Please do read the full text of Security Council Resolution 2334, passed yesterday:
The Security Council,
Reaffirming its relevant resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 446 (1979), 452 (1979), 465 (1980), 476 (1980), 478 (1980), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003), and 1850 (2008),Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and reaffirming, inter alia, the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Reaffirming the obligation of Israel, the occupying Power, to abide scrupulously by its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice,
Condemning all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including, inter alia, the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions,
Expressing grave concern that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-State solution based on the 1967 lines,
Recalling the obligation under the Quartet Roadmap, endorsed by its resolution 1515 (2003), for a freeze by Israel of all settlement activity, including “natural growth”, and the dismantlement of all settlement outposts erected since March 2001,
Recalling also the obligation under the Quartet roadmap for the Palestinian Authority Security Forces to maintain effective operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror and dismantling terrorist capabilities, including the confiscation of illegal weapons,
Condemning all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction,
Reiterating its vision of a region where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders,Stressing that the status quo is not sustainable and that significant steps, consistent with the transition contemplated by prior agreements, are urgently needed in order to (i) stabilize the situation and to reverse negative trends on the ground, which are steadily eroding the two-State solution and entrenching a one-State reality, and (ii) to create the conditions for successful final status negotiations and for advancing the two-State solution through those negotiations and on the ground,
1. Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace;
2. Reiterates its demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and that it fully respect all of its legal obligations in this regard;
3. Underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations;
4. Stresses that the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-State solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground that are imperilling the two-State solution;5. Calls upon all States, bearing in mind paragraph 1 of this resolution, to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967;
6. Calls for immediate steps to prevent all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation and destruction, calls for accountability in this regard, and calls for compliance with obligations under international law for the strengthening of ongoing efforts to combat terrorism, including through existing security coordination, and to clearly condemn all acts of terrorism;
7. Calls upon both parties to act on the basis of international law, including international humanitarian law, and their previous agreements and obligations, to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric, with the aim, inter alia, of de-escalating the situation on the ground, rebuilding trust and confidence, demonstrating through policies and actions a genuine commitment to the two-State solution, and creating the conditions necessary for promoting peace;
8. Calls upon all parties to continue, in the interest of the promotion of peace and security, to exert collective efforts to launch credible negotiations on all final status issues in the Middle East peace process and within the time frame specified by the Quartet in its statement of 21 September 2010;
9. Urges in this regard the intensification and acceleration of international and regional diplomatic efforts and support aimed at achieving, without delay a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Roadmap and an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967; and underscores in this regard the importance of the ongoing efforts to advance the Arab Peace Initiative, the initiative of France for the convening of an international peace conference, the recent efforts of the Quartet, as well as the efforts of Egypt and the Russian Federation;
10. Confirms its determination to support the parties throughout the negotiations and in the implementation of an agreement;
11. Reaffirms its determination to examine practical ways and means to secure the full implementation of its relevant resolutions;
12. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council every three months on the implementation of the provisions of the present resolution;
13. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
Given the difficulties of negotiating such resolutions between 15 states, the language is remarkably forthright. The relief of the UN Secretariat itself at the UN acting after eight years of US veto impasse, shines through the accurate but stark headline of the official UN press release on the resolution:
Israel’s Settlements Have No Legal Validity, Constitute Flagrant Violation of International Law, Security Council Reaffirms
In one sense the Resolution is a statement of the blindingly obvious. But it has had such a political impact because Israel, with its politics switched radically to the right by Eastern European immigration, had really come under Netanyahu to believe it could simply strangle the Palestinians acre by acre, and the neo-con political hegemony in the West was so unshakeable there could never be any comeback.
Trump’s apparent hardline Zionism since his election has been a disappointment and was not really prefigured by the balance of his past pronouncements, although as usual with him they are all over the place. But of course he now has no ability to revoke or undermine this resolution; there is no retrospective veto. I retain a hope that Trump will come to regard the US$34 billion a year the USA gives in military assistance to Israel a very strange way to spend the taxpayers’ money.
It might be argued that Obama’s decision not to veto the Resolution shows his true decent instincts once political machination is no longer a factor. I have been undecided whether he is a decent but timid man prepared to go along with the machinations of hard power without any fights that would make his own life less comfortable, or a total charlatan who was always just a puppet of the powerful. It took eight years for me to tend towards the slightly less appalling option. Certainly Hillary, an uncompromising Zionist who refused to condemn illegal settlements when Bernie Sanders did so, would have vetoed the resolution. In a strange way, Trump’s victory allowed it to pass; if Clinton had won, Obama would have very probably felt bound to defer to her wish to veto it.
My own view is that it is too late for a two state solution. I wrote recently of my work on apartheid South Africa, and I find the two state model proposed for Israel/Palestine irresistibly reminiscent of the Bantustan proposals of the apartheid South African government. There is no economically and politically viable state to be constructed out of the overcrowded and cut off territories of the West Bank and Palestine, even without the massive seizures of land and water resources that have occurred within them. To reverse enough of 1967 settlements for a viable Palestinian state in a two state solution wpuld involve an unacceptable further uprooting of people.
This next bit of my opinion angers some – but only some – of my Palestinian friends. I see a single, secular state as the only viable long term solution, but to negotiate this would entail accepting that a large number of post 1967 settlers should stay where they are. Not all, but it is very difficult to see how any agreement could ever be negotiated that does not accept most of the facts on the ground. I see a read across here from the Cyprus negotiations, where Greek Cypriots have a great difficulty in accepting that Turkish settlers must remain. And I believe that like Cyprus, a federal political solution which does not attempt to move populations around further, seems to me the best basis to move forward.
For me, the Security Council’s observation that Israeli settlements “are steadily eroding the two-State solution and entrenching a one-State reality” and the “cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-State solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground that are imperilling the two-State solution”, are accurate descriptions of a process which in fact has already gone beyond the point of no return. The irony is, of course, that it is the Israeli government who are horrified by the idea of a single state solution; yet they have made a two state solution impossible. That leaves them the choice of sharing the land with the Palestinians, and a settlement involving massive financial compensation, or continuing complicity in the slow genocide of the Palestinians herded into their ever shrinking territories.
The Security Council has shown Israel that the whole world is horrified by what they are doing to the Palestinians. It will take further time for the Security Council to acknowledge that their own proposed solution really is no longer viable.
********************************************************************************
The blog is now essentially closing down for the festive period. I am travelling off to where I shall lie shipwrecked and comatose, drinking fresh mango juice. Barring imminent nuclear war, I am unlikely to post again before the New Year. On the grounds that I am already entirely unfashionable, let me say I saw Status Quo live at the Glasgow Apollo in about 1983, and in Katowice about 1996, and I loved every moment. RIP Rick Parfitt. Merry Christmas everyone!
I saw it too – both of them. My wife was distraught “But I Really loved him – Status Quo got me into Music. I saw them when I was 16 at Liverpool Empire”
I don’t do politics at Christmas – but I think the history of the world is turning a page.
So far as I can tell no one actually believes most of the contents of the news papers – if they even buy one. They realise its just like buying a comic – or a women’s magazine – its all rubbish – and to prove it I quote –
The Current Headlines of the Daily Telegraph
“Queen’s granddaughter Zara Tindall and her husband Mike lose their baby”
She got pregnant and had a miscarriage. I have never heard of her before in my life – and this news is about as interesting as if this person I have never heard of had a really large crap.
I mean wtf?
This isn’t news it is rubbish.
Merry Christmas,
Tony
Good comment Tony.
On “I don’t do politics at Christmas – but I think the history of the world is turning a page.”
Yes, it is indeed turning the page of 16 years of Bush + Obama.
Have you read Dylan’s Changing of the Guards from the ’70’s?
Sixteen years
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves
Desperate men, desperate women divided
Spreading their wings ’neath the falling leaves
[…]
Gentlemen, he said
I don’t need your organization, I’ve shined your shoes
I’ve moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning, either brace yourself for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards
Peace will come
With tranquillity and splendor on the wheels of fire
But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
Between the King and the Queen of Swords
http://bobdylan.com/songs/changing-guards/
Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRsU-Q1tocE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsgHi_DvmM8 (find the original in spotify, if you’re not using it, you’re not really living!)
I think Patti Smith should’ve sung this at the Nobel ceremony recently instead a A Hard Rain, even if she can sing it with the same genuine, original passion as Dylan. Is Dylan being prophetic, without realising it, which of course is the best un-distilled form of prophecy?
Anyway, I think we have received the best Christmas present Humanity could’ve, which is that the Queen of Swords, the bitch Hillary has been shafted, don’t you think? I’ll drink a glass of mango juice to that!
Alcyone,
Some of the very best song lyrics have been written by teenagers with their friends – when aunty sheila asked them round to have a twinkle on her piano. Aunty is very old now. She used to be very strict. She says you can sing higher – and lower. She taught you your vocal range, piano, notes and chords and insisted you pass your “O” Level in English Literature. You read the poetry from the time you were 2 – and you knew all the nursery rhymes, fairy stories and histories of mankind.
But you wrote something new..and sang it too.
“John Lennon – Working Class Hero”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xDjY7ccBcU
Apparently George Michael has just dropped dead – bit young for that innit?
Tony
As usual, your summary of the situation on the ground in Israel/Palestine is spot on, Craig.
My sentiments too.
Thank you and Happy Christmas!
Most, importantly it is gratifying to note that The World is closing this year with a harmonious note. Ironic that America only has to keep it’s trap shut for that to happen. I hope it bodes well for the changing of the guards.
We will wait and see if internally America focuses on getting it’s own house in order, while externally doing more of the right thing, including resisting leaps-in-the-dark regime changes. It is time to take stock and recognise that the barbaric ISIS is a far greater existential threat to our Type Zero Global Civilisation than Al Qaeda ever was. What’s worse, is the brazen support of it coming from Saudi Arabia and it’s flunkies.
Does the development of this reaffirming resolution bring us any closer to a solution though? Not immediately and not necessarily. Anyhow it’s good to see that lame ducks can quack louder, even without opening their beaks.
Now pull together and stop ISIS. Put a gun to the evil Saudi head. Don’t think twice, it’s alright. Trump, get the Saudi’s to rebuild Palestine and pay for it; divert the ISIS funding to the Palestinians.
But, my billion-dollar question is: who in the Islamic World will stand up and lead ‘legislative’ change in Islam to bring it, kicking and screaming, or otherwise, into the New 21st Century which has an opportunity for a fresh start, after the false start of 911? And I do NOT mean false flag per se, although it wasn’t the Afghans and it most definitely wasn’t Saddam Hussein.
It’s about bloody time to start barking up the right trees: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia. I hope Trump has that right at the top of his daily to-do list.
On the face of it, it does not appear that Tillerson is in Saudi Arabia’s pocket, which is a good thing.
https://www.ft.com/content/57b7b904-960a-11e6-a1dc-bdf38d484582
Focusing on one part of the triangle of those who benefitted is not enough. Just look at who is co-operating to topple the Syrian government.
Craig, I’m glad to see you advertising mango juice for a change rather than you usual fermented varieties. But, btw typically people in countries where fresh mangoes are grown do not really drink mango juice, preferring to eat the fruit. Besides if you were a connoisseur of mangos, which you apparently are not, but there is hope, you would know that this is not the season for that King of Fruits. I do believe that somehow Tesco’s manages to supply Israeli mangos pretty much the year round. Pretty mediocre though. Still, are you going to Israel to celebrate? Look forward to a post on your mango experience. Have a good one!
The mangos are reference to a song, he will also experience gold fish shoals nibbling at his toes.
Theme tune to Red Dwarf a science fiction TV program, any similarities to reality purely coincidental.
Seasoned Greek Tings to you Craig and all who pass by…..
I see a read across here from the Cyprus negotiations, where Greek Cypriots have a great difficulty in accepting that Turkish settlers must remain. And I believe that like Cyprus, a federal political solution which does not attempt to move populations around further, seems to me the best basis to move forward.
Ain’t this a bit like squatters raiding your home, raping your sister, murdering your brother, bringing in thugs to control 40% of your property, filling the occupied rooms with aliens then proposing that sharing the freehold is a just &, fair solution?
No, it isn’t, given that the Greeks had already wanted to throw out the Turkish half of the family. That half of the family quite rightly asked for protection.
“No, it isn’t, given that the Greeks had already wanted to throw out the Turkish half of the family. That half of the family quite rightly asked for protection.”
Given that even the CIA backed Right Wing Junta that carried out the armed Coup against the President of Cyprus in 1974, where very careful to avoid harming any Turkish Cypriots, this is just as bogus as the claim that Turkey felt compelled to invade & seize half the Island to “protect” the Turkish Cypriots.
The Turks are not very subtle. That’s about the only criticism you can make of them. A coup against the Turks is washed white as snow, is it? “where very careful to avoid harming any Turkish Cypriots,” That’s a real laugh. They’ll always tell you that. That’s right, and al-Qa’ida in Syria, also extensively supported by the CIA, according to them also never harmed a hair of a Syrian’s head.
” A coup against the Turks is washed white as snow”
What disney-like history books have you been reading !! 😀 The coup was against President Makarios, & many Greek Cypriots were killed by the Junta’s agents during it, but Turkish Cypriots were deliberately left unharmed, because even they knew that Turkey was looking for a pretext to seize half the Island.
That atrocities were committed both by Greek & Turkish Cypriots in the inter-communal troubles long before the 1974 Coup is not at all in despite, but that’s a different issue.
Macky, the coup was pro-Enosis, so by definition it was anti-Turk, though it may also have been against the current regime, which if I remember correctly was thought to be too even-handed.
It would be interesting to know what if any role the UK played in that coup. The UK signals station on Cyprus must at the least have been aware of troop movements.
Laguerre; “Macky, the coup was pro-Enosis, so by definition it was anti-Turk”
A bit of a difference between that and “a washed white as snow, coup against the Turks” , and also between “a real laugh” that Turks weren’t harmed, to “by definition it was anti-Turk” !! 😀 😀
Here’s a friendly tip, try to stick to issues that you actually have some knowledge about, otherwise you come across as a clueless & crude propagandist !
@Lysias,
Two links for you, the first is interesting in it’s own right, but it is superceeded by the later link which benefits from newer declassified papers;
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/what-jim-knew-and-henry-did/148781.article
http://www.lobbyforcyprus.org/statement.aspx?id=267
re Macky 16.18.
While I was physically close during the events, and thus peripherally affected, I admit that I haven’t done the armchair research you have done. What I said sounds to me consistent, without your nit-picking. A pro-Greek extremist coup is anti-Turkish by definition. It’s hardly surprising that the Turks invaded.
@Laguerre,.
Sorry to see that you haven’t taken my advise, as you continue to make a mockery of the English language, and contune to make a fool of yourself.
Macky December 25, 2016 at 10:24
‘…Given that even the CIA backed Right Wing Junta that carried out the armed Coup against the President of Cyprus in 1974…’
The Junta coup was a wholly Gladio (US/NATO) enterprise, the CIA didn’t just ‘back’ them.
“the CIA didn’t just ‘back’ them.”
Yes I know that they were entirely a US creation, who directed everything that they did, and giving all important NATO member Turkey, a pretext to realise a long-standing plan to partition the Island, was very much part of the plan, as well as getting rid of non-aligned Makarios, whom Kissinger hated with venom.
“… continuing complicity in the slow genocide of the Palestinians herded into their ever shrinking territories” CM
That is what they’ll do. Why wouldn’t they? It’s what they done, all along. They know that anything else now – now that a two-state solution has been made impossible by Israel – would end the State of Israel as it has been constituted since 1948. And so, once again, they can pose the question as an existential threat to Israel.
Yes, and one of the arguments advanced for the start of the First World War was that Germany was virtually surrounded by the Great Powers, who all had empires and there was a desire to expand, especially into Africa. The trigger of course was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.
In Israel’s case it is different.since it does have an empire of sorts but has not the comcomitant geographical possession to define its borders. It might be said there are no borders. This imperialism is the Zio-nism which creates unwarranted displaced loyalty through Labour Friends of Israel, Conservative Friends of Israel, AIPAC and many more at government level, and ownership of the media and those who own the media at propaganda level.
With the passing of this Security Council Resolution, the establisment of organisations like Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) and disgust against Israel’s control in getting NATO countries to engage in its dirty work through Middle East wars, the tide is turning and the indefensible is no longer being wholesalely defended. In fact many are calling for Israel to be brought too task for past war-crimes. The days may be coming to an end where Israel can get its way all the time through waving a cheque book.
Israel is a nuclear state. It has those in power who have no compunction in killing innocent people in its perpetual acts of genocide. The solution, if there is one, has got to ultimately come through a negotiated agreement. How this can be achieved is going to take a think-tank of great minds. Otherwise we may be facing a Third World War which few humans would live through. This might in the long term be better for the planet. On the other hand it might turn the planet into a place as uninhabitable as Mars.
errata:
establisment = establishment
to be brought too task = to be brought to task
Don’t you wish there was a comment-editing facility?
I am confused and probably naive as I don’t see this as good news for Palestine if the Israelis are not going to accept it and they won’t. I am probably unknowledgeable about the geography and the situation but the words ‘That leaves them………ever shrinking territories’ sound cryptic. May be I’ve missed the irony, but even if the resolution brings hope, or comfort what is the good of that in a practical sense? The situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians is another example of the result of Western powers meddling in other countries, and causing utter misery and despair for many and if not that then paranoia and feelings of insecurity for all concerned. To meddle and control in another country seems to to have become a dubious reflex action. Not good.
You’re looking at it in the wrong way. As usual, the Israelis try to keep what they’re really doing quiet, or at least unobjected to. If opposition is publicly and officially stated, as here, it is going to be more and more difficult for them. The fury of Netanyahu is indeed a proof that it is a major setback. ‘Pariah State’ is where it is leading to.
Is it rogue to pariah or vice versa? Can never remember
Gloria,
” That leaves them………ever shrinking territories’ sound cryptic. May be I’ve missed the irony, but even if the resolution brings hope, or comfort what is the good of that in a practical sense? The situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians is another example of the result of Western powers meddling in other countries, and causing utter misery and despair for many and if not that then paranoia and feelings of insecurity for all concerned. To meddle and control in another country seems to to have become a dubious reflex action.”
So:-
Response A – Maintain the status quo and the encroachments on Palestinian land continues; or
Response B – Move towards the one state solution because of the situation on the ground; or
Response C – Well? – What?
Greetings from rural Perthshire Craig,
I agree with a one state solution and entry to the EU to smooth matters along. As I have said previously, however, the Zionists won’t agree. In fact, the ADL categorise the one state solution as anti- semitic because it advocates a state which isn’t uniquely Jewish in character. With logic like this, there will never be resolution.
Wishing Craig’s team a very Happy Christmas and a troll-free New Year!
It’s nothing more than a gesture at the moment. The utterly appalling people in charge in Israel will probably treat the Palestinians even worse in the short term. Not every Israeli supports their government of course.
It is however an important first step towards a true resolution of the problems. While Craig is unfortunately correct that many of the illegal settlers will have to remain in place there must be some measure of justice for the Palestinians. They have to get something back.
Have a good break Craig. Everyone needs to unplug sometimes. 2017 will need every ounce of our strength and patience. It looks like being a crucial year in many ways.
“There is no economically and politically viable state to be constructed out of the overcrowded and cut off territories of the West Bank and Palestine, even without the massive seizures of land and water resources that have occurred within them.”
Not the West Bank and Palestine. The West Bank is Palestine.
Israel will just ignore the resolution same as they ignore every other resolution they don’t like. The only ones can enforce it are America and Israel put their friend Trump in the White House.
Nobody can enforce the resolution against the Israelis, fred, not even the US. It’s a question of driving the Israelis into a corner, and the resolution is fine as a step on that road.
America can impose sanctions and stop giving them “aid”.
Was that not supposed to be Russia? ?
I don’t think Russia has that much influence over the American voter.
But the leaked/hacked emails could well have influenced the Israeli choice of candidate.
Merry Christmas to one and all. ?
Merry Christmas from Bethlehem, as Israeli soldiers tear gas Santa..ho! ho! ho!
https://electronicintifada.net/content/video-israeli-soldiers-tear-gas-santa/18991?utm_source=EI+readers&utm_campaign=58c9f3bc2b-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e802a7602d-58c9f3bc2b-299185473
‘O! little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.’
http://www.amostrust.org/media/1388/amos_palestine_bethlehem_pack_2015.pdf
Thanks Sharp Ears. Have shared on my timeline. I thought it was this year’s message. 🙂
Happy Christmas.
It is perhaps worth reminding people of the full text of the Balfour Declaration:
“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
I stress the latter part of the declaration which emphasises the importance of preserving the freedoms and rights of the indigenous Palestinian population. Something to Jews have failed to do in what is now 70 years of occupation of Palestine. From the outset the Jews have sought to spout the Balfour declaration in a very limited and convenient way. The protection of Palestinian rights (which have been violated persistently and continuously in the last 70 years) written into the same declaration is constantly ignored.
WORSE: the British government has not been overly keen on pressing the jews to adhere to the whole of the declaration – rather than just the bits that suit them.
Bert.
I give it a cautious thumbs up, but netanyahu must have gotten wind of it when he reiterated that Israel would do as it likes with regards to international laws or UN resolutions.
How about waiting a year and see what this really means in praxis. I hope that this stern talking will entice Israel to turn down their aggressive stance towards all of its neighbours.
a merry Yule tide to all on the this fifth day of spring.
On Christmas Day of all days, he’s stomping around in his jackboots summoning all the ambassadors for a corrective. That’s chutzpah for you.
Israel summons ambassadors for dressing down over UN resolution
Benjamin Netanyahu issues ‘personal reprimand’ to diplomats from security council nations who voted for settlements rebuke
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/25/israel-summons-ambassadors-un-resolution-benjamin-netanyahu
12.40pm
25 December 2016
Craig’s headline says it all. The Palestinians will be very pleased with the decision, but will know not much will change.
And poor old Netter’s with his nickers in a twist! That’ll warm the cockles of their hearts this Christmas.
Now it’s time to talk serious Sanctions, not just of ‘Occupied’ land, but of the whole Israeli economy.
One of the first things it does should be to boost the goal of getting Israel thrown out of UEFA; many FA Clubs have ‘Football Against Apartheid’ groups. And it’s time for the EU to seriously put their collective ‘foot’ down.
Even an obnoxious murderous charlatan like Obama must be given credit on this one!
Merry Christmas and Better New Year (hardly likely!) to all.
and the Eurovision Song Contest, that’ll teach ’em !
You’s be surprised. It all helps, just like South African Apartheid, Israeli Apartheid and abominations must be attacked on as many fronts as possible.
I don’t see mention of sanctions in the UN resolution. Can the Israeli refusal to abide by the resolution be made the basis for sanctions imposed by individual countries? Can the Israeli refusal lead to a new UN resolution imposing sanctions before Obama leaves office?
My only worry is the United Nations risks isolating itself from the “international community” with these kind of decisions!!!
Are you having a laugh about Mr Ban Ki Moon’s benefit HQ or perhaps being ironic?
French politicians, in the main, have long been advocates of a Palestinian state…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2857816/Israel-vents-fury-France-parliament-votes-recognise-Palestine-state.html
But it’s a whole ball of wool that I really don’t want to get into on a Christmas Day evening.
So instead, I lived in London during my formative years, in the 1970s, 80s and into the 90s. Back then there was a really vibrant music scene. You only had to look at the listings in the likes of the NME and Melody Maker to find a plethora of bands playing seven days a week in London (I wonder if Hank Wangford is still doing his stuff?); this in the immediate aftermath of the punk rock explosion. I remember many a happy night at the old Marquee in Soho, or the 100 Club on Oxford Street, or the Hammersmith Odeon, etc.
In the corporate controlled nightmare we now live in, this vibrant scene has now all but been demolished. So, here’s one of my local bands, barely known outside of this little corner of France. I’m not sure what you people will make of this…
Des mots au bord d’une scène
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laobWz19sd8
La vie en rose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl_iSl784nQ
La machine à Guthrie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yezc_YF9QY
(Woody Guthrie famously had a sticker on his guitar which said ‘this machine kills fascists)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dWBeGK96pVQ
Another of Guthrie’s, covered by Billy Bragg.
I remember seeing Billy Bragg somewhere on the Strand, before he was even remotely famous.
Just one guy with a guitar, but absolutely spell-binding.
Amongst others, he played this song, which he had just written…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hscr4VvsoiY
Told you Rob, the best time to be alive in London 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id8bfmpTSCU&feature=youtu.be
@ RobG December 25, 2016 at 18:54
I was on the scene in the 60’s; Jazz, Blues and R&R. F*cking bril! And the !)) Club was the best. But there were great clubs all arond London – Chingford, Wood Green, Chelsea, Kingston, even Hackney!
I was at the !! when they didn’t have a bar, and you got check-out/in tickets to go to the ‘Blue Posts’ out the back door.
What a bloody good atmosphere that club had! I’ts rubbish now, though.
Don’t know quite what went wonky there: I’ll try again:
‘I was on the scene in the 60’s; Jazz, Blues and R&R. F*cking bril! And the 100 Club was the best. But there were great clubs all around London – Chingford, Wood Green, Chelsea, Kingston, even Hackney!
I was at the 100 when they didn’t have a bar, and you got check-out/in tickets to go to the ‘Blue Posts’ out the back door.
What a bloody good atmosphere that club had! I’ts rubbish now, though.
Paul, you seem to predate me by a decade, but nethertheless we both grew-up during extraordinary times, with regard to both music and politics.
You and I will probably be called ‘old gits’ when we refer to this era, but it really was a social revolution and part of the post-war consensus.
That’s all now been pissed down the drain. The only way the current generation will wake-up and smell the coffee is when they’re being marched off to the next mass slaughter.
you can add me to the old git camp, I’ve stood outside the Star Club in Hamburg and listened to the Beatles inside on a shitty little loudspeaker, was too young to get in.
Much more happened in the late sixties and early seventies, but I don’t want to spread it here.
this fascist we all hated the guts of, and we demonstrated against him, little did we know he was an MI6 agent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_von_Thadden
He’s still at it – throwing his weight around.
Israeli PM summons US ambassador amid UN vote row
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38431399
‘Israel’s prime minister has summoned the US ambassador amid a growing row after the US eased the passage of a resolution against Israel at the UN.
Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also foreign minister, took the unusual step of calling Dan Shapiro to his office.
It comes after Israel summoned ambassadors from countries which voted for Friday’s resolution.
The reprimands came after Israel vowed to take retaliatory steps for what it called a “shameful” act by the UN.’
I was particularly interested by the fact that Britain didn’t merely abstain, but actually voted for the resolution. Something must have gone wrong with May’s close relations with the British equivalent of AIPAC, and the Tory Friends of Israel. Who would have permiitted that? Which Israeli subaltern failed to get the message across? Britain will certainly suffer from the fury of Netanyahu.
“I was particularly interested by the fact that Britain didn’t merely abstain, but actually voted for the resolution. Something must have gone wrong with May’s close relations with the British equivalent of AIPAC, and the Tory Friends of Israel. Who would have permiitted { sic }that? ”
_________________________
That’s a rather curious comment which either attempts to mislead by omission or reveals a certain laziness in checking facts.
Why so?
Because the preamble to the latest UNSC Resolution mentions 10 relevant preceding UNSC Resolutions.
The United Kingdom “didn’t merely abstain but actually voted in favour” of 9 of them.
So what’s new, Laguerre?
++++++++++++++++++++
(For the record: on the 10 Resolutions, there were 9 abstentions in total – 4 from the USA, 1 from the UK, 1 from Norway, 1 from China, 1 fro; Syria and 1 from Libya)
The UK’s vote was probably encouraged by Obama, who didn’t dare to actually vote for the resolution himself, but wanted to make the vote look as decisive as possible. By refusing to abide by this resolution, Israel has rendered itself a scofflaw, pariah state.
The fact that four permanent members of the Security Council voted for the resolution makes it clear that it will be virtually impossible for the vote to be reversed.
The facts are on the table – thanks to Habbabkuk, Thee rest is just idle speculation.
George Michael – Dead at 53
“George Michael – Careless Whisper (Official Video)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGwDsrQ1eQ
“settlers” – now that is “weak and timid” at best, just plain awful at worst.
How come wiki has been updated so quickly? He must still be warm.
Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou
Death
On 25 December 2016, at approximately 23:00 GMT, Michael died at Goring, Oxfordshire, England. His publicist stated that he had “passed away peacefully at home” and Thames Valley Police said there were no suspicious circumstances. Thames Valley Police said South Central Ambulance Service attended a property in Goring at 13:42 GMT that day.[3]
Tony
Why are so many dying, Tony?
Why are so many people ill?
I could tell you about that, but no one wants to listen.
Craig, please have an enjoyable Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice celebration.
Rick who? Fuck status quo. Their dull three chords white boys stomping rock meant nothing to me. Ironically, given the subject matter of the post, it seems to have escaped Craig’s notice that Status Quo were happy to break the boycott of apartheid South Africa. Not so clever.
Whereas George Michael did miners benefit gigs. He wrote lyrics like “guilty feet ain’t got no rythmn”. He sang with Aretha Franklyn. He drove really fast cars really slowly into shop windows. And he wrote Last Xmas which, same as every year, we played first thing this morning. RIP George.
Last Xmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI
My partner attended death counciling at a charity therapist centre in kings cross after taken care of her terminally ill best friend. We have just heard from friends there that George was the secret benefactor.
So many folk helped come to terms with great loss. What a kind man he was. Really can’t get my head around it. Too young.
Also sent tickets for NHS workers who looked after his Mum before she died. There are other stories of his anonymous generosity emerging.
Wrote and sang this anti Iraq war satire.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoot_the_Dog
And I don’t think he ever performed in Israel unlike many other British and American singers.
He is being ‘claimed’ by this US website which appeared in the search.
http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/358319/george-michael-british-pop-star-with-jewish-roots-dies-at-53/
Well he signed is emails “the singing Greek”!
On a point of fact, the journal to which “Sharp Ears” links is not doing any “claiming about Georg Michael.
And nor is anyone else except for….George Michael himself.
This is what the article actually says:
“Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou June 25, 1963 in London to Greek Cypriot parents, Michael told the Los Angeles Times his maternal grandmother was Jewish, but hid her roots — even from her children — during and after World War II because “she thought if they didn’t know that their mother was Jewish, they wouldn’t be at risk.”
Get your strapline right in future, “Sharp Ears”.
And of course Status Quo also broke the boycott against apartheid Israel.
GEORGE MICHAEL / STATUS QUO
BENEFITS
GM Striking miners funds, Terence Higgins
SQ Help For HeroEs, Princes Trust
BROKE APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA BOYCOTT
GM No
SQ Yes
BROKE APARTHEID ISRAEL BOYCOTT
GM No
SQ Yes
LYRICS
GM
“All we have to see
Is I don’t belong to you and you don’t belong to me
Freedom!”
you tube
SQ
“If you wanna be cool, Follow one simple rule
Don’t mess with the flow, Stick to the status quo”
“BROKE APARTHEID ISRAEL BOYCOTT
GM No
SQ Yes”
___________________
Can anyone remind me who decreed this “Israel boycott” ?
Personally I attempt to boycott goods and services from Russia (eg, I will buy Polish or Finnish vodka but not Russian) but I wouldn’t criticise anyone for not following my example.
@ Habbabkuk December 26, 2016 at 11:31
Do you support the illegal settlements?
Paul.
It’s glaringly obvious the answer to your question.
For the sake of further confusion, Habb, is a ardent Israeli apologist.
Barbara
Do you support Holocaust denial and the claim that the State of Israel has no right to exist?
Thanks Phil the ex-frog for looking out all those details. I thought as much. Good man and he has died too soon. Can’t stick all the slebs and has beens getting on TV to talk about him though. Any publicity will do.
Btw I looked at the Times this am. They are reporting that Bibi is withdrawing his country’s funding of the UN, some $9m.
Perhaps he misses the irony that his country’s funding comes in large part from the US with whom he is rowing over the resolution.
Here is Ms Power in full flow last week.
Samantha Power’s Full Speech at the Security Council
The full text of Samantha Power’s address to the Security Council concerning the resolution against Israeli settlements.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.761017
One thing that needs addressing as a priority is the appalling differences in the allocation of Water. This link is of interest: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/water.html
O/t but relevant to the UK’s new business and energy policy from a Lord prior who was part of the drive to sell lucrative blood donor and other related services to the private sector.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/new_ministerial_post_for_former_norfolk_mp_lord_prior_of_brampton_1_4825628
That’s a laugh Nevermind. He has been in the Lords participating in the destruction of OUR NHS and now he is moved on to Treeza’s Fracking Dept.
A hypocrite too.
‘In April 2014 he had a hip replacement operation paid for by private insurance but was treated in a public ward at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust’ Wikipedia
The late Farmer Jim’s son I assume?
His register of interests states that he owns farmland in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. How many thousand acres receiving EU funding would that be?
https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-prior-of-brampton/127
“His register of interests states that he owns farmland in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. How many thousand acres receiving EU funding would that be?”
_____________________
I wonder if some might think that to constitute another good reason for the UK to leave the EU?
What then of the refugees in Jordan and Lebanon who in the latter particularly have limited rights and live in overcrowded refugee camps. They surely have a right of return? Therefore I wonder whether you will qualify your words: “a federal political solution which does not attempt to move populations around further, seems to me the best basis to move forward.”
Those expelled in 148 and those who sought refuge in other lands form the occupation of 1967 have every right to return. It is ironic indeed that one finds many of these Israelis enjoying Palestinian land but living and working in Europe. In Boots for example I was assisted by an optician from Israel! They steal the land and then enjoy free movement around the world while Palestinians are enslaved.
I wonder if you would support the right of the ethnic Germans expelled from Poland in 1945 to return? Or the ethnic Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia?
It is estimated that 12 million ethnic Germans were expelled from Poland and (Koningsberg) Kalingrad. The state of Prussia was extinguished from the political map afTer WW2.
Thanks for your pertinent point Farrukh, refugees who live in camps in Jordan and Lebanon should be allowed to return to their ancestral homes and towns, I’m sure many here agree with that reasonable point.
As the hiatus started when the UN graciously allowing Jews from all over the world to enter Palestine, oppressed by the Nazi’s or not, and as some of them, in the Jewish underground movement, already with the explicit wish to take land away from Arabs, already buying Czech arms for an attack on Palestinians, the day Jews landed in Palestine should be the date to which claims for returns apply, imho.
I hope that 2017 will bring some comfortable chairs out, the world, who’s rules, regulations and laws were so vividly rejected by the Zionist leader of Israel last week, would love to see nothing more than see table tops polished by the elbows of negotiators.
Not talking is not an option any longer, stolen land and occupied hilltops will have to be returned and the past agreements, treated with disdain by Israel who shook hands on them, will have to be revisited in their main points.
A right of return should be a given, why should Lebanon, Syria or Jordan be left to look after refugee camps?
After this reaffirmation of past resolutions it should also be made clear that the land grabs and annexations by force in East Jerusalem, South Lebanon and the Golan must be reversed, that any profits from stolen resources should be confiscated and held by the UN for the rightful owners to claim.
But hope is all we have.
This is not to be confused with the Sudeten land question, or with that of White Russias German populus, or any of the other issues being mentioned to confuse Israel’s unlawful conduct today.
Apparently there’s been some discussion of Ms Clare Balding’s hair (yes, you read me correctly – Ms Clare Balding’s hair) in another place. Worth a read.
So Netanyahu, has summoned Dan Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel, over the excellent UN Resolution. This is the actions of a PM, of a military oppressive state, that’s used to getting its own way.
Israel, has vowed to take harsh retaliatory steps, for what it call a “shameful” act by the UN. Who the hell do they think they are, it’s well past the time when Israel fell into line, if it doesn’t sanctions and a worldwide ban, across the board should seriously be considered.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38431399
“So Netanyahu, has summoned Dan Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel, over the excellent UN Resolution. This is the actions of a PM, of a military oppressive state, that’s used to getting its own way.”
___________________________
No it’s not. Perfectly standard diplomatic procedure, happens reasonably frequently.
You really don’t know very much, do you.
For Netanyahu to summon all those ambassadors for a dressing down, on Christmas Day of all days, far from being an everyday occurrence, was altogether unprecedented.
Even if Trump reverses Obama’s policy, Israel will still remain branded as a pariah state, as South Africa already was when Reagan and Thatcher continued to support it.
Why not summon them as a group, Lysias? Saves having to say the same thing many times over and as you know, the PM of the State of Israel is a busy man. 🙂
Meanwhile this is a prime (but not isolated) reason, as too why the UN and Obama and his administration, and the other UN nations were right to back the Resolution.
“Burin, occupied West Bank – The olive harvest has come and gone in the occupied West Bank village of Burin, where Palestinian farmer Nimer Tirawi says he has carried out last-ditch efforts to prevent an Israeli guard from the neighbouring Yitzhar settlement from taking over his fields and devastating his livelihood.”
“Tirawi has been unable to complete his annual harvest for the past two years due to repeated death threats from the guard, he said. Last year, Tirawi said he was with his son on their farmland when the guard ran towards them.”
“He came with his weapon and said: ‘Go from this land or I will kill you,'” Tirawi told Al Jazeera. When Tirawi refused to leave, he said the guard left and returned shortly afterwards, along with some 20 settlers who began to physically assault him by hitting, kicking and throwing stones.”
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/israeli-guard-land-kill-161101065234762.html
This is why a two state solution, (1967 boundaries) is needed sooner than later. If not the West Bank and Jerusalem, will eventually be consumed by Israel.
Re my two above comments, alas I feel, the fine Resolution backed by the UN, in which it received a round of applause, will be the end of sanity, in the struggle for Palestinain justice, for now at least – and here’s why.
Trump warns UN after Israel vote: “Things will be different’ soon.”
“President-elect Donald Trump slammed the Obama administration for its decision not to veto a U.N. resolution critical of Israel’s settlements, promising that it would be “different” under his presidency.”
“As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th,” Trump tweeted Friday.
http://thehill.com/policy/international/311703-trump-warns-un-after-israel-vote-things-will-be-different-soon