: UN and ICC route is the only option before PLO for statehood 
-DR. ABDUL RUFF

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It is indeed heartening to note that the Palestinians have, at long last, opted for legal means and proper channels to establish state of Palestine by genuinely focusing on UNSC Resolution for that objective. It is indeed noteworthy that the Palestinian Authority headed by President Mahmoud Abbas chose to move the Palestinian cause forward at the United Nations and other international bodies.

Palestinians have got no other credible options. They had enough of armed struggles and bogus talks with Israel on latter’s terms and they can’t afford to fight with a formidable Israeli military that is ably promoted by the Pentagon. In fact, Abbas does not want a massive Israeli retaliation to a new intifada that would wreak havoc on the lives of millions of Palestinians.

In December last, Abbas submitted a resolution to the United Nations Security Council that set a Dec. 31, 2017 deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. Shortly after the resolution’s defeat, Abbas signed the Rome Statute, making the Palestinians eligible to charge Israelis with war crimes in the International Criminal Court (ICC). The resolution was one vote shy of being approved, but Abbas has vowed to go back to the Security Council until it receives the required nine of fifteen votes.

As USA increasingly moves towards total militarism its fascist ally Israel just follows US bloody path. The United States was spared the need to cast its veto when only 8 of the 15 member states voted for the resolution and Nigeria was coerced by Israel to abstain. But as of January 1, the rotation of temporary members shifts in favor of the Palestinians with Jordan remaining and the inclusion of Malaysia and Venezuela; and Abbas plans to take advantage of the new alignment even though there is no reason to believe the US would not veto the measure if the Palestinians were able to line up 9 votes.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that he plans to return to the UN Security Council and re-submit the resolution that was defeated last month. The measure would have put a one-year time limit on talks with Israel and a 2017 deadline for a complete withdrawal of the Israeli presence on land it seized in the 1967 war – land the Palestinians claim for statehood.

The Palestinians have been negotiating with an ultra fanatic fascist state Israel for twenty years for peace and statehood and the prospect of an independent Palestinian state has remained a distant dream. However, they have been stead fast in their efforts. Abbas has, at long last, decided to achieve the statehood by internationalizing the Mideast conflict by bringing the Palestinian case to international bodies and institutions.

On April 1, 2015 Palestine officially becomes an ICC member and Israeli worry is that if PLO approaches the ICC against Israeli war crimes, Israeli leaders would no be able travel abroad. And, therefore, USA and its western allies could manipulate the ICC investigations and drag on for years before issuing a verdict, and oftentimes such investigations never go beyond an initial phase of “preliminary examinations.”   

At one time Palestine public doubted the seriousness of an essentially pro-West Abbas as he was playing the ball for US-Israeli terror twins, trying all tricks to sabotage the talks.  Abbas is keen to achieve the   goal the founder of PLO Yasser Arafat had set but could realize it during his life time and he is deeply distressed that most Palestinians feel sad that he has not brought his people any closer to ending the Israeli occupation and achieving statehood. Moreover, the Palestinian public asks Abbas for going to international bodies for justice.

Abbas is aware that he would be held responsible by Israel and USA for any violent escalation and for which he could also be poisoned too. Abbas was a witness to Israeli forces destroying much of then-Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah that left Arafat with very limited space in which to take refuge, in retaliation for the violent intifada Israel believed Arafat was instrumental in fomenting. Abbas certainly does not want this to happen again. The UNSC does not question Israel. 

As Israel seeks bogus negotiations only to attack the Gaza strip during the talks, Palestinians are indeed fed up, even afraid of, negotiating with Israel without any preconditions, such as a settlements freeze or the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinians now know that for sure any agitational method would not achieve an end to the Israeli military occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state especially when world's unilateral super power stands behind the Zionist criminal regime that attacks Gaza strip to kill innocent civilians, mainly the children.  A proper legal way by UNSC route alone can they achieve the objective. But America can continue to play its dirty veto tricks as before to shield a criminal regime in Mideast, negatively impacting peace in the region and worldwide.

However, the blood sucking Americans and Israelis need to understand they are deliberately harming peace in the world.  It seems Israel shares the UNSC veto with USA, illegally.

Meanwhile, a leading Palestinian pollster believes the same conditions that preceded the Second Intifada in 2000 exist today lacking only the “trigger” that would ignite widespread violence. Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, Dr. Khalil Shikaki of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah explained the bleak picture that has emerged since last summer’s war between Israel and Hamas. In the aftermath of the rutal confrontation, sentiments on the Palestinian street – including Gaza and the West Bank -- have shifted toward majority support for Hamas and its leader, Ismail Haniyyeh, over the Palestinian Authority/Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas. Also since the war at least a plurality of Palestinians believe that the violence identified with Hamas is more effective against Israel than the PA’s negotiations. According to Shikaki, if elections were held today, Haniyyeh would be a clear winner over Abbas.  Israel is looking for some excuses to delay the settlement of Palestine issue.

World must understand the complex web of American deceit aimed at luring the American people and the rest of the world into accepting a military solution which threatens the future of humanity.

The Palestinian Authority announced that its first foray into the International Criminal Court at The Hague will be cases accusing Israel of war crimes committed during its 52-day war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip last summer and allegations of criminal activity regarding Israel’s use of post-1967 land.  Israel has struck back by withholding tax and tariff revenue it collects for the Palestinian Authority but warns other measures will be forthcoming including filing suits against Palestinian leaders.

Israel continues to control economy of Palestine by collecting taxes form Palestinian territories and using it as a key tool to control PLO.  USA and EU add more resources to Tel Aviv, making Israel ruthless against Palestinians.


UN generally passes essentially meaningless resolutions without timetable and USA-Israeli fascist twins do not want Abbas to specify any timetable for resolution of the conflict so that nothing changes on ground. USA wants Palestinians to leave the issue to Israel to decide on its terms and it may veto any resolution that sets a deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

Israel controls also the media of Palestine and uses pressure and visa tactics to make Palestinians journalists to work for Israeli interests and objected, they are destroyed or at least are made ineffective.   During the latest assault on Gaza, 13 Palestinian journalists were killed by the Israeli army.  These journalists were killed to suppress the truth pertaining to Israeli atrocities. Western journalists holding signs of solidarity were nowhere to be found.

So, whatever the world knows about Palestine is what is fed by anti-Islamic western media for the public consumption.

The outcome of the upcoming Israeli elections on March 17 is unlikely to change the ground reality as every political outfit in Israel is essentially  a fanatic party  that promotes  fascism and shields Zionist crimes. .Yet if a new government headed by Labor party leader Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni is elected, they might push for the same talks perhaps with conditions but there is no guarantee they would take a decision to make Palestine state a reality. Both Herzog and Livni believe it is in Israel’s vital interest to negotiate a two-state solution with the Palestinians and may be willing to freeze settlements, release prisoners or make other significant gestures to get the Palestinian Authority to negotiate. If a more conciliatory Israeli government emerges from those elections that make concrete gestures to Abbas to postpone bringing a case to the court. 

Kerry, however, has not given up and even might try multiple techniques to get the monstrous Israelis and besieged Palestinians back to the negotiating table but so long as he represents Israel and calls Palestinians the problem, nothing tangible would emerge. . The mindset of US-Israel must change first before any peace talks.  

Palestinians have been fed with false hopes several times by US leaders who mediate peace talks as well as the strategists who otherwise support Israeli criminals. Palestinians must, therefore,  cannot afford to waste time in  participating Israeli  bogus talks.

Since the Israeli leaders are known hawkish, only the legal route can help the Palestinians.