recognition | First One Through

In a frightening spectacle of rewarding terror, a majority of countries at the United Nations voted to recognize the State of Palestine and give it a seat at the United Nations General Assembly. In so doing, there are two logical next steps for these 143 countries who claim to be supporting a two state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict: move their embassies to Israel to Jerusalem, and vote to dismantle UNRWA in the West Bank and Gaza.

Embassies to Israel in Jerusalem

For decades, many countries kept their embassies in Tel Aviv despite Israel’s capital being in Jerusalem. They did so, because the status of Jerusalem was always viewed as subject to negotiation. As originally envisioned in the November 1947 Partition Plan, all of Greater Jerusalem and Greater Bethlehem were to be held in a “corpus separatum,” neither part of an Arab state nor a Jewish State. Now, in officially recognizing Palestine as a state and deciding that eastern Jerusalem is “illegally occupied” by Israel, those countries are essentially also recognizing that the western part of the city is part of Israel.

“Corpus Separatum” in orange line of Greater Bethlehem and Greater Jerusalem as marked in November 1949 UN Partition Plan, compared to 1949 Armistice Lines between Israel and Jordan marking West Jerusalem in blue and East Jerusalem in white, a situation that existed for 18 years 1949-1967.

Norway, Spain and Ireland recognized a Palestinian State in 2024 but failed to announce that they were moving their embassies to Israel to western Jerusalem. Mexico recognized Palestine in 2023 but has not moved its embassy. Sweden recognized Palestine in 2014 but has still not moved its Israeli embassy.

If countries simply recognize Palestine in theory – without borders – than it should demand that the phrase “Occupied East Jerusalem” should be stricken from any U.N. resolution. Alternatively, if they really believe that the matter of Jerusalem and borders are already settled as indicated in their votes, than to hold back moving the embassies to western Jerusalem is a slap in the face to Israel.

End UNRWA in Gaza and West Bank

For countries that recognize Palestine as a country controlling land in the West Bank and Gaza, it is absurd to have “Palestine refugees” in “Palestine.” The U.N. special “Palestine refugee” agency’s operations should handed over to the Palestinian Authority. Almost every UNRWA employee in the West Bank and Gaza are local Palestinians, so the hand off would be simple.

Failing to close UNRWA inside their recognized “Palestine” would be an affront to the sovereignty of Israel, essentially demanding that Israel accept millions of UNRWA’s wards despite Palestinians having a state of their own.

*UNRWA in eastern Jerusalem (photo: First One Through)*

The recognition of Palestine has one of two flavors: it is merely symbolic and the countries still want the Palestinian Authority to negotiate borders, Jerusalem and refugees, OR these countries are actively attacking Israel in denying its sovereign right to declare its own capital and admit citizens of its own choosing.

If it is the former, than Israel should ask those countries to make clear that they do not consider “East Jerusalem” to be “occupied.” If it is the latter, Israel must consider taking strong political moves against them – together with allies which have not recognized Palestine like the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

The Distant Fantasy Of Two States Living Side By Side In Today’s Reality (Augsuet 2024)

The Farce Of Unities: Palestinian Government And Palestinian Territory As A Pathway Towards Peace With Israel (March 2024)

After UNRWA (February 2024)

The Failed Palestinian State (December 2023)

UNRWA Artificially Extends Its Mandate (April 2020)

UNRWA Anoints New Palestinian Wards (August 2019)

Shut UNRWA in Gaza Immediately
(August 2018)

UNRWA’s Ongoing War against Israel and Jews (November 2015)

Considering a Failed Palestinian State (July 2015)

Three more hostages were found in Gaza, dead. All three were killed in the October 7 Hamas massacre, and the Gazan army took the lifeless bodies to the terrorist enclave. They were retrieved in a special operation by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on May 24 and brought back to Israel for burial.

The Gazan forces of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and others took around 250 people from Israel to Gaza as hostages. In addition to many corpses, were living babies, young women, men and elderly people. Many had illnesses and require medicine and particular care.

The Red Cross has not visited a single one since their abduction.

The international aid agency has a webpage dedicated to the hostages called “What the Red Cross is doing to help hostages taken from Israel?” It states that “For more than seven months, families of hostages held in Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering as they wait for news of their loved ones. Colleagues from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been working round the clock to access the hostages and provide desperate families with information about their loved ones.”

But the international organization makes clear that it can only do so much if the powers of Gaza refuse to work with them. “The plight of the hostages held in Gaza remains one of ICRC’s utmost priorities. They are standing by to facilitate and bring the remaining hostages back to their loved ones. But the situation is extremely difficult. The ICRC does not have information about where the hostages are. Even if the location was known, the ICRC cannot force its way into where hostages are held. And they can only visit hostages and support relief operations if there is an agreement by the parties to the conflict.”

The Israeli government has demanded that the UN and ICRC get aid to the hostages, with its Foreign Minister Eli Cohen saying “We expect the Red Cross to put the issue at the top of the organization’s priority list, to use all levers of pressure, and not rest until it visits all the hostages, assesses their condition, and makes sure they are receiving the medical care they need.” The Anti-Defamation League made similar calls and worked to rally support to pressure the UN and Red Cross.

Otherwise, there’s been very little.

The Biden Administration has focused on making demands of Israel, not the UN or Red Cross. New York Senator Chuck Schumer called for the Israeli government to fall but made no challenge to the Red Cross. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) made a call for a ceasefire after October 7 but did not ask for the hostages to be released and then said that the entire idea that Gazans raped Israelis was “a lie.”

Only two American politicians – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) and Congresswoman Becca Balint (VT-AL) – sent a letter to the Red Cross on December 18, 2023, asking why the agency designed to help people in war has done nothing to help the hostages. At a minimum, it should get a “proof of life,” a basic standard in international law.

*Letter from Reps. Goldman and Balint to the Red Cross is one of the only instances of any politician outside of Israel demanding that the international agency do something about the hostages*

The failure of the world to even ASK the Red Cross to gain simple information about the hostages is proof that the world fully understands that Gazans stand outside of international law. Engaging with the Gazan government and army would be like asking a spider to translate Homer’s Iliad.

Despite being fully aware that Palestinian Arabs operate completely outside of acceptable norms and international laws, Spain, Ireland and Norway took steps to recognize a Palestinian state on May 28. Some of those countries have a history of combatting jihadi networks. I imagine that they would have been alarmed had United Nations member states openly celebrated and formally recognized the terrorist groups as legitimate.

The entire world has completely internalized that Gazans operate outside of international and humanitarian law, yet many countries propose to legitimize them. Doing so is not simply an act of aggression against Israel but an invitation for terrorism to target those very states.

ACTION ITEM

Demand that President Biden, your senators and members of congress contact the Red Cross to get information about the hostages taken from Israel.

Contact White House