<\/p>\n
JERUSALEM, Israel\u00a0\u2013 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.<\/p>\n
U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Wednesday defended his country’s decision to target Jewish settlements as part of a two-state solution.<\/p>\n
“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,”\u00a0<\/strong>Miliband stated.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u00a0“Today, I announce\u00a0that 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.<\/p>\n ***Please sign up for\u00a0CBN Newsletters\u00a0and download the\u00a0CBN News app\u00a0to receive\u00a0the latest news from a Christian perspective.***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 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.”<\/p>\n She explained, \u201cAnd it says that the new states inherit the pre-existing administrative lines of whatever unit preceded it.\u00a0In Israel\u2019s case, the unit that preceded it was the British Mandate for Palestine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe moment they declare independence as a default rule, so anywhere there is no agreement to borders or territory, \u201cUti Possidetis Juris\u201d tells us just what the borders of that new state are,” she contended.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Hausdorff noted, “It puts the lie to so many of these falsehoods that are propagated about Israel using international legal terminology, \u201coccupation\u201d being a very prominent factor.\u00a0It also goes to show that “illegal settlements” is a false claim.\u00a0It is a false claim to justify the idea that Jews shouldn\u2019t live in Judea and Samaria, or that parts of this territory should be ethnically cleansed of Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.K. said the Palestinian Authority played a key role in its decision.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was another expression that the U.N. included in there and called ‘self-determination’\u00a0for the Palestinians, leading to a Palestinian state,” Marcus observed.<\/p>\n He added, “Well, let me tell you, they can\u2019t have self-determination because they define their \u201cself\u201d as Palestine from the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea.\u00a0 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JERUSALEM, Israel\u00a0\u2013 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. 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