Proposal for International Commission for Peace in Palestine/Israel
I believe … (in peace)
I believe that we – U.S. citizens -- need to achieve justice in Palestine/Israel as a prerequisite to achieving peace (I think we all know why we have a responsibility in this and an accountability, as well. If not, go to my old blog at: http://blogs.umass.edu/jmfrench/ and click on the Category, Palestine/Israel Peace -- Annapolis Process, and read the blog, "Blood On Our Hands".).
I believe that a great injustice occurred when militant Zionists commandeered the “creation” of the state of Israel in 1948 and this injustice has continued ever since via Israel’s ongoing policies vis-a-vis the Palestinian people of dispossession, religious and ethnic discrimination, military occupation and oppression, and the ethnic cleansing of Israel.
I believe that these injustices must be acknowledged; accountability for which must be accepted by Israel; and then these injustices must be redressed sufficiently to the satisfaction of the Palestinians who have suffered from these injustices.
I believe that Hamas, as well as Hezbollah, were created as a response to these injustices and that Israel through its actions has forced the Palestinians to use terror to resist the military occupation, the dispossessions, the oppression, discrimination, etc., and the terror tactics used against them by Israel in 1948 that was the foundation of all the violence that has followed and that the historical record provides convincing evidence to support this.
I believe that Palestinians and Israeli Jews will never live side-by-side in peace and security until justice is achieved. This is primary – peace and security for both peoples will follow.
I believe that an international forum must be established in order to conduct public debate on the religious issues (sharing of Jerusalem, access to holy sites, etc.); the conflicting historical narratives surrounding the events of 1948; the structure of the solution that will address both the “right of return” and the threat to Israel’s existence as a Jewish state posed by such a mass return; etc. – all the core/final status issues that are the basis of this conflict. The postponement of addressing and equitably resolving such issues is the main reason past attempts to negotiate peace have failed.
I believe that the two-state solution, as it is currently being formulated, will not achieve justice and will only serve to “lock in” the underlying injustice caused by the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state – which was built upon war crimes, denial of such, and the land taken from the Palestinians – and thus will fuel and perpetuate violence forever in Palestine/Israel.
(As just one example of the many reasons why I believe the above is true, please consider the points made in The One State Declaration, which was signed by various parties and can be viewed here: http://imeu.net/news/article007179.shtml
I believe that it is our responsibility to ensure that this two-state solution, as it is currently being formulated, is not realized.
I believe that we need to demand that our government, instead, pursue a process that will achieve justice, first, and then a peace agreement – a true peace process -- not a peace process that is destined to fail, yet again, and bring the resulting escalation of violence and hopelessness which breeds more hatred and more violence in an endless cycle of madness.
I believe that justice and peace can only be achieved if we remove the peace process from the current political process, at least in the beginning stages, in order to allow a solution to the conflict to be constructed in an environment free of political influence (or as much as possible). The asymmetry of power that is inherent in bilateral negotiations between the parties in this conflict, as well as the bias and influence of the Israel Lobby present within the U.S. government, must be neutralized.
Therefore, I believe that we must demand that the resolution of this conflict – something so critical to the national security of this nation and the global community – be handed over to an international commission (likely under the auspices of the United Nations). This commission would be composed of experts from the international academic community in the legal, historical, and religious issues associated with this conflict with the requisite credentials and credibility to enable them to succeed with the mission of resolving this conflict by achieving justice and constructing an equitable and sustainable settlement.
(Please consider, as just one example of the kind of alternative resolution to the conflict that such a commission might produce, the regional confederation idea proposed by Professor Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions – see: http://www.yorku.ca/ipconf/speakers.html
Note: you will need to scroll about 40% of the way down this long page on this web site to get to Halper’s brief dissertation.)
I think that you would need to give this commission as much time as they need, all of the tools and resources they need, and the autonomy they need to get the job done and done right. I think that you would need to have a significant number of Israeli Jews and Palestinians involved in key roles in this process to give it credibility and to give the end product of the process as much chance of being accepted in the Israeli and Palestinian societies as possible.
I think that you would need to include in this process sub commissions which could take on the most contentious issues, such as the two differing historical narratives of the parties in the conflict, and then, perhaps via something similar to a legal/courtroom process, achieve consensus on the major points of disagreement and produce a text which will serve as the historical record to be used by the commission in the overall process of constructing a resolution to the conflict. I would also think that the religious forum described earlier would take place under the auspices of a sub commission, as well as a sub commission responsible for the consideration of the various proposals for a framework of the solution to the conflict – such as one-state versus two-state, regional confederation, etc. – and so on.
I think that this proposal of an international commission could potentially be widely accepted by Arab nations, supported by the U.N., and could give enormous power to diplomatic efforts to unite Fatah and Hamas in a unity government and current negotiations on a long-term ceasefire agreement, etc.
I think that the international community should be provided an opportunity to participate in this true peace process and that this could be realized by including in the commission and sub commissions as many representatives from as many nations, religions, points of view, etc., as possible, and by making this a public process by broadcasting the proceedings as widely as possible (using the internet, etc.). This conflict was created by the international community, to some extent; has been made worse by the international community, to some extent; and so the resolution of it should also be an international process as well.
I believe, in conclusion, that Israel will resist this peace process with all the power of their national being – because they will not have complete control of it (as they have with the current peace process). But, I also believe that it is the right way to resolve this conflict and, therefore, we must find a way to coerce Israel to accept the process and the end result of this process. This is the “tough love” that many folks have been saying will be required of the U.S. in order to address the asymmetry of power in the peace negotiations and achieve peace. I also believe that Israel will in time agree that this was the only way to save themselves from the self-destruction toward which I believe they are currently headed (due to their ethnic cleansing, apartheid, oppressive policies and large-scale violations of human rights and humanitarian laws, etc.). And, perhaps, they will even be thankful to the FRIENDS that saved them from this disaster.
If you believe as I believe that the above, or something similar, is the right (ethical/moral) and most effective way to achieve justice and sustainable peace in Palestine/Israel, then please support this proposal in any way you can and act swiftly. I, once again, believe that, because George Mitchell has quoted Obama as saying that the U.S., “Will make a sustained push, working with Israelis and Palestinians to achieve the goal of two states: a Jewish state in Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security,” this demonstrates that Obama does not intend to deviate from the standard U.S. policy of protecting Israel in its creation of Israel as a JEWISH state (and thus allow Israel to continue its ethnic cleansing, military occupation, oppression, dispossession, etc.).
We, therefore, must act urgently to begin building a coalition that will be large enough to coerce our government to stop its current course and accept an internationally-based peace process that will not be under the direct control of the U.S. government and to take the action necessary to convince Israel to accept it as well. Our coalition will need to be an international coalition and it must generate a momentum that is overwhelming in its public support. And if we can achieve this, President Obama will have to respect such a “yes we can” movement, and, I believe, this is the only way he will be convinced to invest the necessary political capital required to take such courageous steps in the face of the anticipated immense opposing political forces (Israel Lobby at home, Congressional opposition, Israeli government refusal to accept it, etc.).
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