Three times – no Palestine
Three times the Palestinians have been offered a state, three times they’ve run away…writes Michael Danby.
1) Bill Clinton – Responsibility of Palestinians for collapse of Camp David summit in 2000:
“I regret that in 2000 Arafat missed the opportunity to bring that nation into being and pray for the day when the dreams of the Palestinian people for a state and a better life will be realised in a just and lasting peace.” – Bill Clinton
Dennis Ross – During a lecture in Australia, Ross suggested that the reason for the failure was Arafat’s unwillingness to sign a final deal with Israel that would close the door on any of the Palestinians’ maximum demands, particularly the right of return. Ross claimed that what Arafat really wanted was “a one-state solution. Not independent, adjacent Israeli and Palestinian states, but a single Arab state encompassing all of Historic Palestine.”
Palestinian Minister Nabil Amr also blamed the collapse of talks on Arafat:
Historian Kenneth Levin noted that: “[D]espite the dimensions of the Israeli offer and intense pressure from President Clinton, Arafat demurred. He apparently was indeed unwilling, no matter what the Israeli concessions, to sign an agreement that declared itself final and forswore any further Palestinian claims.” In The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege. Hanover: Smith and Kraus, 2005.
Saudi Prince Bandar said: “If Arafat does not accept what is available now, it won’t be a tragedy; it will be a crime.” In Landau, David (2014). Arik: The Life of Ariel Sharon, Random House.
2) Condoleezza Rice–15th October 2007(Press statements made in Jerusalem)
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21288370/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/rice-calls-creation- palestinian-state/#.WUoATU0UlaQ
“Frankly, it’s time for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Rice told a news conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who she saw on the second of a four-day intense Middle East shuttle diplomacy mission.
“The United States sees the establishment of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution as absolutely essential for the future, not just of Palestinians and Israelis but also for the Middle East and indeed to American interests,” she said.
“That’s really a message that I think only I can deliver,” Rice said, explaining her mission to prepare for the conference to be held in Annapolis, Md. as early as late November.
“If it’s going to address the establishment of a Palestinian state, then it has to address core issues,” Rice said. “You do have to have enough that is concrete so that people know that we’re not just starting out with the general principle that everyone would like to have a Palestinian state.”
“I understand as well as anybody that there are risks to announcing a meeting and then doing the hard work to get it prepared,” Rice said. But the other side of that … something had to spark their active and intensive engagement, something had to spark the region to take advantage of what was a slowly opening historic opportunity.”
3) Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas abandons Kerry/Obama Proposals 2014-2015
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.794292
“When Kerry presented (The Peace Terms) to Abbas, the Palestinian leader became visibly angry, saying he could not put his signature on such a document….”
“When Kerry met Abbas in Paris on February 19, 2014 and presented him with this (revised) version of the framework accord, the Palestinian president responded with anger and disappointment. The weak wording (on Jerusalem) was a nonstarter for him.”
“…Abbas didn’t accept Obama’s framework document. He didn’t reject it, though – he simply didn’t respond.
The Obama administration was disappointed by his reaction. Obama asked Abbas to “see the big picture” instead of squabbling with “this or that detail” – to no avail. A month later, Kerry’s peace talks collapsed.”
Michael Danby is the Federal Labor MP for Melbourne Ports
Painting the Australian Labor Party as anti-Israel is an exaggeration. Indeed there are elements within the party that could be viewed, rightly or wrongly, as sympathetic to the Palestinians, but to describe the entire party as anti-Israel is far-fetched, unsubstantiated, and unhelpful. The current push for the recognition of Palestine within the NSW Labor Party is driven by professional agitator and factotum Bob Carr and his attempts to corral the party to his agenda, and has been rejected by senior figures in the party:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/03/tanya-plibersek-will-not-back-nsw-labor-motion-to-recognise-palestine
Well done Michael Danby.
We in the jewish community should photocopy this article and have it as a poster, and have it reproduced thousands of times to put up everywhere!
Its time to counter with the weight of facts and maps and quotes not just to us the converted, but to the outside world and the ignorant and the neutral.
Michael your points and David’s are valid.
Are you willing to stand up for Israel’s rights and moral supremacy at Labor’s next conference? Labor luvies are set to recognize as a state the PA which is a terrorist, jihadist, kleptocratic, antisemitic entity that shows contempt for democracy
Paul
Haven’t you heard that the PA was buried on 3 January 2013 by decree of Mahmoud Abbas?
Michael
You missed out mentioning the following occasions when the Palestinian Arabs could have also had their own State:
1. In 1922 when the Mandate for Palestine restricted the Jewish National Home to just 22% of the territory comprised in the Mandate – leaving 78% for the Palestinian Arabs
2. In 1937 when the recommendations of the Peel Commission proposing partition were rejected
3. In 1947 when the UN Special Commission on Palestine headed by Labor Leader Dr H V Evatt recommended the partitioning what was left of the Mandate territory after the creation of Transjordan in 1946
4. At any time between 1948 to 1967 when not one Jew lived in East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) or Gaza after six invading Arab armies had driven every single Jew out of these areas.
The Labor party are being played for fools.
Dr Evatt would turn in his grave at this reckless act of stupidity rewarding 95 years of Arab rejectionism which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Jews and Arabs.
Any proposed resolution must identify the boundaries of the State of Palestine that the Labor Party intends recognising. Otherwise the Resolution will be nothing but a lot of meaningless mumbo jumbo.
There are already two States in former Palestine – Arab Jordan and Jewish Israel. A second Arab State in addition to Jordan makes as much sense as a second Jewish State in addition to Israel.
The real two State solution – Jordan and Israel – the two successor States to the Mandate for Palestine possessing sovereignty between them in 95% of the territory of the Mandate – has been the solution posited since 1922 and is the only solution that has any chance of succeeding today.
Two peoples need two States – not three.
David, you are so right. The Australian Labor Party is heading down the same dead end street as their UK counterparts, Blind ignorance combined with blind prejudice seems to be the mantra of the new left. Unfortunately they are becoming the new ugly face of the politically correct socialist parties of the democratic world.
Jordan is definitely the designated Arab Palestinian State. We certainly do not need another one especially a State controlled by terror supporting individuals.
Yes, two states in the former Palestine mandate is the answer. Their border and their populations is the question.
Jews have the legal, historic and moral right to land west of the Jordan River. That answer the border question.
The Arabs had Jordanian citizenship before Jordan washed its hands of them. The population question has a number of answers:
1. reinstatement of Jordanian citizenship with alien residency rights in Israel
2. autonomy within the major population centers in Areas A & B
3. subsidized emigration from Judea and Samaria