On 31 October 2011, Palestine became a member state of an organization dedicated to “Building Peace in the Minds of Men and Women.”
This organization, UNESCO, is dedicated to supporting cultural diversity, encouraging gender equality and equity in education, and has taken the lead in standard setting by adopting conventions which safeguard intangible cultural heritage, promote technical and vocational education, non discrimination within higher education, and protection of world cultural and natural heritage.
Israeli response to Palestinian efforts has been swift, dictatorial, and illegal. The government’s decision to deny Palestinians access to their own custom tax revenues is an unlawful punitive measure that Israel has done in the past (2005, 2006, 2007, 2011) and will most likely do again. PM Netanyahu also declared that he will punish Palestinians for exercising their rights to self determinations by building 2000 new Israeli settlement units on Palestinian land. PM Netanyahu has used a number of different “excuses” for defending Israel’s unabated expansion of settlements within occupied Palestinian territory. However, Israel has and continues to use any situation or circumstance to support the illegal settlement enterprise.
The fact remains that Israel has illegally built and sponsored 124 Jewish only settlements, 100 Jewish only outposts and 12 neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. These settlements all existed prior to Palestine’s membership within UNESCO. These measures are no more than collective punishment in violation of all international norms, conventions, agreements, and standards, against Palestinians for demonstrating their right to be represented within the UN and other international forums.
The contrast is clear. While Palestine pursues its cause by lawful means through international co-operation, Israel shows its contempt for international law and world opinion. The Palestinian government remains committed to its agenda to build a Palestinian state and end occupation using peaceful and democratic means to achieve their freedom. It is now up to the international community to put an end to Israel’s illegal behavior and demand that it respect human rights and international law.
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