Q: How did Iceland vote at the UN on admitting Palestine as a full member of UNESCO?<\/p>\n
A: Iceland voted yes, since we support the Palestinians\u00b4 claim for statehood. We think this is a small step in the right direction. I fully agree with our foreign minister, Mr. Skarph\u00e9\u00f0insson, on this issue. I think that Israel\u00b4s intransigence and brutality vis a vis Palestinian civilians is one of the great tragedies of our times.The victims of European racial prejudice and brutality have now become the perpetrators of those vices themselves. It is not merely immoral, but stupid, since it goes against the long-term Israeli national interest. It actually endangers Israel\u00b4s future security. The US has utterly failed as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has lost all credibility as such. The silent US aquiesence in the continuous expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied lands has disqualified the US as a mediator. Both, the US and Israel, have to be helped out of this mess. Before they call upon themselves the rightful wrath of people, suffering from unmitigated injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Q: As a pioneer in advocating international recognition of Lithuania\u00b4s declaration of independence in 1990-91, when we were still occupied by the USSR – do you see any similarities between the Palestinian situation now and the Lithuanian situation then?<\/p>\n
A: The similarities are obvious, aren\u00b4t they? Let us cite some of them: The Palestinians have been occupied by a superior military power for 44 years \u2013 and so were you. The occupying power, Israel, is in breach of the basic principles of international law and international treaty obligations. So was the Soviet Union in your case. You were at the mercy of the superior military power of the Soviet Union. So are they. The Soviet Union tried to force you into submission by economic sanctions. So do the Israelis (supported by the US). The US and Germany said that your declaration of independence of March 11th in 1990 was \u201epremature\u201c. They urged you to withdraw or \u201efreeze\u201c it. They are still at it. Their advice should be rejected, now \u2013 just as then. But are there any differences? Of course there are. Some say that whereas you used only peaceful means, the Palestinians have resorted to armed struggle. What do you do, when a superior, occupying power, excludes peaceful means? Remember the \u201cForest brothers\u201d? I would never condemn them. Rather I admire their heroism.<\/p>\n
Q: Palestine is divided, both geographically (between the West Bank and Gaza) and politically (between Fatah and Hamas). At the end of the current electoral period, Palestine will have no legitimate governing body. Should this deter us from supporting their statehood?<\/p>\n
A: The Palestinians do have legitimate governing bodies, their mandate established through democratic elections, just as you did in 1989-90. The geographical partition of Palestine is partly a consequence of the illegal occupation and is wholly irevelant for the justification of the Palestinians\u00b4 claim for statehood.<\/p>\n
Q: Should we base the right to an independent state on historical examination or on the right of the people living in a defined territory?<\/p>\n
A: All nations have an inalienable right to national self-determination, based on their national identity and cultural heritage as well as the established tradition of living in a defined territory. Statehood in the past may strengthen your case for restoration of independence, but it is not a precondition.<\/p>\n
Q: Some people say that the Palestinians must reject the use of military force, prior to recognition. Do you agree?<\/p>\n
A: It is the Palestinians, by the way, who have been living under a military occupation for 44 years \u2013 not the other way round. Gaining statehood is not the end of story. The new Palestinian state would have to negotiate with the occupying power to withdraw their troops from its territory \u2013 just as you did negotiate troop withdrawal with the USSR-successor state in 1994. The two states must define the ultimate borders of their territory through negotiations. They will have to negotiate a host of other issues, as is well known. But they should do so as two independent states, on the basis of equality. The relationship of a colonial master and subjugated, inferior people, should be ended. That is the only way to break out of the current impasse. If the international community can help, it should do so.We should recognize that the US is out of the game. A representative of a small nation, such as the former president of Finland, Mr. Ahtisaari with a solid reputation and a proven track record in conflict-solving, would be a suitable candidate.<\/p>\n
Q: Hamas has the declared aim to annihilate Israel. Should we not insist that they withdraw that declaration before recognition of statehood is considered?<\/p>\n
A: My understanding is that Hamas has rejected Israels\u00b4 right to exist on occupied territory. That is a simple fact of international law. You don\u00b4t establish a state on occupied territory, which belongs to others. You can hardly expect the international community to recognize such use of force. Can you? This is one of the issues to be settled through direct negotiations between the two states.<\/p>\n
Q: The Baltic road to freedom was peaceful. With their track record of terrorist attacks on civilian targets, do the Palestinians deserve recognition of their statehood?<\/p>\n
A: In January 1991 those in power in the Kremlin had decided that it should no longer be peaceful. The decision was made to crack down on your embryonic statehood by military force, on the pretext that it was being done to protect national minorities and even human rights! Mr. Gorbachev\u00b4s claim to a respectful place in history rests on the fact that at the last moment he withdrew from the abyss. That is why the Baltic nations could secede from the colonial power peacefully. If Mr. Gorbachev would have persisted in using force, it would have resulted in a huge bloodbath. Are the current extremists in power in Israel as farsighted as Mr. Gorbachev? Unfortunately not. That\u00b4s why they need help.<\/p>\n
Remember: There was a time when Western leaders (e.g. both Mr. Reagan and Mrs. Thatcher) nicknamed Nelson Mandela as a \u201ccommunist terrorist\u201d. Mr. Mandela is now revered the world over as a global symbol of forgiveness and reconciliation. His is the great example of a peaceful solution of a long pestering conflict. He has set a shining example for the rest of us to follow.<\/p>\n
Q: Shouldn\u00b4t small states simply be content to follow the leadership of the major powers, when it comes to solving controversial international issues?<\/p>\n
A: Well, we didn\u00b4t, did we – when we decided to support your claim to restored independence against the paternalistic advice of Messieurs, Bush and Kohl?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aths: \u00cdsland greiddi atkv\u00e6\u00f0i me\u00f0 – en Lith\u00e1en gegn – a\u00f0ild Palest\u00ednu a\u00f0 UNESCO hj\u00e1 Sameinu\u00f0u \u00fejo\u00f0unum. Af \u00feessu tilefni haf\u00f0i Ramunas Bogdanas, fyrrverandi a\u00f0sto\u00f0arma\u00f0ur Landsbergis, sj\u00e1lfst\u00e6\u00f0ishetju Lith\u00e1a, vi\u00f0tal vi\u00f0 JBH me\u00f0 v\u00edsan til \u00feess, a\u00f0 JBH haf\u00f0i frumkv\u00e6\u00f0i a\u00f0 stu\u00f0ningi al\u00fej\u00f3\u00f0asamf\u00e9lagsins vi\u00f0 sj\u00e1lfst\u00e6\u00f0isbar\u00e1ttu Lith\u00e1a \u00fer\u00e1tt fyrir andst\u00f6\u00f0u b\u00e6\u00f0i Bandar\u00edkjanna og \u00de\u00fdskalands \u00e1 \u00feeim t\u00edma. Hvers vegna sty\u00f0ja Lith\u00e1ar \u00fe\u00e1 ekki sj\u00e1lfst\u00e6\u00f0isbar\u00e1ttu Palest\u00ednumanna me\u00f0 v\u00edsan til eigin reynslu?
\nVi\u00f0tali\u00f0 birtist \u00e1 \u00fatbreiddum vefmi\u00f0li \u00ed Lith\u00e1en og f\u00e9kk mikla umfj\u00f6llun. \u00dea\u00f0 leiddi m.a. til \u00feess, a\u00f0 utanr\u00edkism\u00e1lanefnd Seimas (\u00fej\u00f3\u00f0\u00feings Lith\u00e1a) efndi til opins m\u00e1l\u00feings um m\u00e1li\u00f0. Vi\u00f0tali\u00f0 fer h\u00e9r \u00e1 eftir \u00f3breytt. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allar_greinar","category-articles-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1304"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2803,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304\/revisions\/2803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}