PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas has pledged that he will submit a resolution to the UN Security Council to make a decision that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank must end within three years.
If the US vetoes the resolution as expected, PNA officials have said Abbas will give the green light for ‘the war of international boycott of Israel’ and hold it accountable at the International Criminal Court.
Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Tuesday that if the US vetoed the Palestinian UN resolution for a timetable to end the Israeli occupation, Palestine would apply for membership to 522 international organisations and statutes.
Erekat added in a statement that Palestine should also seek recognition by EU countries, especially after the new Swedish prime minister’s announcement that his country would recognise Palestine and the British parliament’s vote for the British government to do the same.
‘We have nothing to lose except loss itself,’ Erekat said in the statement. He also pointed out that it was crucial to seek such recognition in the wake of the Israeli assault on Gaza, which he said Israel conducted in order to ‘destroy’ the two-state solution.
The Palestinian leadership must therefore act now, Erekat said.
‘Palestinians refuse to turn the Palestinian Authority, which was created to take them from being under occupation to independence, to a national authority to pay for salaries and security coordination with Israel,’ he added.
Meanwhile, Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian factions will take part in a session of indirect negotiations with the Israel occupation on the 27th October in Cairo at the invitation of Egypt, Hamas deputy leader Mousa Abu Marzouq has reported.
He said that the Palestinians would from the outset demand the opening of a Gaza port and the reopening of the territory’s airport.
The need to ACT NOW is further emphasised by the latest developments. One of these is that Israeli bulldozers demolished three Palestinian homes and three structures used for livestock in al-Tur east of the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Bulldozers of the Beit El settlement municipality were escorted by Israeli forces into al-Tur, where they demolished houses belonging to the al-Zari family, leaving 23 Palestinians homeless.
The Israeli officers first destroyed the main doors of the houses and forcibly evicted residents, homeowner Khader al-Zari reported.
‘Israeli forces broke the main doors, forcibly evicted us and did not allow us to take out furniture or any possessions, but instead gave their workers 30 minutes to take our possessions out of the houses,’ al-Zari said. Several pieces of furniture were still inside the houses as they were demolished, he added.
Al-Zari said the houses and structures were built in the 80s, and that the family had been attempting to obtain the necessary permits and licenses from the Israeli civil administration for years.
He said the family had paid £30,000 for lawyers and engineers in order to escape demolition, ‘but to no avail’.
The occupation remains the occupation and will not change its ways simply because Sweden will recognise Palestine and the British House of Commons has voted to do so.
These decision have set the scene for the struggle to be stepped up and for millions and millions of people all over the world to to be called into action to win international recognition for Palestine by ending the occupation.
The motion must be put down on the UN Security Council and, if carried, the occupation must be ended by action on the ground on the very next day.
If the US or the UK vetos the motion then the trade unions in the US and the UK must organise millions of workers to march, and take strike action in support of Palestine. As well they must impose a 100% world-wide boycott of Israel and all of its products.
The world is waiting for the call to action. The resolution must be put before the UN Security Council without further delay!
