Analysis of Palestinian Draft UNSC Resolution submitted by Jordan

(A Great Analysis of Jordanian Hypocrisy - Haifadiarist)

CHARLES ABELSOHN December 24, 2014,

Jordan has submitted a text to the Security Council for a resolution on Palestine. Jordan? The pre-1967 illegal occupier? Let`s have a look.

Mr Maurice Ostroff, in his “The draft Palestine State Resolution and SC242” shows how mainstream media provide only flimsy journalistic interpretations of the content and intent with little or no analysis of the substance. No journalist has yet pointed out that the draft Palestinian/Jordanian resolution is intended to cancel and bury UNSC 242 and replace with United Nation`s General Assembly (UNGA) non-binding resolutions 181 and 194, originally rejected by the Arab/Moslem bloc. On behalf of mainstream media, I accept this important challenge.

Jordan’s Preamble: “Reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”

My comment: Jordan, are you suffering from amnesia? You illegally occupied Judea and Samaria (the names of the area illegally occupied before history was subsequently changed by Jordan) in 1948. Why did you not then grant the Palestinians self-determination? Oh, they did not exist in 1948? Minor detail.

Jordan`s Preamble: “Recalling General Assembly resolution 181 (II) of 29 November1947”.

My comment: Jordan, more amnesia. You only became a member of the UN in 1955 so what are you recalling? Behind your back, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia rejected resolution 181 and declared war on Israel. You joined in, massacred 127 Jews of Gush Etziyon after they surrendered, ethnically cleansed Jerusalem of its 3,000 year old plus Jewish community and annexed Judea and Samaria renaming it the West Bank? So 181 is dead and buried. This is your doing and your major legacy. Sorry but resurrection is not permitted.

Resolution 181 would have created, and I quote, an “Arab State (not Palestinian, not yet invented) and a Jewish State”. Woops, you left out the words “Jewish State” in your draft resolution. Minor oversight, I assume. But by your actions and your friends vote, in 1947/8 you guys said “no” to territory granted to an Arab State under resolution 181 so “no” under 181 it will have to remain.

Resolution 181 also called for “a Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem.” But, Jordan, you annexed Jerusalem, finally killing off UNGA 181. Jordan, you are clearly a serial UN resolution murderer and have no right to submit anything relating to Palestine on whose territory you were established in 1922. By the way, what about returning Jordan to the Palestinians?

Jordan`s Preamble: “Reaffirming the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force”.

My comment: Jordan, YOU? You grabbed Judea and Samaria in 1948, renamed it the West Bank, annexed your land grab to Jordan and now, as an expert on the subject,  you tell us all about the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force? On second thoughts, in the current hypocritical atmosphere and egged on by EU countries recognition of “the Palestinian State”, perhaps you really are the right country for the job. You sure have the expertise and know-how on illegally taking territory by force.

Jordan`s Preamble: “Affirming the imperative of resolving the problem of the Palestine refugees on the basis of international law and relevant resolutions, including resolution 194 (III)…”

My comment: Jordan, wakey, wakey. Double amnesia: You guys rejected 194(iii): Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afganistan all voted no. You would have, too, if you could have. So no it remains.

Also, let`s improve your memory and wording of UNGA 194: Actual wording of 194: “Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return…”

My comment: You see, Jordan, the word Palestinian does not appear in the quote above since the intent was for 194(iii) to apply to the 850,000 Jewish refugees ethnically cleansed from Arab countries as well. So your resolution fails again in its misquote of history. By the way, all Arab contributions to payment of compensation to Jewish refugees are long overdue but will still be welcomed. In any event, what`s dead is dead. Refugees are now covered by paragraph 2 of UNSC resolution 242 (the resolution you are trying to kill) with all refugees, including the Jewish refugees, being covered.

Jordan, since you unnecessarily mention 194(iii) let`s have a look at another provision of 194(iii) that in your amnesia you somehow forgot to mention.

My comment: It is sub-paragraph 7: “Resolves that the Holy Places – including Nazareth – religious buildings and sites in Palestine should be protected and free access to them assured, in accordance with existing rights and historical practice;”. Jordan, you refused Jews access to their Holy Places and you destroyed 58 synagogues in Jerusalem. You gave no protection to religious buildings and denied access to Holy Places yet you have the temerity to even mention UNGA 194? Clearly shame is not required in order to unashamedly ignore your own part in ignoring UNGA resolutions and pretending you are the good guy on the block.

The shame is more on those, such as the EU, who are working with you to subvert and invent history and who demand Israel  retreat to “1967 borders” (which never existed) so that Jews can again be denied access to Jewish Holy Places in Jerusalem, Hebron and Rachel`s Tomb (amongst others) and, based on the Gazan precedent, will result in the further destruction of religious buildings.

Jordan`s Preamble: “Underlining that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, and calling for a sustainable solution to the situation in the Gaza Strip, including the sustained and regular opening of its border crossings for normal flow of persons and goods.”

My comment: Jordan, how much can you get wrong in one sentence? Between 1948 and 1967, Gaza was occupied by Egypt and was never part of “Palestinian territory” in 1967. There was no border crossing with Israel but persons and goods entered Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing. Jordan, since you so much want 1967 to be revived, it is assumed that your draft about entry to Gaza actually refers to Rafah only. Israel does not object.

By the way, since there are so many references to 1967 in your draft, what do the Palestinians think of your draft?  Well, the Palestinians as a people were only invented in 1964 when they held the first Palestinian Conference and adopted the Palestine National Charter. Let`s have a look at paragraph 24: “This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area.”

To Jordan and the rest of the international community, most of whom appear to be suffering from collective amnesia: In 1964, the Palestinians themselves stated, loud and clear, that they had no claim to the West Bank, which included Jerusalem, or Gaza. So on what basis do the Palestinians now claim a state based on the 1967 lines? On what basis does the EU, the UN and others refer to the West Bank (the Jordanian name) as “occupied Palestinian territory” when in 1967 the Palestinians themselves had no such claim?

Oh, the irony of it all. If Israel had not reclaimed the West Bank in 1967, there would have been no basis for the newly minted Palestinians to claim the West Bank as their state. If my logic is correct, by Jordan reviving 1967 conditions in its draft, the Palestinian claim to the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza disappears. Isn`t history delicious?

My comment: Jordan, having referred to UNSC 242 in the preamble to its draft, then resolves: “Decides that the negotiated solution will be based on the following parameters:” and proceeds to set out requirements which are no more than a list of Palestinian demands, which ditch all the UNSC 242 parameters, which ignore the Oslo Accords of September 1995, which Accords are themselves based on UNSC 242 and slyly slips in a contiguous State of Palestine.

Excuse me, but since when in 1967 was there any physical connection between Jordan`s West Bank and Egypt`s Gaza? Of course, parameters set out in UNSC 242 which are inconvenient are simply made the subject of glaucoma. Thus there is no mention in Jordan`s draft UNSC 242`s requirement for Palestinian demilitarization in Jordan`s draft or, for that matter, any assertion that the Guardians of Gaza will join in the fun.

In conclusion, in this mad world where Kafka and Orwell would have a lifetime of material even if they lived to 120, it is only right and fitting  that Jordan, who illegally occupied the West Bank, who destroyed religious buildings and prevented access to Holy Places, who failed to establish an Arab State in the renamed West Bank, who refused to submit Jerusalem to an International Regime, who refused to allow “Eastern Jerusalem” be named as capital of the Arab State contemplated by UNGA 181 and who continued to claim the West Bank as part of Jordan until 1988, despite Jordan`s many references to 1967 in its draft, submit the text that it has, a list of unacceptable Palestinian demands, to avoid the tedious business of negotiating an agreement.

In this context, it is fitting, too, that the Jerusalem Post on 18 December 2014 writes that “the submitted Palestinian draft does appear, however, to reflect some European ideas.” Overthrowing and replacing UNSC 242 is clearly one of them.