As a Jewish-American citizen I was terrified when I found out that U.N. Resolution 2332 passed, and not only passed, but that the United States abstained from voting.
Resolution 2332 states that the establishment of settlements in Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and is a violation of international law. The resolution also states that post-1967 borders are not be recognized.
It worries me that the United States did not defend Israel, one of their longest allies, and the message this abstention sends to other citizens and countries all over the world.
Throughout high school and college I participated in Israel advocacy. My family is involved with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, and I spent most of my childhood travelling to Israel and learning about its rich culture and history. During my freshman year of college, I witnessed the dangers of Boycott Divests and Sanctions (BDS); when a piece of legislation asking to divest from all Israeli funds was introduced to our student government. Into my sophomore year of college, I was in charge of marketing for our biggest pro-Israel event of the year, ‘Israel Block Party’, and due to my involvement with the event was yelled at and called a racist numerous times.
This past semester, I helped with an event, ‘This is what a Zionist looks like’. The event was to promote Zionism and change the connotation of the word from a negative one to a positive one. Our event was protested by students chanting, ‘Zionism off our campus’.
Experiencing such behaviour prior to the passing of the U.N. resolution, deeply concerns me. I fear people look to the United States for direction and inspiration, and If they see that not even the U.S. stands with Israel, I worry that BDS and anti-Israel sentiment will further pave its way into society.
There is no easy resolution for peace between Israel and Palestine, but I do not think that settlements should be the key issue with regards to the peace process. There are hundreds of Arabs living in Israel and co-existing with Israelis, and they are not deemed an obstacle to peace. It frustrates me that the settlement of Israelis in the West Bank has been disproportionately judged as a violation of international law.
DISCLAIMER: The articles on our website are not endorsed by, or the opinions of Shout Out UK (SOUK), but exclusively the views of the author.
