The Obama Administration’s Resolution of Settlements and the “Barrier”

Published in Mainichi Shimbun
(Japan) on 26 March 2010
by Editorial (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Huifang Yu. Edited by Jessica Boesl.
American-Israeli relations have entered a chill. Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the United States, which trumpets its “unconditional support” for Israel. Yet, the White House did not allow reporters to take photographs of Obama shaking hands with Netanyahu. This is an unheard-of state of affairs.

Primary responsibility for this rests on Israel. Israel has continued to build Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it has occupied since the 1967 war. The term “settlements” may cause one to imagine a small area, but some are large residential complexes that house hundreds of thousands of people.

For Japan, this is “in basic violation of the Geneva Convention,” according to a high Foreign Ministry official. This convention, which deals with the treatment of prisoners of war and of occupied territories, prohibits the immigration of an occupier’s citizens to occupied lands. Successive U.S. administrations have also shown unease with regard to the settlements, calling them “impediments to peace.”

However, early this month, Israel announced new construction plans for East Jerusalem during Vice President Biden’s visit. When the United States criticized the move, Netanyahu, speaking at the meeting of an American pro-Israel group, made his appetite for confrontation clear by saying that “[Jerusalem] is our capital.”

While Netanyahu enjoys strong support from American neo-conservatives and the Republican Party, his friction with the Democratic administrations of both Obama and Clinton has been notable. But will the prime minister be able to deliver peace to Israel and Palestine with such a stubborn mindset? Not likely.

Peace is impossible when the international consensus is ignored. Jerusalem is not the recognized capital of Israel. The International Court of Justice decided that the “separation barrier” Israel is building is “against international law” and the United Nations General Assembly has adopted resolutions calling for its removal. However, just as with the settlement problem, there are hardly any calls from the United States for the removal of the wall.

After the terror attacks on the United States in 2001, the Bush administration made it clear that it intended to fight terrorism, but a mindset that asked what promotes terrorism was lacking. It is said that the terror mastermind, Osama bin Laden, thought of planning terrorist strikes against the United States out of anger at Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

Whether or not that was the case, it is necessary for us to dispel faulty reasoning in order to prevent terrorism. The United States defends actions by the Israeli army that lead to countless deaths and vetoes United Nations Security Council resolutions that are unfavorable to Israel. That has been the U.S.’s status quo lately, but it will be difficult to uproot terrorism without addressing patent irrationality and absurdity.

Support for Israel is strong in the U.S. Congress, which is considering the Jewish vote in the upcoming mid-term elections. However, if the United States disregards its reputation as a champion of justice, terrorism will grow rampant and extremists will take heart. We would do well to remember that the brunt of this will be borne by allies such as Israel and Japan.


社説:オバマ政権 入植地と「壁」の解決を

 米・イスラエル関係が冷え込んでいる。イスラエルのネタニヤフ首相が、同国への「無条件の支持」をうたう米国にやってきた。なのにホワイトハウスは、オバマ大統領との握手の場面を記者団に撮影させなかった。尋常ならざる事態である。

 その主たる責任はイスラエル側にあるだろう。同国は67年の第3次中東戦争以降、占領したヨルダン川西岸や東エルサレムなどにユダヤ人入植地を造り続けた。入植地といえば小さな集落を連想しがちだが、人口数万人の大規模団地もある。

 これについて日本は「基本的にジュネーブ条約違反」(外務省高官)との立場だ。戦争捕虜や占領地の扱いなどを定めた同条約は、占領地への自国民移住などを禁じている。歴代米政権も入植地を「和平の障害」と憂慮してきた。

 しかし、イスラエルは今月上旬、バイデン米副大統領の滞在中に東エルサレムでの新規住宅建設を発表した。これを米側が批判すると、ネタニヤフ首相は米国の親イスラエル団体の会合で「エルサレムは我々の首都だ」と対決姿勢をあらわにした。

 同首相は米国のネオコン(新保守主義派)や共和党の支持が厚い半面、オバマ、クリントンの両民主党政権との摩擦が目立つ。だが、こうした首相の強硬姿勢がイスラエルとパレスチナを平和に導けるのか。改めて首をかしげざるを得ない。

 国際合意を無視した和平などありえないからだ。エルサレムは公認されたイスラエルの首都ではない。イスラエルが建設する「分離壁」にしても、国際司法裁判所は「国際法違反」と断じ、国連総会は壁の撤去を求める決議を採択した。だが、入植地問題と同様、壁の解消を図る動きは米国内でもほとんど見えない。

 01年の米同時多発テロ後、ブッシュ政権はテロと戦う姿勢を鮮明にしたが、「何がテロを助長するのか」という問題意識は希薄だった。テロの黒幕、ウサマ・ビンラディン容疑者は、イスラエルのレバノン侵攻(82年)への怒りから対米テロを思いついたと語っている。

 証言の真偽はともあれ、テロを防ぐには不合理の解消も必要だ。多数の犠牲者を生むイスラエルの軍事行動を擁護し、同国に不利な国連安保理決議案は何度でも拒否権で葬る。それが近年の米国の常だが、あからさまな不合理や不条理を放置すればテロ根絶は難しかろう。

 中間選挙を控える米議会には、ユダヤ票への思惑もあってイスラエル支持の声が強い。だが、米国が公正を保つ姿勢を見失えばテロの土壌が肥え太り、過激派が勢いづく。その矛先は同盟国のイスラエルにも日本にも及ぶことを忘れてはなるまい。
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