‘Ill-judged’ Israeli move

Less than 24 hours after the marking of the anniversary of the Jordanian-Israel peace treaty, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shocked Jordan and the Palestinians by announcing plans to erect some 1,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem.

Jordan, through its foreign minister, described the Israeli authorisation of yet more settlement units in Ramat Shlomo and Jabal Abu Ghneim, in Arab East Jerusalem, as a “heavy blow” to the peace efforts.

Senior Palestinian officials, on the other hand, warned that the Israeli new colonisation plan may cause an “explosion of violence”, further inflaming tensions in East Jerusalem where clashes have been witnessed almost daily for the past four months.

The European Union called for “clarifications” from Israel.

The spokeswoman for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the European Union Catherine Ashton described this latest Israeli move as “ill-judged and ill-timed”, an act that will “call into question Israel’s commitment to peace with the Palestinians”.

While the dismay is legitimate, issuing condemnations or warnings is not sufficient anymore.

Arabs, and indeed the entire international community, must think of other ways to address the continued Israeli violations and provocations.

The least that can be done is to call for an emergency UN General Assembly meeting or a special meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the incessant, serious, Israeli violations and adopt a pertinent resolution, one that has teeth, is binding and is enforced.

Israel should not be allowed to continue defying international law with impunity.