(Jerusalem Post) Irwin Cotler - Once again, the UN commemorated the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29 by continuing to ignore the plight of Jewish refugees. Turning history and law on its head, the world body once again failed to note that the Arab countries not only rejected a Palestinian state and went to war to extinguish the nascent Jewish state, but also targeted the Jewish nationals living in their respective countries. The annual November 29 commemoration should be transformed into an International Day of Solidarity for a Two-Peoples Two-State Solution - as the initial 1947 Partition Resolution intended - including solidarity with all refugees created by the Israeli-Arab conflict including Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Jurisdiction over Palestinian refugees should be transferred from UNRWA to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. There was no justification then - and still less today - for the establishment of a separate body to deal only with Palestinian refugees, particularly when that body is itself compromised by its incitement to hatred. The writer is a former minister of justice and attorney general of Canada.
2011-12-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive