bitterlemons-international.org
Middle East Roundtable /
Edition 4 Volume 1
A Palestinian View:
Falling into an old trap
by Ghassan Khatib
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan
has recently been the subject of all kinds of debates within Israeli and
Palestinian circles, and between Israelis and Palestinians. The main problem
facing all parties to these debates, however, is that the plan has so far
been, first vague, offering little detail to allow proper analysis, and
second it has changed over time as a result of Israeli government infighting
between supporters of the plan and those who oppose it. For example, the
text that was recently approved in the Knesset was not exactly the text that
was presented to US President George W. Bush and as a result of which the
latter gave his famous assurances to Sharon.
Notwithstanding this, the reaction of most significant international
players, including the US, to the disengagement plan has been diplomatic.
Most countries have tried to avoid being negative by focusing on the need
for this plan to be a step toward implementing the roadmap.
But is that possible? Palestinians in these ongoing debates have been basing
their objections to the plan specifically on the argument that it
contradicts the roadmap, for example on the issue of settlements. While the
disengagement plan involves, in principle, a withdrawal from settlements in
Gaza and four in the northern West Bank, which is encouraging, the continued
expansion of illegal Jewish settlements in the vast majority of the rest of
the occupied territories, as well as repeated statements from many Israeli
leaders on the subject, are evidence that the disengagement plan is really
about the preservation and expansion of settlements and not vice versa. The
roadmap, of course, calls for a complete cessation of all kinds of
settlement activity in any part of occupied territory. It is hard,
therefore, to see how the two can go hand in hand.
The Athens Plan seems to be falling into the
same trap that most previous attempts to mediate between the two sides have
fallen into. The plan again confuses cause and effect, because it implicitly
expects the Palestinian side to fulfill certain security responsibilities
"to combat subversion and terrorism and keep law and order" in order that
"subject to implementation of all Palestinian commitments Israel should end
all targeted assassinations and military incursions into Gaza and the West
Bank."
It seems to me that the security situation the Palestinian side suffers
from, especially in the Gaza Strip as well as in certain places in the West
Bank, specifically Jenin and Nablus, is a result of two things: First are
the continuous incursions, assassinations, arrest campaigns, house
demolitions, confiscation of land, settlement expansions and the rest of the
Israeli practices against the Palestinian people, practices, it is well to
bear in mind, that have been imposed throughout the history of the
occupation. Second is the increase in poverty and the dire economic
situation that has arisen in the occupied territories as a result of the
collective punishments Israel has meted out, including the restrictions on
movement and closures of towns and cities, etc.
Another general observation is that the Athens Plan neglects the fact that
Gaza is not a different country from the West Bank. Both areas are part of
the same homeland for the same people. It is futile to expect that the
continuing Israeli practices, specifically the consolidation of the
occupation in the West Bank, will not be perceived as a provocation that
would require all kinds of reactions by Palestinians whether they are in
Gaza or elsewhere.
The heart of the matter is that the current Israeli government has a problem
with the roadmap because the roadmap is about ending the occupation. This
government, on the contrary, is trying in many ways, including through the
so-called disengagement plan, to consolidate the occupation. Until an
Israeli government is willing to accept, at least to start with in
principle, that lasting and comprehensive peace with Palestinians will
require a commitment to completely end the occupation, it is difficult to be
optimistic that any significant improvements in the situation will occur.
The most immediate, practical (since it carries no security aspect to it)
and significant signal that an Israeli government can send that it is
serious about improving the situation, is to halt settlement activity in all
its forms and in all the occupied territories.- Published 1/11/2004 (c)
bitterlemons.org Athens
Plan
Ghassan Khatib is coeditor of bitterlemons.org and
bitterlemons-international.org. He is the Palestinian Authority minister of
labor, acting minister of planning and has been a political analyst and
media contact for many years.
Bitterlemons-international.org is an internet
forum for an array of world perspectives on the Middle East and its
specific concerns. It aspires to engender greater understanding about
the Middle East region and open a new common space for world thinkers
and political leaders to present their viewpoints and initiatives on the
region. Editors Ghassan Khatib and Yossi Alpher can be reached at
ghassan@bitterlemons-international.org
and
yossi@bitterlemons-international.org, respectively.
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02-11-2004 |