XPost: uk.current-events.terrorism, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.slack
XPost: seattle.politics
The landmark ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on
July 19 calls for the immediate end of Israels illegal occupation and apartheid rule. This ruling reinforces a clear pathway to peace
based on a sovereign State of Palestine in the context of the
two-state solution.
According to the ICJ, Israel must withdraw from all of the occupied
Palestinian territory, cease all settlement activities, evacuate all
settlers and pay damages.
Ending the illegal occupation is not conditional upon a bilateral
peace process between Israel and Palestine. In his declaration, ICJ
President Nawaf Salam stated: [Israeli] withdrawal cannot be
conditional on the success of negotiations whose outcome will depend
on Israels approval. In particular, Israel cannot invoke the need for
a prior agreement on its security claims for such a condition may lead
to perpetuating its unlawful occupation.
The ICJ ruling is a vindication of the rights of the Palestinian
people, who have endured decades of oppression. It is also a rejection
of the position of the United States, which insists on Israels
agreement on a political settlement as a condition for ending the
occupation.
The sovereignty of Palestine, based on the two-state solution and the
borders of June 4, 1967, cannot be held hostage to Israels apartheid
policies. The two-state solution is a matter of international law, not
of Israels domestic politics, much less its extremism. Diplomatic negotiations, under the auspices of the United Nations, can and should
focus on the implementation of Israels withdrawal from occupied
territory and mutual security arrangements of the two states living
side by side.
The US has been a decades-long proponent of a cynical peace process
between Israel and Palestine that is designed to fail. The obvious
truth is that the occupying power, Israel, and the people under
occupation, Palestine, will never be on a fair footing in
negotiations. Palestinians have been forced to negotiate under extreme
duress while Israel has continued its blatant violations of
international law.
Yet the inequality of bargaining power has been far worse than the
gross inequality of power between the occupier and the occupied. The
US has held the cards for decades and has consistently been a
dishonest broker. The US political elite is pro-Zionist to the hilt as
it is notoriously financed by the Israel lobby (the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and others) and deeply entwined
with Israels military and security apparatus, especially CIA-Mossad
links.
The US blames Palestine for every failure in negotiations, even when
Israels intransigence and opposition to the two-state solution are
the obvious, indeed blatant, obstacles to peace. Most recently, the
Israeli Knesset voted to reject the two-state solution.
The latest display of the US politics was the reception given to
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the US Congress. Despite
or more accurately because of the call by the ICC prosecutor for Netanyahus arrest for war crimes, Congress received Netanyahus lies
with repeated ovations.
The obeisance of Congress to the Israel lobby was especially vile
given that the UN, the ICJ and the International Criminal Court have
all recently concluded that the Israeli military is systematically
targeting civilians, starving them, inflicting collective punishment
and deliberately destroying the infrastructure of Gaza.
A devastating regional war is just around the corner unless the
international community acts quickly and decisively to secure the
two-state solution. In Lebanon, cross-border hostilities between
Hezbollah and Israel have intensified. The conflict also grows with
attacks between Israel and Yemens Houthis. The US could end the war
now if it chose. Without American financial and military support,
Israel does not have the means to fight a war on multiple fronts.
After rejecting multiple ceasefire proposals, even US-backed ones, it
is clear that the Israeli government is not interested in ending the
war. Israels extremist government wants a wider conflict that lures
the US into an open war with Iran. The latest outrage is Israels
assassination of Hamass political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.
This is a dangerous escalation, on foreign soil, that deliberately and flagrantly undermines negotiation efforts and a peaceful diplomatic
resolution to the conflict.
While Congress cheered Netanyahus lies, the more important story of
US politics was occurring outside Congress on the streets of
Washington (and the campuses across the nation). The American people, especially Americas young people, are tired of the US governments
complicity in Israels genocide. By March, a majority of Americans had
turned against Israels actions in Gaza. They want the war to stop,
not to expand.
The worlds governments are rallying on the side of justice as in the
UN General Assemblys overwhelming support for Palestine to become the
194th UN member state. Palestinian political factions have also
joined together, supported by Chinese diplomacy, to form a national
unity government. The world community has broadly welcomed the ICJs
decision to end Israels illegal occupation.
A comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution is achievable
and within reach. According to the recent decision of the ICJ and the
votes of the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council (but for
the US veto), the path to peace is clear: Palestine should immediately
be welcomed as a UN member state with the borders of June 4, 1967, and
with its capital in East Jerusalem.
Peace, in short, is much closer than it may seem, built on the unity
of the people of Palestine; the strong and repeated backing of the
Arab and Islamic states for the two-state solution; the goodwill of
almost all of the world community, including the American people; and
the support of international law and the United Nations.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/8/2/a-comprehensive-peace-based-on-the-two-state-solution-is-still-achievable
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