Israel Matzav

'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups call for 'collective measures' against Israel

Eight 'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups have sent a letter to the United Nations General Assembly in which they urge that Israel be subjected to 'collective measures' until it ends the 'occupation.'

The Goldstone Report identifies concrete actions to be taken by the UN, emphasizing the need for accountability, whether it be through the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, referring the situation to the International Criminal Court or that by states fulfilling their obligations to bring perpetrators to account under universal jurisdiction. It thus represents a significant turning point in terms of the need of the UN to take serious and immediate action to ensure accountability and to end Israel’s breaches of international law.

Were the UN General Assembly to remain inactive in light of the Goldstone findings and recommendations it will be a clear message to Israel, as well as to other states, that even the most manifest and egregious violations of international law will be tolerated by the UN, suggesting therefore that international law has no meaningful role to play in the resolution of conflict. Such a scenario cannot be countenanced.

The General Assembly has a historic, moral, and legal obligation in ensuring that Israel abides by international law and a corresponding duty to safeguard Palestinian rights: it was General Assembly resolutions that recommended the partition of Mandate Palestine and admitted Israel to the UN. In order to prevent a situation in which international law is rendered academic in regulating the behaviour of states, and noting the General Assembly’s historic involvement in Israel-Palestine, it is incumbent upon the General Assembly to take concrete and urgent action to end Israel’s violations of international law in the OPT.

In particular we call for the following:

· That the General Assembly recommends to member states of the UN, and to the Security Council, that the basis of any negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians must be grounded in international law.

· That UN member states adopt a principled and determined stance, using the powers granted to the General Assembly under Resolution 377 A (V): ‘Uniting for Peace’ to: (1) recommend that Israel be subjected to the full weight of collective measures until its occupation of the OPT is ended and the rights of the Palestinian people are achieved; and (2) ensure that the recommendations of the Goldstone Report are followed in full in order to ensure that there is full accountability for the crimes committed in Gaza.

Of course, they don't mention that the reason why the border between Israel and 'Palestine' today is not the border specified in the partition resolution of 1947 is that the Arabs never accepted the partition and went to war to try to destroy the nascent state of Israel instead.

I wonder how many countries reading this letter (and there's lots to criticize about it but I don't have time for a full fisking right now) realize that.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:23 AM