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04 November 2012 By Saeb Erekat This tactic has also been adopted
by Israeli politicians. Though they remain the leaders
of a state that actively practices and encourages the
colonial domination of another nation, Israeli
politicians, from different parts of the political
map, have decided to focus their attention mainly on
issues such as domestic social policy and the
encouragement of a new war in this region. Almost
nothing has been said about the millions of people
living under full Israeli control and the
impossibility of peace while the occupation persists. However, ignoring this vital
issue does not mean that Palestine and its sacred
right to freedom can be bypassed. In fact, the common
future of Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the
rest of the region, depends on achieving peace and
security for both Palestine and Israel. This is not a
task that should be marginalized. This harmful state of denial
comes at a time when the possibility of realizing the
two-state solution is rapidly diminishing due to
Israel's policies of colonization. Such policies have
been denounced by Israel's long-standing allies, such
as Germany and France. But it seems these calls for
peace have been muffled by election campaigning in
Washington. Successive American
administrations have affirmed that the two-state
solution based on the 1967 border is an American
interest in the region. President Obama has also
repeatedly stated his commitment to this issue. But in
Israel, the current Prime Minister has unfortunately
ensured that American efforts to resume meaningful
negotiations between Israel and Palestine have failed,
by taking actions on the ground, namely the
unprecedented acceleration of Israel's illegal
settlement enterprise, that negate the spirit and
purpose of those negotiations. The recently published
Levy Report presents another clear example of this
government's systematic efforts to derail all
international efforts, as Israel threatens to
effectively turn the occupation into full-fledged
annexation. But as Israeli actions are fading
out the prospects of peace, the geopolitical map of
the region is also changing rapidly, opening horizons
of freedom and activism that were previously blocked.
The Arab Spring has set a new context for the Middle
East. All world leaders who supported
the Arab Spring, including the newly-elected American
president, will have to explain to the Arab street why
their support for freedom stops at Palestine's
doorstep. Serious effort will be needed to explain why
the world continues to insist on trying, again,
formulas that have failed time again, including the
demand for resumption of negotiations without any
guarantees or clear terms of reference while
guaranteeing Israel immunity from any accountability
for ignoring previous agreements and its
internationally recognized obligations. We realize that the ties between
Washington and Tel Aviv are solid. But it's important
to remember that a friend has a responsibility to
provide honest and even sobering advice to a friend
who is committing a grave mistake. Entrenching the
occupation and denying the Palestinian people their
inalienable national rights to freedom and
independence will not bring peace to Israel. On the
contrary, it will guarantee perpetual conflict. The next American president might
very well be the last president of the "two-state
solution" era. That is an historic responsibility
whose far-reaching consequences cannot be understated. In this context, the new American
administration will have an opportunity to have, as
one of its first actions, a real and effective push
for peace by supporting Palestine's diplomatic
initiative to achieve enhanced status at the United
Nations, advance our national rights and save the
two-state solution. This step will enhance the
political process and bolster the chances of
initiating a credible and effective political effort
that would conclude with the realization of the
two-state solution. We have chosen negotiations as a
means to reaching peace. Our commitment to this path
is firm. Our political initiative at the United
Nations is a sincere effort for the sake of peace that
should enjoy the active support of all those brave
enough to be true peace partners in Israel as well as
Israel's friends who are committed to seeing it enjoy
a future of peace. Efforts to prevent the
Palestinian people from exercising its inalienable and
sovereign right to self-determination are
contradictory to stated American positions regarding
the struggle for freedom and democracy embodied by the
Arab Spring. Undermining the mechanisms of the
international system and obstructing the will of the
majority of the international community is not only
counterproductive but also undemocratic. This does not
help Israel, as it only strengthens those within
Israel who support an apartheid regime and the
systematic denial of the rights of the Palestinian
people. Palestine is looking forward to
working with the next American administration to
achieve peace through freedom and justice, and in so
doing, securing a future of democracy, security and
prosperity for the whole region. That is why it is
vitally important for the U.S. to have the political
will to show that Palestine is not an exception to the
international rule and that it also deserves to
exercise its internationally-recognized inalienable
rights. Let us work together towards this noble goal,
because ignoring it will only drag the entire region
further away from the peace we seek. After almost a century of denied
national rights and five decades of oppression, it is
time for Palestine to enjoy the blanket international
support it deserves for justice long overdue. |
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