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bitterlemons-international.org
Middle East Roundtable /
Edition 39
A Palestinian View:
Nothing has changed
by Ghassan Khatib
It is one year since the late President Yasser Arafat died, and it may be
instructive to take stock and see what has changed on the ground.
The short and most illuminating answer, of course, is that nothing much has
changed. Palestinian demands vis-a-vis an over-all two-state solution remain
exactly the same. That is not surprising, since these demands had nothing to
do with Arafat, and everything to do with international law, justice, and
plain common sense.
Agreement on these overarching issues, the Gaza disengagement
notwithstanding, also remains as distant as when Arafat was alive. Again,
this should come as a surprise to nobody since such agreement had little to
do with Arafat, and everything to do with an Israeli refusal to abide by
international law and legality. The West Bank including East Jerusalem is
occupied territory that must form the backbone of an independent Palestinian
state, yet Israel does everything in its power, as it did when Arafat was
still alive, to render impossible the emergence of such a state and thus of
a viable two-state solution. The most obvious and egregious Israeli measures
to this end are Israel's continuing settlement expansion program, especially
around Jerusalem, and the building of the separation wall, clearly in an
attempt to unilaterally define future borders.
The one thing that has of course changed is the implementation of the
Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. This is by no stretch of the imagination a
complete withdrawal. Negotiators recently engaged in all-night sessions to
determine the extent of Israeli involvement at Gaza's border with Egypt and
ensure Palestinian control over a border for the first time. But Israeli
control over sea- and air-space constitutes continued effective Israeli
military control over the Strip. Nevertheless, the settlements are gone, and
with them, much of the intrusive nature of the occupation that played such
havoc in Gazans' lives. The Rafah agreement holds out hope for further
improvement.
But, and again, this withdrawal had nothing to do with the passing of
Arafat. It was a unilateral Israeli measure, and had been agreed, if not
passed through the Israeli cabinet, long before Arafat died. It would have
happened with or without him. Indeed, the unilateral nature of the
disengagement is exactly the reason why negotiators recently had to work
into the small hours.
A shaky ceasefire exists, one the Palestinian opposition factions agreed
with President Mahmoud Abbas. But, just as with the unilateral hudna
declared by the opposition factions in 2003 under Arafat's tenure, that
ceasefire is being broken every day by Israel's continued assassination
policy as well as the sweeping arrest campaigns targeting Palestinian
activists in the West Bank. If it fails it will fail for the same reason
that the 2003 hudna failed: because Israel won't allow it to continue.
In short, a year after Arafat little has changed. Internally there has, of
course, been a change of leadership style and in the way things are done.
That is hardly surprising after decades of rule by one very charismatic man
whose position was unchallenged and who lived and survived through all the
stages of the Palestinian national struggle. But the fact that nothing has
changed regarding the overall conflict is instructive because it should,
once and for all, give lie to the myth that has been propagated, mainly by
Israel and propagandists for Israel, that the late president was the main
obstacle to peace. If indeed Arafat had been the main obstacle to peace, we
should have seen some progress by now. We haven't, and the reason ought to
be obvious. The main obstacle to peace is, and always was, Israel's refusal
to abide by international law, international legality, and international
moral standards.- Published 14/11/2005 © bitterlemons.org
Ghassan Khatib is coeditor of the bitterlemons family of internet
publications. He is the Palestinian Authority minister of planning and has
been a political analyst and media contact for many years.
Bitterlemons-international.org is an internet
forum for an array of world perspectives on the Middle East and its
specific concerns. It aspires to engender greater understanding about
the Middle East region and open a new common space for world thinkers
and political leaders to present their viewpoints and initiatives on the
region. Editors Ghassan Khatib and Yossi Alpher can be reached at
ghassan@bitterlemons-international.org
and
yossi@bitterlemons-international.org, respectively.
hagalil.com 18-11-2005 |
