What You Won't Hear From Opponents of the U.N. Resolution Condemning Israeli Settlements

What You Won't Hear From Opponents of the U.N. Resolution Condemning Israeli Settlements
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Over the next few days, you’ll hear a lot of buzz words in response to the U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements that the U.S. has abstained from. You’ll hear about the tension between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. You’ll hear vague citations of U.S. policy. You’ll hear the terms anti-Israel and double-standard.

There are a few things, however, that you won’t hear from opponents of this resolution.

You won’t hear that the U.S. has never recognized Israeli settlements in the West Bank as legal, and it has always been U.S. policy that settlements are a barrier to peace.

You won’t hear that while the resolution condemns Israeli settlements, it also condemns terrorism and violence against civilians, as well as “provocations” and “incitement” of violence, a clear recognition of the role played by Palestinian leadership in violence directed towards Israel.

You won’t hear that in a recent poll, 62% of American Jews said they would like the U.S. to either support or abstain from a U.N. resolution condmening Israeli settlements.

You won’t hear that between 2009 and 2014, Israel’s settlement population ballooned 23%, even as the overall population grew just 9.6%.

You won’t hear that settlements are an obvious barrier to any agreement with the Palestinians, and that nobody can make a cogent argument against opposition to settlements while still being in favor of Middle Eastern peace.

You won’t hear that President-elect Trump’s plan to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is an actual break with long-standing U.S. policy and will surely result in Israelis being subjected to more violence.

You won’t hear that under President Obama, fewer Israelis have been killed by Palestinian terrorism than under any president since Ronald Reagan, in large part because of Obama’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security.

You won’t hear that under President Trump, it looks increasingly likely that the prospect of Middle Eastern peace and lasting Israeli security will breathe its final breath.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot