Colombia One reports: “Colombia to Propose U.N. Peacekeeping Force for Palestine at General Assembly.” Drop Site News reports: “Israel intensifies attack on Gaza City. … At least 54 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military across Gaza since dawn today. Israel has killed 84 Palestinians and injured 338 in the past 24 hours. Three more Palestinians have died from famine; this brings the total of famine deaths to 370, including 131 children. The Israeli military warns that it will impose direct martial rule over the entire Gaza Strip. Marco Rubio signals an assent to further West Bank annexations.”
RAED JARRAR, [email protected], @raedjarrar
Jarrar is advocacy director for DAWN, founded by slain writer Jamal Khashoggi. The group has just posted an “Open Letter to President Abbas: Request UNGA to deploy multilateral protection force in Gaza,” writing: “It is imperative that you act immediately to formally request the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to mandate the deployment of a multilateral protection force in Gaza, pursuant to a ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution secured in an Emergency Special Session. This force should have a specific mandate to protect civilians, facilitate aid distribution throughout Gaza, secure evidence of Israeli crimes, and assist in reconstruction. As you are aware, member states of the United Nations will need a formal invitation from the State of Palestine in order to proceed with the deployment of such forces to Gaza.” The letter is signed by a number of organizations including the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, People Against Genocide Everywhere, Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace and Jewish Christian Alliance. Individual signers include Jody Williams, Richard Falk, Lawrence Wilkerson and Sami A. Al-Arian. DAWN invites other organizations and individuals to sign the letter.
The signers note: “Member states could contribute forces for such peacekeeping forces with no need for any permission from the U.N. Security Council or Israel. A number of states have already made clear that they would be willing to send forces for such a U.N. authorized force. There is a strong precedent for this. Within days of the invasion of Gaza and Sinai in 1956, the UNGA set up the United Nations Emergency Force pursuant to a Uniting for Peace resolution and within months ensured the withdrawal of invading Israel, British and French forces. Palestine would retain full authority over who contributes troops and how long they stay.
“We note that Minister Riyad Mansour called on August 10 for the UNSC to invoke Chapter VII to mandate such a protection force: ‘This Council must act under Chapter VII to deprive Israel of the means to pursue this war of atrocities, to hold it accountable for its crimes and to send an immediate international protection force to save the Palestinian people from certain death.’
“While we welcome this long overdue call, it is clear that the U.S. would veto a UNSC resolution to authorize such forces. In addition, it should not be necessary to invoke Chapter VII, as the presence of such forces in Palestinian territory would be at the invitation of the State of Palestine. This is why the signatories of the New York Declaration merely asked for an invitation from Palestine to deploy stabilization forces following a ceasefire.”
Also, in response to the U.S. State Department’s decision to deny visas to Palestinian Authority officials ahead of the September U.N. General Assembly meeting, DAWN released the statement “UNGA: Move September Meeting to Geneva to Allow Palestinians to Participate,” noting: “This is not the first time the United States has violated its obligations under the U.N. Headquarters Agreement. In 1988, the U.S. denied a visa to Palestine Liberation Organisation Chairman Yasser Arafat to attend the U.N. General Assembly. The U.N. responded by adopting a resolution concluding that Washington had violated its obligations under the 1947 Agreement and, as a rebuke, moved its General Assembly meeting from New York to Geneva to allow the Palestinian leader to speak.”