Palestine: Trojan Horse Exposes Duplicitous Doublecross
Any doubt that the Oslo Accords and the Bush Road Map are dead and buried has been put to final rest by John V Whitbeck – an international lawyer who has served as an advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team in negotiations with Israel…writes David Singer.
Writing in the Cyprus Mail on 13 January Whitbeck reveals that the Palestinian Authority “has been absorbed and replaced by the State of Palestine” in a decree issued by Mahmoud Abbas on 3 January and signed by him acting in his capacities as president of the State of Palestine and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Whitbeck’s confirmation of the demise of the Palestinian Authority signals the definite end to any further negotiations under the Oslo Accords and the Road Map being conducted between Israel and the Palestinian Authority – the designated parties to both agreements.
To make sure the message was fully understood – Whitbeck states unequivocally:
“The Trojan horse called the “Palestinian Authority” in accordance with the Oslo interim agreements and the “Palestinian National Authority” by Palestinians, having served its purpose by introducing the institutions of the State of Palestine on the soil of Palestine, has now ceased to exist.”
The sordid truth and fraudulent intentions of the PLO in this long running duplicitous doublecross over the last 20 years have now been well and truly exposed by Whitbeck for all to see.
The Palestinian Authority never intended to negotiate in good faith to bring about the two-state solution prescribed by the Oslo Accords and the Bush Road map. It was a Trojan horse fronting for the PLO whose objective was to procure recognition of a Palestinian State without giving up or compromising any of the PLO’s claims and demands.
This latest loss of the opportunity offered by the Oslo Accords and the Bush Road Map to realise the two-state solution matches the two opportunities thrown away by the PLO in 2000/1 and 2008
Three strikes – and the PLO has been definitely outed.
The reaction of the international community will be followed with interest.
Whitbeck continues:
“In his correspondence, Yasser Arafat used to list all three of his titles under his signature – president of the State of Palestine, chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and president of the Palestinian National Authority (in that order of precedence). It is both legally and politically noteworthy that, in signing this decree, Mahmoud Abbas has listed only the first two titles… There is no further need for a Palestinian leader to be three-headed or three-hatted.”
But two hatted and two-faced Abbas must remain – because as Whitbeck explains:
“While the Palestine Liberation Organisation will continue to represent all Palestinians everywhere, those Palestinians who live in the State of Palestine (whose territory is defined by the November 29 General Assembly Resolution as “the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967”) or who, living elsewhere, will be the proud holders of new State of Palestine passports will now also be represented by the State of Palestine.”
The fact that Hamas is not a member of the PLO and that its constituency running into millions is engaged in an internecine struggle with the PLO seems to have escaped Whitbeck’s notice.
Whitbeck must have been reading the wrong wire services to draw the following conclusions:
“Perhaps due, at least in part, to the low-key manner in which this change has been effected, it has attracted remarkably little attention from the international media or reaction from other governments, even the Israeli and American governments. This is not necessarily disappointing, since passive acceptance is clearly preferable to furious rejection. The relatively few and brief media reports of the change have tended to characterise it as “symbolic”. It could – and should – be much more than that. If the Palestinian leadership plays its cards wisely, it could – and should – represent a turning point toward a better future.”
He obviously has missed the many articles critical of Abbas being forced to tip toe through the minefield that his unilateral actions have created.
More repercussions are yet to come as a disappointed international community comes to appreciate how this Trojan horse has pulled the wool over their collective eyes.
Certainly passive acceptance – instead of furious rejection – of Israel’s demands that any Palestinian Arab State be demilitarised and that Israel be recognised as the Jewish State – would have helped the two-state solution possibly come to fruition.
The reasons for such furious rejection by the Trojan horse have now been revealed.
The Trojan Horse fooled everyone. The negotiations were only a cover to grab what the PLO could get on the way to claiming their ultimate prize – the elimination of the state of Israel.
Whitbeck repeats the mantra of self delusion expressed by the PLO leadership:
“The State of Palestine now exists on the soil of Palestine – albeit still, in varying degrees and circumstances, under belligerent occupation by the State of Israel.”
The soil of Palestine includes the soil of Israel and the soil of Jordan.
Whitbeck was circumspect in not bringing up that darker side of the PLO Covenant which regards Israel, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza as one indivisible territorial unit.
The Trojan horse is clearly biding its time to take over Jordan.
In what must amount to one of the greatest tongue in cheek pronouncements ever issued over the course of the 130 years old conflict between Arabs and Jews – Whitbeck concludes:
“The members of the international community must now show their determination not simply in words but also in deeds and actions. In a world which professes to take human rights and international law, including the UN Charter, seriously, the perpetual belligerent occupation of one state by another state is inconceivable. The fact that the Israeli occupation of Palestine has been permitted to endure, expand and entrench itself for more than 45 years represents an appalling black mark against mankind. This occupation must now end.”
The democratic world does not like wiping egg off its collective face – and neither does Israel.
With the Palestinian Authority now defunct – the only two possibilities for negotiations now remaining are those between:
- Israel, Jordan and Egypt – to allocate sovereignty of the West Bank and Gaza between them in accordance with the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter or
- Israel and all the Arab states – to negotiate an end to the Arab-Jewish conflict in accordance with Security Council Resolution 242.
You can lead a Trojan horse to water but you can’t make it drink – or think.
David Singer is a Sydney Lawyer and Foundation Member of the International Analysts Network
Just two comments on a good article by David Singer.
1. He errs in commenting that the Trojan Horse fooled everyone. A great number of people noted that Arafat was a liar and they were ignored or regarded as fools or right-wing extremists. Rabin should have spat in Arafat\’s face on the White House lawn when the arch terrorist described the signing of the agreement as “the peace of the brave” Rabin should have kicked Arafat back to Tunis after the Cape Town speech when Arafat revealed that the “peace” deal was simply a stage in the eventual destruction of Israel. And we all heard of the salami technique, where the Arabs got bits of Israel slice by slice.
2. The proposal for a Jordan/Egypt/Israel deal or for UN unvolvement is settling the whole dispute is the manifestation of a fixation on a delusion. Jordan is teetering on the edge and could well fall to the MB franchise, Hamas. Egypt is ruled by the MB and stability is maintained by the still provileged military, but may fal despite USA bribes. The UN is a hostile entity dominated by cynics and rogues where Israel has no friend apart from Canada ans the Czech republic Israel must just impose its own solution and accelerate the implosion of the Palestinian Arab society..
Paul
All those who believed Arafat have now been shown what a fraud and a con man he was -and his legacy is being carried on today by his successors.
Incredibly they are still being treated with deference and kid gloves and accorded standing ovations.
What can one do but continue to expose their incompetence and foolishness and their flawed reliance on a two-state solution that will never eventuate.
How many signals do they need to receive that the two-state solution is dead and buried?
The Jordan/Egypt/Israel deal made far more sense when I first proposed it 35 years ago. It too is rapidly sinking in the sunset.
But there is nothing else – if another war is to be averted.
Certainly Egypt and Gaza now represent a separate challenge that really must go into the too hard basket at the moment.
There is still a small window of opportunity with Jordan that is also rapidly closing.
When I think back to the hundreds of thousands of Jewish and Arab lives that would have been so different if this proposal had been taken up – I can only shake my head in disbelief.
A lot of people in high places should hang their heads in shame.