0
IN THE spirit of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and given recent Middle East tsures, I propose we all take the opportunity to renew our dedication to peace, security and prosperity for all in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinians’ bid at the UN for statehood has been a conundrum for all those wishing to advance the cause of peace. Some contend it is a unilateral move, working against the spirit of the Oslo Accords. Others say it is hardly unique in that respect and it is time that Palestine joined the family of nations, putting it on level footing with Israel and increasing the chances of a negotiated peace settlement.
While most of those in both camps share a commitment to the two-state solution, there are those who sit outside that. One view is that a future peace is only possible through a bi-national state – one person, one vote, for all those between the Mediterranean and the Jordan.
As this would inevitably lead to the demise of the Jewish homeland, we are right to reject such a model. We must also reject the other extreme, one where the Palestinians are not allowed to express self-determination in their native homeland.
But indeed, that is the position of Israel’s deputy Speaker of the Knesset Danny Danon. In an op-ed on the Fox News website three weeks ago, Danon wrote that the two-state solution was no longer his policy. Instead, he was focussing on the three-state solution: Israel would annex parts of the West Bank, while the enclaves that remain become Jordanian, and Gaza once again becomes part of Egypt.
This should give us all great cause for worry. Danon was brazen about his rejection of the national aspirations of the Palestinian people; he simply removed them from the equation of peace. The Palestinians have a unique national character, one separate from an Egyptian and Jordanian identity, and one that, for better or worse, is increasingly defined by occupation. A policy like this, against a two-state solution, lifts the veil on an uncompromising Greater Israel ideology and tears at the fabric of decades of mutual recognition and negotiation.
Doing so is incredibly dangerous because it also brings into question the legitimacy of our own self-determination. It must be said that the Jewish right to a homeland is no more or less equal than any other nation’s, and that in fact our right is predicated on a universal one of all nations. Denying the Palestinians their right is to deny our own.
There is no denying the facts on the ground today, and that is all we can work off. Five million Israelis and four million Palestinians are sharing one land, and both seek to be in control of their own people’s destiny; that equation can only work out at two states for two peoples and the alternatives simply won’t do.
In 1897, Herzl set in motion modern Zionism, and 50 years later the international community, via the United Nations, gave their blessing for it to become a reality, next door to a future Arab state in Palestine. The Palestinians believe their time is now and as Zionists it is incumbent on us to work to ensure our security and prosperity in tandem with them.
In the wake of last week’s General Assembly meeting in New York, the Quartet has developed a new plan to restart negotiations and have a final status agreement by the end of next year. In the meantime, both sides would have to “refrain from provocative activities”.
The window of peace is not open forever, and both Israelis and Palestinians must do everything they can within this framework. That means Israel must stop expanding settlements – regardless of where they are being built, and whether their inclusion in post-agreement Israel is a fait accompli or not, they are the very definition of provocation.
Similarly, the Palestinians should pause their bid at least until this phase of negotiations is given a chance to work.
We can do our part for peace by rejecting the rejectionists – those like Mr Danon who refuse to accept a future Palestinian state, and those Palestinians and otherwise who undermine any form of Jewish sovereignty – as can mainstream Israelis and Palestinians.
Hopefully, this time next year we can toast our success with an inked peace deal and a Palestinian state; for that is a new year’s resolution worthy of its name.
This op-ed was first published in the Australian Jewish News on Thursday October 6, 2011.
Related reading:- Danon: Palestinians don’t need a state, they can become Egyptian and Jordanian
- How to wedge out Hamas for peace using the unilateral declaration
- Are Washington and Jerusalem trying to outmuscle the Quartet on the Palestinian UN resolution in September?
Comments on this entry are closed.