Last week, a bipartisan coalition of
US senators introduced a measure that seeks to repeal the United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) resolution passed last month that labels Israeli
settlements illegal and calls for a complete halt to all construction in the
West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Obama Administration
refused to veto the resolution, allowing it to pass in a move that infuriated
Israel.
Co-sponsored by Senators Chuck Schumer
(NY-D), Ben Cardin (MD-D) and Marco Rubio (FL-R), the Senate resolution
condemns the UN motion as “anti-Israel,” calling for it to be “repealed or
fundamentally altered.” The proposal
also calls for the US to reject efforts made by outside parties to impose a
solution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it demands the US ensure no
action is taken at the Paris peace conference (January 15).
Expressing support for a 2-state
outcome, the text declared that any final-status resolution to the conflict needs
to be settled through talks between the parties. The UN was not an appropriate venue for making
progress on the issue, said Senate Minority Leader Schumer, one of the most
prominent Jewish members of Congress and a fierce Israel supporter. “Since the days of ‘Zionism is racism,’ the
UN has been a fervently anti-Israel body and, unfortunately, that bias has
never diminished,” he said in a statement.
“Knowing this, past administrations — both Democrat and Republican —
have protected Israel from the vagaries of this biased institution.” “Unfortunately, by abstaining on United
Nations Resolution 2334, this administration has not followed in that path.” he
added. “This Senate resolution reaffirms
that peace must come through direct negotiations in order to achieve a
sustainable two-state solution.” Schumer’s
Republican colleague Rubio echoed a similar sentiment. “Efforts to delegitimize Israel have been
underway a long time at the United Nations and have now sadly been aided by the
outgoing administration,” he said. “But
the time has come to turn back the tide and renew America’s commitment to the
Jewish state.”
UNSC Resolution 2334 was passed by a
vote of 14-0 following a US abstention on December 23, a decision that
effectively allowed the motion through. The
text calls for an end to all building in areas Israel gained after the 1967 Six
Day War, territory that includes the Old City, with the Temple Mount and Western
Wall. It also calls on all states “to
distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel
and the territories occupied since 1967.”
Israel fears such language will lead
to an uptick in boycott and sanctions efforts, and Israeli officials have
warned it will provide a “tailwind for terror.”
Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, voiced criticism that the resolution impedes an
already stalled peace process. The
resolution, he said, is “a one-sided text that makes direct negotiations for a
two-state solution more challenging.” “Going
forward,” he added, “Congress will take action against efforts at the UN, or
beyond, that use Resolution 2334 to target Israel.”
Nineteen other senators have already
signed on to support the resolution, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell (KY-R), John McCain (AR-R), Richard Blumenthal (CT-D), Bob Casey (PA-D),
Chris Coons (DE-D), John Cornyn (TX-R), Tom Cotton (AR-R), Joe Donnelly (IN-D)
and Lindsey Graham (SC-R).
A House vote on a similar resolution
is expected to pass.
Listen Congress: Mindful that the US
is the financial source of about 1/3 of the UN’s budget, and since money talks,
immediately stop our federal dollars from going to the UN … until UNSC Resolution
2334 is repealed.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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