Is the Palestinian- Israeli peace Possible….? Rateb Amro Having worked on the Arab-Israeli peace process for more than 26 years, my initial reaction to success in getting the Israelis Palestinians peace was positive. News about “breaking of the impasse” in resuming Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, due to extensive efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry, has been met with either scepticism or total disbelief, even though such scepticism and disbelief are understandable, a peace deal is still possible. So what’s going on here? Why does a secretary of state with many other burning priorities think he can do what none of his colleges have done? Does this ego, delusion or just another example of an American administration naively believe that it can broker an end to a historic conflict? The Palestinian Authority (PNA), which decided three years ago to boycott any negotiations with Israel until the latter agreed to stop settlement activity, has finally agreed to drop that condition and return to the negotiations. Yes, the present Israeli government may not be the best Israeli government to negotiate with, due to both the anti-peace position of some of its members and the elusiveness of its head. The Israeli government’s consent to join the peace talks may be meant as another delaying tactic in light of the American administration’s insistence on the resumption of negotiations. Additionally, some believe that neither the present time nor the circumstances in the region are particularly conducive to peacemaking. The Palestinians and the Israelis have never been as wide apart and at odds as they are now, and attention in the region is focused on so many other rivalries, conflicts and chaotic situations, nevertheless, one would argue, peace is possible. At this level, some main factors can contribute to peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis at this point in time: The Palestinian Situation: On a first look, the Palestinian situation — 66 years since the commencement of Al Nakbeh (catastrophe) and the subsequent uprooting and suffering of Palestinians — appears pretty sad. The Palestinian leadership continues to be both divided and factionalized, with Fateh controlling the West Bank, and Hamas the Gaza Strip. All attempts at reconciliation, with the aim of creating a united political Palestinian front, have so far failed to yield any tangible results. There is, first and foremost, the Palestinian people’s steadfastness and attachment to Palestine. For more than 66 years, Israel has been fiercely trying to get rid of the Palestinian population — through wars, murder, systematic violence, home demolition, annexation of land, and all types of pressure — to no avail. It has succeeded in forcing some Palestinians out, but the Palestinians inside Palestine are making it crystal clear they are not going anywhere. Sooner or later, Israel will have to come to terms with this reality. As for the Palestinian refugees in the region — Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, etc. — they have been waiting to return to Palestine and have neither gone elsewhere nor forgotten about their one and only home: Palestine. At this very level, one fact is crucial: The refugees camps in which they live have not only remained as refugee camps, but they have expanded in both number and size. These millions of Palestinians need a solution, and their only solution is a Palestinian state. As for the Palestinians in the Diaspora — both in the region and abroad — the fact that they enjoy full citizenship rights in many countries has not severed their relationship with Palestine and their need for a home in Palestine. On the contrary, over the years they have become more vocal about the creation of a Palestinian state and about Palestine as their home. This applies to both Palestinians in Arab countries and Palestinians throughout the globe, including Europe and the US. Living in Europe and America heightens, rather than lessens, one’s dual or hyphenated identity. The same applies to Palestinians living in Arab countries. Additionally, if Israel was hoping that by expelling Palestinians abroad they would somehow either melt away or forget, the opposite is happening. Many of the older Palestinians have died, but it has become crystal clear that their off springs are as adamant about having a Palestinian state as their ancestors were. Ironically, what has furthered the Palestinian cause internationally, more than anything else, is Israel’s oppressive actions and ruthless denial of Palestinian rights. We live in a world where the majority of peoples have no tolerance for occupation, usurpation of human rights, apartheid and colonialism. Occupation, usurpation, oppression and apartheid systems — and Israel is most prominent among what remains of them — shall not prevail for long. Only decency, fairness and respect of humans and of their inalienable rights will prevail. For these reasons, and others, Palestinians believe — and strongly so — in the light at the end of the tunnel. And many are even more optimistic now about the future than they were, say, a decade ago. A home, a state for the Palestinians is inevitable. The Arab Situation:- The situation in the region, a chaotic region — unlike some would have us believe — is not in the interest of Israel, being surrounded by dysfunctional states in which terrorists of all sorts — Al Qaeda and others — reign freely directly threatens Israel’s security and stability. What bolsters Israel’s security and stability is stability of the Arab regimes? Most Arab governments are in shambles, focusing much of their immediate attention on either the uprisings or discontent among their own populace or on regional frictions and rivalries. And even if there were no internal and regional issues, Arab leaders still lack both the collective strategic vision and the practical tactics , and measures necessary for pressuring Israel to end its occupation of Palestine, and give back to Palestinians what rightfully belongs to them: a home and an independent state, the international community continues either to propose shy initiatives and exert a bare minimum of efforts at peacemaking. Nevertheless, overall the Palestinian cause has been gaining some noticeable momentum which will yield important results in the long term. The Arab awakening may produce democracies over time, but the struggles among Islamists, military forces, elements of old regimes and unorganized liberal movements have so far produced sectarian conflict and bad governance. Syria is convulsing in civil war, Egypt is mired in political dysfunction, and Iraq is wracked by too much violence and not enough democracy, and Lebanon may soon convulse in civil war too. Israeli-Palestinian peace is surely the key to a stable Middle East. So if serious progress were made, and even a partial agreement reached, it would significantly improve America’s image, help protect its interests, defuse a terrible predicament for Israel and facilitate a Palestinian state for an aggrieved people who have suffered without one for far too long. The Arab League has backed the plans of US Secretary of State John Kerry to restart talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis, based largely on the peace plan advanced by Saudi Arabia in 2002.Those 11 years have seen further humiliation of the people of the occupied territories, the continued construction of illegal settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, the murderous siege of the Gaza ghetto, the walling off of Palestinian territory, the controlling on Palestinian land and water. And all the time Israeli has turned with innocent eyes to the international community and claimed to be frustrated in its search for peace but rather the victim of Arab aggression. One thing should be made clear here: amid the current chaos in the region, peace between the Palestinians and Israelis could be the tipping point. If it materializes, it will be the stepping stone for peace and stability in the rest of the region. It seems that the push for regional political settlements has started impacting recent developments in the Middle East. Several political messages have also been communicated from US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the region. There has been an indirect call for Arabs to normalize relations with Israel. The American reassurance of Israel’s security has served to push for the pending issues regarding this point to be immediately resolved. The pieces are falling into place for a regional political settlement according to the American vision, which would secure the national security of Israel by eliminating nearby threats, and launch the normalization of ties under an Arab umbrella. This means that the US has started to give the Israelis some concrete incentives to ensure they do not place any obstacles to resuming negotiations. Jordan has a sturdy strategic position for the regional political settlement. The recent political developments in the region, from Egypt and Syria to the Gulf, have presented Amman with the opportunity to be the political kitchen of the peace process, where the settlements are cooked up and served. This opportunity requires Amman to have open channels and dialogue with most of the protagonists of the regional political settlement. This can be seen with His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to Egypt and his upcoming travel schedule across the region. The re-shaping of the old moderate group (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and Egypt) will be difficult in order to compensate for the current absence of Egypt. Jordan should work harder to re-activate the political mandate of this group, especially after the symbolic gesture from the US when Kerry met with an Arab League delegation in Amman earlier last July. The absence of the Syrians from any regional settlement could also have consequences. The situation on the ground in Syria highlights that their absence cannot be relied upon, because while they may appear not to be present, their influence will surely be felt. There are many challenges for the future of the region, but the security challenge might be the most important at the moment, as the stage appears to be open for all actors and many plays. United States : The fact remains that without active American involvement and engagement of the parties to the conflict, peace cannot materialize. This has always been the case. Any progress in Mideast peacemaking in the past has always been due to active American efforts. The backing of the Arab League will undoubtedly strengthen his position, because the League is fully behind the core of the Saudi plan — the recognition of Israel’s pre-1967 borders, in return for the evacuation of the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem and the resolution of Palestinian refugee claims. For Israel, that offer of peace and recognition ought to be the highest goal. That it is almost certainly not reflects the immense challenge that Kerry now faces. Kerry has learned an important lesson from previous U.S. peace efforts: You need the Arab states to help the Palestinians make concessions and reach out to the Israelis. Kerry believes he has something going with the Arabs, and if he invests early he can marshal Arab state support on a practical and symbolic level. He’s already secured a general Arab League endorsement for territorial land swaps, in which Israel would retain West Bank land to absorb key settlements in exchange for ceding other land to the Palestinian state. And recently in Amman, Jordan, he got the Arabs again to issue a statement backing the resumption of peace negotiations. Israel Israel continues to reject and subvert all peace initiatives: Palestinian, Arab and international. It also continues to bolster its occupation of Palestinian lands further, and expand into territories belonging to the future Palestinian state. The Israeli political scene, perhaps even the social, continues to be dominated by hardliners, extremists who have no respect whatsoever for Palestinian rights. The reality is that in the secret calculations that are made within the core of the Israeli government, a genuine and lasting peace is a development much to be feared. There is uncertainty that Israelis will know how to live without the presence of conflict. Certainly there will be considerable financial disadvantages to peace. Naturally however no Israeli government can admit this. So successive administrations have sought to sabotage the peace process with a variety of reasons, the most successful of which has been the building of illegal settlements. Knowing that it would be virtually impossible for the Palestinians to enter into talks while the illegal construction went on, it has been a simple matter for the Israelis to say with one breath, that they wish to negotiate and with the next that, by the way, we are building a few more settlements. Thus it was entirely predictable that last month Israel have announced 1500 new illegal homes. When Israel is seeking to protect its interests, there is no limit to what it will do, be it massacre, targeted assassination, provocation,. The awful reality is that however much the Palestinians, the rest of the Arab world and even John Kerry and the Obama administration itself want a negotiated settlement, the Israelis simply do not. The critical issue of the ever expanding illegal Israeli settlements on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in the West Bank (WB), which are peace killing in eastern Jerusalem in particular, will make or break the newly resumed Palestinian – Israeli negotiations. Finally these points about peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, and peace in the region as a whole, should be stressed here. New lesson has been learned: the intensified American efforts, the fact remains that without active American involvement and engagement of the parties to the conflict, peace cannot materialize. This has always been the case. Any progress in Mideast peacemaking in the past has always been due to active American efforts. Yes, one would have wanted the parties to the conflict themselves, especially Israel, to want peace in order for real peace to materialize. Had Israel, which has the upper hand in facilitating or blocking any move towards peace, genuinely desired peace, peace would have happened the second day. The Palestinians and the Arabs are ready for peace and have made their position and demands known. It is Israel who thinks its interest lies in maintaining the status quo and swallowing more Palestinian land, in the absence of a genuine desire for peace, however, peace can happen as a result of pressure. Any efforts at peace, no matter how futile or crazy they may sound, are better than none at all. Peace is a process. Like it or not, it may not happen all at once. Therefore, some progress is better than no progress. And this is why despite their drawbacks and incompleteness, the Camp David and Oslo accords did produce results that are better than no results. The fear that some rise — namely, that the Palestinians will be cornered into a bad deal — is unjustified. You can drive a horse to the water, but you cannot force it to drink. The Palestinians should not accept anything they believe is harmful to real peace or their rights in Palestine. This time around, the gaps between the two parties, Palestinians and Israelis are on the core sticking points — such as the fate of Jerusalem and what to do about Palestinian refugees and settlements — are galactic. They don’t trust each other very much and face ferocious domestic politics that prevent them from taking major risks. What bolsters Israel’s security and stability most, of course, is peace with the Palestinians, and then with the others beyond that, one thing should be made clear here: amid the current chaos in the region, peace between the Palestinians and Israelis could be the tipping point, if it materializes, it will be the stepping stone for peace and stability in the rest of the region. Furthermore, and unlike what some would have us believe, no time or circumstance is more conducive to peace than any other time. Rather than be sceptical and dismissive of the motive or the expected outcome of Kerry’s efforts, all peace advocates in the region and abroad should applaud the American move and should give President Barack Obama and Secretary Kerry a chance. Circumstance is more conducive to peace than any other time. Therefore, rather than wait until the situations in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Tunisia and Yemen stabilize and then concentrate on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict focus should be either on working on all the situations at once in parallel or , on addressing the instability and injustice at the Palestinian-Israeli level first. Solve the Palestinian problem and those in the region will follow.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 14:29:37 +0000
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