In Praise of the UN Resolution On Jerusalem

GUEST COLUMNIST BY ISSA AREMU 

Predictably my reflection entitled “Donald Trump; Israeli’s Friend or Foe?” in the THISDAY edition of December 13, 2017 following Donald Trump’s infamous unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel elicited scores of binary on-line responses; “for” and “against” Israel. Predictably because, no country on the planet has painfully polarized humanity vertically and horizontally like Israel. It is either “for” or “against,” “Left or right”, Zionist or anti-Zionist, doves or hawks…” Of course old prejudices hardly give way, but I must confess it beats imagination that some old prejudices had made a jaundiced lot in Nigeria.

It is a sad commentary that the age long, Palestinian/Israeli question has further exposed the underbelly of Nigeria’s fault (sorry; false) lines of faiths while putting to task our sense of justice and solidarity. The good news is that the international community is increasingly less “sentimental” with Middle East crisis.

On the contrary, the world is pragmatic and realistic to judge all parties based their genuine commitment to sustainable and just peace in the region. President Trump has conclusively demonstrated his ability to stand the acid test, as Israel’s enemy (not necessarily friendly as he postures!). He more than anybody turned an unprecedented tide against the state of Israel through his reckless Jerusalem policy. It is increasingly self- evident that global Solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians is a major commitment in many countries. Nigeria last Thursday commendably joined 127 other countries to back a UN resolution, which effectively called on the U.S. to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Togo (politically imploded with a renegade President!) was the only African country that voted against the resolution. A total of 128 countries approved the non-binding (but morally weighty) resolution. Nine countries reportedly voted against it, 21 did not turn up to vote, while 35 abstained. Other eight that voted against the resolution were the U.S., Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau. Apart from US, the remaining seven are appendages of America. Four permanent Security Council members, namely China, France, Russian Federation and the United Kingdom voted in support of the resolution . Not even the earlier threat of President Donald Trump that the U.S. could withdraw funding for countries backing the resolution deter many to isolate US in the resolution. Between American dollars and justice for the Palestinians majority of the world opted for the latter! The resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly states that any decisions regarding the status of Jerusalem are “null and void” and must be cancelled.

The point cannot be overstated that the status of Jerusalem goes to the heart of Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. Israel occupied the east of the city in the 1967 Middle East war and regards the entire city as its indivisible capital. The Palestinians insist on East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. We must praise the UN historic resolution in solidarity with Palestinian people informed by the knowledge that final status of the historic city is critical and sensitive to the resolution of the crisis.

Worthy of mention is the reaffirmation of UN’s relevant resolutions, including resolution A/RES/72/15 of 30 November 2017 on Jerusalem, resolutions 242 (1967), 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 298 (1971), 338 (1973), 446 (1979), 465 (1980), 476 (1980), 478 (1980), and 2334 (2016). The Resolution goes further to say “Guided by the purpose and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and reaffirming inter alia, the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, Bearing in mind the specific status of the Holy City of Jerusalem and, in particular, the need for the protection and preservation of the unique spiritual, religious and cultural dimensions of the City, as foreseen in the relevant United Nations resolutions,

Stressing that Jerusalem is a final status issue to be resolved through negotiations in line with relevant United Nations resolutions, Expressing in this regard its deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem, Affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council, and in this regard, calls upon all States to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem, pursuant to resolution 478 (1980) of the Security Council; Demands that all States comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the Holy City of Jerusalem, and not to recognize any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions”. It’s time Nigerians took a flight off numerous insular preoccupations from “restructuring” and “petrol shortages” and reflected on injustices in the world.

There was a Nigeria which as a frontline state led the struggle against apartheid/ racist South Africa, supported the legitimate demand of Palestinians for home land and backed the demand of Saharawi for self determination from Moroccan imperialism. We cannot be outraged by the alleged remarks of Donald Trump that Nigerians are prehistoric who live in huts, but excited when same Donald Trump supports his bid to push the Palestinians to the caves through biased and unjust policies in favour of Israel.

An injury to one is an injury to all. Again we must promote literacy of global issues. Following the pogroms of 1880-1881 in Eastern Europe, some Jews moved towards the Holy Land of Jerusalem in nostalgia for their messianic homeland. To the local Arabs, the “return” of Jews after 2000 years of abandonment equalled colonial invasion.
In 1917, the British occupiers confirmed the Arab suspicion when they forcefully took over the Holy Land from Ottoman Empire and gave it out to the Jews to form their homeland under the controversial Balfour Declaration. One forceful land acquisition and land grabbing begets another: from Golan Heights to West bank and Gaza Strip. The seed of endless cycles of violence was planted in 1948 during which the Jews had upper hand in an inter-ethnic war with the Palestinian Arabs.

Even at that following United Nations’ resolution of the conflict, the Zionist founders of Israel state took more lands than the UN allocated them. UN granted the Jews 14,000 square kilometres of territory, but the Jewish military forces actually conquered 20,000 square kilometres, sacked as many as 750,000 Palestinian Arabs and put as many as 100,000 Arabs under their internal colonial control.

It is self evident that Israel is today hunted by its unjust origin of forceful occupation and unfair land acquisitions that is comparable in history only to the discredited apartheid South Africa’s despicable litany of forceful eviction of Africans from their land. (Indeed Zionist Israel collaborated in acts of unjust deeds with apartheid South Africa for as long as the latter was allowed to last by humanity!).
While countries like Nigeria at independence, allowed Cameroon to assume independent status, Israel Jewish state flourished on unsustainable aggression, colonialism and addictive denial of Palestinian autonomy from day one.