Israel / Palestine - 2 State Solution or Pretext for War ; What the West done to help? Tony Blair -

galway | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Tuesday October 04, 2011 20:55 by donkylemore - self

Israel / Palestine - 2 State Solution or Pretext for War ; What's the West done to help? Tony Blair as '' Special Envoy for the Quartet ''

The Palestinians are poised to make their case to the UN . Statehood or observational status.the Palestinians are being provoked to retaliate against the continued expansion of Israel into their territories, The illegal Separation Wall wall runs through farms , bisecting Palestinian farms - sure he can travel a couple of miles to get to the other side of his farm .
The Israelis are in continuous violation of UN mandates every day . Yet the Israelis have a vote at the General Assembly of the UN .
They are now trying to block the Palestinians from any form of alliance with the UN . The General assembly will ratify Palestine as as an observer country . And now at last Palestine will have it within her grasp to demand the return of illegal land grasp taken during the 1967 war.

Israel / Palestine - 2 State Solution or Pretext for War ; What's the West done to help? Tony Blair as '' Special Envoy '' Blairs for Blair period
As the date for the Palestinians to declare their Statehood to the UN draws neigh ,it is unfortunate that we know that the USA will use her veto to keep the Palestinians out of the Security Council.
That the USA are taking this initiative in order to show her unequivocal support for the State of Israel is a cause of great concern for the Palestinians .
That they have lived in the region for over two millennia counts for nothing . But that this aggressive attitude should come after the Israelis have broken 2 UN resolutions , calling for them to cease building further settlements on Palestinian land , and their refusal to return to their pre- '67 birders .
Not only did Israel choose to break the peace with Palestine by resuming the illegal constructions but that they choose to do so on the very day VP Mr Joe Biden arrived in the region was surely to give the two fingers to her main sponcers ( USA) . This diplomatic insult was calculated only to singularly embarrass and demean Mr Biden . Yet Mr Obama has declared that he will use the power of veto to thwart Palestinian membership to the Security Council.
Why ?
The powerful speech which Mr Obama made in Cairo was inspiring ; it lifted the hopes of the Arab world that maybe after all this time the a new USA administration could at last deal the Arabs a decent hand . But it was not to be .
Now they look with distrust and suspicion again towards the USA . All of the dreams and hopes they held dear after the speech were dashed when the Israelis played their emotional blackmail card .
Now the Palestinians will be relegated to applying for membership to the General Assembly of the UN.
They may have to settle for less than full membership of the General assembly and enjoy a much more emasculated form of admission- one similar to the Vatican State enjoys .
But at least they will have access to the ICHJ - Courts of Human Justice- aka -The World Court or ICJ) . This is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the The Hague.Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states and to provide advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international organs, agencies, and the UN General Assembly.

At least now , the Palestinians can invite UN observers to officially report on the progress of the illegal constructions in the West Bank.

Why have the Palestinians been reduced - or have always endured- the existential state of second class citizenhood ?

The Israelis have every reason to complain that they were abandoned by Europe during WW2 - but because of the atrocities perpetrated against their race leading to the appalling Holocaust - is this sufficient reason for them to exercise such oppression over the Palestinian peoples - The Palestinians have seen their farms carved up by the illegal security wall ; seen their border crossing access points grievously restricted , and in Gaza - her port opened at the whim of the Israeli Naval services .

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Background and development

As if the Palestinians are not already beleaguered and besieged I quote from Harriet Sherwood of the London Observer

In Qusra, deep among the terraced hills of the West Bank, fear is on the rise ,according to Harriert Sherwood .Settlers come down the hill from the outpost, mostly on foot, but occasionally on horseback or in tractors or 4x4s. They carry Israeli flags, and sometimes bring guns, shovels and dogs. There may be as few as three or as many as 40. They taunt the local villagers and sometimes attack them. Often the Israeli army arrives and trains its weapons on the villagers.
On Friday, violence between settlers from the outpost of Esh Kodesh and around 300 Qusra villagers ended in a haze of teargas and bullets fired at the villagers by Israeli troops, two of which struck Issam Odeh, 33, killing the father-of-eight.

Qusra set up a defence committee earlier this month after one of the village's four mosques was vandalised in a settler attack condemned by the US and the European Union. Up to 20 unarmed men patrol the mosques from 8pm to 6am every night, and Abu Reidi claims they have already foiled at least one attack. Other Palestinian villages have followed suit.

This week, photographs were published on a pro-settler news website, Arutz Sheva, showing women from Pnei Kedem, an outpost south of Bethlehem, learning to shoot. In Shimon Hatzadik, a Jewish enclave in the midst of the Palestinian neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in east Jerusalem, settlers are preparing to invoke a law allowing self-defence against intruders. "We are talking about shooting at their legs and if that doesn't work, and our lives are in danger, we won't be afraid to shoot straight at them. Most of the residents here are armed," spokesman Yehonatan Yosef told parliamentarians two weeks ago.

Preparation for war?
Israeli settlers have become more militant even defying the orders they receive from the Defence Forces. They fear that the Israeli military will restrain their antagonism and confrontation with the Palestinians . Provocation , were it to be successful would spark a retaliation from Palestinians , possibly from the extreme Islamists - possibly the Hezbollah . And this would bring world attention to the area , apportioning blame on the Palestinians for precipitating the conflict and scuttling the talks.

Demands of either side

At the moment the talks seem in a state on entrenchment . The Israelis will not agree to basic minimums to facilitate Abbas's agreement to his minimums.
The settlement talks require the Palestinians to recognise an Israeli State with Jerusalem as its Capital

The Palestinians demand that the Israelis return to the pre 1967 borders - borders which were imposed by the Israelis and are in contravention of UN law , which declares void the claim to land taken by conquest .
The Palestinians in demanding the pre 67 border position are by association demanding a removal of the settlements , and equally the removal of the Separation Wall
They are also demanding recognition of Palestinian Statehood , with Jerusalem as its Capital.

The Quartet

The '' Quartet '' which is made up of the US UN EU Russia - arguably the most balanced and powerful organisation in the world , have as its representative one Tony Blair .
One can only pause for a sharp intake of breathe here . What a choice . A man who followed the USA into two ignominious wars . One who had access to the private dossiers of the unfortunate scientist Mr Kelly , who repudiated the fact that Saadam ever had WMD’s or who was prepared foor world war within 30 minutes- Who said his own documents were ‘ sexed up’ to advance the case against Iraq , and who ( we are told ) then took his own life .
Mr Blair has been making contacts for his own ends during his tenure as ''Special Envoy to the Quartet ' A Panorama programme last night showed how he ( and his staff ) lived in a luxury hotel in Jerusalem , occupying one entire floor at the cost of € 1 million / yr .When he learned that the Panorama team were on to him he moved to a moderately less luxurious hotel. He has spent less that ½ of any year of the tenure in the region .
He has visited Gaza on two or three occasions .
But most of his time he has been feathering his own nest - Tony Blair Inc. He gives lectures at the princly cost on €100.000 minimum. He is currently involved with Russian oil and Gas Oligarchs , and inveigled his way into many more industries involving vast amounts of money .
Mr Blair - Special Envoy to the Quartet .!!
It makes me want to puke , but watch the Panorama programme or read about it in London Observer 25 Sept.2011

With this kind of assistance it is easy to see how the settlers are arming themselves , and the Palestinians are getting more frustrated than restive .
With this kind of self interest - Blair for Blair . USA for Israel , should we be really surprised if there is yet another outbreak of violence in the region.

Worst Fears
I fear that there will be another Israeli incursion into as yet unoccupied territories, and perhaps even into Lebanon again.
Another 6 day war may be looming .And we in the west are presiding over its incubation