by jdledell
From The Moderate Voice
BASKING RIDGE, New Jersey — By now everyone has probably heard about the screams from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Trump team over the UN condemnation, with U.S. abstention, of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The U.S abstention was a first for the Obama Administration which up to this point has vetoed every UN resolution critical of Israel.
The resolution demands that “Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem”. It states that Israeli settlements have “no legal validity” and are “dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution”.
Netanyahu called Trump and asked him to pressure Egypt, the initial sponsor of the resolution, to withdraw it. Trump was successful in getting Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to withdrawing the resolution only to find New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal jumping in to re-sponsor the resolution. The Security Council then voted 14 to 0 with one abstention to pass the resolution. China, Russia, Britain and France did not use their veto power on the resolution.
I called my relatives in Bat Ayin and Kiryat Arba to give Hanukkah greetings but also to get their reaction to the UN Resolution. Anyone who knows Israel knows these two settlements have the some of the most radical settlers in the West Bank. I was surprised at how blasé they were about the Resolution. They claim Netanyahu’s anger is just for show in that he and others in the Israeli government have been assured by people from the Trump team that after January 20, 2017 not only will Trump no longer condemn Israel for adding and expanding settlements but Israel can proceed with its annexation of areas B and C of the West Bank.
As part of the Oslo Accords the West Bank was divided into 3 sections. Area A which is Palestinian towns where Palestinians have administrative and Security control. Area A is about 17% of the West Bank and home to about 3 million Palestinians. Area B which is land surrounding the Palestinian Towns comprises about 20% of the West Bank but unauthorized Israeli settlements have been springing up in Area B which has about 90,000 Palestinians. It is under joint Palestinian/Israeli administrative and security control. However, Israel rejects just about every Palestinian attempt to build more housing in Area B. Over 60% of the West Bank is completely under Israeli control and home to about 50,000 Palestinians. The Palestinians must get Israeli permission to travel between their cities and get Israeli permission for EVERYONE and EVERYTHING that enters or exits their cities.
Just about every settler as well as some of the right wing political parties advocate annexation of the West Bank Area B and C. The Palestinians in those areas will be offered the chance to become Israeli citizens, the same offer that was made to Palestinians when Israel annexed Easy Jerusalem and neighboring villages. About 4% of East Jerusalem’s 350,000 Palestinians are Israeli citizens and can vote, the rest were given resident status. As my niece works in the Ministry of Interior, a Palestinian applying for citizenship 99% if the time ends up being “round filed”.
The new U.S Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is a very vocal supporter of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, or what Israel calls Judea and Samaria, the biblical names of the territory. This would fulfill a life long dream of his Orthodox Jewish religion. He has Trump’s ear and based on Trump’s strong signal to Israel over the U.N Resolution, it looks like Israel will proceed and give the finger to the rest of the Mideast and the world.
To help understand this better, here is a map of the West Bank Areas A,B, & C.
After a long career as a Senior Executive with Prudential, jdledell took early retirement to teach piano with his wife of 48 years, Cinder. The two of them established Castle LeDell Music in their home and have 130 weekly students spread out over 7 days a week. In spite of teaching being literally a full-time job, jdledell finds the time to consume vast quantities of Internet commentary and to communicate with his children and other relatives scattered around the globe. While jdledell got polio when he was two years old and now uses a wheelchair full-time, it doesn’t keep him from leading a rich and fulfilling life in Basking Ridge, NJ.
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Copyright 2016 The Moderate Voice