Palestinians are about the most educated and intelligent in the Arab world. They are also very aware of the conspiracies against them. This makes it necessary for me to ask whether the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority is a Palestinian fact. Is the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, PNLM, or PLO “Fatah”, which we knew in the 1960s and 1970s, still the same movement we
have today?
By reviewing the glorious history of Fatah, we can easily notice that the most prominent figures in the entire Palestinian struggle, who created this movement, were assassinated. One of these was Khalil Al Wazir, who was known as Abu Jihad. Abu Jihad was assassinated in 1988. Other figures include Kamal Adwa, Kamal Nasser and Abu Youssef Al Naggar. They were all assassinated in Beirut in 1973. Yasser Arafat himself, the founder of the organisation, was assassinated in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah in 2004. These are but a few of the many honest leaders who struggled for the Palestinian cause.
Some other equally honest Palestinian leaders were forced to retire under Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, while a third group preferred to step out of political life to avoid conflict.
The question that arises now is: Do the people who sit on top of Fatah at present have their own interests? Do the interests of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian state come in second or even third place for these people? These are questions that need to be answered by the Palestinian people.
Some time ago, Mr Abbas threatened to go to the United Nations Security Council in order to report Israeli practices, violations, the confiscation of Palestinian lands, storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque by Jewish settlers and preventing Palestinian worshippers from performing prayers at Islamic places of worship.
Once more, I ask the leaders of the Palestinian Authority about whether they are convinced that they can obtain the rights of the Palestinian people through the United Nations Security Council? Do they know what the Security Council offered to them from 1948 till today? To them I say: if you know this and continue to insist to invite the Security Council to convene to look into your demands, this means that you are totally ignorant. The situation is even worse if you are not aware of these facts.
Here I give some examples from the Security Council folders about persistent attempts by successive American administrations to sabotage Security Council resolutions in favour of the Palestinians:
1. On July 26, 1973, the US vetoed a resolution in favour of Palestinian rights, calling on Israel to pull out of occupied Palestinian territories.
2. On January 25, 1976, the US vetoed a Security Council resolution stipulating the right of the Palestinian people to determine their own fate and establish their own independent state in the light of the United Nations charter. The resolution also called on Israel to withdraw from territories it occupied in 1967. It denounced Israel’s settlement construction in Palestinian territories.
On March 25, 1975, the US vetoed a Security Council resolution asking Israel to refrain from harming Arab residents in the occupied territories.
On June 29, 1975, the United States vetoed a UNSC resolution, underlining the right of the Palestinian people to determine their own destiny and return to their own country as well as their right to independence and national sovereignty.
3. On April 30, 1980, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that underlined the right of the Palestinian people to obtain its legitimate rights and imposed sanctions on Israel for annexing the Syrian Golan Heights.
4. On January 20, 1982, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution, imposing sanctions on Israel for annexing the Syrian Golan Heights.
On February 25, 1982, the US vetoed UNSC resolution, asking Israel to cancel all the measures it applies in the occupied
West Bank.
On April 2, 1982, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that denounced Israel’s attempt to assassinate the head of the Nablus municipality Bassam Al Shakaa.
On April 20, 1982, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that denounced an attack on Al Aqsa Mosque.
On June 9, 1982, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that denounced the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
On June 25, 1982, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that denounced the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
On August 6, 1982, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that slammed Israel’s aggressions in the Middle East in general and in Lebanon in particular.
5. On February 25, 1983, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that condemned the Israeli massacres in Palestinian refugee camps — Sabra and Shatila — in Lebanon.
6. On September 6, 1984, the US vetoed UNSC resolution, backing the application of the articles of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949 on occupied areas in Lebanon.
7. In 1985, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that condemned Israeli practices in southern Lebanon.
On September 13, 1985, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that condemned repressive Israeli practices against the Palestinians.
8. On January 17, 1986, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that asked Israel to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.
On January 30, 1986, the US vetoed UNSC resolution, condemning Israel’s violations against the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The resolution also rejected Israeli demands for making Jerusalem as its capital.
On February 7, 1986, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that denounced Israel’s hijacking of a Libyan plane.
9. On February 20, 1987, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that denounced the targeting by Israel of Palestinian children who threw rocks at its troops during the first Palestinian Intifada.
10. On January 18, 1988, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that denounced Israeli aggressions in southern Lebanon.
On February 1, 1988, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that asked Israel to suspend its vengeful operations against Palestinians in the occupied territories.
On April 15, 1988, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that condemned Israel’s crackdown on the first Palestinian Intifada in the occupied Palestinian territories as well as Israel’s decision to expel eight Palestinians.
On May 10, 1988, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that condemned Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon.
On December 14, 1988, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution denouncing Israel’s ground and air raids in Lebanon.
11. On February 1, 1989, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that denounced Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territories.
On February 18, 1989, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that condemned Israel’s human rights violations in occupied Arab territories.
On June 9, 1989 the US vetoed UNSC resolution that slammed Israel’s repressive policies in occupied territories.
On November 7, 1989, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that condemned Israeli practices in occupied Palestinian territories.
12. On June 1, 1990, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that called for sending an international fact-finding commission to the Palestinian territories. The commission would have investigated Israel’s repressive practices against the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
13. In 1995, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that asked Israel to cancel its decision to appropriate 53,000 square meters in East Jerusalem.
14. On March 7, 1997, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that asked Israel to suspend its settlement construction activities in occupied East Jerusalem.
On March 21, 1997, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that denounced Israel’s settlement construction in Jebel Abu Ghoneim in occupied east Jerusalem.
15. On March 27, 2001, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that called for the creation of an observers force to protect Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
On December 17, 2001, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that asked Israel to pull out of territories under the administrative control of the Palestinian Authority. The resolution also denounced the targeting by Israel of Palestinian civilians.
16. On December 20, 2002, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that condemned the killing by Israel of a number of United Nations workers.
17. On July 14, 2003, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that called for removing the separation barrier under construction then, saying that the barrier violated the land of Palestinian citizens.
On July 16, 2003, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that denounced the Israeli assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of the Palestinian faction Hamas.
On October 5, 2003, the US vetoed UNSC resolution that called on Israel to suspend its aggression on northern Gaza and pull out of the area.
19. On July 13, 2006, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution that called for the release of an Israeli soldier detained by the Palestinian faction Hamas in return for the release of some Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
There have been many other UNSC resolutions that I could not mention here for want of space. The question I want to ask now is: Will the Palestinians continue to go to the council, even after all this? The solution to the Palestinian crisis lies in the eruption of a massive uprising that ends the presence of all those who conspire against the rights of the Palestinian people.
