Embassy of the State of Palestine

Reuters) - President Barack Obama, issuing a veiled warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the eve of talks, said in an interview published on Sunday it would be harder for Washington to defend Israel against efforts to isolate it internationally if U.S.-led Middle East peace talks fail.

Ministers and officials from East Asian countries as well as other economies and international organizations started a conference in Jakarta on Saturday aimed at discussing ways to assist the Palestinian Authority in building its capacity.

"We look forward to the universal recognition of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state, and as a full member State of the United Nations. We can make this happen if we redouble our efforts to support them in nation and state-building," President Yudhoyono said.

Israeli forces have displayed a callous disregard for human life by killing dozens of Palestinian civilians, including children, in the occupied West Bank over the past three years with near total impunity, said Amnesty International in a report published today.

The report, Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank, describes mounting bloodshed and human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) as a result of the Israeli forces’ use of unnecessary, arbitrary and brutal force against Palestinians since January 2011.

PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, strongly condemned the passing of a new Israeli Knesset bill that was sponsored by MK Yariv Levin of the Likud Party and that explicitly distinguishes between Muslim and Christian Palestinian citizens of Israel. Furthermore, she denounced Knesset’s discussion of a proposal initiated by right-wing MK Moshe Feiglin regarding the extension of Israeli sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque:

“These moves demonstrate that Israel is transforming its military occupation into an outright religious confrontation and an ideological component of official policy as demonstrated in its insistence on the recognition of the ‘Jewishness of the state.’”

The present report is the final report of the current Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk, submitted in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/2 A and Human Rights Council decision 2/102.
In the report, the Special Rapporteur addresses Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the wall in the context of the tenth anniversary of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, and considers the policies and practices of Israel in occupied Palestine in light of the prohibition on segregation and apartheid.
He also addresses concerns in relation to the deterioration of the human rights situation of Palestinians living under the Israeli blockade in the Gaza Strip

Dr. Ashrawi briefed the J Street delegation on the latest political developments, the ongoing negotiations, and Israel’s violations of international law and their impact on prospects for peace and on the region. The discussion also covered issues of mutual concern.

“Israel is willfully sabotoging U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry’s efforts and using the negotiations as a cover to continue with its illegal settlement activities, particularly in and around Jerusalem, and the theft of Palestinian lands and resources, among other violations. For any agreement to succeed, it has to be firmly embedded in international law, and it must safeguard fundamental Palestinian rights, foremost which is the right to self-determination,” stressed Dr. Ashrawi.

Israel’s finance minister made a passionate plea for peace Monday, saying his country must do everything in its power to reach an accord with the Palestinians since the current situation posed a “threat to the future of the state of Israel.”

Yair Lapid, who heads the second largest party in parliament Yesh Atid, told a group of visiting Jewish-American leaders that if current peace talks collapse it will be “nothing less than devastating” to the welfare of Israeli citizens. But beyond risks to the economy, he said failure to establish a Palestinian state would leave Israel facing a demographic threat that could undermine its Jewish and democratic nature.

Following the Knesset debate today, B'Tselem publishes a short FAQ about inequality in the distribution of water between Palestinians and Israelis.

ANY confusion about Israel’s settlements in the West Bank can be easily resolved. There is a file in the office of the Israeli Prime Minister that will do it.
The file would be handy for John Kerry as he attempts to broker a peace. It would help Julie Bishop, who told The Times of Israel on January 15 she’d like to see advice that says settlements are illegal.