JERUSALEM, Israel – The U.K. and Israel are in the midst of a diplomatic showdown after Britain announced new sanctions and trade restrictions this week targeting Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The U.K. is also backing a Palestinian state, while Israel is pushing back against what it calls a distortion of international law.
U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Wednesday defended his country’s decision to target Jewish settlements as part of a two-state solution.
“We announced what we did (on Tuesday) because we believe that the only way forward for security for the Israeli people and the Palestinian people is a two-state solution: two viable and secure states alongside each other, and that prospect is being destroyed by the facts on the ground,” Miliband stated.
Miliband had earlier on Tuesday declared for the first time that the British government now considers Israel’s “occupation” of Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, as unlawful.
“Today, I announce that the official view of the British government is that the occupation is unlawful, because of Israel’s entrenchment of its control, its intention to extend permanent sovereignty, and its expansionist agenda via illegal settlements,” he declared.
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However, international attorney Natasha Hausdorff maintains that Judea and Samaria are legally occupied territory, and points to a principle of international law called “Uti Possidetis Juris,” roughly translated as “As you possess under the law.”
She explained, “And it says that the new states inherit the pre-existing administrative lines of whatever unit preceded it. In Israel’s case, the unit that preceded it was the British Mandate for Palestine.”
Hausdorff argues that under this principle, when Israel declared its independence on May 14th, 1948, it inherited the boundaries of the British Mandate, including Judea and Samaria.
“The moment they declare independence as a default rule, so anywhere there is no agreement to borders or territory, “Uti Possidetis Juris” tells us just what the borders of that new state are,” she contended.
Some argue that this law does not apply to Israel because of its unique circumstances. Yet, this international law has been used since the 19th century to establish borders in new countries around the world, including in Central and South America, and Africa.
Hausdorff noted, “It puts the lie to so many of these falsehoods that are propagated about Israel using international legal terminology, “occupation” being a very prominent factor. It also goes to show that “illegal settlements” is a false claim. It is a false claim to justify the idea that Jews shouldn’t live in Judea and Samaria, or that parts of this territory should be ethnically cleansed of Jews.”
The U.K. said the Palestinian Authority played a key role in its decision.
“We talked to the representatives of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian Prime Minister, the representative here, and they both said to us with a very clear voice, you need to act from our point of view,” Miliband revealed.
However, Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch, which has monitored official Palestinian media for three decades, warns that the P.A.’s rhetoric doesn’t always match the Western vision of two states living side by side.
“There was another expression that the U.N. included in there and called ‘self-determination’ for the Palestinians, leading to a Palestinian state,” Marcus observed.
He added, “Well, let me tell you, they can’t have self-determination because they define their “self” as Palestine from the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea. There is no room in the Palestinian ideology for an Israel. There was an interview on television with a Palestinian leader named Masaki, and he said, the leadership, the president, meaning (Mahmoud) Abbas, he of course wants Palestine to replace Israel.”
Meanwhile, Israel is giving the U.K. 30 days to close its consulate in Jerusalem. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is calling the British action a distortion of international law and interference in Israel’s sovereign affairs.
