Once again the vengeful side of Israel has exposed itself although it is never lurking too far from the surface.
The acceptance of Palestine into UNESCO has prompted a series of acts of retaliation and sabre rattling that can be heard around the world. Sadly, the satellite states of Israel are making their anger and affiliation with the rogue state heard as well. Regrettably, that includes my own country, Canada, as well as the US and Germany.
.
It is a strange way for Israel to promote peace with another country by bullying in more settlers, building more settlements, stealing more land from the native Palestinians but that is what they are doing. The retaliation included 2000 new homes for settlers, but any excuse will do as if Israel ever thought they needed one, which they don't.
The bully cries when denied its own way but alas has a nasty way of attempting to make everyone around it cry as well. Misery loves company, so they say, so Israel will make sure that misery is happy even at its own cost.
The missile situation might have been scheduled in advance since Israel has frequent drills, however the missile used and the unspoken message given to the rest of the world regarding its capabilities should not be ignored at this time when Israel feels humiliated, threatened and retaliatory anger.
Another interesting aspect of this is that, due to this old piece of legislation regarding Palestine, America may pay a hefty price for its support of Israel. It is bad enough that Israel steals is given so much money in both cash and weapons, but now there could be severe international political and financial ramifications especially as Palestine seeks entry into other organizations, which of course will happen.
“UNESCO vote to admit Palestine as a member is
regrettable, premature, and undermines its shared goal of a comprehensive,
just, and lasting peace in the Middle East; United States remains steadfast in
its support for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian
state, but such a state can only be realized through direct negotiations
between the Israelis and Palestinians”.
By Noor
November 6, 2011
It is excellent news that United Nations
Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) accrued the distinction
to become the first UN agency to welcome Palestine as its full member. UNESCO
has indeed kept up its apolitical mandate, while responding to the collective
voice of international conscience.
A huge cheer erupted in
UNESCO’s General Assembly after the vote. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad
Malki commented:
“Today’s victory at UNESCO is the beginning of a road that is difficult, but will lead to the freedom of our land and people from occupation.”
Palestinian President
Mahmud Abbas said,
“This vote is not directed against anyone, but represents support for freedom and justice…This vote is for the sake of peace and represents international consensus on support for the legitimate Palestinian national rights of our people, the foremost of which is the establishment of its independent state.”
Not surprisingly, with its penchant for drama and posturing, Israel has
called the vote a “tragedy”. Said Nimrod Barkan, Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO:
“We regret that the organization of science has opted to adopt a resolution which is a resolution of science fiction.”
Barkan warned that those
who voted for the resolution would lose influence over Israel. As if ANYONE had influence over Israel. It is more the other way around!
He slammed the countries
that:
“have adopted a science fiction version of reality by admitting a non-existent state to the science organization. UNESCO should deal in science not science fiction. It certainly will weaken their ability to have any influence on the Israeli position”.
However, he admitted that
the vote, while symbolic, could have a knock-on effect:
“There is potential for a cascading effect of this resolution on many other UN specialized agencies and in New York.”
Israeli foreign ministry
responded;
“There is no Palestinian state and therefore one should not have been admitted. This is a unilateral Palestinian maneuver which will bring no change on the ground but further removes the possibility for a peace agreement,”
In an ugly reaction,
Israel has gone beyond diplomatic sabre rattling and initiated physical actions
against Palestine. It has announced to build 2,000 settler homes and freeze the
transfer of Palestinian tax remittance to punish them for successfully joining
UNESCO. NOT that Israel ever needed an excuse; one can see them doing this with self-righteous glee.
The decision to speed up
construction in east Jerusalem and in nearby settlements was taken by Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s
inner cabinet, which met a day after UNESCO’s general assembly voted to admit
Palestine as a full member.
A senior Israeli official
commented:
“These measures were agreed … as punishment after the vote at UNESCO…We will build 2,000 housing units, including 1,650 homes in east Jerusalem and the rest in the settlements of Maaleh Adumim and Efrat”.
Israeli also test
fired a new nuclear-capable InterContinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) as a
warning to regional states only two days after its diplomatic defeat. This
missile was launched for the first time since Israel became a nuclear power two
decades ago. The missile is an upgraded Jericho 3 which can deliver a 750 KG
nuclear warhead to a distance of 7,000 kilometres.
Israel often freezes the
transfer of funds as a punitive measure in response to unfavourable diplomatic
or political developments.
Every month, Israel is required to transfers to the
Palestinian Authority customs duties which are levied on goods destined for
Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports. So, on the economic side, the transfer of funds to the
Palestinian Authority is temporarily frozen.
A statement from
Netanyahu’s office said the decisions were taken during a “first discussion” of
the UNESCO issue and further steps would be considered at the next meeting of
the so-called ‘Forum of Eight’ comprising senior ministers. Israel is also
reportedly considering withdrawing the special permits granted to top
Palestinian officials that allow them to move between the West Bank and Israel
with relative ease.
How to keep friends and influence the world with its good intentions........
Netanyahu retorted:
“We won’t sit around idly in the wake of these moves that harm Israel and are a crude violation of the most elementary commitment the sides took upon themselves in the peace process ~ to solve the conflict between us through negotiations only”.
Palestinian internet
servers across the West Bank and Gaza Strip
were electronically attacked, cutting all Internet access. Palestinian
communications minister Mashur Abu Daqqa "diplomatically suspected" that Israel was involved in
these disruptive activities.
“I think from the manner of the attack and its intensity, that there is a state behind it.”
These punitive measures drew an
angry response from the Palestinians, calling on the Middle East
Quartet and the US administration to “put an end to this recklessness.”
“UNESCO vote to admit Palestine as a member is regrettable, premature, and undermines its shared goal of a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East; United States remains steadfast in its support for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state, but such a state can only be realized through direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians”.
The US ambassador to the
UN said that UNESCO would suffer. America has stopped its obligatory financial
contributions to UNESCO for granting membership to Palestine. The State
Department, saying it was beholden to the dictates of the law, announced immediately that a $60
million payment to UNESCO ~ part of an American aid package
that composes nearly a quarter of the group's budget ~ would be halted.
A legislation of
yesteryear stipulates that the US can cut off funding to any UN agency that
accepts Palestine as a member.
United States provides
about 22 percent of the UNESCO’s funding, which is around $70 million. Canada
and Israel have also announced to withhold their portion of funding.
But there is much more to this than defunding UNESCO's acceptance of Palestine. Now, with the Palestinians pledging to seek
admission to more than a dozen other U.N. bodies ~ en route, they
hope, to full membership and recognition as a nation ~ the State Department and
others are scrambling to assess the consequences of a similar withdrawal from
well-known UN groups like the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World
Health Organization.
Palestine got affirmative
nod from two third of UNESCO’s members to become its 195th member. Of 173
countries that voted from a possible 185, 107 voted in favour, 14 voted
against, 52 abstained and 12 were absent.
The United States,
Canada, Germany and Holland voted against Palestinian membership.
Britain, Japan, and Italy
abstained.
This Jericho-3 three-stage
missile is capable of delivering a 750-kilo warhead to a distance of more than
10,000 kilometers. If the reports about its range are true to
fact, then it means that the missile can reach such cities as Tokyo and New
York. The distance between these two cities and Tel Aviv makes up a bit more
than 9,000 kilometers.
Israeli soldiers take part in a defence drill in Holon, near
Tel Aviv ~ AFPpic
The US has acknowledged
that it could lose international influence as it would lose its right to vote
in UNESCO, if it makes no payments over the next two years. During cold war
era, America had boycotted UNESCO from 1984 to 2003 over what the State
Department called “growing disparity between US foreign policy and UNESCO
goals.”
The end of U.S. involvement in one lesser-known UN body, the
World Intellectual Property Organization, may pose the most direct consequences
for American business interests. If the U.S. is forced to stop funding the
group, it would open the door to a possible contest for the attention of
lawmakers between the pro-Israel and Silicon Valley lobbies.
WIPO hosts forums for the negotiation of international treaties
on copyright protection. It is an essential outlet for Hollywood and Silicon
Valley businesses seeking to prevent infringement in the developing world, such
as from those who pirate DVDs in China and elsewhere.
The consequences of a diminished US presence in WIPO could be
devastating, experts on intellectual property law predict.
WIPO hosts forums for the negotiation of international treaties
on copyright protection. It is an essential outlet for Hollywood and Silicon
Valley businesses seeking to prevent infringement in the developing world, such
as from those who pirate DVDs in China and elsewhere.
The consequences of a diminished US presence in WIPO could be
devastating, experts on intellectual property law predict.
"You're trying to engage developing and developed countries in enhancing intellectual property protections where there are already barriers to your success," said Suzanne Stoll, the former WIPO representative in Washington and now COO of the IP lobbying firm Raben Group. "Now you add that you can't vote in the annual governing bodies as the result of a 20-year-old legislative provision involving Palestine. It’s not a good position for the U.S government to be in. You have to anticipate some diminution of your influence in that body. There are always people and interests and nations waiting to fill a void there."
"Not paying our dues into these
organizations could severely restrict and reduce our ability to influence them,
our ability to act within them," the spokesman Nuland said Monday, in
discussing a possible "cascade" effect of defunding. "We think
this affects U.S. interests, so we need to have conversations with Congress
about what options might be available to protect our interests."
Experts say that if a country does
not pay dues to the group for two years it will lose its right to vote ~ and
may end up with diminished ability to influence the votes of others.
"Having worked with WIPO
through the years, you try to influence the outcome through whatever means you
have ~ model legislation, enforcement, carrot sticks," says Robert Raben,
an IP lobbyist with the Raben Group.
"Being required to withdraw money from the enterprise does two things: your friends who agree with you question your logic and propriety, and your opponents who disagree with you ~ China, for instance ~ have a fantastic new tool to disingenuously oppose you."
Few congressional observers and lobbying groups see much
interest on the Hill for a legislative fix.
Members aren’t going to vote against Israel ~ and that’s how a
vote to negate the provision is going to look, which is steeped in irony, since
the two issues ~ IP protection for US inventors and businesses and the state of
play in the Middle East ~ are completely unrelated.
"At this point in time I am not aware of any groundswell
for a lobbying effort like that," said BSA's Feder. "We need to see
how things play out. We don't even know for a fact that things are going to
come to a head in WIPO."
Palestine needs to
continue working on the 52 abstaining states and win over their support to make
the crucial number of 129, when its request for UN membership moves to the
General Assembly.
UNSC is to meet on 11th
November to decide whether to hold a formal vote on Palestine’s application for
statehood. It requires at least nine votes and no veto to succeed. Palestine
has assurance from 8 SC members; Bosnia is yet to make up its mind. Muslim
Ummah expects that Bosnia
would vote in favour of Palestine to pay back the unclenching support it
received from the Muslim Ummah during its difficult times.
It will be in the fitness
of things that to offset the impact of politico-economic arm twisting of
UNESCO, countries supporting the Palestinian cause should voluntarily enhance
their contributions towards UNESCO.
SOURCES:
No comments:
Post a Comment
If your comment is not posted, it was deemed offensive.