UN Passes Five Resolutions That Show Their Support to the Palestinian Cause; Israel Suspends Contacts with European Union Bodies Involved in Peace Efforts with the Palestinians

UN Passes Five Resolutions In Favor Of Palestine

The resolutions endorse the return to peace talks, denouncing settlements in disputed East Jerusalem and in support of the work of the UN Committee fighting for the rights of the Palestinian people.

November 30, 2015

IMEMC News - The overwhelming majority of General Assembly of the United Nations, Wednesday, voted on five draft resolutions in favor of Palestine. The decision comes after the Assembly discussed the two articles, “the Palestinian Cause” and “the Conditions in the Middle East.”

According to Al Ray, the first resolution was entitled, “Using Amicable Methods to Resolve the Palestinian Cause”. The voting results were 148 in favor to 6 against, with 8 abstentions.

The second resolution regarding “Jerusalem” passed with 144 votes in favor to 6 against, and 10 abstentions. The third resolution was entitled, “The Informational Program about the Palestinian Cause”, which is being handled by the administration of media affairs in the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and passed with 147 votes in favor to 7 against, and 9 abstentions.

The fourth resolution was entitled “Committee for Palestinians Right to Exercise Ownership of Their Inalienable Rights.” The voting results were 94 in favor to 7 against, with 56 abstentions. The last resolution, entitled, “The Section of Palestinians Rights in the Secretary-General of UN”, passed with 91 votes in favor to 7 against, with 59 abstentions.

After the voting process, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, gave a speech to show his gratitude and thanks to the member countries of the UN for their initial stand, and their votes in favor of the resolutions that show their support to the Palestinian cause.

Mansour added that the international community represented by the United Nations’ protection of international law is a source of comfort and support to the Palestinian people. It will help them in their continuing journey of resisting and striving to maintain their inalienable rights, and bringing an end to the Israeli occupation, which will liberate the state of Palestine and its capitol of East Jerusalem, and fulfill the two-state solution.

The ambassador also affirmed the importance of the resolutions approved by the UN concerning Palestine, saying that what affects the credibility of the United Nations is not as some claim, the adoption of these resolutions but the nonexistence of a necessary political will to force Israel to show respect to these resolutions and apply it.

Israel to review EU Palestinian projects in settlement goods feud

November 30, 2015

Reuters - Israel threatened on Monday to review its cooperation with European Union projects that benefit Palestinians in the West Bank, citing the bloc's labeling of exports from Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied territory.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that Israel was suspending its contacts with European Union bodies involved in peace efforts with the Palestinians, condemning the EU guidelines on settlement products published on Nov. 11.

With talks on Palestinian statehood frozen since 2014, there seemed to little peace diplomacy for this decision to affect.

But the EU decision that goods produced in settlements be marked as such rather than "Made in Israel" touched a nerve in Netanyahu's right-wing government, which has long decried efforts by the BDS - boycott, divestment and sanctions - movement to isolate Israel over policies towards Palestinians.


Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon seemed to expand the scope of Israel's steps against the EU, a major donor to the Palestinian Authority that exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank, by saying it could be frozen out of some initiatives aimed at bettering Palestinian lives.

"It is true that there is no peace process ... but the European Union wants to be involved in a variety of projects, some of them ... regarding Palestinian welfare," he said.

"With all those projects, we will need to re-examine whether it is feasible to consider the European Union as a partner while it is using measures of discrimination and boycott against the State of Israel."

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki called the Israeli move a "stupid threat" that he said exposed arrogance and enmity towards the EU.

The Israeli foreign ministry made clear that contacts with individual EU countries - it named Germany, France and Britain - would not be affected by the move against EU projects with Palestinians.

In a sign that the Israeli move stopped short of any boycott of officials representing the bloc as a whole, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday in Paris, on the sidelines of the global climate conference.

"EU-Israel relations are good, broad and deep and this will continue," a European Commission spokeswoman told reporters in Brussels while announcing the meeting had taken place.

The spokeswoman played down the labeling decision as merely the implementation of an existing policy already being enforced by some EU states.


It would be difficult for Israel to block funding for EU projects in towns and villages under Palestinian Authority control, but plans for the West Bank's "Area C", where the Israeli military is solely in charge, could be another matter.

The bloc has set aside 10 million euros for housing and other projects for Palestinians in Area C and Israel has to approve or turn down such ventures. Some 100 initiatives are in the pipeline, with only a handful ratified so far.

The EU regards Israeli settlements on land Israel captured in a 1967 war, which Palestinians seek for a future state, as illegal under international law. Israel has accused the bloc of a double standard, saying the EU was not taking similar steps in other territorial conflicts elsewhere in the world.

Israel's economy ministry estimated the new labeling would affect goods worth about $50 million a year, including grapes and dates, wine, poultry, honey, olive oil and cosmetics made from Dead Sea minerals.

That is around a fifth of the $200-$300 million worth of goods produced in settlements each year, but a small fraction of the $30 billion of goods and services traded annually between Israel and the European Union.

After the labeling decision was announced, some factory owners in West Bank settlements said their Palestinian workers would be most harmed by any drop in business since jobs were hard to find in the area.

An Israeli businessman who owns three factories in a West Bank industrial zone told Reuters the effect of the labeling would be minor and the products' quality, not their origin, would determine if they would sell abroad.

"Whoever wants to buy our products, will buy our products," said the businessman, who gave his name only as Zvi.

Netanyahu and Abbas shake hands for the first time in 5 years — then try to take it back

November 30, 2015

Washington Post - For two guys who are always saying how much they really want to get together and talk, they rarely meet.

But on Monday at the opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shook hands -- for the first time in five years.

It was also the first time in five years the two neighbors met face to face.

When Netanyahu is not weekending at his beach house in Caesarea or Abbas resting at his hilltop villa in Amman, the two antagonists live about 10 miles apart.

Their last handshake occurred in September 2010. That was two "peace processes" ago, when the leaders parlayed at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Those talks fizzled.

During Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s nine months of talks, the two leaders never met. Those talks collapsed, too, in another round of bitter recriminations.

Israeli news and social media were filled with images of the two gripping hands during the “family” portrait taken of world leaders at the beginning of the conference. Palestinian news sites also carried the photo, but much less so.

Israelis and Palestinians might not have immediately recognized the man who appears in the middle of the photograph. He is Ikililou Dhoinine, president of the island nation of Comoros.

At first, Netanyahu’s office chose not to highlight the meeting, briefing reporters instead on the prime minister’s separate sideline chats with Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Obama.

After the photo of the apparent ice-breaking began to circulate, the prime minister issued a statement explaining himself.

"I am in the group photo, there is a protocol. It is important that the world see that we are always ready to talk," Netanyahu said. "But on the other side, I have no illusions about Abu Mazen," everyone's nickname for Abbas.

Netanyahu went on to say that he told Obama that Abbas is inciting terror and spreading lies about Israel's intentions at a holy site in Jerusalem.

"President Obama told me that he intends to discuss this with Abu Mazen, that he agrees with me that this must stop."

It didn't end nicely, after all.

A few hours after the handshake, Abbas urged the world leaders to protect Palestinians from Israel.

“Our resources are being usurped, our trees are being uprooted, our agriculture is being destroyed,” Abbas said.

Palestinian assailants with knives, guns and vehicles have killed at least 19 Israelis in a wave of violence over the last two months. Almost 100 Palestinians have been killed, either at the scenes of attacks or in violent demonstrations. In some cases, Palestinians charge protesters and others were killed in summary executions.