US ambassador’s support for Israeli settlements condemned
The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has faced criticism for his apparent support for the expansion of Israeli settlements, according to the Middle East Eye and agencies on December 13th.
The chairman of the Palestinian National Council, Rouhi Fattouh, accused Huckabee of providing political cover for the expansion of settlements across the Palestinian territories, which is widely recognised as illegal under international law.
Fattouh pointed to UN Security Council resolution 2334, which affirms that settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories has no legal validity and must cease promptly.
He said that settlements were part of a broader plan to further entrench an Israeli system, which privileges Jewish Israelis and discriminates against Palestinians.
An estimated 700,000 Israelis live in settlements across the West Bank and Jerusalem, with the number being expected to increase as the Israeli government has greenlit the construction of nearly 800 housing units in the West Bank, as reported on December 11th.
Huckabee is a staunch supporter of Israel and has denied the existence of Palestinians, a sentiment popularised by former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in a 1969 statement, where she claimed that “There were no such thing as Palestinians.”
This denial of the Palestinian people’s existence was seemingly evident in June, when Huckabee proposed forming a Palestinian state out of Muslim states, claiming that they have “644 times the amount of land” than what Israel has.
In August, the former Arkansas governor seemingly expressed support for Israel’s “E1” settlement expansion plan, stating that “It is not a violation of international law for Israelis to live in Judea and Samaria.”
Judea and Samaria are the Biblical terms for the West Bank, which Israel has sought to annex by 82%. Under the “Greater Israel” vision, Israel would expand its borders to fully occupy the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Syria’s Golan Heights and parts of Jordan.
It was reported on November 21st that Huckabee had secretly met with the convicted spy Jonathan Pollard at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, despite Pollard being sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for espionage.
It is unclear why Huckabee met with Pollard, but it is known that Pollard received a hero’s welcome upon his emigration to Israel, with the man being greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Middle East Eye and agencies, Maghrebi.org
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