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Intl. sanctions needed to stop Israeli crimes: Scholar

Tuesday, 14 February 2017 2:00 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 14 February 2017 4:10 PM ]

This file photo shows Palestinian protesters facing the Israeli settlement of Qadumim in the occupied West Bank. (Photo by AFP)

The United Nations as well as the world leaders and people should put pressure on Israel in order to help Palestinians who are suffering from Israelis’ racist policies, says a political expert.

“Sanctions are the only option now by ... the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop the violations of [recent] UN resolutions,” Yousef al-Helou, a journalist and political commentator from London, said on Tuesday.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction in December 2016, but Israel defied the document by building new settler units in occupied territories.

“People inside the occupied territories are dismayed by the ... so-called international community for not taking practical steps on the ground to put an end to these violations,” Helou added.

A picture taken on February 8, 2017 shows a general view of a construction site in a new housing project in the Israeli settlement of Nili, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Photo by AFP)

In the absence of real moves to push Tel Aviv to stop its anti-Palestinian policies, Israel has found an opportunity to speed up its settlement activities without being concerned about any condemnation from world powers, the scholar said, adding that Israel thinks it is “above the international law” and is a “rogue” regime, which does not respect the United Nations’ resolutions.

In a rare move, the German government has postponed a summit between Israeli and German officials scheduled for May 10 in Jerusalem al-Quds. Germany is trying to express its protest against Tel Aviv’s defiance of international calls to stop settlement construction on Palestinian territories.

Helou also stated that condemnations on the part of some international leaders and United Nations’ officials are actually “ineffective” and cannot do anything to reduce sufferings of the Palestinian people in the real world.

He said the Israeli regime has received “green light” from the new US administration to do whatever it wants, as US President Donald Trump has not condemned construction of new settlements in Palestinian territories.

Pointing to the destruction of Palestinians’ homes in the West Bank, Helou noted that Israelis’ harsh measures against the Palestinian people would cause more “escalation” and tension.

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