Lobby Watch 14 January 2013
The UK-based Israel lobby group BICOM is promoting a new paper by former Israeli negotiator and Geneva Initiative participant Shaul Arieli on “Why Settlements have not Killed the Two-State Solution.”
In two similar op-eds for The Huffington Post and The Telegraph, BICOM staff Toby Greene and Alan Johnson summarized Arieli’s argument, namely, that it is a “myth” that “the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is closing the door on a two-state solution by making it impossible to implement on the ground.”
But search both articles in vain for any mention of international law. So, a quick reminder:
“The policy of Israel in establishing settlements in the occupied Arab territories has no legal validity and constitutes a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention…” United Nations Security Council Resolution 452
“The participating High Contracting Parties… reaffirm the illegality of the settlements in the said territories and of the extension thereof.” Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, 2001
“The Court concludes that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have been established in breach of international law.” The International Court of Justice, 2004
“Israel’s policy of settling its civilians on occupied land violates the Fourth Geneva Convention and is considered a war crime, according to the statute of the International Criminal Court.” Amnesty International
It seems BICOM has an international law problem. The head of the lobby group’s propaganda initiative “We Believe in Israel” has argued against the settlements’ illegality in a letter to the General Secretary of Unite trade union, while elsewhere, he dismissed international law as merely “the viewpoint of the UN” which has “an entrenched anti-Israel majority.”
However, BICOM’s whitewashing of war crimes aside, their focus isn’t really the settlements per se. Greene warns of “giving encouragement to opponents of the two-state solution on both sides,” and “in particular … encourag[ing] those Palestinians who think that the tide of international opinion will swing behind a one-state solution.” Johnson talks of a “hard-Right” dreaming “of a Greater Israel” and “the far-Left” dreaming “of a ‘state for all its citizens’ between the river and the sea.”
BICOM exists to lobby for Israel in the UK – it is unlikely, for all the talk of “both extremes,” that they need to invest much energy in challenging the Zionist “hard-Right.” Rather, their target is supporters of decolonization and democratization through a one-state solution.
In 2011, their then-chief executive Lorna Fitzsimons announced that BICOM would be “launching the progressive case for Israel and driving the campaign for the Left to support it as a Jewish state.” The following year, BICOM published a series of essays on “Israel’s democratic futures,” Johnson wrote a long essay attacking the one-state solution, and a new BICOM-run journal was launched to fight back against the “swaths of Western elite opinion [who] now believe that the two-state solution is dead, and that a single Arab-majority state will be the inevitable outcome.”
In other words, BICOM is desperately trying to defend the existence of a Jewish state within the framework of a two-state solution. Ironically, about a year ago, the author of their new paper, Shaul Arieli, expressed the nightmare of apartheid’s apologists with refreshing frankness: “the principle of equality would spell the end of the Zionist idea.”
Comments
(He means we defend 1:1 land
Permalink Alan Johnson replied on
(He means we defend 1:1 land swaps as part of a two-state solution. But 'war crimes' sounds better.) Fave bit: "BICOM is desperately trying to defend the existence of a Jewish state within the framework of a two-state solution." No shit, Sherlock!
Selective vision
Permalink Asa Winstanley replied on
Mr Johnson seems not to have read the whole thing. Let me make it simple for him: “Israel’s policy of settling its civilians on occupied land violates the Fourth Geneva Convention and is considered a war crime, according to the statute of the International Criminal Court.” Fact.
Luke Akehurst, the head of
Permalink Yael Kahn replied on
Luke Akehurst, the head of the lobby group’s propaganda initiative “We Believe in Israel”, who is a Labour councillor in Hackney Council in north London, was lobbying it to prevent a local resident and No2VAG spokesperson, Caroline Day, from delivering a 5 minutes speech against Veolia's bid for £4.7 Billion contracts.
His intervention indeed silenced Ms Day on 21st November, but backfired spectacularly. No doubt it contributed to Veolia's sudden withdrawal from the colossal $7.5 Billion contracts on 21 December, just one month later.
The local Hackney media was appalled by BICOM's Akehurst intervention. See for example this editorial: "Hackney Council’s reasons for preventing a resident speak at a council meeting are puzzling and perhaps disingenuous" http://hackneycitizen.co.uk/20...
In another paper: "Mr Lewis said there was no lobbying as councillors he approached were “thinking the same” as him, but he believes Cllr Akehurst’s role was “fundamental”." http://www.hackneygazette.co.u...
Our campaign, No2VAG, shows that even a small but dedicated group fighting against well resourced bodies can win. It took us 2 years of campaigning against Veolia, the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) and the fight was across 7 London boroughs as well as opposition of all sorts, including BICOM.
In the end we won:
"Best Christmas Present Ever for anti-Veolia campaigners" http://www.hackneygazette.co.u...