14 nations continue to fuel Jew-hatred around the world

Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom continue to fuel Jew-hatred around the world as their Foreign Ministers signed a joint statement on 24 December (Joint Statement) condemning Israel’s decision to approve the construction of 19 new settlements in “the occupied West Bank” – also known as Judea and Samaria – the biblical and ancient homeland of the Jewish people.

In doing so - these 14 countries have placed their own Jewish communities at heightened risk of terrorist attacks – as occurred in Australia with the targeting of Sydney’s Jewish community at Bondi Beach on 14 December.

The Joint Statement is inflammatory - containing the following mantra that has been repeated incessantly at the United Nations since 23 December 2016 when Resolution 2334 was adopted by the Security Council - following the Obama-Biden administration’s failure to veto resolution 2334 as they were in the very act of vacating the White House to make way for a victorious Donald Trump:

“We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements, in line with UNSC Resolution 2334.

We are resolute in our support of Palestinians’ right of self-determination. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the Two-State solution in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side in peace and security within secure and recognized borders. We reaffirm that there is no alternative to a negotiated two-state solution.”

It mirrors the joint statement made by Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong on 11 August:

The Netanyahu Government is extinguishing the prospect of a two-state solution by rapidly expanding illegal settlements, threatening annexation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and explicitly opposing any Palestinian state.

The international community is moving to establish a Palestinian state consistent with a two-state solution...

... Australia will continue to be a constructive partner in support of a two-state solution, as the only pathway to a secure and prosperous future that respects the aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Wong – having seen Australia suffer the worst terrorist attack in its history - has wisely chosen not to sign the Joint Statement that could again embolden future attacks on Australia’s Jewish community.

Esteemed Foreign Ministers please note:

·       The Jewish people has the legal right to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in the territory of former Palestine located west of the Jordan River – which includes Judea and Samaria -under articles 6 and 25 of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine – preserved until today by article 80 of the United Nations Charter

·       Israel’s Parliament rejected any two-state solution on 18 July 2024 by a vote of 68 to 9:

"The Knesset of Israel firmly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan. The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel would pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region.”

·       There is an alternative to a “negotiated two-state solution”: The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (HKOPS) which emanated in Saudi Arabia, was authored by an advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and was published in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022.

Successful implementation of HKOPS in direct negotiations between Israel and Jordan would see Arab residents of the West Bank and Jordan sharing common citizenship under Hashemite rule - as existed between 1948 and 1967.

Flogging a dead horse serves no one’s interest. Time these 14 Foreign Ministers considered HKOPS.