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6 January 12 • 2017 jn Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer kbrowett@renmedia.us | Editorial Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen kcohen@thejewishnews.com Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin lkonstantin@renmedia.us Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@renmedia.us Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar rsklar@renmedia.us Contributing Writers: Ruthan Brodsky, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari S. 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OUR JN MISSION 1942 - 2017 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week jn views P eruse U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, the contentious resolution the U.S. abstained from in a Dec. 23 vote, and find code phrases aplenty — "occupying power," "East Jerusalem," "1967 lines," "one-state reality," "provocative actions," "credible negotia- tions." The resolution also references "con- tinuing Israeli settlement activities" that imperil any prospect for peace between Israel and the Palestinian people — as if settlement building is the only sticking point. Furor over President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry ordering the U.S. abstention when Resolution 2334 came to a vote obscured much of the actual content. Obama had never bro- ken with Israel over a Security Council resolu- tion. The resolution, which passed 14-0 with the one abstention, wasn't just another condemnation of Israeli settlement build- ing. It struck at the heart of international misperceptions about Israel's role in the stalemated peace talks between Israel and Palestinian leadership — talks intended to lay the groundwork for two states, one Jewish and one Palestinian, living side by side in peace, with safe, secure, recognized borders. BEYOND "OCCUPYING" The 2½-page resolution was pushed by New Zealand and other co-sponsors when Egypt bowed to U.S. and Israeli pressure seeking to rescind it. The resolution begins by branding Israel "the occupying power." Yes, the Jewish state maintains a military presence in dis- puted West Bank territory eyed as part of a future Palestinian state. But such an "occupation," in the shadows of Palestinian Authority governance, has been central to Israel's security. Israeli settlements may be considered illegal by interna- tional law, but the West Bank is part of Eretz Yisrael, the bibli- cal Land of Israel and is not yet part of another state. That gives Israel a historic right to stakes there, pending direct bilateral negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian people's official negotiator. The resolution goes on to refer to "East Jerusalem." The capital "E" alludes to there being a border municipality separate from Jerusalem but forcibly controlled by Israel. The truth is that Israel captured from Jordan both the Arab-dominated eastern sector of Jerusalem as well as the West Bank in the Six-Day War of 1967 against Arab forces. The victory reunited Jerusalem, home to Israel's capital since statehood in 1948. Jewish life has emanat- ed from the city for nearly 2,000 years. It's unjust to call Jews who live in the eastern sector "settlers" and to frame Israel's gov- ernment enforcement there as "a violation of international humanitarian law." The JN has never wavered in its belief that Jerusalem must stay united. However, provisions could be made for some Arab autonomy in predominantly Palestinian neighborhoods, including de facto govern- ment offices should a Palestinian state ever arise from legitimate peace talks. BORDER DISPUTE Resolution 2334 further refers to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution based on "the 1967 lines." Only a final-status agreement directly negotiated by Israel and the PLO will decide borders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party governs Palestinian- controlled areas of the West Bank, back to bargaining with no pre- conditions. So far, Abbas hasn't budged. In any new talks, Netanyahu wants Abbas to first acknowledge Palestinian recognition of Israel as a sov- ereign Jewish state; you can't negotiate if the state you represent is considered a Zionist illusion. Such a request should hardly be a hurdle to negotiating. Two leading Arab countries, Jordan and Egypt, have long maintained peace treaties with Israel. SINGULAR FANTASY The U.N. resolution implies Israel is to blame for "steadily eroding the two-state solution and entrenching a one-state real- ity." The main "culprit": Israeli settlements. If the Arab world considers them the barrier to rekindled talks with Israel, then hope of a peace accord is dimmer than anyone thought. Final-status issues are vast and complex. They include settle- ments, but also mutual recognition, bor- ders, security, refugees, Jerusalem, water rights and holy sites. The fact remains, however, that a steady increase in settlers since a 2010 settlement freeze isn't helping Israel make its case in the court of inter- national opinion. "In the interest of the promotion of peace and security, Resolution 2334 seeks "collective efforts to launch credible negotiations on all final-status issues." That ignores Netanyahu sending an olive branch to Abbas to restart negotiating; the prime minister still favors a two-state solution. Abbas' apparent strategy, buoyed by the U.S. abstaining from the resolution, is to seek statehood through international conventions, declarations and support — bypassing Netanyahu's good-faith efforts to again negotiate. Israel knows the effect of absorbing at least 3 million Palestinians into its state — the potential end of a Jewish majority. To think Israel wants a "one-state reality" is balderdash. SENSELESS EQUATING Most chilling is how Resolution 2334 seems to equate Palestinian terror targeting Israeli civilians, soldiers and property with Israeli defensive strikes in response. Inflammatory rhetoric on the part of Israeli leaders hardly matches up against a Palestinian way of life that teaches kids to hate "the Zionist entity" and grow up to be "martyrs" for Allah by murdering Israeli Jews via suicide belts, stabbings, vehicular attacks and sniper fire. The resolution urges "the intensifica- tion and acceleration of international regional diplomatic efforts and support aimed at achieving, without delay, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East." That's reasoned. So is the call for talks built upon the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative, the Quartet Roadmap and the principle of land for peace, all of which have pru- dent elements. But it's dangerous to suggest, as Resolution 2334 does, such talks should take into account previous resolutions of the United Nations, whose record of Israel bashing is ruthless and unrelent- ing. In abstaining from the resolution, the Obama administration unequivo- cally undermined Israel. • Barack Obama Robert Sklar Contributing Editor essay Resolved: U.N. Vote Undercuts Israel