Former Israeli Ambassador to Canada Dr. Alan Baker, the head of the Legal Forum for Israel, has formally requested that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon revoke the Palestinian Authority's (PA) observer status Friday, in light of their unity with Hamas.
"The tragic abduction and imprisonment of three young Israelis by a terrorist organization, attached to what you call the 'State of Palestine' and now considered a state observer at the UN, is a gross violation of humanitarian norms and conventions," Baker wrote.
Baker, along with fellow Chief of the Legal Forum Nahi Eyal, also made a distinct connection between the UN's recognition of PA-occupied Judea and Samaria as a State, and the sad state of affairs in the Middle East.
"According to every criteria set forth by the International Criminal Court, the Palestinian Authority should not be recognized as a country, and when the UN gives it this status, it constitutes a violation of the Oslo Accords," they said. "This is especially true in light of the integration of Hamas, known to most civilized countries as a terrorist organization, and which is now being led by the Palestinian Authority."
"Anything that goes against all of the decisions of the UN itself about the prevention of sponsorship and assistance to terrorist organizations should provoke a revocation of status," they added.
The letter also slammed the UN's and the EU's blasé attitudes toward the abduction, after the former published statements indicating that it was "unsure" the kidnapping really happened, and the EU published a backhanded condemnation several days after the fact.
"The's EU agreement with Hamas, making them available as 'peace partners,' increases cynicism and confusion in a situation where the UN Secretary-General allowed the Palestinian Authority to manipulate policy," they said, maintaining the agreements have created an "impossible situation."
"The current situation is a blatant violation of accepted norms and principles of international law, the agreements signed and supported by the United Nations itself and the relevant resolutions of the UN itself against terrorism."
"Retract recognition now to terrorist entity"
They demand in the letter to Ban Ki-moon "to act immediately retract all recognition and status in the UN which it gave this terrorist entity and reject Palestinian demands to join international treaties because of the deceitful claim that it is a state."
Former Ambassador Baker added that he was amazed at the hypocrisy, selective attitude and one-sidedness of the UN Secretary-General and the international community as a whole, ''which are all ready to condemn Israel and to establish inquiry committees on everything Israel does, but ignores the significant damage that the PA does against Israel and against all humanitarian norms."
This is not the first appeal to the UN over the kidnapping.
On Monday, MK Orly Levi-Abekasis (Yisrael Beytenu) drafted a letter to the UN demanding immediate intervention according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
"As the head of the United Nations, I expect you to act in accordance with the International Convention of the United Nations on Rights of the Child (CRC), which states that 'Member States shall take all appropriate measures at the national level [. . .] in order to prevent the abduction, sale or trafficking of children for any purpose or in any form,'" she stated.
"Similarly, the CRC provides that 'member states must undertake to respect and to ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law relating to the child, applying them in situations of armed conflict."
"The whole world must remember that these are young boys, and this is a grave situation," she stressed. "The United Nations organization in general, and the factors responsible for the safety of children in particular, cannot stand idly by while these boys may be dead for not having done anything wrong whatsoever."