Palestine – France, Farce and Folly
France embarked on a journey to nowhere when it hosted 28 delegations in Paris for a ministerial meeting on 3 June marking the first phase of its initiative aimed at promoting peace in the Middle East…writes David Singer.
Amid the pomp and ceremony, photo opportunities and handshakes – the final communique revealed:
- Support was reaffirmed for a just, lasting and comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The conflict actually requiring resolution is the Jewish-Arab conflict going back to 1917 – well before Israel’s creation in 1948 – which still sees 20 Arab States today denying the Jews the legal rights vested in them by the Mandate for Palestine to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in its ancient biblical and historical homeland.
Only Jordan and Egypt have recognised and signed peace treaties with Israel.
The “Palestinians” were regarded as part of the “existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine” by the League of Nations in 1922 and not recognized as a people by the United Nations in the 1947 Partition Plan.
The 1964 PLO Covenant is their birth certificate.
PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s claim on 6 June that the “Palestinians” had a 5000 years old history is farcical.
Paris remained blinded.
- A negotiated two-state solution was reaffirmed as the only way to achieve an enduring peace, with two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.
That “two-state solution” – first proposed in 1947 – was available at any time between 1948 and 1967, was again offered in 2000/1 and 2008 but was always rejected by the Arabs.
Flogging that dead horse is a waste of time.
The “two- state solution” envisioned by the League of Nations in 1922 and the Peel Commission in 1937 provides the best opportunity for peacefully resolving Jewish and Arab territorial claims in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza.
Guess the delegates were too busy quaffing champagne and tasting canapes to focus on other solutions than the artificially contrived, totally failed and utterly discredited 1947-2016 “two-state” solution.
- Rebuilding trust and creating the conditions for fully ending the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and resolving all permanent status issues through direct negotiations based on resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), and also recalling relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and highlighting the importance of the implementation of the Arab Peace Initiative.
“Fully ending” the 1967 occupation means kicking 650000 Jews out of their homes. What were they thinking – and drinking?
Israel agreed to negotiate with the PLO under the 2003 Bush Roadmap only on the basis of Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.
Introducing new negotiating parameters now is incredibly fanciful.
- Possible ways in which the international community could help advance the prospects for peace, including by providing meaningful incentives to the parties to make peace.
Direct negotiations between Israel, Jordan and Egypt would fit these objectives.
- The participants highlighted the key role of the Quartet.
The Quartet lost its key role in July 2015 when:
- The Quartet’s representative Tony Blair stood downwith no replacement
- Blair’s office—the Office of the Quartet Representative (OQR) – was renamed the Office of the Quartet (OQ) and its stated mandate was expressed:
“to support the Palestinian people on economic development, rule of law and improved movement and access for goods and people, as they build the institutions and economy of a viable and peaceful state in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
Jews became persona non grata overnight as the Quartet’s previously independent non-partisan role was superseded.
France’s follow-up international conference being organised before the end of the year promises further farce and continuing folly.
David Singer is a Sydney Lawyer and Foundation Member of the International Analysts Network
Old saying – “You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge ”
On so many levels this has meaning within and without the Israeli/Arab dilemma.
Wasted time and money in Paris. Stupid is as stupid does – and later regrets.
Reminds me of the drug importers/ dealers/sellers/buyers/takers/rehab conundrum- while its out there no amount of “strategy” will fix the intrinsic problem. Brick wall stuff. Groundhog days.
But here’s the thing with Israel. There ARE NOT two sides..While Israel is fully in THE LIGHT(enlightened and interested ) and the other parties are FULLY in the dark (denial and vengeful) it’s encumbent upon Israel to strategize ALL BY HERSELF – for herself. Which is essentially what she does – on a daily basis. Hourly basis. Moment to moment. Eventually and over time SINGLE becomes POWERFUL and POWERFUL becomes CONTAGIOUS. Israel doesn’t need peace partners to be POWERFUL. Israel
Is POWERFUL alone. Genuine Peace partners come along ONLY after POWERFUL is attractive and useful. Jordan and Egypt saw the USEFULNESS in being at peace with Israel. Sooner or later “surrounding” enemies won’t have a choice. POWER is like that.
Great comment Erica – and so true.
The world wallows in a mire of its own making when it openly welcomes people like PLO Chairman Abbas into its world forums.
White ants have a horrible habit of bringing down buildings.
Why France and those 26 delegations in Paris continue to waste their time looking to Abbas to resolve peace between the Jews and the Arabs after 100 years of conflict is beyond my comprehension.
The time for a divorce and finding a new Arab interlocutor with Israel is long overdue.
It should have occurred when Israel and Jordan signed their peace treaty in 1994.
Yes – precisely – a divorce- Italian style!
I’ve always said timing is the key. I don’t think either Israel or Jordan were ready then .
They are now – but Jordan is not exactly stepping up.
No – the time is not right yet – but very shortly – it’s just a short matter of time away when
Something will happen to change everything. We don’t live in the 20’s now – or the 90’s for that matter. Things happen fast – tech heads move fast and think fast and that’s how
It will pan out – overnight and soon. Lets hope and pray it’s not another 9/11. G-D forbid.