A-Infos (en) France, Alternative Libertaire #224 - Palestine: A seat at the UN (fr) [machine translation]

On 30 November, 138 countries voted for Palestine is elevated to an observer at the UN. 
Far from recognizing the legitimacy of the Palestinian people in its conflict with the 
State of Israel, the vote confirms the refusal of the international community to ask the 
right questions. ---- The incredible impunity for Israeli leaders and the unwavering 
solidarity they get easily from the United States and the European Union explain the 
headlong rush to which colonial assists. Western powers have blocked the entrance to the 
2011 Palestine to the UN as a Member State. This was immediately interpreted by Netanyahu 
as a green light to new attacks, where the revival of colonization, the attack against 
Gaza in November 2012 and continuing threats against Iran.

Israel guilty of apartheid

The Israeli government says it clearly will not make any territory, there will be no 
Palestinian state and no not formally annexing the West Bank in order to avoid giving term 
form of citizenship its inhabitants. In 2011, the Russell Tribunal [ 1 ] considered the 
State of Israel guilty of the crimes of apartheid and sociocide, providing a legal basis 
for the Boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) launched in 2005 by 172 Palestinian 
organizations. Between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, nearly 50% of the 
population is Palestinian. But occupying Palestine has fragmented many entities undergoing 
various forms of discrimination and oppression. The West Bank is itself divided into three 
areas where tight colonies encircle Palestinian cities. Gaza, blockaded criminal became a 
true open-air laboratory where the occupant can get away with bloody attacks (1400 died in 
December 2008, 175 deaths last November). East Jerusalem Judaization subject to rapid and 
relentless destruction of houses. Palestinians and Palestinian in Israel (20% of the 
population) have in the "Jewish state" poverty, unemployment and discrimination in 
employment and land ownership. Among them, the Negev Bedouins were expelled and their 
villages destroyed. And finally, of course, there are refugee-es. Four and a half million 
Palestinians card UNRWA, the program of the Organization of the United Nations for 
assistance to refugees and live in 59 camps in Palestine, Jordan, Syria or Lebanon.

No sanction against Israel

Vote of 138 countries giving Palestine statehood at the UN observer clearly shows the 
unpopularity of the rogue state Israel. Except 41 abstentions, only nine countries voted 
against the fact that Palestine has the same status as the Vatican. Among them: Israel, 
the United States, Canada. Even the countries of the European Union, so quick to restore 
their economic relations with Israel, abstained - Britain, Germany ... - or voted for. 
Holland has agreed to vote provided that Abbas is not against Israel at the International 
Criminal Court (ICC). This could mean that voting for the UN, the institutionalization of 
the status quo is not sustainable. But the UN has no plan B. Immediately, the Israeli 
government took retaliatory measures: construction of thousands of new apartments in West 
Bank settlements, stealing VAT due to the Palestinian Authority, violent incursions. As it 
has always been for decades, the UN has taken no penalty and has not had a word of 
disapproval, negating the symbolic power of the vote that had just happened.

The Palestinian Authority illegitimate

As at the time of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the international community refuses to ask the 
real questions: the recognition of the crime founder (the expulsion of 1948), the 
occupation, the settlements, the blatant inequality, prisoners the right of return of 
refugees and apartheid. If Oslo was a great delusion and a farce, it is because none of 
these questions were asked. The only texts were signed at Oslo on occupant safety! Today, 
it's worse: the Israeli government would not negotiate because he knows he will not be 
punished. In addition, the UN vote back in the saddle a Palestinian Authority much 
discredited and no longer had any legitimacy, the mandate of Mahmoud Abbas is being 
completed long ago, and the Palestinians in Gaza, East Jerusalem or Israel n not being 
represented. For refugee-es, the period does not confer any hope. They know that the 
Palestinian Authority is ready to sacrifice while the right of return has been recognized 
by the UN in 1949. In the end, the vote of the UN endorses the fragmentation of the West Bank.

Solidarity movements confused

In France, a national collective for Palestine encompasses a broad spectrum of parties, 
unions and associations. A mainstream, including the directions of the PC, the AFD [ 2 ], 
the MRAP, LDH [ 3 ] and the FSU remains fixed on the idea of "two peoples, two states", as 
if the border internationally recognized had not disappeared. He opposes the BDS requested 
by the Palestinian call for 2005 preferring a boycott of products from the occupied 
territories only. He is willing to give up the right of return for refugees. It totally 
overstates the UN vote and considers the Palestinian Authority as the sole representative 
of the Palestinian people. Part of this current goes further by preventing any slogan to 
support the Palestinian resistance and any questioning of the "legitimacy of Israel!" The 
World Social Forum in Palestine, held in Porto Alegre in November 2012, leading key 
demands: end the occupation and colonization, equal rights, the right to return of refugees.

The UN vote is reported but nothing central focus is on the BDS. A tribute was paid to the 
Israeli anti-Zionists and Jews. Zionism will stop only if it is forced. As Israel's 
impunity continues, as the leaders of this country will not have to answer for their 
actions, as the country will not suffer the kind of pressure that white South Africa has 
undergone, it will happen. Imagine a compromise driven by the UN with the Zionist 
leadership is a dangerous mirage.

Stambul Pierre (French Jewish Union for Peace and friend AL)

[ 1 ] The Russell Tribunal, as designated by the International Tribunal for war crimes and 
Russell-Sartre Tribunal, was a court opinion founded by Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul 
Sartre in November 1966

[ 2 ] Association France Palestine Solidarity

[ 3 ] League of Human Rights
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