I asked two weeks ago, then yesterday and I ask today, has there been any country that is more brutal than Israel since the Nazis were defeated? It is the only neo-Nazi or fascist state in the world today: it was established on lands stolen from another people, and has since been murdering, destroying and dispossessing. While it never had any moral legitimacy, its wars, decisions and terrorism since its establishment have eaten away at its legal legitimacy that it had received through the United Nations. Everybody today talks about Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 summer war on Lebanon, which was another nail in the coffin of Israeli legitimacy. But is that the only UNSC resolution related to Israel, and is Hezbollah alone violating it? Or it is that Israel has never honoured this resolution in the first place, as it continues to occupy Lebanese territories, and to violate Lebanese airspace and goes on incursions into Lebanese soil whenever it pleases? There are dozens of resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council against Israel, and none of them have ever been implemented, with the complicity of the same countries that are invoking today the resolution 1701, as though it is the only relevant resolution in the history of the region, and then those countries reward Israel by letting it accede to the OECD. Following resolution 181 of 1947 calling for the partition of Palestine, there are tens of resolutions that are yet to be executed by Israel. There is resolution 194 issued by the General Assembly on 11/12/1948 which gives the Palestinians the right to return to their homes and lands in Israel, there is the resolution 242 issued by the Security Council following the 1967 war which said that the occupation of territories by force is illegal. There is also resolution 3236 adopted by the General Assembly on 22/11/1974 which gave the Palestinians the right to self-determination, UN Security Council resolution 446 adopted on 22/3/1979 which said that settlements are illegal, and resolution 1397 adopted by the UN Security Council on 2/2/2002 which reaffirmed the Palestinians' right to have a state. I also have a few dozen resolutions condemning Israel for its aggression against Egypt, Syria, Jordan and the PLO headquarters in Tunisia, and other resolutions condemning the deportation of Palestinian civilians from their country. There are also dozens of resolutions that condemn the alteration of Jerusalem's features, and an equal number or more of resolutions that condemn Israel's attacks against Lebanon. For instance, there are condemnations of attacks against Lebanon and calls for withdrawal from its territories, condemnations of violations against its sovereignty, and others condemning the attack on Beirut's civilian airport in 1968, and also others for not cooperating with the United Nations. Dozens of resolutions, or more than two hundred, condemn Israel and demand it of things it has never executed. Then I all I hear being mentioned is resolution 1701, as though it is the only resolution in the history of the crime against humanity that is the state of Israel. I wonder would Hezbollah have ever existed were it not for the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. And has Israel honoured any of the relevant international resolutions across the years, including 1701 itself? I found on the internet a list of 223 resolutions against Israel, and resolution 1701 occupies the 222nd rank amongst those, followed by a resolution calling for a complete cease fire between Israel and Hamas, which means that the list is probably incomplete. I condemn everyone for this, without me being the General Assembly or the Security Council. I condemn the state of crime Israel, I condemn the West that atoned for its crimes against the Jews at our expense, and I condemn the Arab counties and their peoples including myself. We have no men left in our midst. In English, they say the real man has a backbone, but in Lebanon, our idea of manhood goes lower than a backbone, but that is not fit for publication, so I return to Israel. The Jewish lawyer James Marc Leas (he is a member of a group of Israeli lawyers who call for freedom for Palestine and we must not forget the peace advocates) published a critique of a report issued by the Reut Institute, an Israeli think-tank based in Tel Aviv, entitled “Building a Political Firewall Against Israel's Delegitimization”. The title itself admits that Israel's legitimacy is in question, and the report says thatt there is a new threat represented by human rights activists and their work to delegitimize the Israeli government. The lawyer Leas used the report's material to prove what the think-tank is attempting to resist and I choose from his article the following points, that the report: - Validates two demands of Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions campaign: for ending the occupation and for equal rights for all Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel - Admits that Israel will become a pariah state if it fails to end the occupation and provide equal rights - Asserts the need for ending occupation and integrating Palestinians in the Israeli society - Nevertheless, it says that equal rights is means Israel's elimination - Admits that Israel must maintain the ability to continue unilaterally launching “harsh” militarily attacks The study is long and its critique is clear and focused. The issue is that Israel's legitimacy, or the lack thereof to be precise, has become a subject under discussion, and no Palestinian or Arab can be credited for this. The reason instead is Israel's ongoing crimes, and the efforts of human rights organizations from U.S universities to within Israel itself. Then I hear about resolution 1701 as though it is the only resolution adopted in 62 years of an ongoing occupation. [email protected]
