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Colombian-Israeli Tensions Rise as President Petro Calls for Peace Conference on Palestinian State
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro speaks during the inauguration of the International Book Fair (FilBo) in Bogota, Colombia, April 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has proposed an “International Peace Conference for Palestine” at the United Nations General Assembly, urging world leaders “to stop killing children in Gaza.”
The proposal promoted outrage from Israel, which accused Colombia of backing Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that rules Gaza.
“President Petro cannot be a mediator if he supports Hamas,” Mattanya Cohen, head of Latin America and the Caribbean bureau at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement.
Cohen argued at a press conference that Petro has not been neutral in the Middle Eastern conflict, but rather “has declared his support for Palestine on multiple occasions” while also criticizing Israel’s actions.
“A peace conference is a nice name, but they did not invite Israel,” he added.
During the press conference, Cohen said it was Petro’s fault that relations with Israel were strained.
“When a president orders an ambassador to leave the country, dialogue is impossible,” he said.
In May, Colombia broke diplomatic ties with Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, criticizing the Israeli government and its leaders as “genocidal.”
Petro’s latest proposal came before the UN General Assembly on Wednesday passed a nonbinding Palestinian resolution demanding Israel end its “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within the next 12 months.
The resolution, which passed by a 124-14 margin with 43 abstentions, was meant to give force to a July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled that Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including its establishment of settlements in the territories, is illegal and violates international law.
Despite calling on Israel to withdraw all military forces and Israeli Jewish communities from Gaza and the West Bank, the UN resolution did not mention Israeli security concerns, historic ties to the lands, or Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
Next week, world leaders will travel to New York for their annual UN gathering, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are both scheduled to speak before the General Assembly.
What does the breakdown in relations with Israel mean for Colombia?
Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1957, Colombia and Israel have signed dozens of agreements on various issues, including education, trade, and military contracts.
Not only could this breakdown affect Colombia’s military operations, which rely on Israeli-built warplanes and machine guns to combat drug cartels and rebel groups, but it could also impact their free trade agreement.
After the agreement went into effect in 2020, Colombia’s trade revenue from Israel rose over 65 percent. Currently, Israel accounts for 1 percent of Colombia’s total exports, including coal, coffee, and flowers.
This means the Latin American country could lose $350 million in coal exports and investment every year.
However, the Colombian government said it has established a “transition” committee to seek alternative suppliers and reduce dependence on Israel.
Ailin Vilches Arguello is a student at the University of Rochester earning a bachelor of arts in both international relations and language, media, and communication.
The post Colombian-Israeli Tensions Rise as President Petro Calls for Peace Conference on Palestinian State first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Treasure Trove: An Israeli stamp reflects the complex mix of emotions about Oct. 7
Michelle Shalmiev was born in a village in the Caucasian mountains and immigrated to Israel and settled on a kibbutz when she was 14. Her series “Putting Your Stamp on History” […]
The post Treasure Trove: An Israeli stamp reflects the complex mix of emotions about Oct. 7 appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Download a special Oct. 7 print edition of The Canadian Jewish News
Printable obituaries of eight Canadian victims and more of our original coverage.
The post Download a special Oct. 7 print edition of The Canadian Jewish News appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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The Jewish People Perform Another Miracle
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is seen addressing supporters, in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: Reuters.
JNS.org – This Oct. 7 will not only be an anniversary of tears, of pure contrition, even if the memory is burning as the people of Israel live. As to how, it wasn’t at all obvious. Our whole history is made of miracles—from the splitting of the sea to escape from the Egyptians to the Inquisition to the pogroms to the thousand other genocidal attacks to which the Jews have been subjected. In every case, the results are always incredible and surprising, especially for how we have emerged active, faithful to our Torah tradition and committed to the return to Jerusalem until we made it happen.
The War of Independence in 1948 was fought by concentration-camp veterans, yet we defeated all the Arab armies, united in hatred, who marched against us. Later, in 1967, 1973 wars were won by a hair’s breadth with miraculous strokes of imagination and leaders who gave birth to ideas that people would have expected. No one would have ever bet a euro, penny or shekel on the idea that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his entire hierarchy could be eliminated, petrifying Iran, especially since we have already reduced its other favorite proxy, Hamas, to pieces. And now we have bombed Iran’s other proxy, the Houthis, some 2,000 kilometers away, destroying the airport from which they receive their weapons and aid from the ayatollahs. The Islamic Republic’s leader, Ali Khamenei, is reportedly hiding underground, the Iraqi and Syrian Shi’ites are waiting to see if they are next, and cities controlled by Tehran are shaking.
As President Joe Biden said, it is a measure of justice, but one that Israel has undertaken in an impossible fashion, defending its citizens amid a thousand prohibitions with determination and without fear. Only in this way can a 76-year-old young state, which has been attacked from all sides, defend itself. The country’s existence is the latest chapter in the history of a people born many millennia ago in the Land of Israel, who are finally back home and defending their state.
The war is certainly not over, as Hezbollah reportedly had 100,000 fighters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that he must see this fight through to the end, despite the international pressure to which Israel has been subjected for nearly a year. Israel’s leadership understands that its very existence is at definitive risk if there is no “new Middle East” in the aftermath of Oct. 7.
While previous generations and Israeli leaders hoped that peace agreements would establish peace in the region, today’s leaders know that there is also a need for battle to stop those who, dominated by absurd fanatical and religious beliefs, wish to kill you. (After all, what do the Houthi rebels in Yemen have to do with the Jews and Israel?)
This is the lesson of our time—not just for Israel and the Jewish people but for everyone. The Jewish people are writing a new page in history, one in which the free world must write and fight alongside them, as it is a battle for the survival of Western ideals. Israel has eliminated the two most dangerous terrorist groups in the world—Hamas and Hezbollah—with operations that will set a precedent for decades. And it challenges Iran. I would like to hear the applause, please.
The post The Jewish People Perform Another Miracle first appeared on Algemeiner.com.