Israeli land grab bill a dangerous move

It is astonishing that the international community has shown total impotence in solving the Palestinian issue despite repeated taunting and violations by rogue state Israel, a UAE paper regretted.

''In yet another snub to the world community, Israeli lawmakers have voted to advance a bill legalising some 4,000 colony homes in the occupied West Bank despite international criticism and warnings over its implications. Israel’s move to adopt the bill is nothing but a step towards eventual annexation of most of the West Bank,'' wrote The Gulf Today in its editorial on Friday.

''All that Washington, which repeatedly preaches about freedom and virtues to other nations, has done is to reiterate "concerns"

over the bill, calling the legislation "profoundly damaging," the paper said.

''UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, had earlier cautioned that if adopted, the bill would have far-reaching legal consequences for Israel and greatly diminish the prospect of Arab-Israeli peace. He insisted that all settlement activities are illegal under international law and run counter to the position of the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East comprising the UN, Russia, the United States and the European Union that settlements are one of the main obstacles to peace,'' the Sharjah-based daily remarked.

Incidentally, it added, the bill was advanced despite warning from Israel’s own Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit that he would not be able to defend it before the courts and that it would violate both Israeli and international law.

Just last week, the paper noted, the UAE called on the international community to end the suffering of the Palestinian people and save the two-state solution by putting an end to the occupation. Jamal Al Musharakh, Deputy Permanent Representative of the UAE Mission to the UN, quoted a message of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in which he stressed continued support of the UAE government and its people to the struggle of the Palestinians to realise their legitimate aspirations to establish an independent sovereign state. He also highlighted the distressing fact that the settlers continued to exercise violence against the Palestinian people.

Israel, the paper continued, should be forced to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes and properties, confiscation of land, forcible deportation of Palestinians, use of excessive force and illegal detentions of innocent people, including women and children.

''The only way out is for the international community to work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the borders of June 1967, with its capital in East Jerusalem, according to the international legitimate resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Madrid Principles,'' The Gulf Today concluded.