Jazeera English

Middle East: BDS leaders say Palestinian human rights are compatible with Israeli Jewish future

The American Studies Association’s (ASA) move to censure Israel sparked a deluge of pro-Israel responses claiming that the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement seeks the “destruction” of Israel.

It is a line of attack that conjures up the ghosts of the Holocaust to many Jews.

For Israel advocates, destroying Israel would mean destroying Jews’ place in the Middle East.  Cary Nelson, one of the most prominent scholarly voices against the academic boycott of Israel, distilled this type of  anti-BDS argument in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed published in response to the ASA boycott and the Modern Language Association convention.

“The fundamental goal of the boycott movement is not the peaceful coexistence of two states, one Jewish and one Palestinian, but rather the elimination of Israel,” he wrote. “One nation called Palestine would rule from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Those Jews not exiled or killed in the transition to an Arab-dominated nation would live as second-class citizens without fundamental rights.”

But a survey of some of the leading Palestinian supporters of BDS reveals a starkly different vision: that of a shared future in Israel/Palestine, where the rights of everyone are upheld.

“Freedom, justice and equality, the ultimate goals of the BDS movement, would only ‘destroy’ an unjust regime, not harm any humans. BDS categorically opposes all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism, and consistently advocates for equal rights for all humans,” said Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights activist and a co-founder of the global, Palestinian-led BDS movement for Palestinian rights.

“The Zionist paranoia, whether real or an Oscar-winning act, about BDS aiming to ‘remove Jewish Israelis from the region’ is clearly based on myth and a long record of Zionist ethnic cleansing and destruction of Palestinian society. Criminals always fear that their long oppressed victims will resort to the same criminal techniques if they gain power and turn the tables.”

Note EU-Digest: Human rights abuses by Israel and by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank grew during 2013, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2014.

Israeli forces killed more Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and demolished more Palestinian homes than in 2012. Israel continued to build settlements in the West Bank, violating international law. Palestinian security forces in both the West Bank and Gaza enjoyed virtual impunity from criminal prosecution despite credible allegations of torture. In Gaza, Israel and Egypt impeded rebuilding of the devastated economy by blocking virtually all exports. Israeli and Palestinian security services in the West Bank and Gaza arrested people arbitrarily and unlawfully restricted people from protesting.

“The US talked a lot about peace last year, but said precious little about the victims of Israel’s massive campaign of home demolitions in the West Bank and the Negev,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The Palestinian Authority’s security forces beat West Bank residents protesting the negotiations with Israel, and Hamas security officials threatened and abused Gaza activists calling for peaceful change.”

In the 667-page report, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries. Syria’s widespread killings of civilians elicited horror but few steps by world leaders to stop it, Human Rights Watch said. A reinvigorated doctrine of “responsibility to protect” seems to have prevented some mass atrocities in Africa. Majorities in power in Egypt and other countries have suppressed dissent and minority rights. And Edward Snowden’s revelations about US surveillance programs reverberated around the globe.
 
Read more: BDS leaders say Palestinian human rights are compatible with Israeli Jewish future | Mondoweiss