A United States plan released this week to resolve the
decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is
“lopsided” and will only entrench occupation, an independent UN
human rights expert said on Friday.
President Donald Trump announced his administration’s ‘Vision for
Peace, Prosperity and a Brighter Future’ at the White House on
Tuesday, which would legalize Israeli settlements in the West
Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel also would be allowed to annex
around 30 per cent of the West Bank.
In response, the UN underlined its longstanding commitment to
realizing a two-State solution, with Israelis and Palestinians
“living side by side in peace and security, within recognized
borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines.”
However, what the US plan offers is “a one and half state
solution”, according to Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian
territory.
“This is not a recipe for a just and durable peace but rather
endorses the creation of a 21st century Bantustan in the Middle
East”, he said, referring to the homelands established for black
South Africans during the apartheid era.
“The Palestinian statelet envisioned by the American plan would
be scattered archipelagos of non-contiguous territory completely
surrounded by Israel, with no external borders, no control over
its airspace, no right to a military to defend its security, no
geographic basis for a viable economy, no freedom of movement and
with no ability to complain to international judicial forums
against Israel or the United States.”
Mr. Lynk deplored the proposal to legalize Israeli settlements,
and he urged countries to condemn any call to annex Palestinian
territory, which is prohibited under international law.
“This unilateral act undermines the Palestinians’ right to
self-determination, and it threatens to drag the world back to
darker times, when conquest was acceptable, borders could be
redrawn and territorial integrity was regularly undermined”, he
stated.
Under the Trump plan, Jerusalem would remain Israel’s undivided
capital, which, Mr. Lynk called distressing as it “recognizes the
conquest and illegal annexation of East Jerusalem, which remains
occupied territory under international law, as embedded in scores
of United Nations resolutions”.
The rights expert also took issue with proposals that would
prevent Palestinian refugees from returning to their homes in
Israel.
“Nothing in the Trump plan alters the continuing prevalence of
the laws of occupation, the human rights of the Palestinians
under occupation, and the absolute obligation on the
international community to redouble its efforts to achieve a
just, equitable and durable solution on the basis of equal rights
for Palestinians and Israelis alike,” said Mr. Lynk.
“International law remains the Northern Star, the only guide to a
sustainable peace.”
Independent experts’ role
Independent experts and Special Rapporteurs and are appointed by
the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report
back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The
positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are
they paid for their work.
