A
thumb in the eye for peace By
Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM - When it
voted to upgrade Palestinian statehood status from
"observer entity" to "non-member observer state",
the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) wanted
the enduring Middle East conflict to come full
circle. It failed to take into account the Israeli
prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to
a state of Palestine that isn't on his terms.
Sixty-five years back, on November 29,
1947, the UNGA voted in favor of the division of
the British Mandate of Palestine into two states -
one Jewish; one Arab. Jewish leader David
Ben-Gurion accepted the Partition Plan which, six
months later, led to the birth of Israel. But the
Arab "No" at the UN resulted in the stillbirth of
Palestine.
Last week, it was Israel's turn
to say "No" to President Mahmoud
Abbas' plea that the
world's forum grants Palestine its "birth
certificate". In effect, Israel said "No" not only
to Palestine but to the world's idea of Middle
East peace based on a two-state solution. Israel
was never so isolated.
Yet, so long as
Israel refuses to end its occupation of the "State
of Palestine" (and not merely of "Palestinian
territories", as the UNGA vote now seems to
infer), not just real independence for Palestine
but the end of the conflict will remain a forlorn
vision.
The second plank of the
Palestinian UN application for non-member status
did refer to "the urgent need for the resumption
and acceleration of negotiations within the Middle
East peace process." And it went on "Reaffirming
its commitment... to the two-state solution of an
independent, sovereign, democratic, viable and
contiguous State of Palestine living side by side
with Israel in peace and security on the basis of
the pre-1967 borders." And yet no one really
expects a full-fledged Palestine or a resumption
of peace negotiations any time soon.
At
the beginning of his term, Netanyahu seemed to
come to terms, albeit reluctantly under US
pressure, with a future Palestinian state. There
was no explicit "No" in Netanyahu's vision of
Palestine, but there was a big "If".
"If
the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish
state," he declared in June 2009 during his only
meaningful peace policy speech, "we're ready to
agree to a real peace agreement, a demilitarized
Palestinian state side by side with the Jewish
state." Apart from a 10-month moratorium
on settlement construction, Netanyahu's verbal
"readiness" never translated into tangible policy.
Rather, he insisted on negotiations without
pre-conditions - synonym for "Let's start it all
over again" without acknowledging progress made by
his predecessor Ehud Olmert.
Two
onslaughts on Hamas in Gaza - one in 2008-9 by
Olmert; the other by Netanyahu last month - have
framed four years of diplomatic paralysis and
almost unabated settlement activity. The peace
front briefly revived in 2010 when, three weeks
before the end of the settlement freeze, Abbas
agreed to renew negotiations with Israel. In spite
of joint US-Palestinian insistence that Netanyahu
maintain the suspension, expansion resumed. Talks
collapsed.
Although meant to censure
Netanyahu's settlement policy, the UNGA upgrade of
statehood status is primarily intended as
recognition of the need to bolster Abbas's status
in Palestinian eyes, especially in the wake of
Israel's military operation against Hamas.
In a sense, the rival nationalist and
Islamist camps are now even. While Hamas is locked
in its refusal to recognize Israel's right to
exist and argues that only armed resistance can
force it to wrap up its occupation, Abbas comes
back to Ramallah with a message to his people -
non-violence and diplomacy pay.
Like
Hamas, Israel likes to point out that
post-statehood bid that Abbas still rules a state
without territory and borders; rules neither the
Gaza Strip (under Hamas rule) nor the West Bank
and East Jerusalem (under Israeli occupation).
Israel is oblivious to the new diplomatic order
created by the historic vote. In a reaction
reminiscent of the refusal by Arab leaders to
admit Israel's victory during the 1967 war, deputy
foreign minister Danny Ayalon called the vote "a
historic defeat for the Palestinians".
"Abbas called for peace - but not with
us," was Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe
Ya'alon's response to Abbas's "unilateral
maneuvering".
Other ministers accused the
Palestinian leader of violating signed accords.
They threatened to take punitive measures "at the
proper time" were the Palestinians to decide for
instance to use their newly-acquired right to
pursue Israel in the International Criminal Court
for its own infringements of past agreements, like
settlement expansion and suspected war crimes.
That could happen sooner than expected.
Less than 24 hours after the UNGA vote, a senior
official confirmed that the Israeli government's
inner cabinet of senior ministers responded by
approving the construction of 3,000 housing units
in existing settlements. It also vowed to further
planning procedures for thousands of additional
units in and around East Jerusalem, especially in
an area designated as "Project E1".
If
implemented, "Project E1" would sever East
Jerusalem from the West Bank and thus would make
the establishment of the capital of the
Palestinian state in the holy city virtually
impossible.
"This is a meaningless
decision that won't change anything on the
ground," declared Netanyahu about the UNGA vote.
He knew what he was talking about. Less than two
months to go before they go to the polls, most
Israelis seem in harmony with Netanyahu. Barely
300 left-wing Israelis demonstrated in support of
Palestinian statehood in front of Tel Aviv's Hall
of Independence where Ben-Gurion declared their
state's independence.
After having stood
so strongly beside Israel at the UN, the US might
feel betrayed by Netanyahu's settlement decision.
But Netanyahu has no intention of letting the
smallest margin of error disprove polls which
steadily suggest that he is ensured to succeed
himself at the head of an ever-more right-wing
coalition. And, he has no intention of letting the
Palestinians spoil his own vision of a state of
Palestine.
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