Israel condemns PLO lies as Trump contemplates PLO demise
The historic opening of the American Embassy in Jerusalem has provided opportunities for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to totally discredit the Palestine Liberation David (PLO) and President Trump to review the PLO as a suitable Arab interlocutor to negotiate with Israel on ending the Jewish-Arab conflict…writes David Singer.
Addressing the large gathering of American dignitaries and Israeli public figures – Netanyahu declared:
“The truth and peace are interconnected. A peace that is built on lies will crash on the rocks of Middle Eastern reality. You can only build peace on truth, and the truth is that Jerusalem has been and will always be the capital of the Jewish people, the capital of the Jewish state”
PLO Chairman – Mahmoud Abbas – didn’t take very long to reply with an outburst against America that seriously questions the fitness of the PLO to resume negotiations with Israel since the PLO walk-out in April 2014:
“What we saw in Jerusalem today was not the opening of an embassy, but the opening of an American settlement outpost. Before we had settlement outposts with American help, but today we have an American settlement outpost in East Jerusalem.”
The rift between Trump and Abbas just continues to widen.
Not content with this salvo – Abbas claimed that the United States:
“has removed itself from the political work in the Middle East as a mediator. It’s no longer an arbiter,”
President Trump would not take kindly to this latest rejection by the PLO of America’s decades-old role as sole mediator in any negotiations aimed at resolving a dispute that has gone on for 100 years.
For Israel – it was just the latest shot in a litany of lies that had its genesis in the 1964 Charter of the PLO – subsequently revised in 1968 – which still remain unamendeddespite false claims to the contrary.
The 1964 Charter had stated in Article 24:
“This Organisation does not exercise any regional sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or the Himmah Area. Its activities will be on the national popular level in the liberational, organisational, political and financial fields.”
Yet the 1968 Charter deleted this clause after Jordan and Egypt’s 19 years-occupation of these territories was ended in 1967.
The PLO had suddenly discovered an inalienable right to regional sovereignty in every square meter of these areas. Amazingly this claim has been swallowed hook line and sinker by the United Nations.
Such a recent claim is certainly novel and now must be weighed against Israel’s claim – whose roots in these territories were established 3000 years ago and can be visibly verified in 2018.
The biggest PLO lies are contained in Article 20 of the 1968 Charter:
“The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine, and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void. Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong.”
These lies have driven the PLO campaign to wipe Israel off the face of the map rather than negotiate a division of former Palestine where sovereignty in 78% is already vested in Jordan and 17% in Israel – the last 5% still remaining unallocated between Arabs and Jews
These PLO lies should have been shredded decades ago. They have proved to be the greatest obstacle to peace between Israel and the PLO.
David Singer is a Sydney Lawyer and Foundation Member of the International Analysts Network
Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article—is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators – whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed athttp://drybonesblog.blogspot.co.il/
Leon,
If you are OZ I apologize for NZ, very socialist leader.
OZ only one not to go with the UNHRC. Recently.
Britain supported Israelis on a Gaza, thank God they are brexiting.
Richard Kemp ex commander of British forces tweeted that Jacinda Ardern comments about one sided deaths at the Gaza border inferring there should have been more dead Israelis was disgraceful.
Alex, you may not be aware that standing orders in the New Zealand military mandate
strict body counts of deceased New Zealand combatants BEFORE any New Zealand forces are permitted to return fire. Moreover, enemy casualties occasioned by NZ return fire must not exceed the number of NZ casualties. New Zealand parades this rule to show that not only do they have the most moral prime minister in the world, but also the most moral military.
Oh Ardern, thy name is hypocrisy!
David,
These lies should have been drawn to the attention of all governments repeatedly (perhaps they were), but as for the PLO altering its charter, it would have made no difference to their intention, policy or activities.
To the Arab ‘Palestinians”, charters, undertakings, agreements, understandings are mere vapours with no binding force whatsoever.
Only Israel’s continuing resistance in the long term will convince them of the futility of their dreams.
President Trump, on behalf of the USA, has begun the process of rehabilitating the “Palestinians” from their addiction to the opiate of the dream of erasing Israel, complementing Israel’s efforts in this regard.