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U.S. sends warships near South China Sea isles after Beijing demands it ‘stop flexing muscles’

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The U.S. Navy has sent warships on two occasions in recent days near islands claimed by Beijing in the disputed South China Sea, the military told The Japan Times on Friday.

The so-called freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) on Wednesday and Thursday came amid rising tensions between the two powers, and just days after China demanded the U.S. military “stop flexing muscles” in the strategic waterway.

On Wednesday, the littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords traveled within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of Mischief Reef in the Spratly chain, Cmdr. Reann Mommsen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said. And on Thursday, the destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer challenged restrictions on innocent passage in the Paracel Islands, north of the Spratlys, Mommsen said.

The U.S. Navy has angered China by regularly conducting FONOPs by ships close to some of the islands China occupies, including man-made islets, in the waterway, asserting freedom of access to crucial international waterways.

Mommsen said the operations “are conducted peacefully and without bias for or against any particular country.”

“These missions are based in the rule of law and demonstrate our commitment to upholding the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations,” she added.

Beijing claims much of the South China Sea, though the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims in the waters, where the Chinese, U.S., Japanese and some Southeast Asian navies routinely operate.

Neither Japan nor the U.S. have claims in the waters, but both allies have routinely stated their commitment to a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The busy waterway is just one of several flash points in the U.S.-China relationship, which include an ongoing trade war, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and support for Taiwan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper met Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe earlier this week for closed-door talks on the sidelines of a gathering of defense chiefs in Bangkok.

Wei urged Esper to “stop flexing muscles in the South China Sea and to not provoke and escalate tensions in the South China Sea,” a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman said Monday.

Esper has accused Beijing of “increasingly resorting to coercion and intimidation to advance its strategic objectives” in the region.

Washington has lambasted Beijing for its moves in the waterway, including the construction of man-made islands — such as those in the Paracel chain and further south in the Spratlys — some of which are home to military-grade airfields and advanced weaponry.

The U.S. fears the outposts could be used to restrict free movement in the waterway, which includes vital sea lanes through which about $3 trillion in global trade passes each year.

Beijing says it has deployed the advanced weaponry to the islets for defensive purposes, but some experts say this is part of a concerted bid to cement de facto control of the waters.

In a defense white paper released for the first time in years last month, China highlighted a new emphasis on “combat readiness and military training in real combat conditions” and China’s new war-fighting capabilities in the Western Pacific and South China Sea.

Beijing, the white paper said, “has organized naval parades in the South China Sea” and “conducted a series of live force-on-force exercises” while its air force “has conducted combat patrols in the South China Sea and security patrols in the East China Sea, and operated in the West Pacific.”

From: Japan Times

East Asia and the world would benefit if China, Japan and South Korea work as one

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A flurry of high-level diplomacy between China, Japan and South Korea has created a positive atmosphere for an easing of tensions in East Asia. Beijing is planning a summit in Chengdu next month, hoping differences between Tokyo and Seoul over wartime compensation and trade can be overcome to bring leaders together. That all have just agreed with 12 other Asian nations to sign a regional free-trade accord next year and are working on a pact of their own gives the process impetus. President Xi Jinping’s anticipated state visit to Japan next spring furthers the optimistic outlook.

This is what the region needs amid challenging economic times brought on by United States President Donald Trump’s trade war against China. Free-trade agreements and multilateralism are the best way to combat the falling growth figures and uncertainty. Recent summitry in Bangkok of the Association of South East Asian Nations and its partners were a chance for leaders to meet and pledge cooperation. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to be signed by 15 countries next year was the highlight and will complement the free-trade areas envisaged between China and Asean, and China and Japan and South Korea.

The meetings prove a willingness to stave off Trump’s protectionism and unilateralism. Collectively, they pledged to push for efforts that “will significantly contribute to an open, inclusive and rules-based international trading system and value chains”. There was added importance in the talks on the sidelines between Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the Japanese leader with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. They were evidence of warming ties between Beijing and Tokyo and a desire by Tokyo and Seoul to improve fraught relations.

A free-trade deal between China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-biggest economies, and South Korea, the 12th largest, would send a powerful message to the US. Together, they could be a driver of regional and global economic growth. But while trade, investment, development and culture can bring them together, they also have to overcome distrust and resentment, the baggage of decades of conflict during the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. The trilateral summit, held on a rotating basis between the countries, but disrupted during times of historical and territorial conflict, is being sought by Beijing to give impetus to the negotiations. It could also help resolve the dispute between Tokyo and Seoul, which has affected Japanese exports to South Korea of hi-tech electronic components and tourism. Mending fences, working together and coordinating trade and development strategies would be highly beneficial for East Asia’s three economic giants. But it would also symbolise the importance of multilateralism.

From: SCMP

Five nations to seek solutions to Muslim issues at KL Summit 2019

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 Malaysia is being practical with its efforts to address and resolve issues concerning the ummah via the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 next month.

This will be done through the involvement of only five countries, including Malaysia, to speak, debate and find resolutions to the problems faced by the Muslim world at the summit, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

“The other four participating countries are Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia.

“We are keeping (the participating Muslim countries) small so that it is manageable.

“If it is too big, things will be unmanageable and be at odds with each other, preventing us from formulating solutions (to address issues plaguing the ummah).

“Perhaps in the future, we hope more Muslim countries will join us (in the summit),” he said at the soft launch of the event today.

He confirmed the attendance of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al-Thani; Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan; and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to the KL Summit 2019.

Dr Mahathir said while Muslims in the past had contributed so much to Islamic civilisation, the ummah now were in a worrying state.

“We have to know why Islam is being described as a religion of terrorism and why is there Islamophobia. There must be reasons behind this.

“We can only know the reason by getting scholars, leaders and thinkers to give their viewpoints and hopefully, by being able to identify the problems, there will be proposals to overcome them.

“Perhaps we can take the first step to help Muslims to recover their past glory,” he added.

Dr Mahathir, who is also the chairman of the summit, said emphasis would be placed on seven major themes; development and sovereignty; integrity and good governance; culture and identity; justice and freedom; peace, security and defence, trade and investment and technology and Internet governance.

The summit will be held from Dec 18 to 21 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

With the theme “The Role of Development In Achieving National Sovereignty”, the summit will see the participation of 450 Muslim leaders, thinkers, intellectuals and scholars to discuss and provide their input on issues affecting the Muslim world.

It aims to revive Islamic civilisation, deliberate and find new and workable solutions for problems afflicting the Muslim world.

The summit also aims to contribute to the improvement of the state of affairs among Muslims and Muslim nations as well as to form a network between Islamic leaders, intellectuals, scholars and thinkers around the world.

On the issue of Palestine, Dr Mahathir said there must be focus to resolve the Palestinians’ plight which had plagued them for more than 70 years.

Focus, said the prime minister, must be coupled with strategy and planning.

Later, Dr Mahathir presented certificates of appointment to six media organisations, including foreign media.

The media partners of the KL Summit 2019 include Media Prima Bhd, AlJazeera and Astro.

From: NST

Opinion: Embedding S Korea in Southeast Asia

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KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN

For three days from Nov 25-27 in the port city of Busan, South Korean President Moon Jae-in will have a rare opportunity that eluded his predecessors — to set in cast iron the future and shape of South Korean-Asean and Mekong riparian country relations amid the ever-changing regional and international environment.

Over the past two years, Mr Moon has demonstrated for all the Asean leaders to see that he is serious about pursuing “a reliable and trusting partnership” with the grouping in a holistic manner, bringing their peoples and prosperity together, underpinned by a peaceful environment.

This is a tall order for a middle-power country that used to focus only on the Korean Peninsula. Seoul is now trying to diversify its strategic objectives to involve the mainland and maritime Southeast Asian countries and India. Under Mr Moon’s New Southern Policy (NSP), South Korea aims to strengthen ties with the developing countries in the southern hemisphere that are considered the economic growth engine.

It is fair to say that Mr Moon’s personal conviction and persistence have already made a difference in Seoul’s overall approach to Asean. At the very least, he fulfilled his promise to visit all 10 Asean countries within 23 months of taking office. He also succeeded in highlighting South Korea’s unique characteristic as a non-hegemonic and non-aggressive nation in the region.

“Korea and Asean have a healthy relationship without any historical baggage,” said Ambassador Kim Young-sam, former secretary-general of the Asean-Korea Centre.

Under Mr Moon’s direction, all statistics related to Asean-South Korean ties are on an upward trend. For instance, the number of infrastructure projects invested in by South Korean companies in Asean is up, worth more than 11 billion last year, more than all of the Middle East’s projects put together. Approximately 11.7 million tourists from South Korea and Asean travelled to the other country last year.

In addition, South Korea ranked as Asean’s No.2 trading partner, reaching US$160 billion in direct investment. After the Busan summits, officials on both sides hope for a surge in tourism and trade. They view the continued popularity of the Korean Wave, Hallyu, such as K-pop, K-food, K-beauty as representing potent soft power.

That helps explain why one of the NSP’s objectives is to raise Asean’s status as a global player that is on par with other major powers — the US, China, Russia and Japan — even though at this juncture that goal is a bit far-fetched, as Asean is still a light-weight player. But within the next decade, the Asean community — with its large population of 655 million, over 100 million more than the EU — will become one of the world’s big five economies and subsequently a global player.

His predecessors were not lucky enough to witness the dramatic shift currently taking place in the region, which has prompted South Korea to take a different, proactive route. First and foremost, it was Mr Moon’s unwavering support of the Asean role in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula that strengthened the Asean-South Korea friendship, a far cry from their ties under previous South Korean administrations.

For decades, the perceived role of Asean on the Korean Peninsula was confined to the whip of Seoul policymakers, whoever it might be, seeking to criticise Pyongyang’s longstanding nuclearisation. Support for South Korea’s position on the peninsula and condemnation of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions was the only barometer of the Asean-South Korea friendship. At the time, any issue beyond North Korea was a non-starter.

Therefore, it was left to the South Korean private sector to pave the way and stay at the forefront, raising the bar of Asean-South Korea relations until it was among the top five dialogue partners of Asean. Gradually but steadily the Seoul government has taken the lead in Asean-South Korea ties with cooperation from the private sector and civil society organisations.

As a latecomer to the Asean Plus Three and Mekong circuit, South Korea is moving at full throttle to boost ties with Asean. In 2017, the Asean Cultural House, the only one of its kind in East Asia, was opened after three years of construction. In August 2018, Seoul set up the Presidential Committee on New Southern Policy and in May 2019, set up the Asean and Southeast Asian Bureau– aimed at institutionalising the NSP in the conduct of South Korea’s foreign policy.

South Korea’s Ambassador to Asean, Lim Sung-nam, was a former vice foreign minister, the most senior official to serve in this position in Jakarta. All these efforts are testimony to South Korea’s desire to ensure that this new policy toward Asean and India will remain intact in the future, regardless of a new government.

The NSP has outlined 16 policy tasks to achieve, based on the principles of people, peace and prosperity. These guidelines provide a panoramic view of South Korean foreign policy toward the region. There were 57 regional projects that could be implemented. In particular, Seoul would like to encourage Asean to take an active role in the Korean Peninsula, including the peace process, denuclearisation and integrating North Korea into regional affairs.

Undoubtedly, Asean members would be the most suitable to serve as a “sherpa” for Pyongyang as it climbs the “Everest” of economic reforms. Indeed Vietnam’s economic model is an ideal one, given the country’s unprecedented economic growth without political disruption.

During his visit to Vietnam for the second Trump-Kim summit in February, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un learned firsthand that economic reforms would not necessarily bring about regime change, as he had much feared. Instead, it has strengthened communist rule as Vietnam has expanded diplomatic ties with Western trading partners.

After the Busan summits, Asean-South Korea ties will have a clear pathway to move forward in terms of commitments — financial, personal and institutional. Under the current environment of global polarisation and disruption between superpowers, Asean and South Korea must work closely together to navigate the high tides without any prejudice.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author.

From Thailand Post

Singapore’s PM: Asian Century’ should see greater multilateral cooperation

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The growing importance of Asia in the world economy should not be a cause for worry, as Asia needs diverse partners and access to global markets to continue to prosper, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said.

Singapore’s world view is that there are opportunities around the world, which is why 16,000km and the Pacific Ocean are no impediment for cooperation with Mexico and the rest of Latin America, he added.

Speaking to 250 Mexican business leaders at a fireside chat here on Tuesday (Nov 19), Mr Lee was asked if the “Asian Century” would lead to an Eastern Bloc of countries, and how other countries would factor in this geopolitical shift of power.

The Asian Century refers to the projected 21st-century dominance of Asia in the world, the way the 20th century was seen as the American Century.

While the centre of gravity will continue to shift towards Asia, powered by the rise of China and India, Mr Lee said he does not see Asia becoming “the centre of the world”, as the region needs outside markets, cooperation, and technology in order to prosper.

“If it closes in on itself, and we just say ‘this is the Asian region, we are doing business with ourselves in Asia’, well you won’t starve, but I think you will miss out on many opportunities,” he said. “We will be the poorer for it, and so will be the world.”

Despite a recent surge in insularity, many countries still want to cooperate – not just bilaterally but in larger groupings – because they know cooperation is win-win, said Mr Lee. He cited the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) mega trade deal to which both Mexico and Singapore are party to, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that is poised to be signed in 2020.

The CPTPP is a free trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Once fully implemented, the 11 countries will form a trading bloc representing 495 million consumers and 13.5 per cent of global GDP, valued at approximately US$13.5 trillion (S$18.3 trillion).

Covering a market of about 2 billion people and one-third of global gross domestic product, or less than US$30 trillion, RCEP will link 15 Asia-Pacific countries – Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – and create the world’s largest trading bloc.

In the absence of rules in the World Trade Organisation that would allow the world to move towards freer trade while accommodating more conservative countries, such willing groupings are the way forward, said Mr Lee.

“In your part of the world, you are doing the same: you have the Pacific Alliance with Columbia, Chile and Peru,” he said. “Singapore is negotiating a free trade agreement with the Pacific Alliance, and I hope we’ll be able to close it by the end of the year.”

On the United States-China rift, Mr Lee said the world’s two largest economies both need to make difficult adjustments as China grows in importance.

China needs to shift into its new position of influence and heft without over-pressing its advantage, and in a way that leaves space for other countries to manoeuvre, he said. There is also understandable pride that it has grown strong and has stood up, and that it will not allow itself to be trodden upon again, he added.

“At the same time, you have to remind yourself neither will we do unto others what, unfortunately, we have suffered, and that is not a very easy line for any leader to take,” said Mr Lee.

For the US, the difficulty is in learning to relinquish its position as the number one economy in the world, and to choose to develop the relationship constructively, such as with new rules that will enable China to fit into the global system.

“But if the response is a defensive one, that this growth of a new player is a threat to America and we must make sure that they never become number one, and we must always be number one, I think that can only lead to a very troubled relationship, and it is an effort which cannot succeed,” he said.

From: The Strait Times

Indonesia rejects US statement on illegal Israeli settlement

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Indonesia has emphasized its position on the Palestine-Israel conflict by rejecting the United States (US) statement on Monday, November 18, which backs Israel to establish its settlement in the occupied Palestine region, West Bank. “We could not accept this because it contradicts international law, as well as all the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC),” Retno Marsudi, Indonesia Foreign Affairs Minister, said in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Through a statement of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the US is considered to have broken its stance over the past 40 years which believed that the establishment of Israeli settlements in Palestine land was inconsistent with international law.

“The establishment of Israeli civilian settlements is not, per se, inconsistent with international law,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department, Reuters reported.

Further responses are currently being prepared by Indonesia from its position as a non-permanent member of the UNSC. “We are now contemplating the next measure we will be taking later concerning these bleak Palestine issues,” Marsudi stated.

The Palestine-Israel conflict is getting worse nowadays, she added, since some negotiable aspects were impaired by some parties, such as Australia and Honduras recognizing West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“The issue of illegal settlements was stripped down, as well as other issues of Jerusalem and refugees. In the end, what else remains negotiable? This is what we are worried about,” Marsudi pointed out.

From: Antara news

Mahathir: US rewarding violence, murder by backing Israel’s settlements in West Bank

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The Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the reversal of the United States position on Israel’s settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory is an absurdity amounting to legalising land grabs by neighbours of the country.

Commenting on reports quoting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who announced that the US President Donald Trump’s administration did not view Israeli settlements in West Bank illegal, Dr Mahathir said it was a blatant disregard of international laws and multiple United Nations resolutions.

“We are no longer safe. If a country wants to enter our country and build their settlements, that is legal. We cannot do anything,” he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office, today.

Dr Mahathir also expressed fears that the timing of the Trump’s administration announcement would further embolden the Israeli forces, which are now on a vicious killing spree on Gaza with reports citing children among the casualties.

“You announce that their illegal settlements are not illegal at a time when they are conducting these unjustified attacks on Gaza… Isn’t it like encouraging them to continue to murder the children and civilians, and that they will not be punished.

“Instead, they will be rewarded with setting up settlements on the land of the people they had killed and murdered,” the prime minister said.

The move by the Trump administration has drawn international outrage as the reversal departed from a State Department 1978 legal opinion that the settlements were inconsistent with international laws.

From: Agencies

Turkey slams US policy shift on illegal Israeli settlement

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Turkey on Tuesday slammed the U.S. policy change on illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said such a move is a “new example of reckless attitude to legitimize the illegal acts of Israel”, and has no validity with respect to international law.

On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Israeli settlements in the West Bank will no longer be viewed as illegal “per se.”

“Turkey along with all responsible members of the international community will continue to defend the independence of the Palestinian state and the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people,” the ministry said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also condemned the U.S. decision in a Twitter post, saying: “No country is above international law. Fait accompli style declarations shall have no validity with respect to international law.”

The move irked Palestinian officials who have rejected a role for the U.S. in any prospective peace talks with Israel after the U.S.’s 2017 decision to unilaterally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The U.S. under President Donald Trump has since gone on to close the Palestinians’ diplomatic office in Washington and has relocated its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Roughly 650,000 Israeli Jews currently live on more than 100 settlements built since 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians want these territories along with the Gaza Strip for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.

From: Anadolu agency

Opinion: Waking up under foreign occupation is a loss beyond description

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A friend of mine has a very peculiar gift: he can relate any incident in his life, be it his marriage, his children’s birthdays, his graduation date, the time he lost his job; he can even remember many painful incidents in Palestinian history. For example, he will tell you that his daughter was born on the same day that Mahmoud Abu Hannoud was assassinated by the Israeli occupation authorities; or that he did not want to start his new business on a certain date because it was the anniversary of the assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, or the demise of Yasser Arafat, and that would not be appropriate.

It sometimes crosses my mind to list all of the wars in our region in my lifetime, but it is a tiresome task. I am not sure which is the earliest that I can remember; perhaps the 1973 October War with Israel, or the Lebanese civil war which started in 1976, or maybe Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. There are many to choose from, but it is those incidents which affect one’s life directly which usually figure more prominently in the memory. It is the personal aspects which give the occupation its worse face, and my problem with the Israeli occupation is indeed personal, as the well-known Palestinian poet Samih Al-Qasim used to say.

Earlier this month, I celebrated my fiftieth birthday. A few days after I was born, the third holiest place in Islam and the holiest place in Palestine, Al-Aqsa Mosque, was set ablaze by an Australian called Denis Michael Rohan. An Israeli court proved that Rohan, who lived on an Israeli kibbutz at the time, was neither Israeli nor a Jew. Moreover, it declared him to be insane. None of this is a real surprise if you are acquainted with how the “legal system” works in Israel.

Hence, whenever the anniversary of the arson attack on Al-Aqsa comes around, I tend to feel down, especially with the latest events taking place. When Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 after taking over most of Palestine in 1948, it tightened its grip on the holy city of Jerusalem, especially the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa. Although the sanctuary remains under Jordanian custodianship — the West Bank was administered by Jordan between 1948 and 1967 —Israel has never stopped showing us all who the boss is. Even after Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1993, the Israeli occupation worked systematically to undermine the Muslim presence in, and control of, Al-Aqsa. The occupation authorities have allowed Jewish settlers to trespass in the mosque under the eye and protection of Israeli police.

Although UN Resolutions state clearly that the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa is an Islamic site, the Israelis take full control. The state has made it next to impossible for the Palestinian guards appointed by Al-Aqsa’s administration to operate, by deploying Israeli police at the gates and within the sanctuary. Age restrictions have been imposed on Muslim worshippers barring people under forty years and sometimes fifty years of age from entering Al-Aqsa. Meanwhile, the police allow all Israeli Jews and other non-Muslims in. Jews are even allowed into Al-Aqsa during their festivals to perform religious rites in the mosque. This has led to many incidents with Muslim worshippers, especially with young people when they are allowed in.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sparked off the Second Intifada in 2000 when he challenged the Muslims and entered Al-Aqsa in a defiant move which was backed by the security services. Israeli politicians and official discourse are thus sending a clear message to Muslims that it is only a matter of time before Israel will take over Al-Aqsa completely, then demolish it to build a temple on its ruins.

A video called Magic of Jerusalem produced in 2013 by Israel’s then Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, shows the Dome of the Rock Mosque — an integral part of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa — disappearing to be replaced by a Jewish temple. The negative response to this prompted an edit of the video before it was reposted online. The intention remains clear.

A few days ago, Israel’s Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan demanded that Jews should be allowed to visit Al-Aqsa and perform their rituals and prayers there. The Israeli security services injured more than 60 Palestinians in clashes when it allowed Jews to enter the sanctuary on the day of Eid Al-Adha, an important Muslim festival. Four Israeli police officers were identified as those responsible for shooting two Palestinian teenagers, 17-year-old Nassim Abu Rumi, who was killed, and 14-year-old Hamoudeh Al-Sheikh, who was seriously injured, after an alleged stabbing incident.

Most Palestinians have either lost at least one of their relatives in encounters with the Israeli occupation forces, have been in prison or have been denied basic healthcare and education. That is the reality of Israel’s occupation. Waking up every day under foreign occupation is a loss beyond description.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author.

US policy reversal on Israeli settlements sparks regional condemnation

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Palestinians, rights groups, politicians and others have sharply criticised the Trump administration after it announced the United States was no longer considered Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank “inconsistent” with international law.

“After carefully studying all sides of the legal debate, this administration agrees … (the) establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not, per se, inconsistent with international law,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday when making the announcement.

He said the administration of US President Donald Trump would no longer abide by a 1978 State Department legal opinion that said the settlements were “inconsistent with international law”.

According to several United Nations Security Council resolutions, the most recent in 2016, Israeli settlements are illegal under international law as they violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its population to the area it occupies.

The US announcement, the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration favouring Israel, drew immediate criticism from Palestinians, rights groups and politicians worldwide.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the US decision “contradicts totally with international law”.

Washington is “not qualified or authorised to cancel the resolutions of international law, and has no right to grant legality to any Israeli settlement”, Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah said in a statement.

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance movement Hamas slammed Pompeo’s announcement over the legitimacy of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“Pompeo’s remarks are a continuation of the American policy, which has been always biased, in support of the occupation, and an official cover for its violations and crimes committed against the Palestinian people,” Hamas said in a press statement.

Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran Palestinian negotiator and member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, said on Twitter before Pompeo’s statement that the move represented another blow to “international law, justice & peace”.

Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, warned that the US change of position would have “dangerous consequences” on the prospects of reviving the Middle East peace process.

Safadi said in a tweet that Israeli settlements in the territory were illegal and killed prospects of a two-state solution in which a Palestinian state would exist side-by-side with Israel, which Arab countries say is the only way to resolve the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict.

‘A gift to Netanyahu’

More than 600,000 Israelis currently live in settlements in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Some three million Palestinians live there.

The settlements have long been considered a major stumbling blocks to an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

Monitor groups have said Israel has conducted a settlement push since Trump took office.

Monday’s announcement marked another significant instance in which the Trump administration has sided with Israel and against stances taken by the Palestinians and Arab states even before unveiling its long-delayed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.

In 2017, Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and, in 2018, the US formally opened an embassy in the city. US policy had previously been that the status of Jerusalem was to be decided by the parties to the conflict.

In 2018, the US also announced it was cutting its contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

And in March, Trump recognised Israel’s 1981 annexation of the occupied Golan Heights in a boost for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that prompted a sharp response from Syria, which once held the strategic land.

Netanyahu on Monday welcomed the shift in policy, saying the US move “rights a historical wrong”.

Yousef Munayyer, the executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, called Pompeo’s announcement “another gift to Netanyahu and a green light to Israeli leaders to put settlement building further into overdrive and advance formal annexation”.

Netanyahu is currently facing domestic pressure on two fronts after Israel held inconclusive elections earlier this year. His main political rival, former military chief of staff Benny Gantz, has two days to try and form a government to replace Netanyahu, who is also facing potential indictment in three corruption cases.

In the last election campaign, Netanyahu pledged to annex large parts of the West Bank, a move that would further imperil a two-state solution.

Gantz welcomed the US move, saying in a tweet that the “fate of the settlements should be determined by agreements that meet security requirements and promote peace”.

Pompeo denied a motivation to prop up Netanyahu, saying: “The timing of this was not tied to anything that had to do with domestic politics anywhere in Israel or otherwise.”

Reaction

Noura Erakat, a Palestinian human rights lawyer, tweeted: “Pompeo’s settlement announcement is consistent w 5 decades of US Mideast Police [policy]. Making it about Trump is self-exculpatory and a continuation of violence. Trump is not the rupture, he’s the culmination of US policy.”

Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American lawyer and rights activist, said the announcement was “not surprising”.

“Trump administration once again shows its complete disdain for the law,” she tweeted.

“Sec. Pompeo, what has ‘not advanced the cause of peace’ is Israel’s building of illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land, NOT calling out the settlements for what they are. #Justice101,” she added.

Meanwhile, the European Union said that it continued to believe that Israeli settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territory was illegal under international law and eroded prospects for lasting peace.

“The EU calls on Israel to end all settlement activity, in line with its obligations as an occupying power,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement following the US move.

Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, tweeted: “Pompeo’s fictional statement changes nothing. Trump can’t wipe away with this announcement decades of established international law that Israel’s settlements are a war crime.”

US Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading US Democratic presidential hopeful, also weighed in on Twitter, saying “Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal.”

“This is clear from international law and multiple United Nations resolutions. Once again, Mr Trump is isolating the United States and undermining diplomacy by pandering to his extremist base,” Sanders said.

Agencies, AMEF

At UN, Middle East countries discuss steps towards regional nuclear-free zone

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Speaking on Monday during the inaugural session of the deliberations on a nuclear-weapon free Middle East, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the zone would have significance beyond the region.

“I therefore hope this Conference will serve as the start of an inclusive process in which all the States of the region can participate,” he said.

Currently, there are five nuclear-free zones worldwide: in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific.

Not only do they eliminate any possibility of a nuclear conflict in these locations, they also provide a means for countries to work together on common regional security, according to Mr. Guterres.

“They also provide tangible security benefits by giving their members assurances against the use, or threat of use, of nuclear weapons. At the same time, these zones can provide additional assurance to the global community of the peaceful nuclear intentions of the countries in these regions,” he said.

Significance beyond the region 

For the Secretary-General, these motives are important to the Middle East, where the overall situation remains a serious concern for the entire world.

The region has been scarred by ongoing complex civil wars involving non-state armed groups, terrorist organizations and regional and international military powers.

“Meanwhile, concerns over nuclear programmes persist and continue to drive tensions,” he said.

“We have yet to see meaningful accountability for the use of chemical weapons. There are signs of active arms competition, including the acquisition and use of new weapon technologies.”

Latin America and Caribbean an inspiration 

The Middle East-focused meeting, which runs through Friday, marks the first session of a conference that will be held annually until a legally binding treaty for the nuclear-free zone is agreed.

The UN chief hoped participants will be inspired by the example set by Latin America and the Caribbean, where the first zone was proposed in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.

“Despite the tensions and politics of the Cold War, countries of the region persevered and in 1967 established a flexible and durable arrangement, which has served as a model for all such successive zones,” he said.

“Let us be guided by their experience – and those of other regions – as we advance in all of our efforts across the disarmament agenda.”

UN fight for nuclear disarmament 

Tijjani Muhammad-Bande President of the UN General Assembly, noted the continued existence of more than 15,000 nuclear warheads stockpiled around the world, and stressed that any use of these weapons would be a humanitarian and ecological catastrophe, causing irreplaceable damage.

“We cannot in good conscience ignore these risks,” he said, adding that the Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons remains the cornerstone of the nuclear disarmament and non‑proliferation regime, and its 2020 Review Conference will propel a stronger commitment towards a nuclear‑weapon‑free world.

Although nuclear weapons have only been used once in history, the 1945 bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War attest to their devastation.

These are the most dangerous weapons on Earth, able to “destroy a whole city, potentially killing millions, and jeopardizing the natural environment and lives of future generations…,” as the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs has stated.

The UN was established from the ashes of the Second World War and has been working to eliminate nuclear weapons ever since, including through the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), as well as the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), both of which are yet to enter into force.

From: UN News

بيان حول إقتحام المستوطنين للمسجد الأقصى المبارك

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منتدى آسيا والشرق الأوسط يستنكر إقتحام المستوطنين للمسجد الأقصى المبارك

يستنكر منتدى آسيا والشرق الأوسط قيام عدد من المستوطنين على هيئة مجموعات باقتحام الأقصى من جهة باب السلسلة والمغاربة وسط حراسة مشدّدة من قوات الاحتلال الخاصّة والتي رافقت المستوطنين خلال جولاتهم في باحات المسجد.

وهو ما يعد تغييراً لقرارات الأمم المتحدة، وإعتداءً صارخاً على الأماكن المقدسة لأكثر من مليار مسلم، ومخالفة لواجبات قوات الإحتلال برعاية مصالح السكان الذين يخضعون لسيطرتها.

إنّ هذا الإعتداء يمثّل دافعاً إضافياً إلى تحويل الصراع في فلسطين المحتلة إلى صراع ديني، والذي يأتي بعد أيام قليلة من اعتماد الكنيست الإسرائيلي قانون ما يسمى بـ “يهودية الدولة” والذي يضير الحقوق الفلسطينية ويحوّل الشعب الأصلي إلى غريب في أرضه.

منتدى آسيا والشرق الأوسط إذ يراقب ما يحدث حول المسجد الأقصى المبارك فإنّه يُدين وبشدّة ما يقوم به المستوطنون والجيش الإسرائيلي من تدنيس للمقدسات الإسلامية، كما وإننا ندعو المنظمات الدولية والدول المنظوية تحت الأمم المتحدة وميثاق جنيف إلى التحرك سريعاً لتدارك الوضع في الأراضي المحتلة، ونحملهم كامل المسؤولية عما ستؤول إليه الأمور في المنطقة نتيجة العدوان الإسرائيلي.

منتدى آسيا والشرق الأوسط
الدائرة الإعلامية
23/7/2018