A
recent Apartheid Israeli Supreme Court decision allows the exploitation of
Palestinian natural resources to fund the military occupation of Palestine. It also suggests a long term policy within
Apartheid Israel to fund the continued occupation of Palestine indefinitely. This has been the policy of Apartheid Israel
since the Oslo Agreement.
The Court decision involves quarries
in Area C in the West Bank which under the Oslo Agreement is controlled by
Apartheid Israel. This decision sheds
light on how Apartheid Israel wants to retain Area C and give Areas A & B
to the Palestinians under limited rule.
Without
going into the illegality of the ruling under international law, the decision
renders some long term policy considerations within the Apartheid Israeli
government. In a previous article
entitled “Will Areas A & B become Palestine?” I stated that Apartheid
Israel’s policy is to keep Area C and give Areas A & B to the Palestinians,
thus self-imposing a “peace” solution upon the Palestinians. I stated that already Apartheid Israel is
calling the checkpoints as “terminals” and “crossings” which is an obvious
reference to a border. Additionally,
Apartheid -in-Chief Benjamin Netanyahu wants to give additional powers to the
Palestinian Authority in Area B so as to entice them to continue to the talks
that question when the peace talks should begin and to thwart any reconciliation
between Fatah and Hamas.
The
decision by the Apartheid Israeli Supreme Court sheds a new argument for my
analysis. The decision had the audacity
to state that even if the exploitation of the Palestinian quarries
“…still takes place during the next thirty years at the
estimated extent (in an estimated value of approximately 7.2 million tons on
average, annually, for the next
fifteen years, and approximately 11.2 million tons on average, annually,
for the following fifteen years),
the total overall consumption for the whole abovementioned period will exhaust
about half a percent of the overall mining potential in the Area, which stands
at approximately 65.1 billion tons”
(emphasis added)
This reference to
the “next thirty years” came
from the “States [Israel] estimation” according to the Judgment opinion. It unequivocally states that Apartheid Israel
is looking three decades ahead for the continuation of the illegal
occupation. Referring to Area C, the
opinion confirms the statement that the “Civil Administration” states that “…these quarries are established on
Israeli state land…”
Apartheid Israel has no
intention of giving up Area C upon which the illegal settlements have been
erected. By hook or crook, Apartheid
Israel is moving forward to retain Area C. Unfortunately, the Palestinian authority had
negotiated “the responsibility over the issue of quarries and mining within
Area C– including licensing authorities, supervision, their expansion
and operation” to the Apartheid Israeli Civil Administration. Such responsibility was to be gradually transferred
from the Civil Administration to Palestinian hands as a part of a comprehensive
process aimed at transferring powers and responsibilities within those areas. This
gradual transfer of power to Palestinian hands was to be part of the final
status talks that never materialize.
Thus, if these talks never materialize then they will remain in
Apartheid Israeli hands.
Within the Oslo
Agreement and the Interim Agreements, the parties, Palestinian Authority and
Israel, had agreed that during the interim term the quarries would remain
active, and it was even decided that in case any questions should arise in the
course of the process of transferring rights over the quarries, such questions shall
be discussed by a joint committee. The
parties further agreed to respect the recommendations of said committee, and it
had been also agreed that "until the committee had reached its decision,
the Palestinian party shall refrain from taking any measures that could negatively
affect those quarries"
The Court’s
decision generally stated that the issue of the quarries was a political
decision that was addressed by Apartheid Israel and the Palestinian Authority
and the court will not undue a political agreement with a foreign state. Additionally, the Court, in an obvious attempt to seem in compliance with the 4th Geneva Convention, ruled that the royalties collected from the excavation of the quarries helps fund the military occupation and helps employ Palestinians.
What a quagmire
situation the Palestinians have dug themselves into? The Israeli Supreme Court will not interfere in the exploitation of Palestinian natural resources and the Apartheid Israeli government will not discuss final status talks thus leaving
everything in Area C in limbo but in the control of the occupier.
This has been Apartheid
Israel’s plan with the signing of the Oslo Agreement. What else can anyone conclude when Apartheid
Israel has continued to build more and more illegal settlements in the West
Bank after the signing of the Oslo Agreement?
What else can anyone further conclude when “the settler population has grown consistently between 4-6% per
year over the last two decades, a much higher rate of growth than Israeli
society as a whole (1.5%).”[1]
The
Palestinian Authority must resist all efforts to fall into the scheme of this
Apartheid Israeli policy. It should not
negotiate with Apartheid Israel and must continue to expose Apartheid Israel for
what it truly is an Apartheid State of Israel. It must support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement worldwide.
(© Copyright, Fadi Zanayed. Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)
(© Copyright, Fadi Zanayed. Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)
[1]Israeli
Settlements, Palestine Monitor, Exposing Life Under Occupation, http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article7
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