–A climate settlement needs better global governance
Comment by Mathew Carr
Oct. 19-21, 2023 — While Western nations condemn Russia, they adopt its playbook. Death is the backdrop. Money is the real game. Total greedy patheticness.
Israel has apparently confirmed it’s taking Gaza land, after having denied Palestinian people about $80 billion in oil and gas revenue the past 15 years (based on my extrapolation of data in the 2021 Al Jazeera report, below).
It seems that’s why leaders from the US and UK are in Israel this week …to protect the land grab. The last gasp of western colonialism?
Here is the clear evidence of it:
Source: p1 Financial Times Thursday
Is this red zone the real land grab?
Source FT Wednesday, p2 — the accompanying report included commentary that those leaving northern Gaza may never be allowed to return.
Al Jazeera reported this Friday:
“The Israeli defence minister, briefing a parliamentary committee on Friday, said Israel’s military campaign in Gaza will unfold in three phases with the goal of establishing a ‘new security reality’.
“He said the first phase, which was under way, would involve the destruction of Hamas military infrasructure. The second phase would include ‘lower intensity’ operations and aim to ‘destroy pockets of resistance’.
“The third phase will require the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza strip, and the establishment of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel,” the minister said, according to a statement from his office.”
There was no mention in the report about Israel taking extra territory. But it said this:
“Many Palestinians worry that they may not be allowed to return home, amid fears of another mass forced displacement akin to the Nakba in 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes.”
Even some US officials are deeply uncomfortable.
I guess it is good to see President Biden warn Israel against the disasterous “red mist” foreign policy deployed by the US after the 9/11 attacks.
The report directly above shows how the UN is being trampled on now in 2023 … whereas it should be in charge.
Key section of the Al Jazeera report (2021) on Palestine’s forgotten fossil fuel riches:
Palestine’s forgotten oil and gas resources
A fair distribution of oil and gas resources in the Levant Basin will be needed to achieve a lasting political and economic settlement between Israel and Palestine.…
A recent study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) points out that new discoveries of natural gas in the Levant Basin are in the range of 122 trillion cubic feet, while recoverable oil is estimated at 1.7 billion barrels. These reserves offer an opportunity to distribute and share about $524bn among the different parties in the region.
The Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967 and the blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2007 have prevented the Palestinian people from exercising any control over their own fossil fuel resources, denying them much-needed fiscal and export revenues and leaving the Palestinian economy on the verge of collapse.
The economic costs inflicted on the Palestinian people under occupation are well documented: tight restrictions on the movement of people and goods; the confiscation and destruction of property and assets; loss of land, water and other natural resources; a fragmented domestic market and separation from neighbouring and international markets; and the expansion of Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law.
The Palestinian people also exercise only limited control over their fiscal space and policy. Per the stipulations of the Paris Protocol on Economic Relations, Israel controls Palestinian monetary policy, borders and trade. It also collects customs duties, VAT and income taxes on Palestinians employed in Israel which it then disburses to the Palestinian government. UNCTAD estimates that, under occupation, the Palestinian people have lost $47.7bn in fiscal revenues over the 2007-2017 period, including revenues leaked to Israel and accrued interest. In comparison, the Palestinian government’s development spending over the same period was approximately $4.5bn.
