Home

Follow Countercurrents on Twitter 

Why Subscribe ?

Popularise CC

Join News Letter

Editor's Picks

Press Releases

Action Alert

Feed Burner

Read CC In Your
Own Language

Bradley Manning

India Burning

Mumbai Terror

Financial Crisis

Iraq

AfPak War

Peak Oil

Globalisation

Localism

Alternative Energy

Climate Change

US Imperialism

US Elections

Palestine

Latin America

Communalism

Gender/Feminism

Dalit

Humanrights

Economy

India-pakistan

Kashmir

Environment

Book Review

Gujarat Pogrom

Kandhamal Violence

WSF

Arts/Culture

India Elections

Archives

Links

Submission Policy

About CC

Disclaimer

Fair Use Notice

Contact Us

Search Our Archive

Subscribe To Our
News Letter



Our Site

Web

Name: E-mail:

 

Printer Friendly Version

A Peace Process Lagging Behind The Arab Spring

By Brita Rose

31 May, 2011
Countercurrents.org

Given recent events in the Middle East at large this spring - a
revolutionary fervor that has sparked a new dawn for the entire
region, it is disappointing, if not tragic, that both the U.S. and
Israeli governments seem intent on maintaining the status-quo. While
Arab nations are finally shaking off the post-colonial shackles of
Western backed dictatorships, and forging ahead into the 21st century,
Israel with the unbridled support of America, seems determined to
remain in the last.

This stagnation is a foolhardy, if not disastrous, approach to the
Middle East peace process for those who propose a two-state solution,
since it may be the last opportunity all parties have to reach an
agreement before demographic and geo-political realities, along with
Israel’s continued intransigence, make such a scenario unworkable.
That leaves only the option of power sharing, i.e. a bi-national,
one-state solution - one democratic state with equal rights for all -
as the only alternative to the existing apartheid regime of separation
and occupation, and the only way to end its perpetuation of human
rights abuses and international violations. With the peace process
once again going nowhere, it is no surprise that Palestinians are
turning to alternative avenues of hope, such as the peaceful ‘Nakba
Day’ march on May 15 - that led to several unarmed protesters being
killed by the Israeli forces, and other on-going methods of
non-violent resistance, like the boycott, divestment and sanctions
(BDS) movement. If Palestinians start engaging in regular Ghandi-like
demonstrations, this will surely pose a problem for Israel by
highlighting its violent responses. In the absence of a resolution to
this present Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic crisis and a renewed
U.S.-Israeli partnership, we may soon be looking at a third intifada.
While their brothers and sisters around the region are overthrowing
oppressive governments in the quest for freedom and equal
representation, Palestinians are not going to be left behind. After
over 60 years of occupation they are seeing the remainder of the West
Bank being insidiously whittled away as construction for new illegal
settlements continues to bite off swaths of land. This is creating
so-called ‘new boundaries’ and shrinking the area that was slated to
be part of an independent Palestinian state. In addition to this, the
apartheid, or separation wall, is sealing off these new boundaries
which are far from the original 1967 armistice/green line that marked
the Israeli state before the 1967 war. Areas systematically
portioned off as forbidden zones are reserved exclusively for illegal
Jewish settlements and their accompanying access roads, which are also
forbidden to Palestinians. West Bank residents are cut off from
neighboring villages and communities, farmers are kept from their land
and livelihood, and travel is severely restricted throughout, enforced
by checkpoints. All these violations are carried out in the name of
‘security.’

It is illusory to think that such a situation is sustainable. But
today’s leaders are so mutually mistrustful that they cannot even
bring themselves to engage in serious diplomacy for a viable peace
process. Direct negotiations are off the table for now, and indirect
negotiations seem to offer a road to nowhere; much was made of
Obama’s reference to the 1967 border with mutually agreed land swaps
in his recent speech, but this line has been the framework and the
basis for a two-state proposal throughout decades of negotiations.
Netanyahu insisted on retaining most existing settlements, flatly
rejected the right of return for any Palestinians, and remained
defiant on Jerusalem. In effect, his negotiating skills amounted to,
no, no, no, and no, leaving 57% of even Israeli voters critical of his
response to Obama. But while the master of obstructionism he has thus
far failed to articulate a path forward for peace. The Palestinians
have long struggled under corrupt leadership which lacked direction,
but now that the Palestinian Authority and Hamas (legitimately elected
in Gaza in 2006) have unified, heeding popular Palestinian demand, the
Israeli and U.S. response is to reject them both from talks thus
slamming the door on any meaningful engagement. Bringing Hamas into
the process would have the positive long-term impact of rendering
Hamas leaders accountable to whatever is actually negotiated.
Netanyahu also added insult to injury in the wake of this recent
diplomatic charade, by once again giving his immediate approval to
further illegal settlement developments.

All this reveals Israel’s intentions, or lack thereof, and does not
bode well for the Palestinians, the Israelis, or for that matter the
entire region. As for U.S. involvement – America is already involved
to the tune of $2.8 billion per year in U.S. aid to Israel. It would
be naïve to think that existing U.S. policies and the blatant
reactions of congress last week, in response to Netanyahu’s speech,
will not be noticed in the Arab world and have international
consequences. The Palestinians heard, loud and clear, that the U.S.
cannot be counted on to broker peace between Israel and the
Palestinians. Even if the Obama Administration is willing, congress
has staked its position, and Israel’s powerful wealthy lobby in
Washington (AIPAC) will make sure they stick to it.

This leaves the Palestinian Authority’s President, Mahmoud Abbas
little choice but to pursue the Arab League’s plan this fall of
seeking the United Nations Security Council’s recognition of a
Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. Israel is becoming
increasingly isolated from the world community, and the U.S., by
opposing this proposal -which already has international support - will
also find itself out of step with global trends. Netanyahu, for his
part, rather than join the regional march towards progress and
democracy looks to be bent on setting the peace process back a few
decades, back to pre-1993 when Rabin and Arafat through face-to-face
negotiations agreed on mutual recognition and the joint pursuit of
peace. In these recent talks, both Obama and Netanyahu appear
remarkably short-sighted and detached from current political
developments and from the changing power relations both in the Middle
East and around the world. Oppression and occupation is out.
Democracy is in.

The Arab Spring has brought much anticipated change to the region, and
indeed the world. As author Ilan Pappe poignantly said “struggles
outside corridors of power do not wait for leaders.” Too bad Israeli
and U.S. leaders have not been able to keep up with the times.

Brita Rose is a graduate of International Studies/Middle Eastern
Affairs at the City University of New York and a freelance writer in
New York City.

 



 


Comments are not moderated. Please be responsible and civil in your postings and stay within the topic discussed in the article too. If you find inappropriate comments, just Flag (Report) them and they will move into moderation que.