The former commander of Britain’s forces in Afghanistan has blasted the anti-Israeli settlement Resolution 2334, passed last month by the UN Security Council, on the grounds that it “incites [Palestinian] violence against Jews and encourages BDS movements around the world that will encourage antisemitism.”
In a debate on Jewish Internet station J-TV‘s programme “Current Affairs” — moderated by the UK-based Henry Jackson Society founder and executive director Dr. Alan Mendoza — Col. Richard Kemp also criticised his government for supporting the resolution and the Obama administration for abstaining from the vote, rather than vetoing it.
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Kemp was debating Tal Ofer, a member of the British Labour Movement originally from Israel, who said that though “the resolution is really, really bad for the settlements, it’s actually really good for Israel, because it requires Israel to make a decision into what direction it wishes to go – whether it’s the one-state solution or the two-state solution.”
Kemp argued that not only are settlements “not illegal,” but “the British Foreign Office and the British prime minister, [who] have said that they’re illegal… know that they’re not.”
But, he claimed, “By saying they’re illegal, [the UK] will be applying pressure to Israel…” He also said, “The Palestinians do not wish to negotiate with Israel, because they do not want to do the one thing that Israel will require them to do, which is accept the existence of the Jewish state.”
Kemp said he believes that the ultimate aim of both the British and current American governments is Israel’s total withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem — home to “Judaism’s most holy sites.” However, he added, Israel will never pull out completely, because it knows what would happen in such an event. “We’ve seen the consequences of pulling out of Gaza; we’ve seen the consequences of pulling back from Southern Lebanon; we’ve seen the consequences of pulling out of Sinai,” he said, claiming that such a move in the West Bank would “allow an Islamic [terrorist] state” to form and flourish there.
Source: Algemeiner
