An op-ed by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN Commissioner for Human Rights, and current chair of The Elders, was published at the Financial Times (“Palestinian peace must rest on international law”, March 15).
Robinson, as readers may recall, was the driving force, in her UN role, behind the Orwellian named “World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance” in 2001 – a cesspit of hate aptly described as an “intellectual pogrom against Jews and Israel”.
Her op-ed includes the following claim:
Under the Trump administration, respect for international law was superseded by unilateral and partisan policy shifts, including US alignment with Israel in its argument that the legal status of the occupied Palestinian territories is merely “disputed”.
That shift gave cover to the continuing construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — the biggest threat to the two-state solution and a flagrant violation of international law. It also helped justify the extension of Israeli domestic law to the 650,000 Jews living in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In our complaint to Financial Times editors, we noted that Israel, contrary to what Robinson wrote, did NOT extend Israeli law to communities in Judea and Samaria. Though the idea of extending Israeli sovereignty (referred to by the media as “annexation”) to a portion of the territories was being debated last year, the government agreed to halt those plans when the Abraham Accords were signed.
The only territories acquired by Israel in the Six Day War which were annexed (and Israeli law applied) were east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The “650,000 Jews” figure cited by Robinson includes those living in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, thus falsely suggesting that the latter was also annexed.
We complained to Financial Times editors, but haven’t yet received a reply.
I would not hold your breath for a reply from the Times, they seem to have difficulty reading and comprehending the most basic of concepts. No doubt the Times actually believes that the ICC is actually a valid organisation with complete integrity and the actual ability to administer ‘International Law’ whatever that is. Mary Robinson is a known antisemite and has been whipping up anti-Israel feeling in Ireland for two decades. I do wonder how such spiteful and hate filled people get to these positions of power. Human rights and self determination for everyone except Jews, eh Mary.