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 Obama sweeps “inconvenient” UN resolutions 
			regarding occupied Jerusalem under the carpet  By By Stuart Littlewood
 Rerdress, July 29, 2008
 
 Stuart Littlewood calls on Senator Barack Obama “to stop trying 
			to reframe the situation in the Holy Land by sweeping inconvenient 
			UN resolutions under the carpet, and end the arms supply and other 
			huge subsidies" to the Middle East's greatest terrorist regime, 
			Israel.
 
 Excuse me, 
			who is this new kid called Obama, who was unknown outside the US 
			five minutes ago but now barges 
			into the Holy Land announcing that 
			it's OK for Israel to grab the hallowed City of Jerusalem and turn 
			it into the permanent headquarters of the Zionist regime?
 
 Jerusalem "will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain 
			undivided," he told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee 
			(AIPAC).
 Realizing his gaffe, he moderated the tone slightly by telling 
			CNN: "Well, obviously, it's going to be up to the parties to 
			negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of 
			those negotiations... And I think that it is smart for us to work 
			through a system in which everybody has access to the extraordinary 
			religious sites in Old Jerusalem, but that Israel has a legitimate 
			claim on that city." A legitimate claim? How does he figure that? The Old City belongs 
			to Palestinian East Jerusalem, which should tell Mr Obama something.
 The trouble with Obama and many other Americans is that they know 
			diddly-squat. Worse, this one has “adviser” Dennis Ross whispering 
			in his ear. Ross was the architect of the failed US-inspired Middle 
			East peace process. Ross co-founded the AIPAC-sponsored Washington 
			Institute for Near East Policy. He was also part of Paul Wolfowitz's 
			Policy Planning team at the US State Department, which included 
			people like Scooter Libby. So, it was obvious to everyone where he 
			was coming from.
 
 Obama, like others labouring under the yoke of the “unbreakable 
			bond” with Israel, talks of negotiations. What is there to 
			negotiate? The UN decided it all long ago.
 
				
					| UN Resolution 181 of 
					1947, dealing with the Partition that Israel accepted, 
					declares that "the City of Jerusalem shall be established as 
					a corpus separatum under a special international regime and 
					shall be administered by the United Nations. The Trusteeship 
					Council shall be designated to discharge the 
					responsibilities of the Administering Authority on behalf of 
					the United Nations. The City of Jerusalem shall include the 
					present municipality of Jerusalem plus the surrounding 
					villages and towns, the most eastern of which shall be Abu 
					Dis; the most southern, Bethlehem; the most western, 'Ein 
					Karim (including also the built-up area of Motsa); and the 
					most northern Shu'fat..." 
 Resolution 242 (1967) by the Security 
					Council and therefore fully binding...
 
 1. Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles 
					requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in 
					the Middle East which should include the application of both 
					the following principles:
 (i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories 
					occupied in the recent conflict; (ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency 
					and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, 
					territorial integrity and political independence of every 
					State in the area and their right to live in peace within 
					secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts 
					of force; 2. Affirms further the necessity (a) For guaranteeing freedom of navigation through 
					international waterways in the area; (b) For achieving a just settlement of the refugee 
					problem; (c) For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and 
					political independence of every State in the area, through 
					measures including the establishment of demilitarized zones. |  Israel quibbles over interpretation of the wording – they would 
			wouldn't they? – but it's crystal clear to everyone else. 
				
					| Security Council Resolution 
					338 (1973) calls on the parties concerned to start 
					immediately the implementation of Security Council 
					Resolution 242 (1967) in all of its parts. 
 Security Council Resolution 446 
					(1979)  "determines that the policy and practices of Israel 
					in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other 
					Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity 
					and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a 
					comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East... 
					Calls once more upon Israel, as the occupying Power, to 
					abide scrupulously by the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, to 
					rescind its previous measures and to desist from taking any 
					action which would result in changing the legal status and 
					geographical nature and materially affecting the demographic 
					composition of the Arab territories occupied since 1967, 
					including Jerusalem, and, in particular, not to transfer 
					parts of its own civilian population into the occupied Arab 
					territories.
 |  So there you have it, Mr Obama. The UN has set it out. We're 
			simply waiting for implementation. The longer the wait the uglier 
			the unrest can become. The rocketing of Sderot, for example, can be 
			traced to America's failure to implement.
 I hear you are the US Democrats' presidential candidate presumptive, 
			Mr Obama. Congratulations. It goes without saying that you need 
			Israel lobby funds to fuel your bid for ultimate power in the 
			world's most stupidly expensive electoral system, but do please try 
			not to make daft promises.
 
 The best thing any new US president can do is quit meddling, stop 
			trying to reframe the situation in the Holy Land by 
			sweeping inconvenient UN resolutions under the carpet, and end the 
			arms supply and other huge subsidies to the region's greatest 
			terrorist regime.
 
 By the way, Mr Obama, did you enjoy your stay at Jerusalem's King 
			David Hotel? When you checked in, were you aware that it used to 
			be the British headquarters and the Irgun terror gang blew it up in 
			1946, murdering 91 people? The Irgun, which declared war on the 
			British mandate government while we were still fighting Nazi 
			Germany, was commanded by wanted terrorist Menachem Begin, who later 
			became Isreal's prime minister.
 
 I trust you slept well.
 
 One last thing: you said in Berlin: "When you, the German people, 
			tore down that wall – a wall that divided East and West; freedom and 
			tyranny; fear and hope – walls came tumbling down around the world." 
			On your next visit would you mind, please, persuading your steadfast 
			friend Israel to tear down its Separation Wall, as instructed by the 
			International Court of Justice... you know, the wall that divides 
			Palestinian communities from each other and from freedom and hope, 
			prevents farmers reaching their land... the wall that has little to 
			do with security and everything to do with permanently annexing 
			more territory and strategic water resources?
 
 
 *Stuart Littlewood is 
				author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight 
				of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information 
				please visit 
				www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk
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