A good step, but not enough

UN Security Council Resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is a step in the right direction.

A step in the right direction also is the US abstention, which allowed the vote to pass.

Nevertheless, both the resolution itself and the US abstention are not enough.

The Palestinian situation has been deteriorating rapidly on all counts especially since the beginning of this century, due solely to Israel’s intransigent stance on peace.

Israel has been flagrantly violating Palestinian rights at all levels and systematically subverting the two-state solution, the formula agreed to by all sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict and to all advocates of peace in the world, including the US.

It has also been seen as the only means to bring about the elusive Palestinian/Arab-Israeli peace.

Even though Israel continues to pay lip service to the two-state solution, it has done its utmost to undermine it by all means at its disposal.

One of the most important way is intensified settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories, the small fraction left of historic Palestine on which Palestinians hope to build their state.

Resolution 2334 is important because it is perhaps the last concrete attempt to rescue the two-state solution.

Thus, while advocates of peace in the Middle East rejoiced to see the UN Security Council assert itself after decades of dormancy, they also feel that the said resolution will be significant only if it gets implemented.

The resolution, then, should not be seen as an end in itself, but rather as a means to an end: the evacuation of all illegal Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian lands since 1967 and the establishment of the Palestinian state.

This is what efforts should be geared towards in the days to come.

There is no need for another Security Council resolution that is shelved or remains ink on paper.

What is needed is for the resolution to be promptly and systematically implemented, and peace in the Middle East to materialise.

The only country able to push matters forward, in light of the current Israeli government’s hostile stand on peace, is the US.

That the US refrained this time from vetoing efforts at the UN, aimed at moving the Middle East peace process forward is, as stated above, a step in the right direction.

It is half of a step, in fact, because what the US should have done is to support the resolution, and not abstain from voting.

Since the start of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestinians have been asking only for what is rightfully theirs and only on a small fraction of historic Palestine, a mere 22 per cent or less.

Nearly all countries in the world have come out in support of Palestinian rights. 

The US needs to step forward and do much more in support of the rights of fellow human beings and the rule of law.

In doing this, and in aiding rather than obstructing the establishment of the long-awaited Palestinian state, it will be contributing to the security and peace of all parties concerned with the Arab-Israeli conflict, including the Israelis themselves.

And it will be only then that we will rejoice and celebrate.