UPDATES

AIJAC letter responds to inaccurate article on Israeli settlements

Aug 17, 2013

A letter in Melbourne’s Herald Sun by AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein responds to an important inaccuracy regarding Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The letter reads as follows:

Settlements not illegal

Herald Sun
SAT 17 AUG 2013

The article, “Prisoners walk free” (HS, Aug 15), was mistaken in reporting that US Secretary of State John Kerry said Israel’s settlements are “illegal”. The US does not make this claim, and neither did Kerry.

He repeated the Obama administration’s standard formula to express disapproval without making a judgment on legality, saying, “As you know… the United States of America views all of the settlements as illegitimate”.

In the context of the conflict, it is a significant difference. The US regards settlements as unhelpful because the territory on which they are situated is disputed land that is claimed by two different parties.

But settlements are not illegal because an independent and sovereign state of Palestine has never existed, so the West Bank is not “Palestinian land”. The US knows the solution is to create a two-state resolution that draws final borders and ends the dispute over land.

Three times, Israel has offered such a resolution, in the last proposing to give Palestinians the equivalent of 100 percent of the West Bank and Gaza land area. Sadly, the Palestinian leadership has failed to respond positively.

Dr Colin Rubenstein, executive director, Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council

 

Tags:

RELATED ARTICLES


D11a774c 2a47 C987 F4ce 2d642e6d9c8d

Bibi in DC, the Houthi threat and the politicised ICJ opinion

Jul 26, 2024 | Update
Image: Shutterstock

Nine months after Oct. 7: Where Israel stands now

Jul 10, 2024 | Update
Palestinian Red Crescent workers from Al-Najjar Hospital in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip (Image: Shutterstock)

Hamas’ impossible casualty figures

Mar 28, 2024 | Update
455daec3 C2a8 8752 C215 B7bd062c6bbc

After the Israel-Hamas ceasefire for hostages deal

Nov 29, 2023 | Update
Screenshot of Hamas bodycam footage as terrorists approach an Israeli vehicle during the terror organisation's October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel, released by the IDF and GPO (Screenshot)

Horror on Video / International Law and the Hamas War

Oct 31, 2023 | Update
Sderot, Israel. 7th Oct, 2023. Bodies of dead Israelis lie on the ground following the attacks of Hamas (Image: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/Alamy Live News)

Israel’s Sept. 11, only worse

Oct 11, 2023 | Update

RECENT POSTS

Image: Shutterstock

AIJAC frustrated and shocked at ABC Ombudsman’s rejection of complaint against an “open and shut” case of factual error

Israeli Settlements Near Bethlehem

Report: Approvals for West Bank settlement expansion ‘stuck’

Screenshot

‘Concerning escalation’ of Iranian nuclear threats against Israel: Joel Burnie on Sky News

Image: Shutterstock

Fact Sheet: Recent Israeli legislation on UNRWA

Image: Anas-Mohammed/ Shutterstock

The Australian Government refuses to see UNRWA’s terrorism

Image: Shutterstock

AIJAC frustrated and shocked at ABC Ombudsman’s rejection of complaint against an “open and shut” case of factual error

Israeli Settlements Near Bethlehem

Report: Approvals for West Bank settlement expansion ‘stuck’

Screenshot

‘Concerning escalation’ of Iranian nuclear threats against Israel: Joel Burnie on Sky News

Image: Shutterstock

Fact Sheet: Recent Israeli legislation on UNRWA

Image: Anas-Mohammed/ Shutterstock

The Australian Government refuses to see UNRWA’s terrorism

SORT BY TOPICS