Flogging a Dead Horse:

The Outcome of UN’s Anti-Israel Resolution Is Already Decided

Rasa - For the first time in 36 years, the United Nations Security Council has passed a “non-binding” resolution criticizing Israel’s illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories!

News ID: 426035

Date: 25 December 2016 - 22:28

RNA - The positive: The world body calls them an obstacle to the two-state solution and is calling on Israel to reverse the expansions of the settlements. The long-overdue, necessary and important vote was unanimous, 14-0, with only the United States abstaining.

According to US Ambassador Samantha Power, however, abstaining from the vote was in keeping with long-standing US policy, saying that they agreed with the language of the resolution, and that’s why they didn’t veto it. She also railed against the United Nations in general for not being sufficiently pro-Israel, saying the legitimacy of the UN is at stake in allowing such resolutions.

The negative: The “historic” resolution is non-binding and a fruitless effort; it will not bring justice to Palestine, much less end the expansions of the illegal settlements. Israeli and US leaders will not be criminally prosecuted for committing, aiding and abetting the settlement-settler crimes either.

This particular endeavour sustained applause within the Security Council. But it’s still a waste of time as the outcome is already decided. It will not effect any of Israeli policies. They will continue with the expansion of illegal settlements, irrespective of what the UN vote says – in flagrant violation of international law, namely the Fourth Geneva Convention.

That explains why the United States abstained from the vote, choosing not to use its veto in a break with the country’s long-standing foreign policy towards Israel. As maintained by its ambassador, the vote has no legal validity and the UN can't do a damn thing about it.

For as long as this is the case, the US will continue to stand in the way of any “binding” resolution against Israel. In fact, the US is so committed to the “security” of Israel that it has even destroyed Syria to make sure it will never pose any existential threat to Washington’s one and only “special ally” in the Middle East.

It’s a painful reality. Since the inception of the UN, the US has also consistently vetoed resolutions on Israel. According to Security Council Report, the US has vetoed 30 resolutions on issues pertaining to the region, including a 2011 resolution which similarly criticised the illegal settlements.

And that’s not all. Since it began in 1962, American military aid to Israel has amounted to nearly $100 billion. Under a new arrangement, Israel will be receiving some $38 billion in US military aid over the next decade. It comes as the usurper regime continues to aggressively expand illegal settlements of the West Bank and slaughter civilians in Gaza.

A reminder that the United States government bears direct responsibility for the hideous brutality and oppression imposed by Israel on Palestinians through decades of terror and occupation.

It is precisely here that the negative aspects of the Security Council’s resolution outweigh its positive sides. It pays little or no attention to so much irrefutable evidence. The Council votes and condemns, but that’s all really. The endless lip service fails to go any further, much less turn into any meaningful policy to end the Palestinian suffering.

As is, the United Nations – just like the United States government - is in many ways deeply complicit in Israeli war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity - as defined in the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court. This complicity comes mainly through silence, inaction and non-binding resolutions (on the part of the UN) and military-financial aid and diplomatic support (on the part of the US government).

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