{"article":{"id":265537,"heading":"Pro-Israeli Security Council Gaza Resolution","author":"Stephen Lendman","created":"2014-08-22 11:27:57","modified":"2014-08-22 11:27:57","last_modified":"Fri, 22 Aug 2014 18:27:57","article":"

Pro-Israeli Security Council Gaza Resolution

by Stephen Lendman

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:

\t•\ta resolution holding Israel responsible for premeditated genocidal aggression;

\t•\tholding Netanyahu and other Israeli officials accountable;

\t•\tordering them prosecuted in a Nuremberg-style tribunal;

\t•\tunconditionally ordering Gaza's siege be lifted;

\t•\tmandating 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;

\t•\tassuring long denied justice for beleaguered Gazans;

\t•\tordering Israel to halt settlement construction;

\t•\tmandating an end to occupation; and

\t•\tguaranteeing 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:

\t•\treturning Gaza to PA control;

\t•\treconstructing it under international supervision;

\t•\tpreventing Hamas from rearming;

\t•\twanting it kept defenseless against certain future Israeli aggression;  

\t•\trestarting sham Israeli-Palestinian peace talks; and

\t•\tdoing 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:

\t•\treturning Gaza to PA control;

\t•\tundefined security arrangements to prevent resumption of hostilities;

\t•\tdenying Hamas the right of self-defense;

\t•\tdoing so by prohibiting all weapons and munitions sales to Gaza without PA permission;

\t•\tpreventing the financing of Israel's notion of terrorism;

\t•\tassuring Gazan self-defense is defined this way;

\t•\tassuring Israeli aggression is called its right to self-defense;

\t•\tlifting \"economic and humanitarian restrictions\" short of unconditionally ending siege;

\t•\tpermitting reconstruction, economic rehabilitation and development based on what Israel will allow under rules it establishes;

\t•\treopening all border crossings without assurances against future unilateral Israeli closures; and

\t•\tdoing 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:

\t•\thelping PA officials establish \"effective governance\" in Gaza - under rules acceptable to Israel and Western states;

\t•\turging UN member states to contribute to rebuilding Gaza;

\t•\tdoing so in lieu of demanding Israel pay for the enormous damage it caused;

\t•\tholding an international conference on rebuilding Gaza;

\t•\turging attending nations to help pay Gazan civil servants and aid PA security forces; and

\t•\tinitiating \"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 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:

\t•\tinternationally guaranteed\/universally recognized Palestinian sovereignty;

\t•\tending occupation;

\t•\tletting diaspora Palestinians return;

\t•\tcompensating them and Palestinian refugees for land and possessions Israel stole;

\t•\tending settlement construction on stolen Palestinian land;

\t•\tgiving Palestinians control of their airspace, coastal waters, and resources (including offshore gas reserves); as well as

\t•\tEast 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.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net<\/a>.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled \"Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.\"

http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html<\/a>

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

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