The recent announcement by Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, that America no longer regards West Bank settlements in Palestine as illegal, is incendiary (Anger as US says Israel settlements ‘not illegal’, 19 November). Palestinian spokespeople have rightly condemned the decision as a threat to global order and one that destroys US credibility in the peace process.
The decision entails the creation of one apartheid state from the Jordan valley to the Mediterranean. It is unlikely that Palestinian opposition will be bought off with economic investment. The mo likely outcome is increased Palestinian resistance.
The EU and the UK cling to the hope that peace will be won on the basis of a two-state solution and the withdrawal of illegal settlements from the West Bank. Trump’s pro-Israel actions bring the post-Oslo peace process and hopes to an end.
Conflicts in the Holy Land will amplify. Palestinians already feel that their needs and interests are ignored. The Palestinian Authority is widely recognised as lacking the legitimacy and power to deal with the Israeli behemoth. Palestinians are now left without hope for a better future. The politics of negotiation cannot succeed under these conditions.
It is now time for the UK to change tack and to work with the EU to take steps beyond the two-state solution. There is now one state in Palestine. Europe’s aim should be to ensure it becomes one that respects the human rights of all its citizens.
Bill Williamson
Durham
• Surely the American attempt to legitimise the Israeli settlements on the West Bank is not only a blatant defiance of international law in supporting an increasingly apartheid administration in Israel, but also a clear distraction from Donald Trump’s wish to justify his own fraudulent and corrupt behaviour in the US by perverting the meaning of truth and justice, and what are shared and recognised standards of human discourse.
Ya’ir Klein
London
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