João Campos Rodrigues

SOL Newspaper

15-09-2019

Netanyahu speaks of a “unique opportunity” to annex the Jordan Valley – “a serious violation of international law,” warned Antonio Guterres.

Next week Israel is voting for the second time in less than six months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to set up a governing coalition. Negotiations were not facilitated by Israeli prosecutor Avichai Mandelblit preparing to move forward with several charges of corruption against Netanyahu – while his critics accused him of wanting a majority to grant immunity to himself. The campaign was further heated by Netanyahu’s pledge to annex the Jordan Valley in the West Bank. This would constitute “a serious violation of international law,” according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

About 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, an area occupied by Israel since 1967. About 400,000 Israelis live in the region, in fortified settlements, considered illegal by the UN. The Jordan Valley region represents about 30% of the West Bank, and it is where, under the Oslo peace accords – ratified by both sides in the early 1990s – a Palestinian state would be built.
«They are trying to legalize the occupation with annexation. They want to say ‘This [Jordan Valley] is part of Israel, it’s not occupied territories,’” Palestinian Ambassador Nabil Abuznaid told the SOL. “There will be no land left for peace and for a Palestinian state. It’s the end”. The Palestinian Authority representative – as it is in the Oslo Accords – assures that if Netanyahu’s plan goes ahead, and the passivity of the rest of the world continues, it will “destroy any faith in international law and the international community.”

If the Palestinians’ hope of having their own state is destroyed “it will be replaced by people who do not see the light at the end of the tunnel, who see violence as the only way,” warns Abuznaid – who fears “a new cycle of violence” with Netanyahu’s plan. “I don’t know how we will convince the ordinary Palestinians to accept Oslo, to accept the situation as it is,” he says.

‘Locked’
However, many have lost faith long ago. «The whole world is supporting him [Netanyahu]. What can the Palestinians do? ‘Asked Hussein Atiayat, a 65-year-old Palestinian heard by The Guardian. Atiayat lives in the Jordan Valley, and like so many of his neighbors is a refugee, expelled by Israeli soldiers from his home village decades ago.

If Netanyahu gets what he wants, Atiyat village, Auja, will be part of a narrow strip of territory around Jericho, surrounded by Israeli territory (see photo). “We will be locked in our village,” Atiyat predicts. “Life will be miserable.”

‘Strategic importance’            
Should the annexation of the Jordan Valley materialize beyond Jericho, the entire West Bank will be surrounded by Israel. “People will be under siege,” says the Palestinian ambassador, explaining that “Jordan would lose its historic border with Palestine.” Something that would allow Israel to control even more directly the access of people and goods to the West Bank, as is the case with Gaza.

“Israel is a very narrow country and the Jordan Valley is the last line of defense against powerful Arab countries,” Israeli ambassador to Portugal Raphael Gamzou tells SOL. “I suggest you look at the statements made in the context of the election campaign,” he added, considering that the Jordan Valley “is of strategic importance to Israel” and “there is consensus on this importance among most [Israeli] political parties.”

On the right, Netanyahu’s proposal found enthusiastic support. In the center, his main opponents of the Blue and White coalition, led by Benny Gantz, rushed to say that the idea had even been theirs after all. “The Jordan Valley is part of Israel forever,” reads a statement from the centrists quoted by Time magazine – in which the prime minister is congratulated for “changing his mind and adopting the Blue and White coalition plan.”

Natural resources
While the Israeli ambassador sees the importance of the Jordan Valley above all in terms of the security of his country, the Palestinian ambassador stresses that this “is an important region for agriculture, for Israeli settlers – and serves [Netanyahu] to win votes”.

Many Palestinians complain that these resources are already in Israel’s hands. “We face ongoing challenges, particularly in accessing and maintaining our wells to irrigate our crops,” Al Jazira Hussein Saida, a Palestinian farmer from the Jericho region, said: “Our wells are indeed under Israeli control ‘.

However, while trying to legalize his control of the territory, Netanyahu also promised “not to annex a single Palestinian”. That is, the Palestinians will continue to live under the tutelage of a country of which they are not citizens, governed by an executive that they have not voted for. “The Palestinians cannot be on both sides,” replies the Israeli ambassador, questioned on the issue. Gamzou underlines that it is not coherent for the Palestinians “not to get involved in the peace process, to reject everything a priori and to seek the status of full citizens”.

‘Unique opportunity’
When the Israeli ambassador accuses the Palestinian authorities of “rejecting everything a priori”, one of the things he refers to is the much-talked-about peace deal for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, promised by US President Donald Trump – considered one of the presidents closest to Israel in recent decades.

Trump called it the “deal of the century” – but his project was immediately rejected by Palestinian leaders after drafts were known through the media. The idea of ​​the White House would be for economic incentives – in the order of $ 50 billion (about € 45 billion) – to make Palestinians forget what was apparently missing from the plan: a Palestinian state.

Despite the failure of the initiative, Netanyahu seems well aware of the importance of a US administration that is as favorable to him as the Trump administration. “It’s a historic opportunity, a unique opportunity,” said the Israeli Prime Minister, when he promised to annex the Jordan Valley. «Netanyahu will support Trump with some Jewish votes in the United States. Now Trump is helping Netanyahu get more votes. Unfortunately, the Palestinian people are paying the price,” says the Palestinian ambassador.

https://sol.sapo.pt/artigo/671128/palestina-nao-vai-sobrar-terra-

OPINION

HIKMAT AJJURI

The Palestinians have over the past decades made countless appeals to the UN and its Security Council to uphold its Charter duties, on the protection of civilians during the war and the inadmissibility of acquisition of land by force as stipulated in its resolution 242 of 1967 and others but all fell on deaf ears.

Israel, the occupying power, has never been confronted or indicted for any of its atrocities against the Palestinians under its occupation. In contrast, Israel, has continued to receive unconditional support from western democracies and been protected by the American veto power which had been exercised more than 40 times in favour of Israel. On the other hand, the Palestinians under occupation, have been requested by same democracies, all the time to forgo their internationally recognised right to resist their occupier and to cater for its safety and security.

This attitude has contributed tremendously to encouraging Israel to behave as a state above the International Law.

After 36 years of paralysis, the Security Council has on the 23 of December 2016, decided to finally take the side of its principles, by adopting a resolution number 2334, stating that settlements have “no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under International Law,” and call on the International Community “to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967”.

In fact, this resolution has no tangible effect on the ground except bringing Israel down to earth to behave as a normal country and offer more breathing space for the Palestinians, after five decades of suffocation under the most immoral Israeli military occupation. However late, but still a responsible attempt by Obama’s administration to revive the path for peace and to preserve the two-States solution after has been nullified by Israeli officials that “the two-State solution is dead” and “there will be no Palestinian State”, coupled with steeling the land for settlement’s activities.

On too many occasions I warned against Netanyahu’s animosity to peace, which was clearly expressed in his book Place Under the Sun of 1993.

This animosity has also been expressed in Netanyahu’s latest hysterical reaction when on Christmas day, summoned envoys of the Security Council members for reprimand, coupled with his attack on his country’s strategic ally president Obama and his waged war against the UN and its organs, forgetting that his state, Israel was delivered from its womb in its resolution 181 of 1947.

Netanyahu however, failed to fool world leaders with his anti-peace tricks and allegations, yet he unfortunately succeeded locally in surging fear and racism amongst his Israeli society to guarantee his election for four times. In other words Netanyahu succeeded after 4 terms in office in making the only left enemy for Israel is Israel itself.

This resolution was a victory to all peace -loving peoples including Israelis who never accepted to surrender to Netanyahu’s lies and allegations.

On behalf of those Israelis and all Palestinians, I feel obliged to extend gratitude to all 15 Security Council members including America, because they have acted in line with the rest of the world’s nations on their constant calls to materialize the two states solution.

The Security Council by adopting the resolution 2334, does in fact mean well rather than ill to all the residents of the holy land, Jews, Christians and Muslims as it redirects the world’s compass towards ending the Israeli military occupation of the State of Palestine and establishing a long-term peace and stability in the middle east region and beyond.

What is now needed for the full realization of this resolution is for the American President elect, Trump, to take the side of the UN charter, which is to Dean Acheson (former secretary of State) a “condensed version of the American constitution”.

First appeared on 7.1.2017: https://www.publico.pt/2017/01/07/mundo/noticia/a-resolucao-que-significa-o-bem-para-todos-na-terra-santa-1757314

OPINION

Hikmat Ajjuri

The International Law and the International Humanitarian Law are bylaws delivered from the womb of human values to protect mankind and human infrastructure. Democracy and Human Rights are known to be the tools to enforce these by-laws and, unless these tools are maintained sound and healthy, the jungle law prevails.

Terrorism, which is striking everywhere these days, is a culmination of our failure to maintain those enforcement tools of the mentioned by-laws.

This failure expresses itself every day, in different forms, but the most shameful form is being locally democratic, while abroad being an alliance with dictators and oppressors such as Israel the occupying power.

On the 2^nd of November, 99 years ago, James Balfour, then British Foreign Minister, promised the Zionists in the name of his government, to create a national home for the Jews in Palestine. This unlawful promise, also known as the Balfour Declaration, had until the creation of Israel in 1948, encouraged Jews to emigrate from an anti-Semitic environment in Europe to what consequently became an apartheid environment in Israel.

Because the Balfour promise was materialized on the expense of the indigenous inhabitants of Palestine, by another unlawful resolution by the UN Organization. When in November 1947, this organization passed its resolution number 181, to partition of Historic Palestine. In fact this resolution was the first breach of the UN charter which forbids the UN to assign any land to anyone unless is agreed by the indigenous people of the land. Let alone when it has assigned 56% of the land to 30% of the population, overwhelming majority of them were immigrants fled from Europe.

In 1918-1919 an American congressional delegation, advised against the implementation of the Balfour Declaration because of the overwhelming force its implementation needs against the indigenous population.

The Americans were right and the outcome of its implementation in 1948 was a catastrophe, 800.000 of the indigenous Palestinian people had been forcibly expelled, 500 of their villages were wiped off the map, in addition to thousands killed and injured at the hands of the Zionists gangs.

Consequent to this catastrophe, (Nakba), Israel declared itself, a state on 78% of Historic Palestine, 22% more than what was assigned to them by the UN. Consequently, Israel since then became a constant source of conflict and violence until today.

Despite this historic injustice inflicted on the Palestinians, they have, in 1988, recognized the right of Israel to exist on 78% of Historic Palestine. This recognition is endorsed by every state of the International Community except Israel, the occupying power.

This irresponsible and arrogant behaviour by Israel coupled with its wild practices on the ground against the Palestinian people under its occupation is an utter defiance of the International Law, together have contributed tremendously to the current worldwide terror. This linkage to terror was asserted by many world leaders including American President.

On conclusion, the Palestinians in return for the injustice inflicted on them over the past 99 years, the least they expect from Britain, the country of the Mandate and a beacon of human rights and democracy, is to rectify some of the damage done by her former Foreign Minister, to fully recognize the State of Palestine side by side with the State of Israel.

Britain by doing so, will not only encourage other states to follow suit, and will contribute tremendously to drying up a great deal of resources of terror which is killing innocent people everywhere allegedly in the name of justice.

first appeared on 05.11.2016: https://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/balfour-uma-declaracao-ou-uma-destruicao-1749966

OPINION

Hikmat Ajjuri

The U.S. military aid agreement, signed on the 14^th of September, which grants Israel ($ 38 billion) is considered the largest sum in the history of the two countries’ relations.

This grant unless counterbalanced, is so far perceived as the last nail hammered in the coffin of peace in the Middle East by Obama, in his last weeks, as president of the United States. This grant is a donation, from each American tax payer (definitely by force) of 300 dollars a year, for a period of ten years. Because the Americans are in short of this sum to improve their public education and health systems.

In response to this very generous agreement, a well-known Israeli political analyst and a journalist, Gideon Levy, argued on the 18^th of August saying that, Obama is “Patron of the Occupation” and a “bad president of Israel” (Haaretz, 18 Set. 2016). Because in simple words, this huge amount of money does not strengthen the security of Israel but it strengthens its status as an above the International Law country.

Since it has come into being in 1948, Israel received financial and military support, from  all western countries and more than any other known country in the world.

The western countries created Israel to protect their own interest in a region (Middle East), known to be the richest in natural resources and geopolitics. Israel since 1973 has received 100 billion dollars from America alone.

Consequently, Israel has become one of the strongest militarily countries in the world, strong enough to deter and combat all its neighboring countries with its at least 200 nuclear warheads.

Over the past 8 years since Obama moved to the White House, Israel has enjoyed a license to kill by Obama’s administration, blatantly proven in its three wars against civilian Palestinians in Gaza. Most of the victims were women, children and civilian infrastructure.

Ironically, in return and on record, President Obama was insulted by the same Israeli leadership more than any other American president.

Netanyahu, Openly, supports a different candidate, and addressing the congress against him and his chief spokesman called Obama “anti-Semitic”.

No one doubts the intelligence of a president whom against all expectations won, the elections twice, mindful of the nature of the American Society.

On the other hand and against the rules of the committee he was granted the most prestigious Noble Prize only because of his intelligence and charm.

The question here is whether this President “Obama” has tricked everyone including myself because we believed in him. Otherwise and before he leaves to his new mansion in Washington DC. in January next year, would he be brave enough to counterbalance the afore mentioned grant, by granting the Palestinians the sovereign, independent and viable state side by side with the state of Israel. So, his teenage beautiful daughters as well as all teenage Palestinians be proud of him as then he goes in history as Patron of peace.

Article first appeared on 22.09.2016:

 https://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/obama-patrocinador-da-ocupacao-ou-da-paz-1744786

OPINION

Hikmat Ajjuri

In 1996, Netanyahu was elected for the first time prime minister of Israel on a manifesto of destroying the Oslo agreement as he stated this in his book of 1993 ‘’Place under the Sun’’.
Netanyahu has so far been elected four times because he excels at scaring his own people and excels at creating enemies to keep himself and his people at a state of war all the time, to the extent that many of the Israelis now believe that all non-Jews are their enemy. The Israeli media reported that the assassination of the visionary politician in Israel, late Prime Minister Rabin was a provocative act by the anti-peace language of Netanyahu and his likens in the right wing.
All who watched the Last Israeli elections in March 2015 still remember that Netanyahu was elected last term on the manifesto of big NO to the state of Palestine while he rules.
This denial of the Palestinian right towards a statehood, in an utter defiance of all man made laws has been and still is a prime goal for Netanyahu all his political life.
This denial was served properly by using negotiations as a smoke screen for territorial expansion and building illegal settlements on a stolen Palestinian territories.
When former French president Jacques Chirac who was a friend of late Arafat, visited the Holy land in 1996, Netanyahu then Prime Minister, called on the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams to resume negotiations. The teams went to the hotel each stayed in separate rooms. As soon as Chirac ended his visit on the same day, the teams were then asked to go home without a word to each other.
This style of Netanyahu is recognized by all his colleagues in Israel, of them, former Prime Minister Sharon who once told Netanyahu “a liar you were and a liar you will remain’’.
Ironically, politicians worldwide are used to turn deaf ears and blind eyes to Netanyahu’s lies and allegations for different reasons but mainly based on their perception of politics: “the art of possible including lies”.
These days we have on the International political table a serious French initiative, borne from the womb of responsibility and enough is enough for 7 decades of suffering to the Palestinians whom are the victims of the creation of Israel in 1948.
This is coupled with; the damaging repercussions of this historic injustice accordingly inflicted on the Palestinians and created a state of instability and a thriving environment for terrorism in the region and beyond.
The French initiative by inviting all influential players of the world’s political theatre will offer a creative cooperation capable of finding a solution based on the international law to favorably end the Israeli Palestinian conflict
The call these days from Netanyahu with his known trickery style for a bilateral talks, purposefully to thwart the French initiative, should alarm all decent politicians in the world particularly those who are meeting in Paris on 3 June and accordingly they should ignore it.
Over the past six months only, more than 300 Palestinian children were killed and more than 1500 have been arrested and tortured at the hands of the Israeli occupying forces.
The French initiative based on the International Humanitarian Law is an urgently needed tool to convince those residents of the Holy Land: Palestinians and Israelis who call for revenge, that eye for an eye will end with both Palestinians and Israelis to become blind (Gandhi). It is also a non -violent and ideological tool that also urgently needed to tell all terrorists in the world that there is no one above the law, individual, faction or a state, a law to which we are all answerable and abide.
Finally I would like to reiterate that Netanyahu’s recent call, for bilateral negotiations once again stems from his camouflage nature to counteract the French initiative is a call consistent with the Einstein’s law of madness, definition of which is “to do the same again and again and expect a different results”.

Article first appeared on 01.06.2016 : https://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/netanyahu-einstein-e-a-iniciativa-francesa-1733660?frm=opi

OPINION

Hikmat Ajjuri

The three monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – are God’s constitutions, delivered at different times in history, in Holy books pertained to relevant followers for eternal observation. Purposefully to control life on earth in a humane manner so as to make it impossible for a jungle law to prevail within the human kingdom. But because absolute justice can only be realized by God, in the second life, Man has so far managed to extract from these heavenly constitutions a civilized, with a rather possible just law.

Man-made Bi-laws have been enacted to comfort living on earth in harmony with heaven`s constitutions. These are known human values, International Law and International Humanitarian Law. They accordingly oblige all who belong to human kingdom to abide by them. Philosophies contradicting these values are inhumane regardless of who observe or believe in them.

Israel, a military occupying state, was established in 1948, on the expense of other people, the Palestinians, in a war that had destroyed the shape and character of Historic Palestine.

This war called Nakba or catastrophe resulted in the creation of Israel on 78% of Historic Palestine, by ethnic cleansing. It forcibly expelled the indigenous population from their homes and land in which they lived as far as history became known to us. Nakba is commemorated with pain and sorrow every year on May 15 by all Palestinians.

Since then, the Palestinians, the true owners of the land of Palestine had until today been subjected to mental, and physical torture at the hands of the Israeli military occupation forces to make them forget and accept to live under their control with captivity, bondage and political slavery. Even the Palestinians whom are supposed to be citizens in the state of Israel (21% of the population) have since the birth of Israel been discriminated against by at least 40 laws enacted by an alleged democratic Zionist regime. Israel achieved all of its political goals by killing and terrorizing the Palestinians, who earned their name from the land, Palestine.

The alleged Israeli democracy is a reflection of the actual nature of Zionism.

A renowned Jewish historian, Illan Pappe says “we have to try and explain not only to the world but also to the Israelis themselves, that Zionism is an Ideology that endorses ethnic cleansing, occupation and now massive massacres”.

Zionism is the biological father of the terrorist settlers who burned alive the Palestinian child Abukhdair and orphaned Ahmad Dawabsheh, after they have burned his parents while they were asleep.

The culture of hate and incitement of this Zionist philosophy has also encouraged a Jewish terrorist, Yegal Amir, to assassinate the Israeli Prime Minister Rabin in 1995.

The inhumane nature of Zionism and its leaders represented by the current Israeli government has so far intoxicated the environment of coexistence in the Holy Land, and poisoned the hope of the Palestinian youth and children so as to take the law into their hands.

These atrocities by the Israeli military occupation forces: army and terrorist settler, coupled with a shameful silence from the International community was and still is perceived in our region as impunity granted to the Zionist Israelis and a betrayal to all the values we all share as human beings, the core of which are the human rights which are stemmed from God’s constitution.

Fairly, all world leaders, the UN and The International court of Justice, criticize the Israeli Zionist policy but to no avail.

US presidents as an example criticized Israel’s violations of the International Law, Obama says “Iran poses a short-term threat to Israel’s survival; Israel’s own behavior poses a long- term one”. While Clinton believes that Netanyahu is not interested in Middle East peace deal. President Carter published articles and books critical of Israel. But unless these words are transformed into deeds in order to end the Israeli military occupation of the state of Palestine, world peace and stability will remain hijacked by Netanyahu; a  ‘‘prime minister, salutes a rabbi who supported a work on the laws of killing non-Jews’’.  (Haaretz, 23-04-2013).

Netanyahu for four terms in office has done everything available including his lies and the talent of scaring his own people, in order to form one state in the Holy Land (Historic Palestine) but with two systems.

Article first appeared on29.04.2016 : https://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/terra-santa-um-estado-dois-sistemas-1730419

OPINION

Hikmat Ajjuri

The Palestinian upheaval which broke out in October last year, in the Occupied East Jerusalem, is a natural outcome of 57 years of persecution of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli occupying forces; army and settlers. This fact was asserted directly and indirectly by many politicians in the world including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Kin-moon.

On Tuesday 26/1/2016, Mr. Ki-moon said that the Palestinian youth’s violent response to Israeli occupation is ‘human nature’. He added by saying that “Palestinian frustration is growing under the weight of a half century of occupation and the paralysis of the peace process.” “Occupation, which often serves as a potent incubator of hate and extremism.”

This indisputable truth was deceitfully responded to by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that the remarks of Ki-moon “give a tailwind to terrorism.”

The five decades’ of silence of the International Community against all the crimes conducted by Israel the occupying power against the Palestinians was perceived by the Israelis as an International community´s endorsement of their crimes. While on the other hand was perceived by the Palestinians as complacency and betrayal of the International Community to its values and laws including the IHL Laws meant to serve the legitimate aspirations of all nations including the Palestinians to live in peace and prosperity with dignity in their own sovereign countries.

Factually, it is not only this shameful silence but also the carelessness of the International Community which favored not to know that killing a Palestinian child in cold blood in the streets of the occupied East Jerusalem and the overrun by an Israeli Bulldozer, of an American young woman, Rachel Corrie, because of her protest to the Israeli atrocities, had a spark effect to this instability and violence which hits every were in the region and now beyond.

Any EU global strategy that aims to sustain peace and prosperity for all Europeans will never succeed unless this strategy is well informed by the European values.

Security and defense which means that Europe keeps its finger all the time on the trigger, is not only a very tiring process but has proved to be a wrong approach to serving a meaningful European strategy.

Democracy is a European value and ought to be sustained in order to keep the European system sound, secure and constructive.

The European silence on the crimes conducted by an alleged democracy “Israel” in addition to its controlling the life of Palestinians against their wish and will, is an utter contradiction of this value.

As important reference to a European strategy is the recognition by leaders of western democracies including America of the Israeli Oppression of millions of Palestinians under their occupation, a main recruiting tool for the terror which is becoming uncontrollable worse than a cancer.

In this context the question worth asking is whether the current coalition of sixty countries are truly fighting DAESH to uproot terrorism, or in fact, un-intentionally or ignorantly are flourishing it.

Mindful of the tools used by this evil (terror) to promote its crimes, in order to recruit brain washed youth worldwide. Experiences learnt from Afghanistan and the war against AL-Qaeda proves that the western Democracies need to review their global strategies in order to sustain their civilized systems, the core of which is human rights and democracy. The new generations of the developing world including the Middle East are no more afraid of dictators and very much benefiting from the technology which turned the world into a small village.

In this village the shared human values should be observed based on the wisdom of Martin Luther King “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.

On conclusion, I am for once inspired by the brave move taken by the French Foreign Minister Fabius, calling for International conference as a non- violent means to end this decades long Israeli military occupation of the State of Palestine.

May be it is high time for a new European strategy adopting this French peace initiative as an effective alternative to the military might which has so far proved its failure in its war against terror.

Article first appeared on 08.02.2016: https://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/a-palestina-e-a-estrategia-global-da-ue-1722654?page=-1

OPINION

Hikmat Ajjuri

Israel has come into being by a UN General Assembly Resolution 181 “Partition Plan”, passed in 1947. Half of this resolution only was implemented in 1948, when one state “Israel” was established. The other half which is the establishment of the state of Palestine still waiting until today.

On the other hand, the acceptance of Israel as a member state of the UN in 1949, was conditioned by its commitment towards the establishment of the state of Palestine and the return of all Palestinians who were forced to leave their homes during the 1948 war or what is known as the Palestinian Nakba, at the hands of the Zionist gangs.

Of course, the details of the meanwhile ongoing atrocities at the hands of the Israeli occupying forces, against the Palestinians have become well known and well documented locally and Internationally. Every single day Palestinian civilians, including children and women, are attacked, killed in cold blood and injured by the Israeli occupying forces, soldiers and terrorist settlers. Palestinian civilians are detained and arrested and collective punishment measures such as home demolitions render families homeless, while restrictions on Palestinian movement suffocate and impact negatively all aspects of Palestinian socio-economic life.

The International Community represented by the UN called on Israel, the occupying power, on too many occasions to freeze all these inhumane actions and to reverse all of its other illegal actions, such as   stealing more of the Palestinian land to build settlement and transfer its citizens to them but to no avail. The selectivity of the application of the International law and its bolsters in the case of the Israeli violations and the lack of actions against these violations have consequently granted Israel a status of above the International Law country and consequently nullified all relevant UN resolutions.

In spite of all mentioned, the International Community has adopted the two states solution as an internationally endorsed solution to a nearly 70 years Israeli Palestinian conflict. In this context the status of Palestine was upgraded to a non-member state of the Un organization.

Israel since the signing of the Oslo Agreement has ostensibly endorsed this two states solution but explicitly has acted against realizing it.

All still remember the statement made by Netanyahu in this regard during his election campaign, that no Palestinian state during his time in office.

This irresponsible statement during the election campaign explains that all who put Netayahu in office (majority) are against the two states solution.

Israel’s Deputy Minister of Defence Eli Ben-Dahan said on October 9th, last year “Palestinians have to understand, they won’t have a state, and Israel will rule over them.” According to the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, 75% of Israeli Jews oppose a two state solution anyway.

The very same Eli Ben Dahan said in 2013 when he was Deputy Minister of Religious Services, “To me they (the Palestinians) are like animals, they aren’t even human.” Two years later Benjamin Netanyahu made Dahan Deputy Minister of Defence.

In conclusion it is becoming crystal clear that the Israeli leadership since Netanyahu moved to office in 1996 have been fooling the world by doing everything possible to cover up for their slowly killing of the only Internationally endorsed solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict (two states). The natural outcome to this Israeli defiance of the International law, is this terror in the region and beyond. But locally the outcome is for the Palestinian youth to take the law into their hands as they feel that they have been betrayed by the International community, because they utterly reject to live under an apartheid regime in what is called Israel.

Peace in the Holy land which is the only guarantor of stability in the region, is only achieved by the enforcement of the two states solution based on the relevant UN resolutions.

07.01.2016

 http://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/dois-estados-uma-responsabilidade-moral-das-nacoes-unidas-1719371

OPINION

Hikmat Ajjuri

On the 17^th of November 2015, Público published an article titled “Label against Peace” which is authored by Ben-Dror Yemini a columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth, a daily Israeli newspaper which is a platform for defending the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.

I expect a concerned European to challenge this article because in simple words, it is soaked with crocodile tears and full of insults to the European intelligence, who decided to take this brave step of labeling settlements products as a means to transform Israel from an abnormal state to a normal state. Because Israel with its attitude of defying the International law and behaving as an above the International Law has become a state with no internationally recognized borders or internationally recognized capital. Consequently, “label against Illegal military occupation” should be the factual title of this article.

In 1973 Sharon a former Israeli Prime minister wrote to Winston Churchill the 3^rd, then journalist, a letter saying “ We´ll make a pastrami sandwich of them. We´ll insert a strip of Jewish settlements in between the Palestinians, and then another strip of Jewish settlements right across the west bank, so that in 25 years, neither the united nations, nor the USA, nobody, will be able to tear it apart”.

This letter of Sharon explicitly illustrates the current Zionist philosophy on Settlements as a means to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state on the Palestinian land that was taken by force in 1967.

Since then UN passed 10s of resolutions calling on Israel to pull out its forces from Palestine, to reverse its illegal decision to annex the Occupied East Jerusalem and to stop all of its illegal actions of building settlements on occupied territories but to no avail.

The International court of Justice has in July 2004 declared that “Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem have been established in breach of International Law”.

In fact the main reason of the latest Palestinian upheaval on every meter of the Occupied State of Palestine is a reply to the Zionist lies, one of which is the concerned article above. Because as I mentioned before that the latest Palestinian youth upheaval is an outcry for freedom from the captivity and bondage of the Israeli military occupation.

Netanyahu had spent during his last three terms in office more than 3 billion dollars for his propaganda machine against the Iranian Nuclear program. But for every one´s fortune he was proved wrong by the 5+1 responsible leaders.

Because he was compensated by his American allies for those losses, he has decided to reuse the same budget to fight the culture of sanctions. The late former British Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher defended sanctions as a means to defeat Apartheid in South Africa said that “Sanctions have teeth”.

Netanyahu knows that it is not the revenue of the products of settlements that matters to him because he knows that he gets compensation from multi sources but what matters to him is the culture of sanctions as he runs an apartheid system worse than the demised South African.

The 600000 illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestine steel 50 million cubic meters from Palestinian water to cultivate 86 square kilometer of a stolen Palestinian land. This cultivated area and water consumed by settlers would provide 100, 000 job opportunities for Palestinians over there. The Israeli military Occupation with its overall oppressive military measures against the life of the Palestinians and the control of their sky, land and sea, costs the Palestinian economy more than 7.8 billion dollars every year. Out of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were made unemployed due to the oppressive policy of the Israeli Occupation, Israel, the occupying power allows only 30,000 to work in Israel and settlements under a blatant slavery conditions.

The EU by taking measures to end the suffering of the Palestinians in the occupied state of Palestine is in fact protecting its values the core of which is Human rights.

Article first appeared on 19.11.2015: http://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/contra-a-paz-ou-contra-a-ocupacao-ilegal-1714831

OPINION

Hikmat Ajjuri

In his speech at Cairo University in 2009, President Obama boosted the morale of the Palestinians.
After all, the strongest leader in the world had finally and correctly diagnosed the problem in the Holy land. President Obama singled out the Jewish settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories as the main obstacle to peace over there. Late Israeli PM Rabin, said in 1976 that Israel will become an apartheid state if continues to occupy the Palestinian territory and called the Israeli settlements on the occupied Palestinian land, “cancer”.
In medicine, cure becomes possible only when the right early diagnosis is made. Had Rabin when became Prime Minister or President Obama done the proper surgery for this cancer or at least froze building and expanding these settlements , thousands of innocent lives in the Holy Land would have been saved and concrete would have been laid in the foundation of the state of Palestine next to the state of Israel. In fact, Rabin was assassinated at the hands of a Jewish terrorist to prevent any likelihood of freezing settlements expansion and president Obama succumbed to domestic politics dictated by the Zionist lobby.
On the other hand the Security Council in many of its resolutions called on Israel to refrain from such an internationally illegal settlement activities.
In spite of all these calls, Israel continued with its illegal construction of settlements with impunity granted to it by the American vetoes and the shameful silence of the world which was culminated by president Obama silence in his last speech at the 70th UN general assembly in September this year.
This total ignorance by president Obama, of the Palestinian grievances and injustices in his last speech, does in fact contradict the spirit of Nobel and his prize which was granted to him.
This ignorance coupled with the Israeli blatant defiance of the International legitimacy sent a demoralizing message to the Palestinians who have been living under the most oppressive and longest ever known Israeli military occupation.
Consequently, the Palestinians felt betrayed and their aspirations to achieve their goals for freedom from captivity and bondage from this monstrous Israeli occupation by non- violent means are now questionable.
It is made clear by the legitimate leadership of the Palestinians that they will do everything possible to not militarizing this Palestinian anger.
But could it be possible for anyone to contain such anger at a time when Israel the occupying power is doing everything possible to make historic Palestine, the Holy land a grave yard for the Palestinians hope. Any attempt by any one including an impotent American administration to sustain the unsustainable status quo rather than finding the missing state of Palestine next to Israel, will only lead to more suffering for all the residents of the Holy Land. An apple fell and newton discovered the law of gravity, tens of thousands of innocent residents of the Holy Land so far fell and no one discovered the law of humanity.

Article first appeared on 24.10.2015: http://expresso.sapo.pt/