US blocks UN condemnation of ‘Jewish settlements’

The US on Wednesday prevented the UN Security Council from voting on and adopting a resolution that condemned all Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and on the eastern side of Jerusalem as “illegal.”

The resolution was submitted by Lebanon, but was clearly drafted by the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians have been threatening for months now to seek UN condemnation of Israeli “settlement activity,” a step they hoped would open the way to UN recognition of a unilateral declaration of independence in Judea and Samaria.

The resolution referred to Judea and Samaria (including eastern Jerusalem) as “Palestinian territory,” and insisted that the presence of Jews there is “illegal and constitutes a major obstacle to the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.”

It demanded that Israel forbid all Jewish construction in theses areas in preparation for their surrender to the Palestinian Authority, which would be followed by an ethnic cleansing of all Jews currently living there.

The US representative at the meeting expressed strong opposition to the resolution, and said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be solved via direct negotiations between the two sides. Because of the US opposition, the parties behind the resolution knew it was pointless to call for a vote on the matter.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev followed up the US objections by reminding the Associated Press that the Palestinians “have made a series of commitments that all the issues of dispute between us and them should be resolved in direct negotiations.”

By taking this unilateral route, the Palestinians are once again breaking their commitments, said Regev.

It should also be noted that the resolution was an attempt to further solidify the Arab position that Judea and Samaria are “Palestinian territories” that must eventually be returned. The truth is that no sovereign Palestinian entity has ever existed there, but sovereign Jewish entities have.

At best, the areas must be described as “disputed territories,” since both sides have some degree of historical and legal claims. But the Arabs and the UN are constantly trying to rewrite the narrative of the peace process to make it appear that Israel is defiantly holding the lands of a foreign entity.