March 20, 2013 .

Even though the UN, through a report by a fact-finding mission of the UN Human Rights Council, has called for an end to the building of settlements in the occupied territories of Palestine, it will pay no attention as usual. Indeed, on the same day, Monday, the report was presented to the Council, the Israeli Knesset approved a new governing coalition, which included a strong showing of pro-settlement hardliners. This government comes into existence after the recent elections, in which Prime Minister Netanyahu won re-election. The election showed a majority of Israeli voters supporting a hardline position that flew in the face of international opinion.

One reason for this Israeli intransigence is the unquestioning backing it finds through the US, even though the current Israeli Prime Minister has a mercurial relationship with US President Obama. However, blatant Israeli disregard of not just world opinion, but extending even to US opinion, further compounds the feeling that Israel is unmanageable by the world community combined, whereas there seems to be no such problems when attempting to bring say Iran to its knees.

It must not be lost sight of that the settlements, by changing the situation in the territories designated as Palestinian, make it impossible for Palestinians to negotiate. This is something Pakistanis should find familiar, as they have seen India doing its best to change the ground realities in Kashmir which, like Palestine, came onto the UN agenda at the same time, but remains unresolved. Both aggressors, India and Israel, not only defied the UN but have cozied up to each other. Now it seems they are using the same underhand tactics. At the same time, Pakistan cannot afford to ignore the reality that both India and Israel claim a special relationship with the USA, while it feels an affinity with the Palestinian people, who are fellow Muslims. The government must support the UN Council in its efforts to help the Palestinian people. As a first step, it should help publicise the report.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...s-in-palestine