Breaking down just how badly Obama’s UN action will damage Israel
Everyone has heard by now that Obama “threw Israel under the bus” or whatever expression you want to use, by refusing to veto Friday’s UN resolution condemning settlements in the West Bank and other territories captured from the Palestinians. Indeed he did, but it’s worse than that.
This is not a mere resolution of condemnation. This is a theoretically enforceable piece of international law that the UN has been trying to pass for decades, always coming up short because of the certainty - until Barack Obama - that the United States would veto the it. Now that it’s been passed, Israel and its officials could be in serious jeopardy in a variety of ways.
Eliot Abrams broke it down very thoroughly for the Weekly Standard:
Does the resolution matter? It does. The text declares that “the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law.”
This may turn both settlers—even those in major blocs like Maale Adumim, that everyone knows Israel will keep in any peace deal—and Israeli officials into criminals in some countries, subject to prosecution there or in the International Criminal Court.
The text demands “that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.” Now add this wording to the previous line and it means that even construction in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City is “a flagrant violation under international law.” The resolution also “calls upon all States, to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.” This is a call to boycott products of the Golan, the West Bank, and parts of Jerusalem, and support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement.
So Israel is now looking at both economic and criminal sanctions.
Many of the same nations who voted for this resolution would probably harass Israel anyway, but now they can do so with the imprimatur of “international law” behind them. Israel’s refusal to abide by the resolution now becomes an excuse for terrorist attacks under the guise of enforcement.
Nations of the UN hate Israel and are thrilled to have finally put this resolution in place.
By the way, what Obama has done, Donald Trump cannot simply undo.
The UN is not going to entertain another U.S.-sponsored resolution repealing this one. Like it or not, and you shouldn’t, the nations of the UN hate Israel and are thrilled to have finally put this resolution in place.
The vote on the Security Council was 14-0 with the U.S. abstaining. If a vote were held to repeal it after Trump takes office, the repeal would fail 14-1, with only the U.S. voting in favor.
That’s how badly Obama has just harmed one of America’s most loyal friends.
It’s important to remember something about the so-called “occupied territories.” Israel was merely defending itself in 1967 when Egypt, Syria and Jordan decided to attack. Israel took the West Bank, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip in the course of this battle, and decided to annex them because - given the propensity of its neighbors to attack - these territories were crucial to Israel’s national security.
The so-called world community would have you believe that all Middle East peace issues would be solved if Israel merely gave back the “occupied territories.” That’s not true. Israel was the target of vicious unprovoked attacks before the Six Day War in 1967, and without these territories would surely have been more vulnerable to other attacks since then.
The Israelis don’t play. If you don’t want to lose your land to them, don’t start a war with them.
U.S. now has the opportunity to reverse much of the damage Obama has done to the country and to our allies.
Although the U.S. cannot now reverse this resolution, there are things it can and should do to make the UN pay a price for this disgrace. First, we contribute $8 billion each year to the United Nations. We should refuse to pay a dime for as long as this resolution is in force. Second, we should seriously consider kicking the UN out of New York and out of the United States entirely.
This is not only because of this one resolution, although that’s clearly the last straw. The UN long ago became a tool of despots and dictators, very much the opposite of what it was envisioned to be in the aftermath of World War II. It has no use as a defense organization, as NATO plays that role. And the UN frequently gives cover to nonsense like global warmism and other efforts to normalize socialism.
To the extent the UN does some good things, the U.S. could always support those things on an ad hoc basis if it chooses to do so. But there is no way we should be paying $8 billion a year to support an organization that pulls crap like we saw on Friday.
Of course, we also should never have elected a president who would allow such crap.
Obama has always hated Israel and especially hates Benjamin Netanyahu. Now that he will pay no price politically for doing so, he’s decided it’s safe to stick a knife in Israel’s back. He will probably be rewarded as an international hero upon leaving office.
At least the U.S. now has the opportunity to reverse much of the damage Obama has done to the country and to our allies.
There is no curing the corruption that has permeated the UN.
All we can do now is stop supporting it, stop hosting it and stop being a part of it.
http://canadafreepress.com/article/breaking-d...3d4df0f0cc
Everyone has heard by now that Obama “threw Israel under the bus” or whatever expression you want to use, by refusing to veto Friday’s UN resolution condemning settlements in the West Bank and other territories captured from the Palestinians. Indeed he did, but it’s worse than that.
This is not a mere resolution of condemnation. This is a theoretically enforceable piece of international law that the UN has been trying to pass for decades, always coming up short because of the certainty - until Barack Obama - that the United States would veto the it. Now that it’s been passed, Israel and its officials could be in serious jeopardy in a variety of ways.
Eliot Abrams broke it down very thoroughly for the Weekly Standard:
Does the resolution matter? It does. The text declares that “the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law.”
This may turn both settlers—even those in major blocs like Maale Adumim, that everyone knows Israel will keep in any peace deal—and Israeli officials into criminals in some countries, subject to prosecution there or in the International Criminal Court.
The text demands “that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.” Now add this wording to the previous line and it means that even construction in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City is “a flagrant violation under international law.” The resolution also “calls upon all States, to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.” This is a call to boycott products of the Golan, the West Bank, and parts of Jerusalem, and support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement.
So Israel is now looking at both economic and criminal sanctions.
Many of the same nations who voted for this resolution would probably harass Israel anyway, but now they can do so with the imprimatur of “international law” behind them. Israel’s refusal to abide by the resolution now becomes an excuse for terrorist attacks under the guise of enforcement.
Nations of the UN hate Israel and are thrilled to have finally put this resolution in place.
By the way, what Obama has done, Donald Trump cannot simply undo.
The UN is not going to entertain another U.S.-sponsored resolution repealing this one. Like it or not, and you shouldn’t, the nations of the UN hate Israel and are thrilled to have finally put this resolution in place.
The vote on the Security Council was 14-0 with the U.S. abstaining. If a vote were held to repeal it after Trump takes office, the repeal would fail 14-1, with only the U.S. voting in favor.
That’s how badly Obama has just harmed one of America’s most loyal friends.
It’s important to remember something about the so-called “occupied territories.” Israel was merely defending itself in 1967 when Egypt, Syria and Jordan decided to attack. Israel took the West Bank, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip in the course of this battle, and decided to annex them because - given the propensity of its neighbors to attack - these territories were crucial to Israel’s national security.
The so-called world community would have you believe that all Middle East peace issues would be solved if Israel merely gave back the “occupied territories.” That’s not true. Israel was the target of vicious unprovoked attacks before the Six Day War in 1967, and without these territories would surely have been more vulnerable to other attacks since then.
The Israelis don’t play. If you don’t want to lose your land to them, don’t start a war with them.
U.S. now has the opportunity to reverse much of the damage Obama has done to the country and to our allies.
Although the U.S. cannot now reverse this resolution, there are things it can and should do to make the UN pay a price for this disgrace. First, we contribute $8 billion each year to the United Nations. We should refuse to pay a dime for as long as this resolution is in force. Second, we should seriously consider kicking the UN out of New York and out of the United States entirely.
This is not only because of this one resolution, although that’s clearly the last straw. The UN long ago became a tool of despots and dictators, very much the opposite of what it was envisioned to be in the aftermath of World War II. It has no use as a defense organization, as NATO plays that role. And the UN frequently gives cover to nonsense like global warmism and other efforts to normalize socialism.
To the extent the UN does some good things, the U.S. could always support those things on an ad hoc basis if it chooses to do so. But there is no way we should be paying $8 billion a year to support an organization that pulls crap like we saw on Friday.
Of course, we also should never have elected a president who would allow such crap.
Obama has always hated Israel and especially hates Benjamin Netanyahu. Now that he will pay no price politically for doing so, he’s decided it’s safe to stick a knife in Israel’s back. He will probably be rewarded as an international hero upon leaving office.
At least the U.S. now has the opportunity to reverse much of the damage Obama has done to the country and to our allies.
There is no curing the corruption that has permeated the UN.
All we can do now is stop supporting it, stop hosting it and stop being a part of it.
http://canadafreepress.com/article/breaking-d...3d4df0f0cc
