US Foreign Policy, Israel and collective responsibility
http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/06-03-2014/127054-israel_usa-0/
06.03.2014
Are the citizens of the United States of America aware of their
country's external policymaking? Not the lies and tales peddled as the truth in
their biased media but the truth, the whole truth and nothing but? Does the
average American agree with a policy of bulldozing homes or with vetoing a
Resolution which condemns it?
The list of US vetoes of UN Security Council Resolutions
condemning Israel for excesses is long and on the list are vetoes of
Resolutions which guaranteed human rights, which condemned Israel for abuses,
for aggression, for wanton destruction of property. The United States of
America has also vetoed condemnation of policy which included seizing land and
building settlements on it, displacing the residents, desecrating their farms
and cemeteries.
It is inconceivable that the average citizen in the USA would
condone such behavior or would agree to the veto which their country has
exercises countless times condemning such policies. So why do the vetoes go
ahead? If President Barack Obama has stated he is against the building of
illegal settlements on land which Israel has stolen from Palestinians, why then
does the USA give the nod for such settlements to be built?
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The situation today in East Jerusalem is so serious that the
United Nations Organization has asked the UN Security Council to address
developments in this city which are described as "alarming" - namely,
incursions by Israeli citizens onto the holy site of al-Haram al-Sharif (Temple
Mount) where the al-Aqsa Mosque is situated. Not only has the Israeli Parliament
begun proceedings to impose Israeli sovereignty over the entire area but groups
of Israeli extremists have begun to stage increasingly violent incursions
against Palestinians in the vicinity of the Mosque.
The incursions are aimed to provoke the Palestinians, and if they
react, the Israeli police attack them with tear gas, detain them or beat them
with batons.
Such attacks are an outrage and a clear flouting of the human
rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem enshrined in the law. Worse, the
outrages do not only include attacks and provocations but something far more
permanent, as we see in this complaint from the Bureau of the UN General
Assembly's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the
Palestinian People: "Such actions are clearly prohibited under
international law. House demolitions, evictions, land expropriation and the
revocation of residency rights of Palestinian Jerusalemites are also on the
increase".
In 2013, 298 Palestinian citizens were forced from their homes in
565 demolitions of residences. Many dozens of women and children were thrown
out onto the streets. Since 1967, one third of Palestinian lands in East
Jerusalem have been stolen by Israel and 14,000 Palestinians have had their
rights to residence in their ancestral properties, in many cases, taken away.
In clear violation of international law, Israel continues to build
structures on stolen land in east Jerusalem and elsewhere. How many more
hundreds of children is Israel going to throw onto the streets, from their own homes,
before the United States of America leashes in its spoilt brat? And when are
the citizens of the USA going to take some responsibility for the external
policy of their Government?
Or is the United States of America not a democracy after all?
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda.Ru
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