The revived US-brokered Israel-Palestine peace initiative comes across as a positive step in the right direction.
President Obama pledged to work towards the creation of a Palestinian state early in his first term and now he’s following through—or, rather, is giving the appearance of doing so. Photo-ops of Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas looking for all the world like buddies attending an old boys’ reunion were meant to be reassuring. Hope at last for Palestinians who have been dreaming of a country they can truly call home before most of us were even born? Hardly!
Most Palestinians living in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank are cynical and who can blame them when the obstacles that drove the two sides apart in Madrid, Oslo, Camp David, Annapolis are ever-present, notably, the status of occupied east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and Palestinian acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state.
There are numerous reasons why being starry-eyed would be a mistake this time around. Israelis certainly aren’t, according to a poll indicating that while the majority would support a settlement, most believe peace is unachievable.
Firstly, the man who holds most of the cards, Netanyahu, has resisted the idea of a Palestinian state throughout his career in politics, other than a toothless demilitarised entity, divorced from Occupied Jerusalem, with no control over its borders, coastline and airspace. Gaza mark II, somewhat larger and enjoying international recognition, if you like. And even if Netanyahu had experienced an epiphany of sorts, which is highly unlikely, does he have enough personal clout to force his cabinet hawks to fall into line? How can he convince the icon of West Bank colonists, Nafthali Bennett, to bless the transfer of his gun-toting, Torah-punching, olive-grove destroying faithful away from territory they call Judea and Samaria, which they consider to be their God-given birthright, as though the Creator is a real estate broker? If you remember, their counterparts in Gaza fought tooth and nail against their eviction.
Secondly, it hasn’t escaped notice that while intermediaries are meant to be without bias, the man appointed by John Kerry to liaise with parties day-to-day is none other than self-ascribed Zionist and one time kibbutznik Martin Indyk, who is a former AIPAC research director, co-founder of the Israel-friendly Washington Institute for Near East Policy and US Ambassador to Israel. The fact that Indyk is a peace process veteran with no successes under his belt makes one wonder why Abbas agreed to his appointment, and more to the point, why an AIPAC diehard was plucked from a population of 314 million to be the State Department’s envoy. How can someone with Indyk’s resume, be a trusted guardian of Palestinian concerns?
Thirdly, although Israel acceded to the Palestinian Authority’s request to release prisoners as a gesture of goodwill, Israelis wasted no time in holding protests against freeing “terrorists with blood on their hands.”
Fourthly, the devil is in the details and all the players are staying tight-lipped when it comes to the nitty-gritty. There is nothing transparent about this new process, which must be of concern to Palestinians who felt betrayed by the contents of the “Palestinian Papers,” a trove of 1,600 documents recording Israel-Palestinian negotiations, leaked by Al Jazeera. They revealed that during 2009, the Palestinian Authority was prepared to gift the Israelis “the biggest Yerushalayim in history” along with further concessions, unacceptable to the majority of Palestinians. To ensure they are not sold out, Palestinians should insist on a referendum on any final status agreement before it is signed and sealed.
Fifthly, the release of Palestinian prisoners is where Netanyahu’s goodwill ends. Three days before the resumption of talks on Wednesday, he saw fit to poison the ambience by permitting Israel’s Ministry of Housing to announce the sale of land slated for the construction of new Jewish housing in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel has stated its unwillingness to countenance the removal of major colonies as part of any peace deal, which means any future Palestinian state will be handkerchief-sized and cut-off from Gaza that’s governed by Hamas, an organisation that actively attempted to derail the 2010 peace talks.
Sad to say, the current much-touted peace initiative is beginning to look like a giant con, perhaps designed to prove that Obama kept to his pledge and to keep Israel temporarily free of boycotts as well as increasing economic pressure from the EU over expanding Jewish colonies. The Telegraph reports that “Israel is seeking urgent talks with Baroness Ashton, the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief, in an effort to water down new penalties against Jewish colonies in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank.” As long as peace talks are ongoing, the EU would seem churlish to refuse.
So, here we go again back on a disingenuous carousel that goes around-and-around from time to time, igniting hopes that, until now, have always been cruelly dashed. Barring a miracle, it won’t be long before the Palestinians find themselves back at square one witnessing a staged land grab that leaves a state called Palestine mere words on paper.
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.
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Revived peace initiative looks like a giant con
Posted on August 13, 2013 by Linda S. Heard
The revived US-brokered Israel-Palestine peace initiative comes across as a positive step in the right direction.
President Obama pledged to work towards the creation of a Palestinian state early in his first term and now he’s following through—or, rather, is giving the appearance of doing so. Photo-ops of Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas looking for all the world like buddies attending an old boys’ reunion were meant to be reassuring. Hope at last for Palestinians who have been dreaming of a country they can truly call home before most of us were even born? Hardly!
Most Palestinians living in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank are cynical and who can blame them when the obstacles that drove the two sides apart in Madrid, Oslo, Camp David, Annapolis are ever-present, notably, the status of occupied east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and Palestinian acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state.
There are numerous reasons why being starry-eyed would be a mistake this time around. Israelis certainly aren’t, according to a poll indicating that while the majority would support a settlement, most believe peace is unachievable.
Firstly, the man who holds most of the cards, Netanyahu, has resisted the idea of a Palestinian state throughout his career in politics, other than a toothless demilitarised entity, divorced from Occupied Jerusalem, with no control over its borders, coastline and airspace. Gaza mark II, somewhat larger and enjoying international recognition, if you like. And even if Netanyahu had experienced an epiphany of sorts, which is highly unlikely, does he have enough personal clout to force his cabinet hawks to fall into line? How can he convince the icon of West Bank colonists, Nafthali Bennett, to bless the transfer of his gun-toting, Torah-punching, olive-grove destroying faithful away from territory they call Judea and Samaria, which they consider to be their God-given birthright, as though the Creator is a real estate broker? If you remember, their counterparts in Gaza fought tooth and nail against their eviction.
Secondly, it hasn’t escaped notice that while intermediaries are meant to be without bias, the man appointed by John Kerry to liaise with parties day-to-day is none other than self-ascribed Zionist and one time kibbutznik Martin Indyk, who is a former AIPAC research director, co-founder of the Israel-friendly Washington Institute for Near East Policy and US Ambassador to Israel. The fact that Indyk is a peace process veteran with no successes under his belt makes one wonder why Abbas agreed to his appointment, and more to the point, why an AIPAC diehard was plucked from a population of 314 million to be the State Department’s envoy. How can someone with Indyk’s resume, be a trusted guardian of Palestinian concerns?
Thirdly, although Israel acceded to the Palestinian Authority’s request to release prisoners as a gesture of goodwill, Israelis wasted no time in holding protests against freeing “terrorists with blood on their hands.”
Fourthly, the devil is in the details and all the players are staying tight-lipped when it comes to the nitty-gritty. There is nothing transparent about this new process, which must be of concern to Palestinians who felt betrayed by the contents of the “Palestinian Papers,” a trove of 1,600 documents recording Israel-Palestinian negotiations, leaked by Al Jazeera. They revealed that during 2009, the Palestinian Authority was prepared to gift the Israelis “the biggest Yerushalayim in history” along with further concessions, unacceptable to the majority of Palestinians. To ensure they are not sold out, Palestinians should insist on a referendum on any final status agreement before it is signed and sealed.
Fifthly, the release of Palestinian prisoners is where Netanyahu’s goodwill ends. Three days before the resumption of talks on Wednesday, he saw fit to poison the ambience by permitting Israel’s Ministry of Housing to announce the sale of land slated for the construction of new Jewish housing in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel has stated its unwillingness to countenance the removal of major colonies as part of any peace deal, which means any future Palestinian state will be handkerchief-sized and cut-off from Gaza that’s governed by Hamas, an organisation that actively attempted to derail the 2010 peace talks.
Sad to say, the current much-touted peace initiative is beginning to look like a giant con, perhaps designed to prove that Obama kept to his pledge and to keep Israel temporarily free of boycotts as well as increasing economic pressure from the EU over expanding Jewish colonies. The Telegraph reports that “Israel is seeking urgent talks with Baroness Ashton, the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief, in an effort to water down new penalties against Jewish colonies in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank.” As long as peace talks are ongoing, the EU would seem churlish to refuse.
So, here we go again back on a disingenuous carousel that goes around-and-around from time to time, igniting hopes that, until now, have always been cruelly dashed. Barring a miracle, it won’t be long before the Palestinians find themselves back at square one witnessing a staged land grab that leaves a state called Palestine mere words on paper.
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.