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Outcomes of SC Resolution 2334
Alison Wakelin and Andrew Wilson
January 14, 2017
While the United States veto at the UN Security Council had protected Israel from criticism during most the Obama presidency, its historic abstention to allow passage of Resolution 2334 has been followed by an immediate flurry of action towards measures to close off the path of unfettered expansion of settlements on which Israel has been moving for many years. The frustration of the world community with the United States’ unconditional protection of Israel’s actions in avoiding any movement toward a two state solution is now evident.
If this was the case under President Obama, a president sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, imagine how much more frustration the world is going to feel if blocked on every side by a Trump presidency, almost certain to last four years and quite possibly eight years. If the world wants to make any impact on the issue of settlements and negotiations toward a two state solution, then the world must create a real option that penalizes settlement-building, thereby putting the onus on the U.S. to gather enough support to change the status quo, instead of holding the cards to delineate the default position.
With Mr. Netanyahu in serious trouble at home, yet again for corruption, his command on the reins of power is not as strong as it looked even quite recently, but with alternatives like Naftali Bennet being the second most popular choice to replace the Prime Minister, there is no way to rely on a change of heart at the top of Israel’s government. It will be more of the same in the years to come, unless the world community, as a result of the Paris conference, carves out a path by which it can act independently of any US roadblocks.
Sanctions are sometimes necessary. A people that has been dominated and scattered to the winds for two thousand years, culminating in the genocide of the holocaust, commanded everyone’s goodwill. But we are now seventy years on from that time in history, and Israelis are no longer in the same position. In fact, Israelis are now by far the stronger partner, holding on to power over the Palestinians and denying them their own nation, or even rights of participation in the nation of Israel. The war of 1967 happened fifty years ago, before the vast majority of Palestinians alive today were even born. They are now a nation without a land, and from their perspective, for no good reason.
The Oslo Accords have been violated over and over, and are now essentially defunct. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have failed time and again. The time has come when the world cannot just sit by and do nothing, but must make a statement of intent and follow it up by action, otherwise any further negotiations will be fruitless. Suddenly right at the beginning of 2017, a real possibility has arisen because the world finds itself united in its opinion. Let us hope the Paris talks result in real steps that lead to punitive sanctions on the Israelis if they continue to flout world opinion. At the same time, Israel must know that whatever steps the world takes are not out of animus towards Israel; they are taken out of concern for those who are oppressed as more and more settlements are erected in future Palestinian lands.
We hope that an outcome of the Paris Conference is the development of agreed-upon policies to distinguish the products of and “relevant dealings” with Israel, from those with the West Bank lands that nations around the world are recognizing as belonging to the State of Palestine, based upon 1967 borders and subject to adjustments arrived at by negotiations between the parties. We hope that the international community will show unity and resolve to implement these policies.
One caveat, however, concerns the Old City and its sacred sites. Out of respect for its sanctity and to preserve peace, we would ask that policies regarding relevant dealings steer clear of this area. Policy considerations should include measures to prevent corporations from circumventing the intent of the international community to sanction relevant dealings by establishing dummy offices in the Old City. This area should remain as neutral territory, insulated from the political and economic strife that any strong international measures may stir up.
January 14, 2017
While the United States veto at the UN Security Council had protected Israel from criticism during most the Obama presidency, its historic abstention to allow passage of Resolution 2334 has been followed by an immediate flurry of action towards measures to close off the path of unfettered expansion of settlements on which Israel has been moving for many years. The frustration of the world community with the United States’ unconditional protection of Israel’s actions in avoiding any movement toward a two state solution is now evident.
If this was the case under President Obama, a president sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, imagine how much more frustration the world is going to feel if blocked on every side by a Trump presidency, almost certain to last four years and quite possibly eight years. If the world wants to make any impact on the issue of settlements and negotiations toward a two state solution, then the world must create a real option that penalizes settlement-building, thereby putting the onus on the U.S. to gather enough support to change the status quo, instead of holding the cards to delineate the default position.
With Mr. Netanyahu in serious trouble at home, yet again for corruption, his command on the reins of power is not as strong as it looked even quite recently, but with alternatives like Naftali Bennet being the second most popular choice to replace the Prime Minister, there is no way to rely on a change of heart at the top of Israel’s government. It will be more of the same in the years to come, unless the world community, as a result of the Paris conference, carves out a path by which it can act independently of any US roadblocks.
Sanctions are sometimes necessary. A people that has been dominated and scattered to the winds for two thousand years, culminating in the genocide of the holocaust, commanded everyone’s goodwill. But we are now seventy years on from that time in history, and Israelis are no longer in the same position. In fact, Israelis are now by far the stronger partner, holding on to power over the Palestinians and denying them their own nation, or even rights of participation in the nation of Israel. The war of 1967 happened fifty years ago, before the vast majority of Palestinians alive today were even born. They are now a nation without a land, and from their perspective, for no good reason.
The Oslo Accords have been violated over and over, and are now essentially defunct. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have failed time and again. The time has come when the world cannot just sit by and do nothing, but must make a statement of intent and follow it up by action, otherwise any further negotiations will be fruitless. Suddenly right at the beginning of 2017, a real possibility has arisen because the world finds itself united in its opinion. Let us hope the Paris talks result in real steps that lead to punitive sanctions on the Israelis if they continue to flout world opinion. At the same time, Israel must know that whatever steps the world takes are not out of animus towards Israel; they are taken out of concern for those who are oppressed as more and more settlements are erected in future Palestinian lands.
We hope that an outcome of the Paris Conference is the development of agreed-upon policies to distinguish the products of and “relevant dealings” with Israel, from those with the West Bank lands that nations around the world are recognizing as belonging to the State of Palestine, based upon 1967 borders and subject to adjustments arrived at by negotiations between the parties. We hope that the international community will show unity and resolve to implement these policies.
One caveat, however, concerns the Old City and its sacred sites. Out of respect for its sanctity and to preserve peace, we would ask that policies regarding relevant dealings steer clear of this area. Policy considerations should include measures to prevent corporations from circumventing the intent of the international community to sanction relevant dealings by establishing dummy offices in the Old City. This area should remain as neutral territory, insulated from the political and economic strife that any strong international measures may stir up.
