[This is a great letter. Too bad its not written in the name of the Government of Israel.]
The Hon. James Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State,
November 8, 2013
After listening to you declare repeatedly over the past weeks that “Israel’s settlements are illegitimate”, I respectfully wish to state, unequivocally, that you are mistaken and ill advised, both in law and in fact.
Pursuant to the “Oslo Accords”, and specifically the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement (1995), the “issue of settlements” is one of subjects to be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations. President Bill Clinton on behalf of the US, is signatory as witness to that agreement, together with the leaders of the EU, Russia, Egypt, Jordan and Norway.
Your statements serve to not only to prejudge this negotiating issue, but also to undermine the integrity of that agreement, as well as the very negotiations that you so enthusiastically advocate.
Your determination that Israel’s settlements are illegitimate cannot be legally substantiated. The oft-quoted prohibition on transferring population into occupied territory (Art. 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention) was, according to the International Committee Red Cross’s own official commentary of that convention, drafted in 1949 to prevent the forced, mass transfer of populations carried out by the Nazis in the Second World War. It was never intended to apply to Israel’s settlement activity. Attempts by the international community to attribute this article to Israel emanate from clear partisan motives, with which you, and the US are now identifying.
The formal applicability of that convention to the disputed territories cannot be claimed since they were not occupied from a prior, legitimate sovereign power.
The territories cannot be defined as “Palestinian territories” or, as you yourself frequently state, as “Palestine”. No such entity exists, and the whole purpose of the permanent status negotiation is to determine, by agreement, the status of the territory, to which Israel has a legitimate claim, backed by international legal and historic rights. How can you presume to undermine this negotiation?
There is no requirement in any of the signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinians that Israel cease, or freeze settlement activity. The opposite is in fact the case. The above-noted 1995 interim agreement enables each party to plan, zone and build in the areas under its respective control.
Israel’s settlement policy neither prejudices the outcome of the negotiations nor does it involve displacement of local Palestinian residents from their private property. Israel is indeed duly committed to negotiate the issue of settlements, and thus there is no room for any predetermination by you intended to prejudge the outcome of that negotiation.
By your repeating this ill-advised determination that Israel’s settlements are illegitimate, and by your threatening Israel with a “third Palestinian intifada” and international isolation and delegitimization, you are in fact buying into, and even fueling the Palestinian propaganda narrative, and exerting unfair pressure on Israel. This is equally the case with your insistence on a false and unrealistic time limit to the negotiation.
As such you are taking sides, thereby prejudicing your own personal credibility, as well as that of the US.
With a view to restoring your own and the US’s credibility, and to come with clean hands to the negotiation, you are respectfully requested to publicly and formally retract your determination as to the illegitimate nature of Israel’s settlements and to cease your pressure on Israel.
Respectfully,
@ Buzz of Orient:
The original of the letter showing Alan Baker signature can be found here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/183184256/Letter-to-Kerry-on-settlements-docx
@ yamit82:
Britain is well known to pander to oil producing nations. After all, when Britain sided with the Arabs to prevent Holocaust refugee Jews from entering Palestine, when asked about it their response was said to be: “The world doesn’t run on morality, it runs on oil.” So there is no reason to be surprised that Britain is playing footsie with Iran notwithstanding the attack on their embassy.
@ winta:
Then the problem is using it on a social news website because its voracity cannot be proven. However, an article on a social newsite such as NewsVine or NewsTalkers could still be done by using Baker’s points in order to make the argument oneself. Although it could be attacked as being conjecture, it does become published and it does reek of logic and could still establish the principles.
Although I deleted my account on NewsVine for a number of reasons, one of which was that the moderating staff seemed to have no understanding that in many articles and comments the anti-Israel and anti-Zionist rants were in fact coded but blatant anti-Semitism at least those were nothing compared to the anti-Semitic comments posted on Yahoo news articles. However, NewsTalkers is a much more friendly site to which I belong, and I intend to post an article there that makes the point of Baker’s letter. Although that site has only about 700 members, it is hoped that others might also try to do the same on social newsites to which they belong.
Britain revives ties with Iran, two years after embassy attack
By REUTERS
Countries exchange charge d’affaires representing thaw in relations after 2011 ransacking of British embassy in Tehran.
Foxman: What’s wrong with this picture?
We are entering a period of time that may be the most dangerous the world has seen since the fall of the Berlin wall.
It was probably due to Saudi pressure than from BB.
Foxman is mostly correct but no direct criticism of Obama will ever emanate from his big mouth.
I know that mainstream media have no use for objective reality but have consistently pushed a strange conciliance between the naturally inimical left-wing universalism agenda and the Islamicist particularism agenda. Kerry as a member of the Obama White House represents a major player in sacrificing reality on the alter of the Left-Islamic political alliance. Let’s not forget that Stalin and Hitler also were party to the Ribbentrop-Molotov treaty. While such treaties cannot last indefinitely, considerable harm can occur during their seedy tenure as they hide the real issues under a blanket of apparent detente. Consequently, the majority are lulled into a false sense of security and do nothing to avert the approaching train-wreck. What we can do is acknowledge baker’s letter as the source of paraphrased letters and send these to every media outlet, focusing on those few centrist outlets that will express opinion even from the center of the political spectrum. Hopefully, at least a few of them will publish them. Simply communicating among the converted will accomplish little. We have to get inured to repetition and state the same reality and truth consistently and unabashedly. This is a corollary to the sage advice provided by the master of propaganda himself, Joseph Goebbels; “People will believe even a big lie if it is repeated often enough.” We have to repeat the truth “often enough.”
There is nothing honorable about this scumbag. Naturally someone who betrayed his own country and fellow soldiers during Vietnam, should not be trusted by Israel.
@ Buzz of the Orient:
English translation of the legal arguments in the Levy Report (updated)
Unfortunately, this letter will not see the light of day, except for the few that read it online. The media will not mention it, nor the conclusive opinions. Our anti-Israel government will suppress it and probably lie about its existence. Alan Baker is as doomed as the negotiations. sorry.
Is there a link to the source of Alan Baker’s letter to Kerry?
There is nothing illegitimate about building homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria, the ancestral homeland of the Jewish People.
However, funding terrorism is illegal and illegitimate.
One of the conditions for the US assistance to the Palestinians is “to promote the rule of law, democracy, the cessation of terrorism and incitement, and good governance in institutions and territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority.” (The Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006)
Despite their persistence in terrorism and incitement against Israel, the USA continues nevertheless to fund the PA, in blatant contravention of its own law.
As a reminder, the USA have recently pledged $148 million to the PA, and the PA announced that $15 million of that amount shall be distributed to the terrorists released from the Israeli prisons.
Providing billions of American dollars to reward the killing of Jews: that is ILLEGITIMATE.
What happened to Alan Baker since he appeared in this panel?
Sep 28, 2011
Panel Discussion with Yishai Fleisher (radio host and director of Eye On Zion Media), Dimitri Diliani (Fatah Revolutionary Council), and Alan Baker (retired Israeli Ambassador to Canada).
Leland Vittert is based in Jerusalem for Fox News.
The 18 minute edited version of this program presented here was prepared by Eye On Zion Media which is an education and outreach project of the non-profit organization Kumah. http://www.kumah.org. These are highlights of the original debate which was about 45 minutes long. We have included in this video all the main policy points made by each side in the debate and taken out some of the elaboration to make it accessible to people with limited time. Editing: Yocheved Seidman for Eye On Zion Media.
A 34 minute version of this program is available on request. Please email shalom@kumah.org to request the long version.