I’m responding to Star Parker’s article on the United Nations vote to condemn the Israeli strategy of building settlements in both East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Ms. Parker failed to mention that both of those areas were Palestinian territories grabbed by Israel during the 1967 war and considered by all the UN member nations to be areas belonging to the Palestinians.

By building settlements in these areas, Israel was ignoring the Geneva Convention that prohibits any occupying power from transferring its own people to conquered territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led Israel in defying the Oslo Accords where the UN, including the U.S., agreed that the future of the Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank must be negotiated between the Jews and the Arabs and should not be decided unilaterally by one group over the other. After the unlawful occupation of these territories, Israel has legitimized 400,000 settlers in the West Bank and over 200,000 settlers in E. Jerusalem.

Ms. Star was correct in stating that 14 out of the 15 members of the UN Security Council, including the permanent members of France, Britain, Russia, China and 10 other temporary member nations, all voted to condemn this practice of Israel.

The only exception was the U.S., which abstained from voting either for or against the resolution to condemn the building of houses in territories seen by the larger world as belonging to the Palestinians.

However, the U.S. did not condemn the nation of Israel, as Ms. Star implies, the U.S. simply permitted the other 14 nations to condemn the practice of illegal settlements.

Her accusation that “the Obama administration threw its sympathies and support to those who oppress Christians,” doesn’t speak accurately about Obama’s refusal to veto the action of the UN to condemn the Israeli government for its illegal settlements.

Calvin King
Oakwood

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