UNSC 2334:
Another UN Proposal for a Jew-Free Judea and Samaria
Ever since the Six Day War in 1967, the UN has been fervently trying to create and enforce a boundary between Israel and Judea and Samaria upon which neither Israel nor her anti-Jewish neighbors have been able to agree. This boundary is really a one-sided boundary: it seeks to keep Jews out of Judea and Samaria (otherwise referred to as “the West Bank”) while permitting Arabs to reside in every part of Judea, Samaria, and the territory currently recognized as being under Israel’s sovereignty. In other words, according to the UN, the Arabs with any family history in modern-day Israel have a right of return to Israel, but the Jews with any family history in Judea and Samaria have no right to remain (not to mention the right to return for Jews in general since their ancestors were there thousands of years before the Arabs).
Adopted just four weeks ago now, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 effectively renders illegal all Jewish activity in the Judea and Samaria region (a region referred to by the UN since 1967 as “occupied Palestine”). Many people do not understand the serious nature of such a resolution. In short, this resolution presents all Jewish activity in Judea and Samaria as illegal, which means that all Jewish residents of that region are vulnerable to lawsuits (with the backing of the United Nations) if they ever visit countries outside of Israel. The UN is in effect giving Israel no option but to require that the hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Judea and Samaria relocate to the region of Israel that is recognized by the international community as Israel. To put such a “solution” in perspective, imagine if Israel were to require all of the Arabs living in Israel to leave. That is the definition of ethnic cleansing and is not a solution but evidence of a problem.
One popular alternative to a mass exodus of Jews from Judea and Samaria has been proposed in the form of land-swaps—Israel gives land in exchange for the land area in which the Jews currently reside within Judea and Samaria. The proposition of land-swaps has gained so much traction as of late that Resolution 2334 passed when in breaking from its own policy for the past many decades, the US abstained from vetoing this anti-Jewish resolution in hopes of encouraging the land-swap alternative. The US has still stood by their assertion that direct negotiations must take place between the Arab powers in Judea and Samaria and between Israel, but Resolution 2334 now stands as the first resolution in nearly 40 years to be adopted by the UNSC that denounces Jewish residency in Judea and Samaria. Unlike the last resolution of this kind to be adopted by the UNSC (Resolution 465 in 1980), which was considered merely recommendatory by the US, this resolution (2334) is likely to more immediately be given treatment as a legally binding resolution since all UNSC resolutions are technically viewed as legally binding and since the wording of the resolution is that of law.
What are we to make of these recent developments? As HFI’s founder and executive director, Moran Rosenblit, asserted in our 2016 Fall Newsletter, Joel 3 foretells of a time when Israel would be divided up (something Resolution 2334 demands). Moran also mentioned that Zechariah 14 speaks of a time when Jerusalem would become the site of major devastation before a final restoration and salvation of the people of Israel. In Moran’s words, “Those of us who know the God of Israel, and who know His Word also know that these things must happen, as they have been foretold in Scripture.”
This week, at the Paris peace conference and at the EU Council, further legal actions against Israel in the international arena were possibilities based on the legal force given to the new UNSC resolution. While the attendees at both gatherings largely supported the assertions of Resolution 2334, discussion of the legality of Jewish residency in Judea and Samaria was left out, thereby leaving at least the businesses of the Jewish residents in the region intact for now. However, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the damage done by Resolution 2334 will take its toll on the peace process. Already, the report of violence since the passing of the resolution has risen 40% in the Judea and Samaria region as this resolution has not encouraged peace, but war. It’s up to us to watch and pray and seek the peace of Jerusalem, not according to the folly of mankind but according to the wisdom of God.
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