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Middle East Peace Conference |
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posted by Genevi
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Tuesday, 27 November 2007 |
Today marks the beginning of another round of peace talks between Israel and Palestine.
“More than 40 countries have been invited to Annapolis to show support for the Middle East peace process. The Bush administration scored two important diplomatic victories by convincing Arab League nations - including Saudi Arabia and Syria, which do not recognize Israel - to attend.” (full article on Canada.com)
Hamas and Iran were not invited to participate.
The situation in Israel and Palestine is complicated by the conflict between religion and the state and furthermore between states participating in a global governing body such as the UN. The inability to define “terrorism” or agree on and enforce concepts of equality and rights, is symbolic of the inconsistency between language and reality.
The following excerpts are from Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Israeli Settlements and International Law. The justification of Israel’s existence is presented first:
“Jewish settlement in West Bank and Gaza Strip territory has existed from time immemorial and was expressly recognised as legitimate in the Mandate for Palestine adopted by the League of Nations, which provided for the establishment of a Jewish state in the Jewish people's ancient homeland.”
Specifically on settlements the Ministry states that:
“International humanitarian law prohibits the forcible transfer of segments of the population of a state to the territory of another state which it has occupied as a result of the resort to armed force. This principle, which is reflected in Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, was drafted immediately following the Second World War. As International Red Cross' authoritative commentary to the Convention confirms, the principle was intended to protect the local population from displacement, including endangering its separate existence as a race, as occurred with respect to the forced population transfers in Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary before and during the war. This is clearly not the case with regard to the West Bank and Gaza”
Of course this Israeli exceptionalism does little to improve the situation, but regardless of Israeli concessions it’s hard to image an organization that denies its existence (Hamas) would be satisfied with anything less than its removal. |
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last updated ( Tuesday, 27 November 2007 )
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