2018-11-10
By Samya Jabbour and Hiba Al-Farra, Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN)
When Scott Morrison announced on 15th October that he was considering moving Australia’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thereby recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, he was in direct contravention of international law. He was also throwing petrol on a fire that’s been blazing for 70 years.
This stunt, although accurately predicted to backfire, was widely believed to be an attempt to secure more Liberal votes in the Wentworth by-election, with Wentworth Liberal candidate and former Australian ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, named as the brains behind the proposal. The shortsightedness of using foreign policy as a pawn in a local by-election did not go unnoticed.
Five days later, the very safe Liberal seat of Wentworth was lost to Independent Dr Kerryn Phelps in the biggest political swing in Australia’s history. The Liberals lost Wentworth for the first time in history, and majority government was lost along with it.
So, Scott Morrison misjudged the people of Wentworth. And he has misread Australian public opinion on Palestine. And further to this, he has disregarded the status of Jerusalem under international law.
Why does it matter?
Scott Morrison’s impulsive shift on foreign policy equates to Australia again siding with Israel over the Palestinians, even when it means violating international conventions. Indeed, it has been reported that if the embassy move were to go ahead, it could land Australia in the International Court of Justice.
The international isolation and condemnation that might result from such a move is clear, as we saw when Indonesia immediately halted progress of the free trade deal with Australia, 8 years in the making, over its concerns about Australia’s shift on the status of Jerusalem.
While Australians may tend to see politics as a relatively inert force, in other parts of the world politics has very tangible impacts on people's lives.
When the USA moved their embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on 14th May this year – on the 70th anniversary of Israel’s creation and the day before the 70th anniversary of Al-Nakba – it was the bloodiest day in Gaza since the Israeli offensive of 2014. At least 59 Palestinian civilians were killed that day by Israeli sniper fire and toxic gas, and thousands were wounded. And ‘wounded’ in this context, when you consider that the Israeli snipers were firing expanding bullets that have never before been used on people, mostly equates to devastating, life-changing injuries, amputations, paralysis and permanent disfigurement.
While protests were intensified due to the opening of the US embassy, the people of Gaza were in fact marching in their thousands in the Great March of Return to call for their simple right to return to the land from which they – along with 80% of all Palestinians – were displaced in 1948. The Palestinian Right of Return has been recognized under international law in UN Resolution 194 since 1949, but has never been recognized by Israel. This means that those Palestinians uprooted from their homes in the Nakba of 1948 and their descendants, now numbering around 6 million worldwide, have not been permitted to return to their land in 70 years.
A brief history of Palestine/Israel
Everything that happens in Israel/Palestine today must be understood in the context of recent history. Many people in the Western world mistakenly believe that ‘the conflict’ in Palestine/Israel is a religious one, where people are fighting over religious differences. In fact, for us Palestinians, this has never been the case. Prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948 on what was previously Palestine, all faiths – Muslims, Christians, Jews, Druze and others – lived together and each had respect for each other’s faith.
It is the creation of a Jewish nation-state on the land of the displaced Palestinians that has caused the gross political inequality that we see today. The majority of Palestinians were forced from their homes and off their land at the creation of Israel in 1948, and the vast majority of them have never been permitted to return. Israeli historian Ilan Pappe’s excellent book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine documents this well. While it’s not uncommon for people to be forced from their land in times of war, what distinguishes the Palestinian situation is that in 70 years we have not been allowed to return to our land, despite it being our right under international law; Israel has never permitted our return to what is now a Jewish nation-state for the simple fact that we are not Jewish. This is a political catastrophe – not a religious one.
It is important to understand the difference between Judaism and Zionism. Judaism is the religion practiced by Jews. Zionism is the political movement to establish a national home for the Jews, in Palestine. Many Jews denounce Zionism. And many Zionists are not Jewish.
The Zionist movement to create a Jewish national home in Palestine gathered momentum in the first decades of the 20th century. In 1917 the British Lord Balfour issued what became known as the Balfour Declaration, which promised the land of Palestine to the Zionist Federation as a national home for the Jewish people. This was a great betrayal of the native Palestinian people. There was at the time a small minority of Palestinian Jews living in Palestine, alongside Palestinian Christians, Muslims, Druze and other faiths.
Australia’s role
Australia actually played a central role in the division of Palestine when, in 1947, Australia’s Dr Evatt as chair of the UN Security Council held the casting vote on UN Resolution 181: the Partition of Palestine, which carved up British mandate Palestine into non-contiguous “Arab” and “Jewish” lands. Crucially, in recognition of its international significance to all monotheistic faiths, Jerusalem was at this time designated a corpus separatum – separate body – to be administered as an international protectorate.
Following the 1947 partition plan of Palestine, Australia then recognised Israel in 1948, but for the past 70 years has failed to recognise Palestine. One outcome of this blatant inequity has been that the Palestinian refugee problem has existed for exactly as long as the state of Israel. The Palestinians who were forced from their land at the creation of Israel became stateless when the international community ceased to recognise Palestine as a country; most have remained stateless refugees since 1948.
So, Australia played a key role in dividing Palestine into Israel and Palestine, then only recognised one half: Israel. Scott Morrison claims that recognising (West) Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is in line with plans to recognise East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. If he expects the Australian people and the international community to believe that he is genuine about this, he should start by Recognising Palestine.
The importance of Jerusalem
In order to understand the significant implications of Scott Morrison’s recent political posturing, it is vital to understand the importance of Jerusalem to people of all faiths. Jerusalem has an extremely important status in the Middle East, religiously and historically, as it is the birthplace of the three main Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
To Jews, Jerusalem is believed to be the site where God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, and the site on which the first temple was built by Solomon, and the second temple by Herod. The Western Wall in Jerusalem is considered to be the remaining structure of the second temple. Temple Mount is believed by Jews to be the site of both temples. It is towards the direction of Jerusalem that Jews turn in prayer, as it is the most sacred site in Judaism.
To Christians, Jerusalem is the most sacred city in Christianity. Jerusalem is where Jesus Christ is believed to have preached to the poor, walked the Stations of the Cross towards his death, was crucified, and three days later was resurrected by God, and ascended to heaven. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is believed to have been built on the sites of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Christ was believed to have been born in what is now the Church of the Nativity in the nearby town of Bethlehem (presently separated from Jerusalem and surrounding areas due to the 8m-high concrete wall erected by Israel).
To Muslims, Jerusalem is the first place toward which they turned in prayer, prior to Mecca; it is a Holy Place that has Al Aqsa Mosque, where The Prophet Muhammad is believed to have visited during his night journey and ascension. Legend has it that the angel Gabriel miraculously took the Prophet from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to the Furthest Mosque (Al-Aqsa) in Jerusalem. He was then taken up to the heavens to be shown the signs of God.
Last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his support to silencing the Muslim calls to prayer in Jerusalem, because they were disturbing the sleep of the Israeli settlers, whose presence in East Jerusalem is illegal under international law. This move was in fact strongly condemned by the Christian community of Jerusalem, who pointed out that the Muslims have been calling their faithful to prayer in the Holy City for 1400 years.
Jerusalem an international protectorate
There is a sound reason why the vast majority of the international community is reluctant to take any action that may change the legal status of Jerusalem. Jerusalem as a city has a special legal status that has been maintained based on various United Nations resolutions. Let us start by mentioning the near history of Jerusalem.
Israel has inhabited West Jerusalem since 1949; in 1967 Israel occupied the other half of the city in what was known as the ‘six day war’; the international community considers Jerusalem as occupied territory, the fate of which should only be decided through negotiation.
There were various United Nations resolutions that have stated clearly the importance of not changing the legal status of Jerusalem. We need to stress here on the importance of the UN resolution number 252, along with resolutions 242, 253, 271, 465, 476, 478, 672, 1073, 1322, 1397, 2334 and many other resolutions concerning the rights of the Palestinian people.
As an example of these resolutions, Resolution 252 invalidated the legal and administrative measures undertaken by Israel since the 1967 Six Day War with the goal of changing the status of Jerusalem, in violation of UN General Assembly Resolutions 2253 and 2254, and called on Israel to rescind those measures and avoid further actions to that effect.
Resolution 252 states:
“The Security Council reaffirm[s] that the acquisition of territory by military conquest is inadmissible; deplores the failure of Israel to comply with the General Assembly resolutions…; considers that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel… which tend to change the legal status of Jerusalem are invalid and cannot change that status… [and] urgently calls upon Israel to rescind all such measures already taken and to desist forthwith from taking any further action which tends to change the status of Jerusalem”.
Moving the Australian Embassy to Jerusalem would be a violation of Resolution 252. Jerusalem’s fate is to be decided through negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and in the case of not reaching a decision or mutual understanding, then the United Nations would be the suitable body to help resolve it.
By moving the Australian Embassy to Jerusalem, Australia would be legitimising the illegal occupation of Jerusalem by Israel. By doing so, Australia would be standing on the wrong side of history.