points of view >> The U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood Ameinu ZOA Obama Can Best Resolve Conflict Over Statehood 0 Statehood Vote Affirms Threats Toward Israel T n behalf of Ameinu, the Organization (PLO) offices in he U.N. General Assembly leading progressive Zionist Washington is counterproductive and (UNGA) has voted to make membership organization plays into the hands of those who seek "Palestine" a "non-member in North America, I wish to offer our to destroy the possibility of peace. state" of the U.N. This has done no less views regarding passage of the United than legitimize the two Palestinian Nations resolution in favor of grant- Building Trust regimes that promote terrorism, murder- ing non-member observer status for Ameinu hopes that both sides will ing Jews and Israel's destruction. not use this cease-fire to continue to the Palestinians. The U.N. General How can the world claim to be fighting engage in behaviors that have caused Assembly adopted the resolution on terrorism when it has just declared that mutual distrust. This break Nov. 29 by a vote of 138-9 two terrorist regimes should in hostilities should not be with 41 abstentions. enjoy sovereignty? Our organization has an opportunity for llamas to True, UNGA resolutions rearm itself in Gaza. long been committed are non-binding and have to seeking a negotiated Our hope is that Israel no legal force; only U.N. two-state solution to the would not go forward Security Council resolutions Israeli-Palestinian con- with new building within have legal force. Nonetheless, flict, where Israelis and the disputed territories. the Palestinian movement Palestinians live in peace Immediately following the enjoyed a victory. Why? and security. We hope vote on the U.N. resolution Because this Nov. 29 resolu- passage of the resolution regarding Palestinian state- tion gives aid and comfort Aviva Phillips can become one more hood, the government of to its cause — its actual step toward making that a Israel announced cause of elimi- reality. plans to build nating Israel as At Issue: We see positive aspects to this reso- 3,000 new units in the cor- a sovereign Jewish state, not lution and hope for positive outcomes ridor connecting the settle- its fictitious cause of creating ment of Ma'aleh Adumim and as well. a peaceful Palestinian state In light of the The U.N. resolution reiterates the Jerusalem, known as E-1. alongside Israel. Nov. 29 vote, Palestinian commitment to a two-state Whether this was done to bol- Consider Fatah/Palestinian solution, which should serve as a basis ster support for the Netanyahu Authority (PA.) President what's the next for the resumption of negotiations to government internally or as Mahmoud Abbas' choice of best course of that end. We hope this will serve as a a reaction to the U.N. vote, it language. He falsely called action? catalyst for the United States to more appears as if Israel wanted to the state he professes to wish actively re-engage in pushing the peace punish the Palestinians for to live peacefully alongside process forward. We also hope this will what it deemed a "unilateral "racist" and guilty of creating lead to an end to the conflict, rather action:' As progressive Zionists, we apartheid" and a "colonial occupation:' than rekindle the constant cycle of a cannot support provocative actions on No one makes peace with racism or period of attacks and counter-attacks either side. apartheid or colonial entities — they dis- mantle them. followed by a period of cease-fire. Israel also announced its intention Lastly, we hope this will provide an to stop transferring the tax dollars that Charter Revelations opportunity for all involved to focus Israel collects on behalf of the P.A., more economic resources on the peace- which would leave thousands of work- The horrid irony is that Abbas' cause fits ful activities of building infrastructure ers employed by the P.A. without wages the lurid description he applied to Israel. ... again further weakening its presi- His Fatah party still calls in its constitu- and a flourishing economy rather than dent, Mahmoud Abbas, and in effect tion for the destruction of Israel (Article on the costs of war and defense. strengthening Hamas. Is this how we 13) and the use of terrorism as an essen- Think Peace move toward a negotiated settlement? tial element in the struggle to achieve It is my fervent hope that the Obama that goal (Article 19). Indeed. Hamas, Recognizing that there exists the pos- sibility of negative impacts from this administration will consider this which controls Gaza, a portion of the an appropriate moment for taking territory that Abbas is claiming for state- resolution as well, Ameinu therefore immediate action toward mediating hood, calls in its charter for the destruc- urges both parties to avoid actions that the conflict. I believe that it is vital to tion of Israel (Article 15) and the murder cannot further peace in the region. Israeli, American and global interests of Jews (Article 7). We have called upon the Palestinian to bring about a just and secure peace Senior P.A. officials have clearly insist- Authority (P.A.) not to approach the International Criminal Court in order for Israelis and Palestinians alike. ed that a Palestinian state be Jew-free. To this end, Ameinu has called upon Abbas has said this several times. Nor has to file charges against Israeli officials. the president to actively engage with the PA fulfilled its Oslo Accords obliga- We have called upon the governments both sides to forge a historic agree- tions to dismantle terrorist groups and of Israel and the United States not to punish the P.A. for this diplomatic ment. to end incitement to hatred and murder against Israel in its schools, news media maneuver; rather, the P.A. should be Aviva Phillips of Oak Park is a council and speeches. strengthened and supported by Israel member of Southfield-based Ameinu The Palestinian goal has never been and the U.S. at this time. Punishing the Detroit. She served several terms on the statehood; it has been preventing or P.A. by freezing its funds or threaten- Ameinu national board in New York City. ing to close the Palestine Liberation destroying Jewish statehood. The proof " ❑ 36 December 13 • 2012 is that, whenever offered statehood alongside a Jewish state, in 1937 (Peel Commission), 1947 (U.N. partition plan), 2000 (Barak/Clinton plan) or 2008 (Olmert plan), they turned it down. Sight Lines What then did the P.A. hope to achieve? Broadly, three things: • Statehood without signing peace with Israel and ending the conflict. • U.N. affirmation that all of Judea/Samaria, Gaza and east- ern Jerusalem is "Palestinian" and, where still with an Israeli presence, "occupied" rather than "disputed:' • Enabling continued conflict with Israel with recourse to international organs that such a declaration will facilitate. As Abbas wrote in May 2011 in the New York Times, "Palestine's admission to the United Nations ... would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Court of Justice:' Recent events have con- firmed this Palestinian intention. Several states, reluctant to oppose the Palestinian U.N. bid, implored the P.A. to amend its resolution to indicate it would not pursue legal vendettas against Israel. The P.A. refused. By voting to approve the P.A. as a non-member state, the U.N. has enabled Abbas' Fatah/P.A. to take steps in the direction of all these goals. It has served to delegitimize Israel and demonize Jews living beyond the 1949 armistice lines — even Jews living in the eastern suburbs of Jerusalem and the Old City. It is a step toward a sovereign terror state that will share its longest border with Israel. It may be a prelude to more unrest and violence, not peace. The Obama administration and sev- eral other countries correctly opposed the Palestinian U.N. statehood bid. Now, Congress should legislate a cutoff of all U.S. contributions to any U.N. agency that acknowledges or authorizes Palestinian statehood. The U.S. provides nearly a quarter of the U.N. regular bud- get, which, in turn, funds major U.N. organs. The U.N. can decide if it wants Palestinian "statehood" more than U.S. funding. ❑ Morton Klein is national president of the New York-based Zionist Organization of America.