Palestine Is Disappearing:
The Last HopeBy Max Kantar
17 April, 2007
Countercurrents.orgIn recent months there has been discussion of a possible renewal or negotiations of the Arab Peace Summit, initiated by Saudi Arabia in 2002. This peace proposal offers Israel normalized diplomatic relations with all Arab nations in exchange for an end to the military occupation of territory outside the green line 1967 borders, evacuation of Israeli settlements in occupied territory, East Jerusalem sovereignty, and a "just" resolution for the Palestinian refugees living in neighboring Arab countries that were driven out of Palestine and what is now Israel upon Israel's state establishment in 1948.
After all that has happened politically and militarily since the establishment of the Israel, the Arab nations (including Iran) are collectively asking for what international law has demanded for several decades now. Unfortunately, it appears that there will be no resolution with Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert in charge of leading discussion with Arab leaders. Mr. Olmert has stated that there will be no return of Palestinian refugees and shows no sign whatsoever of ending the brutal militarization and occupation of the West Bank. And although the Gaza Strip occupation was presumed over in 2005, their borders and roads have been so restricted by the IDF that their economy is virtually nonexistent, leaving the Gaza Strip residents, the most heavily populated region in the world, essentially incarcerated in their own starving and horrendously impoverished communities.
As Palestinian 'citizens' in the occupied territories are living under conditions described by several human rights organizations as a "humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions," western media outlets inform the public that Israel is freezing sincere discussion about Palestinian statehood because Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has not been released. What is not widely publicized is that Israel is holding an estimated 10,000 Palestinians prisoner: men, women, and children, many whom of which are as young as 14 years old.
One would be hard pressed to find any Americans who knew the name of just one of these Palestinian prisoners.
What is most troubling about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is this: theoretically, it is quite simply the easiest conflict in the world to resolve. Conversely, the conflict very easily stretches far and deep enough across the globe to tightly hold the strongest implications for, or against world peace, as the seemingly everlasting state of affairs is clearly, further alienating and angering the Middle East and the much of the world, against Israel and its western backers, especially the United States.
If one wishes to understand what the entire spectrum of the conflict looks like through the eyes of a Palestinian, consider just the maps of historical Palestine from 1946 to the present:
In 1946, the land was mostly undivided and inhabited almost exclusively by Arabs, although there was a very small portion of Jewish owned land. After decades of Jewish immigration, in 1947, Palestine was divided into two states, nearly in half, with the U.N. plan granting Israel 55% of Palestine. With this division of land, the Arab Palestinians still had contiguity through their newly partitioned country. In 1949, that all changed with only the West Bank and Gaza strip making up the Palestinian homeland. Since the 1967 war, the Palestinians effectively have had no state. What they do have is a series of Bantustans, or ghettoized islands inside of the West Bank and Gaza, with essentially no contiguity or economic stability.
While also considering Israel's frequent and indiscriminate military incursions, one does not have to be a Doctor of Geography or History to see what these land divisions look like to someone who lives there. Palestine is disappearing.
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The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative remains a sincere and progressive attempt on the part of the Arab world to seek peace with its Jewish neighbors. It asks only for Israel to comply with U.N. resolutions that leave 22% of Palestine to the Palestinians. And as for the refugee issue, they have the unalienable right to return under international law. The initiative even leaves negotiations open, so long as it is a 'just' resolution where all who wish to, can return home to historical Palestine.
One thing is clear: there will not be a more democratic or diplomatic proposal than this one. If Israel truly values human life, both Arab and Hebrew, and sincerely desires peace, regionally and internationally, she will recognize this wonderful opportunity, accept the summit, and begin the healing process.
Max Kantar is an undergraduate of Sociology at Ferris State University. He can be contacted at [email protected]
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