US House passes motion opposing Israeli unilateral annexation of the West Bank

(December 7, 2019)The US House of Representatives on Friday passed a resolution that expressed opposition to Israel carrying out any unilateral annexations in the occupied West Bank and also expressed continuing support for a two-state solution.

The vote was passed 226-188 with several strong Israeli critics not voting for it because of weak language. The detailed votes can be found here.

Bill contradicts President Trump.

Recent positions put forth by Trump have been both pro-occupation and pro-annexation. The bill may also be warning Netanyahu against any hasty annexations such as that of the Jordan Valley that he has been advocating. As a recent article notes: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that if reelected, he will apply sovereignty over all settlements in Judea and Samaria, starting with the Jordan Valley. Netanyahu said the steps would be taken in coordination with the administration of US President Donald Trump. "

5 Republicans voted against the bill and 4 Democrats: "On Friday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.Res.326, a resolution that reaffirms the United States’ commitment to a two-state solution. Nearly every Republican voted against the legislation, but the only Democrats to oppose it were Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA)."

Some found problems with the bill

In order to try to get Republican support any mention of "occupation" was omitted. A reference to a "broad consensus" on the two-state solution was also removed though the resolution continued to support the two-state solution. Also there was an addition that the US continued to support unconditional military aid for Israel. Ilhan Omar documented her objections in detail that included removing any reference to the occupation and including the unconditional granting of military aid to Israel: “The goal of these changes was clear: to pass a resolution that will not actually bring a resolution to this conflict..That’s why the resolution doesn’t have support from Palestinians in Congress or Palestinian advocates. We are told to swallow these changes in the name of ‘pragmatism.’ But there is nothing “pragmatic” about a vote that makes peace unachievable.”

The approval of an unconditional granting of military aid to Israel is a green light for Israel to ignore parts of the resolution such as that disapproving annexation. Israel is being told in effect that the US would provide military aid anyway. Many Republicans are anti-interventionist and disapprove the idea of telling Israel what it should or should not do and so opposed the bill. Many of course support Trump's positions.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Israel demolishes 41 Palestinian buildings in West Bank village

Israel demolished 41 structures in Khirbet Tana on the outskirts of Nablus city in the West Bank. Structures destroyed include an elementary school.

The current demolition is one of the largest on record since 2009. Ten families were displaced with a total of 36 members including 11 children, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for occupied Palestinian Territory. Khirbet Tana is a community of about 250 people most of whom rely on herding and agriculture for their livelihood. Much of the infrastructure of the community is now demolished. As well as an elementary school, 11 homes were destroyed, five common bathrooms, one kitchen and 18 farming structures. A solar system and two communal ovens were also demolished. Twelve of the structures destroyed belonged to the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Red Crescent. The buildings were demolished because they all lacked an Israeli-issued building permit. Khirbet Tana is located in a closed military zone. Palestinians are repeatedly denied building permits since Khirbet Tana is close to an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) firing zone.

The UN claims around 18 percent of the West Bank is considered to be "firing zones." In such areas structures continue to be built and regularly taken down again. OCHA said: “Since the beginning of 2016, the Israeli forces have destroyed or dismantled 323 homes and other structures across the West Bank... displacing almost 440 Palestinians.” Of those structures, 108 were provided as humanitarian assistance to families in need.

Robert Piper, Coordinator for Humanitarian and UN Development Activities for the occupied territories said:

“International law is clear – Palestinians in the West Bank have the right to adequate housing and the right to receive humanitarian assistance. As the occupying power, Israel is obliged to respect these rights.”

Another Palestinian home was razed recently in East Jerusalem as is described in Haaretz. The report notes this is the first time in eight months there has been such a demolition and it ended an unofficial freeze of these demolitions that are internationally condemned. However, there have been demolitions in area E1 of the West Bank as reported in Al Jazeera in January. The home was in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Standing outside her demolished dwelling Linda al-Rajabi shared with her husband and five children said: "They can build hundreds of settlements but I'm not entitled to live in a shack?" Israel's Jerusalem municipality said the home was built without a city permit.

Washington has publicly urged Israel not to demolish homes built without permits. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of Palestine but the Israelis regard it as part of Israel. Palestinians maintain that it is impossible to obtain construction approval from Israeli authorities. In response to the demolition a US official said:"The United States has made clear that it disagrees with some Government of Israel actions in Jerusalem that affect Palestinians in areas such as housing, including home demolitions, and has urged all parties to avoid actions that could undermine trust. "This underscores the need for a permanent status agreement that resolves all outstanding issues between the parties, including Jerusalem, and which results in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."As well as the inhabited house, the Israelis demolished two unfinished Palestinian homes and part of a factory also in East Jerusalem.

Hamas student groups do well in West Bank university election

Hebron - The results of student council elections at West Bank universities showed that Hamas has gained popularity at the expense of the Palestine Authority.

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In an April 21 election at the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron, the Islamic Bloc, the student arm of Hamas, tied with the Fatah Youth Movement, with each group winning 15 seats. This was a surprise but even more surprising were the results announced on April 22 from Birzeit University, showing that the Islamic Bloc won over Fatah by 26 seats to 19. Turnout at Birzeit was 77 percent, with the Hamas-aligned group receiving 3,400 votes and the Fatah-aligned group 2,545. In last year’s vote, the Fatah bloc won 23 seats while the Islamic bloc received 20, according to a school press release. The university president, Khalil Hindi, claimed the elections took place in a democratic and peaceful atmosphere. Birzeit, long a center of student activism, is considered the best university in the West Bank.

Abdul Rahman Hamdan, head of the Islamic Bloc said: “This victory is proof that Palestinians support the resistance, as it is the only way to obtain our rights and refuse the PA’s project, which is based on negotiations. Although the bloc was fiercely attacked by the Israeli occupation and the PA, we won. I expect the campaign to escalate in the coming phase.”Khaled Meshaal, who heads Hamas' political bureau said that his group was ready for legislative and presidential elections. Youssef Rizqa, a former information minister in the Hamas government said:“The reasons behind the victory of Hamas and the defeat of Fatah lie beyond university and stem from [President Mahmoud] Abbas’ stance vis-a-vis the resistance and the recent war on Gaza, the paralysis of the consensus government and the denial of the reconciliation.”

The university elections are taken as a barometer of trends in Palestinian politics. Birzeit University is liberal and Fatah was not expected to lose. Fatah was quite upset at a defeat on its own territory even if just in a student election. A Palestinian official told Al Monitor that Abbas "held a meeting with Fatah cadres in Birzeit in the past few days and scolded them for their huge loss facing Hamas supporters, knowing that they were offered financial allocations and security facilities allowing them to win."

The reconciliation projects between Hamas and Fatah apparently are not progressing. Negotiations with Israel are halted. There are internal disputes within the Palestinian Authority as well. The Palestinian Authority further alienates many Palestinians by cracking down on Hamas. A few days after the Hamas' student election victory, the Palestinian security apparatus arrested Islamic Bloc cadres. Fathi Qarawi, a member of Hamas' Legislative Council claimed:“Arresting and pursuing students reveals the true face of the PA. If it had known the bloc would win the elections, it would have used weapons to impede this victory. The PA won’t blink before oppressing any other attempt for Hamas to win, given its repeated losses.”

Back in September the two rival Palestinian groups agreed to a unity government for Gaza that would be headed by PA president Mahmoud Abbas. However, the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that the humanitarian conditions in the strip are very poor and funding very limited: That funding is conditioned on the auspices of the Palestinian Authority, which is not really functioning in the Gaza Strip. The last visit of a number of PA ministers to Gaza two weeks ago ended after about 24 hours, showing that the option of PA rule in the Strip in the near future is not realistic.

US, Israel, Canada and Australia try to block meeting on conditions in Gaza, East Jerusalem and West Bank

A number of countries including the U.S., Israel, Canada, and Australia are trying to dissuade Switzerland from hosting a special session in mid-December on conditions in East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

The Fourth Geneva Convention adopted in 1949 deals with protection of civilians in areas of armed conflict or under occupation by a military force. The treaty forbids harming any persons not involved in conflict including not only civilians but captured soldiers. During a prolonged occupation as in the West Bank the occupying power must uphold the human rights of civilians in the occupied territory.
The Israeli settlements could be regarded as violating the Convention: The treaty also forbids any and all movement of civilian population from within the borders of the occupying power into the areas under military rule – such as the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. At present the are 196 countries who have signed on to the Convention. As well as the settlement issue Israel no doubt violates other aspects of the Convention including punishment involving those not guilty of a crime as when families of those committed of a crime have their houses destroyed: " Reprisals against persons and their property are prohibited.No persons may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited."
The Swiss government is under pressure from Palestinians and Arab countries to hold the conference. The Swiss are attempting to make the conference short and low key to try to mitigate the objections coming from some countries. After the failure of peace talks with the Israelis and their expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, signed on to 15 international conventions in the name of Palestine with one being the Fourth Geneva Convention. Only weeks later, the Palestinians together with the Arab League requested Switzerland to convene a meeting that would discuss " the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as the damage Israel caused civilians in Gaza."
There have been four attempts to convene meetings under the Fourth Convention, all to discuss the Israel-Palestinian conflict. In 2001, with the outbreak of second intifada there was a conference but Israel and the US refused to attend. In 2009 after Operation Cast Lead, countries opposed to a meeting were able to block it. The Swiss are reluctant to call the conference on their own so they are consulting other states to determine if there is sufficient support to hold the conference.
 The Swiss are proposing just a three hour meeting at the ambassadorial level. The only media coverage would be a statement at he end of the conference. One Swiss diplomat maintained: “We made it clear we didn’t want a political event or debate club, or a conference that would blame or criticize one of the sides." Despite the low profile Israel strongly objects to holding the conference at all. An updated draft of the conference showed that Israel will be mentioned by name unlike an earlier draft and the West Bank settlements are specifically mentioned. Both the United States and Canada have said that they would boycott the conference if it is actually held. Israel is hard at work trying to convince other countries to boycott the conference as well.
However, with Palestinians and the Arab League pushing for the conference it is expected that Swiss authorities will announce when it will be held within a few days. Although Israel signed the convention, it has never been legislated as part of Israeli law. Israel also claims that the treaty does not apply to the West Bank or East Jerusalem since it does not regard these areas as under occupation. This allows Israel to claim that the settlements are not violations of the treaty.

South Africa demands goods made in West Bank settlements not be labeled made in Israel

If the South African decision is implemented it will be the first country to force companies to inform consumers which goods were produced in the settlements. Denmark however is considering a similar step and other EU countries could follow.

Moves by countries to follow suit could strain relations with Israel. However the economic damage would not be that great for Israel since less than 2 per cent of Israeli exports are from the settlements. However it could hurt the economy of the settlements.

Experts claim that it is mislabeling and against international law to list exports made in settlements regarded internationally as not part of Israel as made in Israel. Of course Israel claims they are quite legal and also that they are at present part of Israel.

Neve Gordon an Israeli political scientist and author said:"Israel's placing of a label 'made in Israel' on products made in the West Bank is fraud,""The South African decision would force Israel to expose its lie."

The South African decision was announced in a release by the Trade Minister indicating that merchants would be required "not to incorrectly label products that originate from the Occupied Palestinian Territory as products of Israel."

Of course settlers were furious and the Israeli foreign ministry said it would call in the South African ambassador to protest the action. For much more see this article.

Israel prevents UN Human Rights Council from probe into West Bank settlements

The UN Human Rights Council launched an investigation last week into Jewish settlements in the West Bank However the Israelis have broken off all relations with the Council. As a result a fact finding team will not be allowed to enter the territory or do any investigating.

An Israeli official said:"We are not working with them anymore," "We had been participating in meetings, discussions, arranging visits to Israel. All that is over." The U.S. voted against the investigation the only country to do so.

Israel claims that the UN group is hypocritical and biased against Israel. No doubt any group that considers the settlements illegal will be biased in Israel's view. An official complained:"They systematically and serially make all kinds of decisions and condemnations against Israel without even symbolically considering our positions," However, the official said that Israel would continue to cooperate with other UN bodies.

The UN Human Rights Council has objected to Israeli construction of new housing units for settlers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The group said that these actions undermine the peace process. The settlements are considered illegal by the International Court of Justice. However Israel is expanding them giving them more bargaining chips if and when the peace process ever begins again. For more see this article.

UN demands Israel cease demolitions of Palestinian homes

 In 2011 Israel demolished 622 Palestinian homes in the West Bank. This is a dramatic rise and the demolitions displaced about 1,100 people many of them children.
  A UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report claims: "The current policy and practice of demolitions cause extensive human suffering and should end," Many more people remain under threat of demolition of their houses in the future.
   For its part,  Israel says it only demolishes structures that have been built without required permission. The problem is that Palestinians have difficulty getting building permits and rarely are able to get them.
    On the 23rd of January bulldozers and troops arrived in the middle of the night in the village of Anata that is close to Jerusalem. 52 people were evicted from their homes which were then destroyed. Included in the destruction was a peace center that was destroyed for the fifth time since 1994. Again Israelis simply say that  that destroyed homes lacked a building permit. For more see this article..
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Israel issues new decree that allows expulsion of Palestinians from West Bank

This may not get much coverage in the western mainstream press. Even Israeli human rights groups are outraged by this move. It may be directed at Gazans who have fled the Gaza strip. These permits as mentioned were never required before so most Palestinians will not have them. This new decree allows Israel to deport Palestinians from the West Bank almost at will. Jordan has even complained about this new decree. This is from Xinhua


Israel issues west bank expulsion order







BEIJING, April 14 -- A new order may see thousands of Palentinians being expelled from the West Bank...Isreal's military tried to impose the new measures Tuesday... but were quickly denouced by human rights activists and the Palestinians themselves.

Under the new rules, anyone caught living in the West Bank without an Israeli permit could face expulsion within as few as three days or be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.

The new measures have been denounced as "an affront to the most fundamental principles of human rights" by the Chief Palestinian negotiator.



The new military orders have also been slammed by Israelis.

10 Israeli human rights groups have issued a letter urging the Defense Ministry to rescind the new rules.

The human rights groups say the orders are so vague and sweeping that virtually all West Bankers are at risk.

And the military does not define what permits are required to shield against deportation.

Elad Kahana, Israeli Lawyer, Human Rights Group “Hamoked”, said, "It is very important to say that these permits that are now required were never required before, therefore no one has them and it should not be required to have to live in their own home and own land."

The most vulnerable groups under the new orders will be Gazans who have moved to the more prosperous West Bank in search of jobs, and the foreign spouses of West Bank residents.

It's estimated tens of thousands of people from the two groups are at risk of deportation.

(Source: CCTV)