French Led Peace Initiative: Arab League Debates Israel-Palestine Conflict
08 May 2016
By Dr. Abdul Ruff
Colachal
When the international media outlets flashed the news about a French sponsored
peace conference to find a credible solution to the Mideast crisis, denying
the Palestinians a home of their own to improve their life conditions, world
looked at the new development with a lot of hopes.
An international peace conference, sponsored by France, will take place in
Paris on 3 June, a move that was welcomed by the Palestinians and opposed by
the Israelis who fear if they let the besieged Palestinians make a fully
independent state, it would lose the aid and all military support from USA and
EU and it won't be able to make false complaints about Palestinians. Earlier
this year, the French government began efforts to host an international
conference planned for this summer to restore peace talks between Palestinian
and Israeli authorities. It also vowed to recognize a Palestinian state if
peace talks failed.
However, in order to promote peace in the region, neither the Palestinians nor
the Israelis have been invited to the first phase of the process, in which
more than 20 ministers will gather in Paris to discuss ways to jump-start
negotiations that have been frozen for more than two years.
Arab conclave
Recently the Arab nations converged in Cairo to discuss the new developments
regarding establishment of Palestine state and the problems affecting peace
development in Mideast.
Foreign ministers from the Arab League states met on May 28 in Cairo for a
heated debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, as their preparation for
the international conference to be held in Pairs this week. After the failure
of USA to successfully and honestly mediate between Palestinians and Israeli
regime, France has decided to mediate for a possible quick solution to the
vexed and most complicated international problem, causing continued blood bath
in Palestine due to Israeli terror attacks as its birth right. .
The 22 Arab League members were all present at the Cairo extraordinary meeting
including representatives from Palestine and the Libya Unity Government. The
Cairo meeting stressed the latest development between Israel and Palestine and
deliberated on how the Arab countries could make contributions to reviving the
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the international conference in Pairs.
Arab ministries of foreign affairs are supporting the French initiative to
revive the peace talks between Palestine and Israel and have urged for an
established timeframe for the talks. Participants agreed that they would use
the 2002 Arab peace initiative as the basis for negotiation and demand total
pullout by Israel from all the Arab territories it has occupied since 1967.
The participants also agreed on working with Israel and Palestine to accept
the two-state solution for peaceful coexistence. According to the Palestinian
envoy, Abbas updated Arab foreign ministers on the recent developments of the
Palestinian issue and meet with the Arab League's Secretary General Nabil
Arabi.
The final statement of the Arab ministries' urgent meeting put an emphasis on
creating a multi-sided way to end the Israeli occupation and establish the
Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's arrival in Cairo closely follows a visit
by an Israel Foreign Ministry delegation, which the ministry said was there
for a routine meeting with their counterparts. Abbas said that Palestine will
participate in the international peace conference if it aims to achieve the
vision of the two states. Abbas added that the negotiation should have a known
timeframe. Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby said the aim is not to
bring the two parties together but rather to identify a timeframe and
techniques to impose what they will agree on.
The Palestinian news agency Ma'an speculated that Israeli officials were in
Cairo hoping to organize a tripartite meeting between PM Netanyahu, President
Abbas and General Sisi ahead of the June 3 meeting in Paris. Its agenda having
been failed, Israel has denied this report. Meanwhile, Sara Netanyahu, wife of
the Israeli prime minister and a favorite for criticism and ridicule in local
media, is now facing scrutiny by legal authorities after the police
recommended indicting the first lady for her actions in three separate affairs
relating to the running of the Prime Minister's Residences. Each of the
irregularities being investigated appears to have in common the spending of
government funds for personal benefit by the Netanyahu family.
According to a Channel 10 report aired earlier this week, moderate Arab
governments in the region have communicated to Netanyahu their willingness to
engage in negotiations with Israel over possible changes to a 2002 Arab peace
initiative so it may serve as the agreed-upon basis of renewed talks with the
Palestinians. Arab regimes led by Egypt and the wealthy Gulf sheikdoms have
signaled their desire to publicly change their posture toward Israel. But,
according to Channel 2, Sisi, who had called out equally to Israelis and
Palestinians to make peace, is strengthening his ties with Abbas now that
Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman who is known to be a hawkish
anti-Palestine illegal settler leader has joined the government as defence
minister.
Arrogance and ultra fanaticism
Clearly, fanatic and criminal minded Israel does not want an independent and
soverign Palestine to emerge in West Asia and it obstructs it by all terror
tactics, including bogus talk. Peace and prosperity is the last thing Israel
wants in Palestine or in Mideast. Jewish strategists in Israel and USA think
if Palestine is legally established leading to a peaceful and safe Mideast
region, Israel won't be able kill Palestinians as freely as they do now or
expand its fake territories on false claims and western military strength.
Also, the USA would drop Israel as a finished case. This may be untenable and
unacceptable for the Jews.
English educated but highly fanatic Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu commented on
the French initiative saying that the only way to progress is to conduct
direct negotiations with Palestinians. Israel wants to impose its own laws and
dictates on Palestinians and USA.
Egypt will participate in the Paris conference, said the Minister of Foreign
Affairs Sameh Shoukry. ''We hope that the conference will revive the first
steps in the negotiations track between Palestine and Israel,'' Shoukry added.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said Monday that Egypt will support any
initiative that asserts that rights of the Palestinian people. He also called
on both sides to take advantage of this opportunity to achieve a peaceful
solution.
Though it does not have any real intention of letting Palestinians establish a
soverign nation, Israel falsely insists it alone can negotiate with
Palestinians and no mediators are necessary. The Israeli side expressed
earlier its concerns over the conference as Netanyahu told the French foreign
minister Jean-Marc Ayrault that Israel still opposes holding an international
conference on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. ''I told him the only way
to advance genuine peace between us and Palestinians is through direct
negotiations between us and them, without preconditions,'' said Netanyahu.
Unity deficit
The lack of unity among Fatah and Hamas is considered by many to be the most
pressing problem facing the Palestinian people and the primary road block to
statehood. After signing six reconciliation agreements but failing to
implement any tangible evidence of rapprochement, Fatah and Hamas are trying
it again with a new twist: international supervision. On June 30, the two
factions will meet in Geneva as guests of the Swiss Foreign Ministry along
with representatives from the Quartet (United States; United Nations, European
Union and Russia), Sweden, Norway, China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, in an
attempt to find the formula for ending the bifurcation between the Fatah-controlled
West Bank and Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The key goals could be to unite Fatah
and strengthen it against Hamas, weaken Hamas, complete a peace agreement with
Israel and seize control of sovereign Palestinian institutions in the West
Bank.
Of the failed agreements signed but not implemented, it is the Cairo Agreement
of 2014 that will be the focus for implementation. Unlike the French
initiative to reconcile the Israelis and Palestinians that is set to kick-off
with a preliminary conference of foreign ministers in early June, the USA is
not planning to attend in Geneva. The post Fatah, Hamas would try new
reconciliation with international mediation.
The United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan are reportedly planning to have
former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan replace Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas.
Citing unnamed senior Palestinian and Jordanian sources, Middle East Eye
reported Friday on the joint plan to bring Dahlan, the former leader of Abbas'
Fatah party in the Gaza Strip, back from exile in the Gulf. The plan was
discussed with Israel, according to the article, which did not indicate
Israel's reaction.
Fatah leader Dahlan, a bitter rival of Abbas, was driven from Gaza after Hamas
seized control of the coastal enclave in 2007. In 2011, he was expelled from
Fatah amid allegations of corruption and accusations that he had poisoned
longtime Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat. Abbas, 81, has headed the
Palestinian Authority since 2005. Dahlan who is 54 and headed the Palestinian
police in Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the 1993 Oslo Accords, ''has
close ties to'' the UAE's royals, according to the Middle East Eye.
Sources say Hamas is weaker than Fatah in Gaza and that Fatah is weaker than
Hamas in the West Bank and that Fatah could win if it were to be united
whereas Hamas is likely to win if Fatah remained disunited. The parties -the
UAE, Jordan and Egypt – believe that Mahmoud Abbas has expired politically and
that they should endeavor to stop any surprises by Abbas during the period
when Fatah will remain under his leadership until the elections are held.
According to a report, Jordan has concerns about Dahlan, however, namely his
reputation for being unpopular among Palestinians and allegations that he is
corrupt and has ties to the Israeli security services.
Once Palestinians get united they would get a soverign state to plan for
better future for the ir children and as such they would be busy making
Palestine an Islamic democracy which would be free from corruption and liquor.
Observation
Israel has been systematically disallowing peace to take charge in West Asia;
it arm-twister USA not to push beyond certain point as Americans are duty
bound to shield the Zionist crimes by their own choice; Israel used USA to
object to Russian proposal for peace talks; it attacked the aidship from
Turkey seeking to make Gaza strip trouble free. Israel does not allow any
foreign dignitary to visit Gaza Strip of Palestine. Israel collects taxes form
Palestine and uses it as a powerful blackmail tool to force Palestinians to
keep fighting amongst themselves, killing each other.
So, Israel opposes the involvement of a veto power France in the world's
longest conflict.
The Israeli side seems to be afraid of any international intervention that may
dictate terms. Israel replied formally last month on the French initiative
saying that anything other than bilateral negotiations ''will give the
Palestinians an escape from recognising Israel as the nation state of the
Jewish people''.
Peace talks between Palestinians and an arrogant and Israel unwilling for any
peaceful settlement stalled following the collapse of a US-led initiative two
years ago as it wants to kill every Palestinians and throw the body into the
sea as the Jewish hawkish leaders have declared time and again..
Colonialist Israel occupies Palestine and considers its prerogative to deal
with people of Palestine, even their children the way the military wants,
brutally treating the Palestinians by creating terror blockades blocking Gaza
people to move freely within Palestine territories and, worse, to let them go
out of Palestine even for urgent and important matters. Israeli military,
backed by pentagon, regulates the movement of Palestinians.
Yet Israel also calls itself a modern democracy. Perhaps, by democracy Israel
means the illegal nukes it has obtained from the USA and allies.
How can a terrorist, fascist nation be a democracy as well?
Hopefully the France sponsored peace conference would yield fruits, pawing way
for constructive dialog for speedy establishment of much delayed Palestine
state. Other veto members should join France in pushing for a settlement of
the dispute cum crisis in Mideast.
Let a new peaceful era dawn in Mideast with the establishment of Palestine
that would in turn help establish global peace in a better manner. Let Israel
be willing to make a soverign Palestine state possible by wholeheartedly
supporting the Palestinians who has lost thousands of their brethren in bloody
battles, defending themselves with a powerful enemy who is backed by veto and
fellow nuke powers.