This Article was written by Stephen Lendman originally published on RINF:
On August 21, Washington joined Germany, Britain and France. They presented a largely one-sided Security Council resolution to end over six weeks of conflict.
It’s pro-Israeli. It’s pro-Western. It’s anti-Palestinian. It’s more Gazan Versailles than legitimate peace plan. It demands rejection.
It’s in lieu of what’s fundamentally needed:
A resolution holding Israel responsible for premeditated genocidal aggression;
- holding Netanyahu and other Israeli officials accountable;
- ordering them prosecuted in a Nuremberg-style tribunal;
- unconditionally ordering Gaza’s siege be lifted;
- mandating Israel alone pay for damage it caused, compensate surviving family members for their losses, and fully cover the cost of medical treatment for injured Gazans;
- assuring long denied justice for beleaguered Gazans;
- ordering Israel to halt settlement construction;
- mandating an end to occupation; and
- guaranteeing support for unconditional Palestinian self-determination within 1967 borders by a specified date.
The current resolution is deeply flawed. Claiming it’ll end fighting is fantasy. Or achieve any form of long denied justice. The two-page document is titled “Elements.”
They include:
- returning Gaza to PA control;
- reconstructing it under international supervision;
- preventing Hamas from rearming;
- wanting it kept defenseless against certain future Israeli aggression;
- restarting sham Israeli-Palestinian peace talks; and
- doing so based on what Israel categorically rejects – within pre-1967 borders – with no enforcement teeth.
Fact: Abbas and other PA officials are longtime Israeli collaborators.
Fact: They have no legitimacy.
Fact: They serve as Israeli enforcers.
Fact: They betray their own people.
Fact: Hamas is Palestine’s democratically elected government.
Fact: International law prohibits any nation or combination thereof from interfering in the internal affairs of others.
Fact: Palestinians alone may decide who’ll govern them under laws, principles and norms they choose.
Fact: Not Israel, Washington, Germany, Britain, France, or Security Council resolution denying them their inalienable right.
The proposed document condemns “all violence and hostilities directed against civilians, as well as indiscriminate attacks resulting in civilian casualties, and all acts of terrorism.”
It calls for an “immediate, sustainable” ceasefire on both sides. It’s based on the following principles:
- returning Gaza to PA control;
- undefined security arrangements to prevent resumption of hostilities;
- denying Hamas the right of self-defense;
- doing so by prohibiting all weapons and munitions sales to Gaza without PA permission;
- preventing the financing of Israel’s notion of terrorism;
- assuring Gazan self-defense is defined this way;
- assuring Israeli aggression is called its right to self-defense;
- lifting “economic and humanitarian restrictions” short of unconditionally ending siege;
- permitting reconstruction, economic rehabilitation and development based on what Israel will allow under rules it establishes;
- reopening all border crossings without assurances against future unilateral Israeli closures; and
- doing so in accord with the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access.
Washington and Israel brokered it. It was supposed to let PA officials control border crossings after Israel’s 2005 Gazan disengagement.
The resolution establishes a Western controlled international monitoring and verification body.
It would oversee implementation of agreed on principles, investigate ceasefire violations, inform the Security Council, facilitate movement of people and goods, as well as “ensure effective communications” between both sides.
Other draft provisions include:
- helping PA officials establish “effective governance” in Gaza – under rules acceptable to Israel and Western states;
- urging UN member states to contribute to rebuilding Gaza;
- doing so in lieu of demanding Israel pay for the enormous damage it caused;
- holding an international conference on rebuilding Gaza;
- urging attending nations to help pay Gazan civil servants and aid PA security forces; and
- initiating “renewed and urgent efforts by the parties and the international community to resume the negotiations in order to achieve a comprehensive peace based on the vision of two democratic states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side on the basis of the pre-1967 borders in peace and security.”
It’s hard imagining Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups accepting what demands rejection.
The draft resolution violates international law. It’s a dagger in the heart of equity, justice and peace.
It lopsidedly favors Israel. It renders Hamas defenseless. It offers what Israel can unilaterally abrogate for reasons it invents.
It puts longtime Palestinian collaborators in charge of governing Gaza. It assures justice denied.
It restarts sham peace talks. It proposes doing so on terms Israel categorically rejects.
It perpetuates the greatest hoax in modern times. Talks were stillborn from inception. Israel rejects peace and stability.
Palestinians have no say whatever. They’ve been brutalized for decades. They’re denied all rights. They’re virtual prisoners in their own land.
Oslo was unconditional Palestinian surrender. So were Oslo II, Wye River, Camp David, Taba, Bush’s Road Map, Annapolis, other negotiating rounds, and the most recent failed talks had they continued.
The current Security Council proposal holds Gazans hostage to Israeli and Western diktats.
It leaves Israel unaccountable for high crimes against peace. It assures future Israeli aggression.
It lets occupation harshness continue. It perpetuates decades of injustice. It leaves Palestinians isolated on their own.
It gives Israel wiggle room to interpret provisions to its own advantage. It denies Gazans the same right. It leaves major issues unaddressed.
They include:
- internationally guaranteed/universally recognized Palestinian sovereignty;
- ending occupation;
- letting diaspora Palestinians return;
- compensating them and Palestinian refugees for land and possessions Israel stole;
- ending settlement construction on stolen Palestinian land;
- giving Palestinians control of their airspace, coastal waters, and resources (including offshore gas reserves); as well as
- East Jerusalem as their exclusive capital.
The resolution instructs UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to initiate proposals to “implement the relevant provisions.” He’s a longtime pro-Western/pro-Israeli imperial tool.
It lets Security Council members circumvent international law. It lets them impose punitive measures if either side violates resolution provisions. It assures imposition on Palestinians alone.
It lets pro-Israeli Western nations force-feed unacceptable terms on Gaza. It gives Gazans no say. It punishes them for rejecting unacceptable demands.
It destroys Fatah/Hamas unity. It perpetuates longstanding injustice. It assures future conflict.
Current Israeli genocidal aggression continues. Western leaders support it. Israel murdered nearly 2,100 Palestinians. Over 10,300 were injured.
Large parts of Gaza lie in ruins. A pre-dawn air strike killed three al-Qassam Brigades commanders.
On Friday, thousands of Palestinians marched through Rafah. They did so in mourning. They honored Mohammed Abu Shamalah, Mohammed Barhoum and Raed Attar.
Their deaths came a day after Israel unsuccessfully tried to assassinate senior al-Qassam Brigades leader Mohammed Deif.
An airstrike on his home killed his wife and eight-month-old son. Netanyahu tried to link his aggression to Obama’s war on the Islamic State in Iraq.
He lied calling both groups a “branch of the same tree.” He did so without a shred of credible evidence. None exists.
At the same time, Israel activated another 10,000 reserves. Hardliners Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and others want Hamas entirely destroyed.
Perhaps a second ground invasion will follow. Since Israel sabotaged Cairo talks, it murdered around five dozen more mostly civilian Palestinian men, women and children.
They included five family members digging a grave in Sheikh Radwan cemetery. They were doing so for lost loved ones.
They were noncombatants. They posed no threat. Israel deliberately murdered them in cold blood. It considers civilian men, women, children, infants, the elderly and infirm legitimate targets.
Doing so is part of its longstanding collective punishment policy. It’s in flagrant violation of international law.
It doesn’t matter. Western leaders support Israeli genocide. They turn a blind eye to its worst high crimes against peace.
They continue daily throughout Occupied Palestine. Gazans suffer most.
Long denied justice is nowhere in sight. The US/German/British/ French resolution assures keeping things this way.
Palestinians remain isolated on their own. Gazans remain trapped on their own land.
Israel is free to wage aggressive wars on whatever pretexts it invents. Business as usual continues.
