Introductory Note

Today are thoughts are with the People of Palestine. Building solidarity relies confronting the crimes committed by the State of Israel from the very outset in 1948, which is the object of Felicity Arbuthnot’s article first published in 2017. 

According to Arbuthnot (in 2017)

This “Nakba” (“catastrophe”) seventy years after Israel’s final founding, is ongoing

“Nakba is ongoing” in October 2023, and the United Nations remains “Deaf Mute”. 

UN Secretary General’s Antonio Guterres’ Double Speak

None of these issues have been raised by the U.N. Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres in his remarks to the U.N. Security Council on October 24:

“The situation in the Middle East is growing more dire by the hour.

The war in Gaza is raging and risks spiralling throughout the region.

Divisions are splintering societies. Tensions threaten to boil over.

At a crucial moment like this, it is vital to be clear on principles — starting with the fundamental principle of respecting and protecting civilians.”

But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.  And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.” (emphasis added)

As outlined by the Centre for Research on Globalization:

Guterres’s disapproval of Israel is lenient. He does not condemn Tel Aviv for the massive killings of Palestinian civilians (in the carpet bombing of Gaza) which so far have resulted in more than 6,500 Palestinian deaths, nor does he raise (in his initial remarks) the issue of a “cease fire”: 

Global Research, October 27, 2023

***

Palestine: Apartheid, Stolen Lives and Land,

History Erased, United Nations Deaf Mute

by

Felicity Arbuthnot

July 30, 2017

The Washington Post reports that: “All 100 U.S. Senators signed a letter Thursday asking U.N. Secretary General António Guterres to address what the lawmakers call entrenched bias against Israel at the world body.” 

The letter: “… uses strong language to insist that the United Nations rectify what the Senators said is unequal treatment of Israel on human rights and other grounds.

“Through words and actions, we urge you to ensure that Israel is treated neither better nor worse than any other U.N. member in good standing,” they stated. 

The Senators appear to be on a parallel universe. Have they reflected, in context, on the UN’s fine founding words, avowing: 

“to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war … to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person … to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom … to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours … to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples …” 

Source Israelpalestinenews.org 

Israel – ever presented as the eternal victim – has not just made a mockery of the words but also of the Balfour letter of 2^nd November 1917 and trampled on both ever since. Balfour: 

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine …” (Emphasis added.) 

So much for the “rights” of the Palestinians. Between November 1947 and November 1948 five hundred and thirty one Palestinian towns and villages had been “ethnically cleansed.” (1) By 1952 it was six hundred and fifteen. (2) 

This “Nakba” (“catastrophe”) seventy years after Israel’s final founding, is ongoing.

The land grabs are illegal and violate: U.N. Charter, Article 2(4) & 51 (1945); Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations…, Principle 1 (1970). 

Settlements on occupied lands violate Geneva Conventions IV, Article 49(6) (1949). It is illegal to colonize or transfer non-indigenous people to occupied land. 

Taking land by force and claiming sovereignty violates: U.N. Charter, Article 2(4) (1945); Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations…, Principle 1. 

Forbidding civilian populations the right to return to their homes following the end of armed conflict is in direct violation of international law and UN resolutions. Geneva Convention IV, Articles 45, 46 & 49 (1949), UN resolutions 194 (III) (General Assembly; 1948) & 237 (Security Council; 1967). 

Collective punishment violates Geneva Conventions IV, Article 33 (1949); Geneva Conventions (Protocol I), Article 75(2d) (1977). (3) 

The list of breaches of international law is near endless as are the attacks on a people with no army, air force or navy, plus the decimations of 1967, 2008-9 and 2014. 

Israel’s violations of United Nations Security Council Resolutions, legally binding on Member-nations, include Resolutions – 54, 111, 233, 234, 236, 248, 250, 252, 256, 262, 267, 270, 280, 285, 298, 313, 316, 468, 476, a small sample.

The Senators would seem to have as little knowledge of the iniquities inflicted on the Middle East by foreign powers and cuckoos in the nest as their rookie President.

It is not Israel being meted out “unequal treatment” it is the Palestinians, thieved of their land, history, justice and all normality.

Notes

1.    http://www.palestineremembered .com/Acre/Right-Of-Return/Stor y432.html

2.    https://972mag.com/mapping-the -palestinian-villages-erased-a nd-replaced-with-jewish-towns/ 124847/

3.    http://itisapartheid.org/Docum ents_pdf_etc/IsraelViolationsI nternationalLaw.pdf