With US Secretary of State John Kerry due in the region, reports indicate that 'Palestinian' negotiatorsbottle washers Saeb Erekat and Mohammed Shtayyeh have resigned.
According to the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency, Erekat sent
PA President Mahmoud Abbas a letter in which he cited Israel’s lack of
commitment to the peace process and continued construction beyond the Green Line
as the reasons for his resignation.
The report was published as the PLO’s
Executive Committee was convening in Ramallah for a session chaired by
Abbas.
Top PLO official Wassel Abu Yousef, however, denied the reports of
Erekat’s quitting.
At the end of the meeting, he said the subject of
Erekat’s resigning was not even discussed during the committee’s
session.
...
Israeli officials said the US and Palestinians knew at the
outset of the talks in July that Israel would announce settlement construction
plans around the time of each of the four promised prisoner releases in order to
deflate criticism of the releases from the right wing.
The Palestinians
are equally aware that the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem beyond the pre-1967
lines, as well as the settlement blocs, will remain part of Israel under any
agreement, as was indicated by the Palestinian minutes released two years ago by
Al Jazeera in what was known as the Palileaks, the officials
said.
Nevertheless, the Palestinian Authority announced on Thursday it
was “seriously studying” filing an immediate complaint against Israel with
international courts and forums in a bid to halt construction in West Bank
settlements and east Jerusalem.
The PA Foreign Ministry said the
complaint would be designed to “preserve peace and the negotiations” with
Israel. The PA was seeking a condemnation of Israel for violating international
law, the ministry said. It called on the international community, especially the
US and UN, to do more than issue denunciations of Israel.
“Israel is
seeking to destroy the two-state solution and undermine any effort to ensure the
success of the peace negotiations,” the ministry said. “We call on the
international community to take action and measures to put a decisive end to
settlement and relate to it as a war crime.”
The PA called on Arabs and
Muslims to take immediate action to stop the expansion of settlements in order
to safeguard the two-state solution.
PLO Executive Committee member Hanan
Ashrawi said the recent decision to build housing was the “latest humiliation”
of Kerry and the efforts of the US administration to revive the peace
process.
The BBC is reporting that Britain will support the 'Palestinian Authority's bid to have its reichlet's status at the United Nations upgraded, subject to certain conditions.
And now the BBC is reporting that, if the Palestinians accept certain conditions, it will support the resolution as well:
On Monday night, the government signalled it would change
tack and vote yes if the Palestinians modified their application, which
is to be debated by the UN general assembly in New York later this
week. As a “non-member state”, Palestine would have the same status as
the Vatican.
Whitehall officials said the Palestinians were now being asked to
refrain from applying for membership of the international criminal court
or the international court of justice, which could both be used to
pursue war crimes charges or other legal claims against Israel.
Abbas is also being asked to commit to an immediate resumption of
peace talks “without preconditions” with Israel. The third condition is
that the general assembly’s resolution does not require the UN security
council to follow suit.
I know that the Beeb believes L'etat c'est moi (see above), but the conditions above, particularly those related to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice are totally unenforceable.
But don't worry. The Beeb is also reporting that the 'Palestinians' are 'resisting' Britain’s insistence that an upgraded 'Palestine' not join the ICC and ICJ.
The World court will render its judgment, then let's see them enforce it
It's been a long time since we talked about the S-300 anti-missile system. The S-300 is a Russian missile system that Iran thought it bought in 2007 to protect its nuclear facilities. After numerous rumors that the sale was on again and off again (including a claim that the Russians delivered parts), the Russians finally canceled it in September/October 2010 and refunded the Iranians' deposit. Now, the Iranians have filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice demanding that the Russians supply the weapons systems.
Russia and Iran, however, claimed that UN Security Council Resolution 1929 did not apply to the S-300 system because it was not listed specifically in the text. The resolution, passed on June 9, 2010, imposes sanctions on Iran for harboring a secret nuclear weapons program and failing to comply with requests by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect nuclear facilities. It prohibits economic and military cooperation with the Islamic Republic, thereby prohibiting the sale and delivery of the weapons system.
"The S-300 missile is not in contradiction with any international commitments of the two sides (Iran and Russia) and the issue is clearly emphasized in the deal, on the other hand the date of delivery of the missile system was two years before the adoption of the UN Security Council recent resolution against Iran," Iranian Minister of Defense Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Vahidi told Azerbaijan's Trend News Agency in October 2010.
Although Russia originally assured Iran that it would deliver the system, considerable Western pressure eventually convinced Moscow to cancel the deal.
Even if the Iranians win,, how do they think they're going to enforce a judgment against Russia. There is no way they will be able to enforce it. Heh.
For anyone wondering, I took the three youngest kids for a short hike and swim this afternoon. hence the lighter than usual posting.
'Palestinians' trying to make an international court case out of Israeli archaeological excavations
The 'Palestinians' and their Arab allies are trying to put together a court case to take to the 'International Court of Justice' in the Hague against Israeli archaeological excavations in Jerusalem.
Arab experts on Wednesday took the first steps towards taking international legal action against Israel for ongoing excavations near the old city of Jerusalem.
Arab archaeologists, conservationists and heritage experts met in Amman yesterday to gather what they claim are documented impacts of ongoing Israeli projects altering the identity of the Holy City.
The two-day gathering of the committee of experts, held under the auspices of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) at the Department of Antiquities (DoA), aims to take Israel to task for violations ranging from changing historical street names to excavations underneath Al Aqsa Mosque.
Once the documentation is complete, the committee will draft a report and issue recommendations for a case to be brought before the International Court of Justice, according to DoA Director Ziad Saad.
"We aim to gather sound scientific evidence for politicians to take up the case at the international level," he told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the meeting, which was opened by Minister of Tourism Haifa Abu Ghazaleh.
Moawiyah Ibrahim, Jordan's representative to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, said the move comes amidst concerns that Israeli authorities are abusing archaeology for political ends.
"Israel has used Biblical texts to support their national narrative and have disregarded Arab-Islamic heritage," he said.
Does anyone think that the 'international community' will stand up and call the 'Palestinians' on their denial of history by claiming that the Jewish Temples never existed? I'm still waiting to hear the Pope stand up and say that the Jewish Temples existed because Jesus was in the Second Temple.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
