Nexus - 1602 - New Times Magazine-pages

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GLOBAL NEWS the condition that Israel ease the blockade. The blockade, incidentally, was implemented before Hamas came to power and has nothing to do with Hamas. Long before Hamas began the retaliatory rocket attacks on Israel, Palestinians were facing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza because of the blockade. The former High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, described what was going on in Gaza as destruction of a civilisation. The record shows that for the past 20 or more years, the entire international community has sought to settle the conflict on the June 1967 border with a just resolution of the refugee question. The record shows that in every crucial issue raised at Camp David, and then in Taba, at every single point, all the concessions came from the Palestinians, who have repeatedly expressed a willingness to settle the conflict in accordance with international law. This law is very clear. In July 2004, the highest judicial body in the world, the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ), ruled that Israel has no title to any of the West Bank and any of Gaza. It has no title to Jerusalem. Arab East Jerusalem, according to the ICJ, is Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Court ruled that all the [Israeli] settlements in the West Bank [and Palestinian territory] are illegal under international law. The obstacle is the refusal of Israel, backed by the US government, to abide by international law, to abide by the opinion of the international community. (Source: Edited from Middle East Online, 10 January 2009, www.tinyurl.com/7e9jxn. Norman G. Finkelstein is the author of five books, including Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, Beyond Chutzpah and The Holocaust Industry, which have been translated into more than 40 foreign editions. He is the son of Holocaust survivors. His website is www.Norman Finkelstein.com. This article is an edited extract of Finkelstein's views, given at DemocracyNow.org. ) at Palestinian and Jewish land 1946 4 Palestinian loss of land 1946 to 2000 UN Partition plan 1947 1949 - 1967 Ru “Ti Jewish land d Israeli land i Palestinian land ( Palestinian land “se ISRAEL “se lerusalem@ ISRAEL ISRAEL (Source: Occupation Magazine, January 2005, http:/Avww.kibush.co.il. Occupation Magazine was established in October 2004 by a group of Israeli anti-occupation activists who were disturbed by the growing discrepancy between the grim reality which they observed in the Occupied Territories and the way in which it was (and is) reported in the mainstream media. The editors of Occupation Magazine represent a range of opinions as to the optimal solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but are united in the belief that a viable solution must be based on the unconditional end to the Israeli military occupation and on principles of equality, justice and mutual respect.) NEXUS ¢ 9 FEBRUARY — MARCH 2009 www.nexusmagazine.com