By David Singer ——Bio and Archives--November 11, 2013
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“Let me emphasise that the position of the United States is that we consider now, and have always considered, the settlements to be illegitimate"Abbas would have been squirming at Kerry's use of the word "illegitimate" - rather than the word "illegal" - the term used by Abbas to deny Jews their claimed legal right to live in the West Bank. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - on the other hand - would have been shaking his head in disbelief at Kerry's claim that the United States has "always" considered the settlements to be illegitimate. The word "illegitimate" has several meanings in most dictionaries including - "illegal, unlawful, forbidden by law" - or alternatively - "incorrect, contrary to logic, unsound".
"I think it is absolutely clear to say, number one, that it's been American policy for many years that settlements were illegitimate and it is the continuing goal and highest priority of the Obama administration to keep working toward a two-state solution with both Israelis and Palestinians,""Many years" is clearly not "always". History also incontrovertibly denies Kerry's claim. President Woodrow Wilson said on 3 March 1919:
“I am persuaded that the Allied nations, with the fullest concurrence of our own Government and people, are agreed that in Palestine shall be laid the foundation of a Jewish Commonwealth.”On 30 June 1922 - both Houses of Congress of the United States - then not a member of the League of Nations - unanimously endorsed the following joint resolution - which was signed by President Warren Harding on 21 September 1922:
“Favoring the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled - That the United States of America favors the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which should prejudice the civil and religious rights of Christian and all other non-Jewish communities in Palestine, and that the holy places and religious buildings and sites in Palestine shall be adequately protected.”The first Report of the High Commissioner on the Administration of Palestine (1920-1925) acknowledged America's invaluable support for reconstituting the Jewish National Home in Palestine:
“The [Balfour] Declaration was endorsed at the time by several of the Allied Governments; it was reaffirmed by the Conference of the Principal Allied Powers at San Remo in 1920; it was subsequently endorsed by unanimous resolutions of both Houses of the Congress of the United States; it was embodied in the Mandate for Palestine approved by the League of Nations in 1922; it was declared, in a formal statement of policy issued by the Colonial Secretary in the same year, ‘not to be susceptible of change'. ... The policy was fixed and internationally guaranteed"Jewish settlement in the West Bank between 1927 -1948 was never declared "illegitimate" or "illegal" by America. President Bush acknowledged in his 14 April 2004 letter to Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that it would be unrealistic to expect that all Jewish settlements built in the West Bank after 1967 would have to be uprooted Historical amnesia - Kerry-style - has been - and apparently still is - a potent factor in failed American attempts to resolve the Arab-Jewish conflict. Such ignorance has clouded the thinking of many former well - intentioned Secretaries of State - who became ticking time bombs destined to end up on the political scrap heap because they tried to undo what was internationally guaranteed in former Palestine ninety years ago. Kerry seems destined to join his failed predecessors.
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David Singer is an Australian Lawyer, a Foundation Member of the International Analyst Network and Convenor of Jordan is Palestine International—an organization calling for sovereignty of the West Bank and Gaza to be allocated between Israel and Jordan as the two successor States to the Mandate for Palestine. Previous articles written by him can be found at: jordanispalestine.blogspot.com