The relationship between Israel and Palestine is no
better at the end of 2012 than it was at the start. Israel continued with its,
illegal, settlement program in the West Bank, forcing Palestinians off their
land. The Israelis suffered two major defeats at the UN this year, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) voted by a very wide
margin to allow Palestinian membership of the club. Naturally Israel and the US
voted against, but only 12 other nations joined them whilst 52 abstained and
107 voted to allow it membership. On the 29th of November the UN
took a vote on whether to upgrade Palestine to “non-member observer state”, a
title also held by the Vatican. The vote went even better for Palestine, 138
nations voted for the measure whilst 41 abstained and only nine nations voted
against.
The relationship between Israel and Gaza, the thin strip
of land bordering Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, flared up again
after Israel assassinated Ahmed Jabari, a leading member of Hamas. The ensuing
attack and counter-attack resulted in hundreds of deaths (nearly all of which
were on the Palestinian side) and there were fears that Israel was going to
launch a ground invasion of Gaza. Thankfully a deal was brokered between the
two, but a lasting ceasefire is a long way off.
In my opinion, the only way that this conflict will ever
get sorted is if the UN gives Palestine full recognition. The US and Israel claim
that this will make relations more difficult, but their point doesn’t make much
sense. How can a deal really be reached when Israel is on a higher footing than
Palestine, until both sides are even a deal will not be reached. The votes in
the UN show that Israel is losing international support, Israel kills many more
civilians than Palestine, Israel constantly breaks UN rules; most notably the
settlements. I do appreciate that Israel is surrounded by hostile neighbours,
but treating the Palestinians the way they do only weakens support for Israel
in Europe and around the world. If Israel truly wants deal, they should start
negotiating with the Palestinian leaders.
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