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| The 57-State Solution: For Israel? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 24 2009, 10:06 AM (140 Views) | |
| believerintheunseen | May 24 2009, 10:06 AM Post #1 |
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The 57-State Solution: For Israel? Arab Reach Out, Israel Creates Irreversible Realities By Mohammad Yaghi Senior Policy Analyst - Islamonline.net On May 11, King Abdullah II of Jordan had an interview with the British Times newspaper in which he declared that Arabs were not offering Israel a two-state solution but a 57-state solution. He added that the "prize for Israel is not the Jordan River, Golan Heights, or Sinai", but "Morocco in the Atlantic to Indonesia in the Pacific." King of Jordan's comments came after his meeting with the US President Barak Obama on April 21, 2009. It is also believed that the king's remarks were coordinated with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian Authority of Ramallah, and reflected a joint Arab-American effort to modify the Arab Peace Initiative of March, 2002 to be acceptable for Israel. His comments, especially that on Al-Quds (Jerusalem), reinforce this conviction. When asked about its future, the king replied "I am sensing a lot more maturity and understanding in these troubled times of cultural and religious suspicions that Jerusalem could be a binder that we need." News reports also stated that President Obama will declare a peace plan within the lines of the King Abdullah's comments when he addresses the Muslim world from Cairo in early June. Furthermore, upon his meeting with Egypt's President, Hosni Mubarak on May 11, Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister declared that Arab moderates and Israel have never been so close in understanding the mutual threat that is facing them. News reports confirmed that the meeting "focused on the urgency of a common Israeli-Arab strategy for dealing with Iran and its allies." In short, the so-called Arab moderate camp proposes to the Israeli right-wing government a total normalization with all Muslim states, a compromise on Al-Quds, and a declared alignment against Iran in return for an Israeli acceptance to negotiate compromised settlements with the Palestinian Authority of Ramallah, Syria, and Lebanon. On the one hand, this is a complete retreat from the initial Arab peace initiative; on the other, the Arab moderate camp is giving priority to Israel's national security at the expense of the Arab states' security. The Arab Peace Initiative emphasized that the normalization with Israel would take place only after Israel completely withdraws from all the Arab lands it occupied in 1967 June War (Six-Day War),including Al-Quds. The Arab Peace Initiative is not for negotiation but for implementation, and that Israel must solve the Palestinian refugees' right of return in accordance with the UN Resolution 194. It is also Israel that occupies the Arab lands, enjoys nuclear supremacy, threatens and wages wars against its neighbors, not Iran. The Lie of Peace Israel would not have been able to sell the "lie of peace" with the Palestinians to the international community without the Oslo Accords History in this context matters; following Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in November 1978, Israel declared Al-Quds, complete and undivided, its capital in 1980. It annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, bombarded the Iraqi nuclear facilities the same year, and occupied more than one-third of Lebanon in 1982. Moreover, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, there were only 7800 settlers in the West Bank (not including Al-Quds) in 1978 living in 30 settlements, but by September 2008, they became 289,600 living in 121 settlements. The number of settlers in the West Bank increased by 173,300 inhabiting 35,617 housing units constructed just after the Oslo Accords of 1993. During 2008 — the year that followed the Annapolis peace conference of November., 2007 — Israel constructed 1,647 housing units and added 13000 settlers in the West Bank. Besides, in the same day the Arabs declared their Peace Initiative from Beirut in Mar.2002, Israel reoccupied the so-called the Palestinian Authority-ruled A-zone — constitutes 19 percent of the total area of the West Bank (not including Al-Quds), killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians. Furthermore, Israel built the Separation Wall, annexing 16.6 percent of the West Bank and crossing the green line considered by the international community the presumed border with Israel for the future Palestinian state. Israel also waged two devastated wars in the last three years, against Lebanon in July, 2006 and against Gaza in Dec., 2008. The history of the conflict also shows that Israel was forced to leave occupied lands when faced an organized resistance, as the cases of Lebanon and Gaza. Therefore, contrary to the "Arab moderate camp's" conventional wisdom that the more of peace initiatives and concessions would make Israel in favor of withdrawing from the lands it occupies, Israel understands these initiatives as signs of weakness that should be used to maximize its gains and to create irreversible realities on the ground. For example, Israel would not have been able to sell the "lie of peace" with the Palestinians to the international community without the Oslo Accords it had signed with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Indeed, the more concessions for Israel in the name of peace, only augments Israel's desire for more; that is why Israel insists today to be recognized first as a Jewish state before accepting to negotiate the principle of two-state solution. Much Peace, More Settlements Peace with Israel cannot happen by simply offering Israel recognition from the remaining third of the world And, that is why the extremist Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Foreign Affairs minister and the leader of Yisrael Beiteinu — the second party in Netanyahu's coalition — sees an opportunity to get rid of Arab Palestinians in 1967 Israel through ideas, like territorial swap. But, history matters and legitimacy counts more. Armed with a mandate from their people, the legitimacy of the Israeli leaders plays an asset to their side in the negotiations with Arab leaders; they can accept or refuse peace proposals in the name of their people. But, on the Arab side, what kind of mandate the Arab leaders have to make agreements with Israel? The people in Egypt for example did not elect Anwar Al-Sadat to sign peace treaty on their behalf, which explains why peace between Egypt and Israel remains after 30 years "frosty". Worst even more when there is an opportunity to use political legitimacy to empower the Arab negation's position, illegitimate leaders in the Arab world consider that a liability. According to Vanity Fair Magazine, when Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council election, Abbas, the PA president, participated in a plot to overthrow Hamas government by military force instead of building on its success to boost his negotiation posture with Israel. Peace with Israel cannot happen by simply offering Israel recognition from the remaining third of the world (Muslim states) that so far refuses to recognize it. Israel's recognition can only take place when Israel abides by the UN resolutions, and acts as a state that respects international law. Moreover, for any agreement with Israel to sustain, it must be signed by democratically-elected Arab leaders, if not, the agreements will not be binding to the Arab people. |
| O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Truly, the most honored of you in God's sight is the greatest of you in piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. [49:13] | |
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8:57 PM Jul 10