Alternative Insight

The Road to Mid-East Peace

A View from America



Part II-The Israel/Palestine Negotiations

A "Thirty Years War", fought in central Europe during the 17th century. Can countries fight a war for thirty years? Consider the present Mid-East crisis-- Fifty years of intensive strife; thirty-three years of Israel occupation of the West Bank; several UN resolutions that have characterized Israel's occupation as illegal; accords at Cairo, Madrid, Oslo I, Oslo II, and Wye, Maryland that still have not been fulfilled; three million Palestinian refugees and tens of thousands dead and wounded from terrorism and wars. Despite the horrors of the conflicts and their casualties, both contestants have been deliberately negligent in resolving the Mid-East struggle.

The Reasons for the Failures in Peace Negotiations

Can the Palestine Authority accept Israel's objectives? In the 1948 war, Israel greatly increased its size from the United Nations proclamation. In the 1967 war it seized the rest of pre-1947 Palestine and the Golan. "Leaks" of possible agreements are confusing and uncertain. Nevertheless, the negotiations indicate that Israel wants:(1) sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, (2) incorporation of some of the West Bank's arable land,(3) attachment to Israel of West Bank settlements that the UN has declared illegal, (4) possible control of West Bank aquifers, and (5) presence along the river border with Jordan.

Although the media uses the words "historical compromise," careful examination of the proposals demonstrate that Israel is prepared to give the Palestinians mainly what Israel does not want, need or can't control-- Gaza, refugee camps, Palestinian cities and arid and isolated territories.

The peace initiatives have no moral or social spirit of cooperation; only political compromises. It is undeniable that the Palestinians have been dispossessed from a land they previously possessed. Their demand of having a limited state in a limited region that finally removes them from a stateless condition and ghetto life is not an unusual petition. More unusual is that the Palestinians are willing to part with so much in order to obtain so little, that Israel is not sufficiently eager to accept these Palestinian compromises, and that the international community has not enforced the previous UN resolutions on Jerusalem and the West Bank occupation and made the contestants adhere to previous peace accord schedules. Israel's position is obvious. It approaches negotiations from strength and uses that strength to acquire the most advantage. Israel can lead and act. The powerless Palestine Authority can only react. To Israel's politicians, no outcome to negotiations is the same as a preferred outcome. Israel's politicians know what they can obtain without agreements. They aren't certain what they will obtain if Israel is forced to implement the accords.

The negotiations have no solid foundation. Even if negotiations result in agreements, the implementations may be doomed to fail. Neither party is constitutionally prepared for negotiations. Palestine is not a fully constituted nation that can protect itself and appeal to world institutions for assistance. In its anxiety to link itself with the word "state," the Palestine Authority is prepared to accept vague control of people rather than viable nationhood by people. Israel is still a country without a formal constitution. It has religious laws, such as those that govern marriage, which contradict civil administration. Tyrannical regulations, such as not allowing property sales to Arab peoples, discriminate strongly against groups within its society. Israel has a confusing political system that contains a myriad of contending forces. Fundamentalist groups compromise the politics and limit the potential of the government to gain a consensus in the negotiations. Israel and the Palestine Authority must solve their own internal problems before inflicting new ones on themselves and on one another.

Those controlling the negotiations, from both sides, are still back in the Zionist and PLO eras. Prime Minister Barak has recognized this limitation and is apparently attempting to modify Israel's civil laws and modernize Israel's outlook. Still, those who guide him carry the nationalist viewpoint and propaganda of earlier generations-- a beleaguered and little Israel fighting valiantly against other Arab nations and the terrorist PLO. Only expansion and military strength can maintain their Israel. As president of the Palestine Authority, Arafat directs negotiations from an autocratic and military perspective, apparently unable to realize that an emerging Palestinian nation requires a statesmanlike presence, a progressive appearance, improved public relations and vision. The negotiations require a more youthful and international perspective--persons who are aligned with the 21st century outlook of cooperative market economies, human rights, respect for minorities and also realize that excessive nationalist and militarist attitudes cause havoc in international relations.

Obtaining Successful Negotiations

Negotiations, even if they appear to be going somewhere, are going nowhere. The "proposed" agreements might be meaningless. They seem vague, easy to evade and impossible to enforce. A long pause in negotiations might be preferable. This would allow the Palestine Authority to form a well functioning government and Israel to resolve its internal problems. In order for these to be accomplished, Israel must freeze all settlements and all construction in the West Bank and permit the Palestine Authority to obtain sufficient control of contiguous West Bank territory with a land link to Gaza and parts of East Jerusalem. Reliable negotiations demand that the Palestinians have a self-sustaining nation with functioning institutions that provide economic and social programs. After this occurs, negotiations between nations can proceed to resolve border disputes, water rights, settlement status, refugee situation, status of Jerusalem, etc.

These recommendations are certain to elicit gulps, guffaws and cries of "naivete" and "idealistic." On the contrary, it may be naive and idealistic to believe meaningful negotiations and a lasting peace can occur without a pause that refreshes, without a spirit of cooperation and sincere intent, and without a solid foundation for a negotiating table. Take this: The world community, as embodied in the UN, created the state of Israel. It did not create an Israel that has violated almost all UN resolutions on the Palestine situation. The world community of billions of people, and not just the few millions of people that inhabit the Israel/Palestine area, have a significant stake and a legal right in demanding a just solution to the Mid-East problems. The UN Resolutions have spoken for the world. Israel has no legal right to continued occupation of the West Bank territory and East Jerusalem. International agreements have always forbade the modification of captured and temporarily occupied territories. The Israel government does not need a consensus to obey the UN Resolutions. The government can obey the resolutions more easily than it can achieve consensus on a just agreement. If Israel truly wants peace and an equitable solution to the Mid-East conflict, then it will support the creation of a viable Palestinian state. If that is not done, then the world will learn how naive it has been to believe that the present path of negotiations can lead to a successful conclusion and not lead to severe consequences for all.

Consequences of Failed Negotiations

The consequences of failed negotiations are speculative. It is also easy to exaggerate their extent. Nevertheless, considering the possibility of potential catastrophes, it may be preferable to give attention to all possibilities rather than carelessly rejecting any of them. The most predicted consequence of failed negotiations will be continual retribution-- terrorist attacks. This terrorism has affected other countries and their populations, including the United States and Western Europe, and will continue to affect those nations in the future. Signs are appearing that the future terrorism will be more pronounced and violent than it was in the past. Recently, although they did not provide proof, Australian police claimed to have uncovered a well organized attempt to attack a nuclear reactor and disrupt the summer Olympics. Failed negotiations will have other severe consequences:

The Future

Israel's conflict with the Palestinians disguises Israel's problems within its own society. These problems are increasing and require attention. Firstly, Israel has a religious conflict. Few "democratic" nations have an orthodox religious party as a controlling element in its government or political life. Israel has an orthodox religious organization, Shas, in its political life. The large secular population conflicts with the much smaller orthodox population, and a civil administration conflicts with the religious laws that govern many of the institutions. Secondly, Israel has its own social problems. Many deprived Sephardim and North African Jews complain that their country is a discriminatory state. The growing population of Arab citizens of Israel remain in an underprivileged and inferior status. Israel needs an hiatus in its conflicts with the Palestinians in order to give attention and resolution to its internal problems.

The Palestine Authority has been accused of incompetent management, corruption and lack of vision. It is viewed as controlling the population and not leading it. Palestinian economic and social institutions are not developing quickly. The Palestine Authority also needs to attend to its internal problems.

If agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are governed by justice, cooperation and understanding rather than domination, hostility and avarice, the two parties can assist one another in resolving their internal problems and not permitting their conflict with each other to intensify them. The great majority of both populations must want this cooperation. Who wants people to remain enemies? It can only be a small number of voluble extremists who want otherwise. These spoilers of all dreams, residing in both Israel and the United States, use falsehoods and media propaganda to gain support from others in their reckless activities, such as increasing settlements in the West Bank, and dividing those who seek reconciliation and peace objectives. It is amazing that the entire world does not forcibly restrain the few who place almost the entire world in peril from possible war and terrorism. Only after mutual trust has been established between Israel and Palestine can negotiations proceed with a forward look and towards eventual success.

Israel has sufficient area for its population. Establishment of an independent Palestine state before further negotiations solves Israel's principal problem with the Palestinians and Arab world, and certifies their recognition of Israel as a legitimate nation. Other solutions to the conflict are (1) the continuation of endless negotiations that eventually will result in doubtful resolutions and lead to further strife, or (2) the creation of a bi-national state that results from Israel's incorporating (by default) all Jerusalem and most of the West Bank area with their large Palestinian populations. Since Israel will not permit a bi-national state, the preferred solution to the Mid-East crisis establishes a viable Palestinian state that includes the Palestinian lands and populations that exist in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Negotiating other matters can then proceed from a more solid foundation.

alternativeinsight
september, 2000

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