Erekat slams US House for condemning UN anti-settlements resolution

WASHINGTON — Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat lashed out Saturday at a US House motion passed last week that demands the United Nations “repeal or fundamentally alter” a Security Council resolution that condemns Israeli settlements as violating international law.

In a fiery statement, Erekat implored Congress to “adhere to established US policy toward the illegitimacy of Israel’s settlement enterprise and annexation of Jerusalem, including the most recent position by the Obama administration.”

Last month, President Barack Obama chose to withhold the US veto from a resolution that was highly critical of the settlements, designating them both illegal and an obstacle to reaching a two-state solution between the sides. Resolution 2334 thus passed, by a vote of 14-0, with the US abstaining.

The resolution says the settlement project “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law.” It also calls for a complete end to all construction in areas Israel captured after the 1967 Six Day War, including East Jerusalem.

According to the text, all such area is “occupied Palestinian territory,” including the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, with the Temple Mount and Western Wall, the holiest sites in Judaism, a major point of contention for Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.

Picking up on this development, Erekat encouraged the newly installed 115th Congress to “adopt the language of [the] international [community] to implement the recent resolution.”

The House measure to which Erekat was responding is a scathing rebuke of the world body’s censure of Israel. House Resolution 11, as it is formally known, calls the UN resolution an “anti-Israel” and “one-sided” obstacle to peace, accusing it of placing disproportionate blame on Israel for the continuation of the conflict and of discouraging Palestinians from engaging in direct, bilateral negotiations.

It passed by an overwhelming vote of 342-80, putting the lower chamber of Congress firmly against Obama’s decision not to shield Israel from the international castigation.

Erekat also denounced Education Minister Naftali Bennet’s recent call to have Israel annex the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, which is just outside of Jerusalem, saying that such a move would initiate violent unrest and increased hostility from Palestinians and the Arab Middle East.

“These attempts will only ignite violence and create an atmosphere that foments tensions, not only in Palestine but also in the Arab and Islamic world and globally,” he said.