RAMALLAH, January 20 (JMCC) - Former Palestinian negotiator Hanan Ashrawi calls on the United States to support a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements in an op-ed published in the New York Times Thursday.
With America unwilling to hold Israel accountable to international law and existing agreements, Israel has remained intransigent in the face of international efforts to revive genuine negotiations. A Security Council resolution would reaffirm today’s international consensus in support of the two-state solution by recognizing the threat posed by illegal settlements.
This is not rocket science. Settlements are built on occupied Palestinian land. They also entail the exploitation of Palestine’s natural resources, including water. Both belong to a future Palestinian state. Without them, no Palestinian state can be viable.
The true impact of Israeli settlements is measured not only by the way they undermine the two-state solution; it is also the enormous damage they inflict on countless Palestinian communities.
Palestinians and their Arab allies presented the resolution before the Security Council on Wednesday, but the United States, which holds veto power in the world body, has indicated that it frowns upon the move.
