Decades of Israeli/Palestinian Peace Talks Failure: 50 Reasons Why

 

Decades of Israeli/Palestinian Peace Talks Failure: 50 Reasons Why

 

by Stephen Lendman

 

Paul Simon's 1975 "Still Crazy After All These Years" album featured the hit song "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." 

 

Subverting peace perhaps is simpler. Four decades of futile Israeli/Palestinian talks prove it. There never was a peace process. There's none now. 

 

It's a convenient fiction. It's an illusion. It's fake. It's a sham. It's a charade. Pretense pretends otherwise. It substitutes for reality.

 

Here's why. Israel deplores peace. So does Washington. They're warrior states. They're not peacemakers. They never were. They're not now. 

 

They proliferate violence and instability. Their entire histories reflect it. Peace is inherently abhorrent. It defeats their agenda. Imperial marauding requires conflict.

 

Rule of law principles don't matter. They're systematically spurned. Racism is institutionalized. So are apartheid, colonization, barbaric persecution, and injustice.

 

Imagine holding talks with Palestine's legitimate government excluded. Imagine letting longtime Israeli collaborators represent them. 

 

Imagine longstanding Israeli intransigence. Imagine involving Washington. Imagine it acting as interlocutor. Imagine letting it orchestrate proceedings. 

 

Imagine the worst possible outcome. It's certain. It's guaranteed. It's decided. Talks are illegitimate. They're theater. They assure failure and betrayal. 

 

Palestine's still occupied. It's militarized. Gaza's besieged. On August 6, Israeli armored vehicles and militarized bulldozers invaded.

 

They targeted central Gaza's Al-Boreij refugee camp. They struck other areas. They fired live rounds. They terrorized residents. They uprooted farmland.

 

They conduct frequent attacks. They launch air strikes. They kill innocent civilians. They do so with impunity.

 

They conduct multiple daily West Bank/East Jerusalem incursions. They terrorize men, women and children. They arrest them.

 

They torture them. They hold witch-hunt show trials. Guilt by accusation is policy.

 

Bulldozing homes continues. Palestinians are dispossessed of property and land. Israel confiscates it. It controls about 60% of the West Bank.

 

It wants all valued areas Judaized. It wants Jerusalem as its exclusive capital. It denies land for peace. 

 

It wants Palestinian resources exploited. It says one thing. It does another. It wants Arab MPs excluded from Knesset representation. 

 

They're little more than potted plants now. They're excluded from policymaking. Over 20 Hamas PA legislators are imprisoned. It's for belonging to the wrong party.

 

Israel treats Arabs like subhumans. They're denied all rights. Diaspora Palestinians can't return. Praying to the wrong God is criminalized. So is wanting to live free in sovereign Palestine.

 

Israel deplores peace. Fascist rule spurns justice. Confiscating Arab land continues. So does settlement construction. Economy Minister Naftali Bennett wants unlimited expansions. He prioritizes development.

 

He doesn't acknowledge the word occupation. He wants all valued West Bank land annexed. So does Netanyahu. Israel's government is its most extremist in history. It's all take. It's no give.

 

Bennett's a software entrepreneur multimillionaire. He heads the fascist Habayit Hayehudi party. It's part of Netanyahu's coalition government.

 

He represents hardline extremism. According to Haaretz editors, he's one of the "new politics" leaders.

 

He's "many things, but more than anything he is a nuisance." He's "a nuisance to any Israeli who is hoping to live in a better place."

 

He represent settler extremists. They terrorize Palestinians. The do so with impunity. Formally, Bennett's economy minister. Practically he's "minister for development of the settlements."

 

He "feigns innocence." He "border(s) on boorishness and racism."

 

"What occupation," he claims? "A Palestinian state never existed here." He calls political Palestinian prisoners "terrorists."

 

"If we capture (them)," he says, "we need to just kill them. I've already killed a lot of Arabs in my life - and there is no problem with that."

 

He calls interference with Israel plundering Palestinian resources "economic terror." He promises unabated settlement construction. He wants it accelerated. 

 

Along with other Habayit Hayehudi extremists, he believes his mission is enforcing "Jewish sovereignty from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River."

 

He spurns peace and reconciliation. He's got lots of coalition government allies. They assure continued conflict. They betray Jews and Arabs alike.

 

Israel told John Kerry construction will continue during peace talks. Settlements will keep expanding. 

 

East Jerusalem construction tenders will be issued in days. Confiscated Palestinian land will be used. According to Bennett, "no construction freeze" exists. 

 

Development continues unabated. It's extensive. Israeli hardliners insist. According to sources close to Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel:

 

"At the moment there are 2,500 units ready to be marketed in the Jerusalem area, and we will market them at the first possible moment." 

 

"However, at this time we know of no date at all for this to happen."

 

Ariel directed the Jerusalem District "to prepare for the marketing of land in the city as if it can be done tomorrow morning."

 

In November 2012, tenders were published for selling Pisgat Ze'ev land. It's in the northwest Ramot neighborhood. About 600 units will be built.

 

Additional tenders will be issued. They include 800 southern Gilo units, 1,200 southwestern Gilo ones, 100 between Gilo and Beit Safafa, and from 1,000 - 2,000 in Har Homa Gimel.

 

On August 6, Haaretz headlined "Israel to begin construction on new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem," saying:

 

It's on stolen Palestinian land. "Housing Minister Uri Ariel and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat plan to attend a ceremony next week…"

 

They'll "lay the cornerstone for a new Jewish neighborhood near Jabal Mukkaber." It's a "predominantly Arab neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem."

 

The announcement followed what's discussed above. Widespread settlement construction continues unabated.

 

Dozens more units were approved. They're not the first Jewish community adjacent to Jabal Mukkaber.

 

"Nof Zion, a large, gated apartment complex, where Jews live in the midst of a Palestinian village, is nearby as well." 

 

"Like Nof Zion, the new neighborhood is not an ideologically motivated settlement built by a right-wing non-profit group, but a neighborhood constructed by a private developer who caters to national religious Jews."

 

Ceremonial cornerstone-laying precedes municipal elections. Mayor Barkat seeks support. He wants another term. Stealing Palestinian land helps him.

 

According to a new Israeli Democracy Institute poll, most Israelis oppose withdrawing to 1967 borders.

 

Nearly 80% say peace talks have little chance of succeeding. Most reject pre-1967 borders with land swaps. 

 

They're against diaspora Palestinians returning. They support business as usual. They didn't surprise.

 

Gershon Mesika heads the Samaria Regional Council. "The population beyond the Green Line currently numbers over 730,000 Jewish citizens," he said. Other estimates place it between 600,000 and 650,000.

 

Israelis occupy stolen Palestinian land. Settlement expansions won't stop. It's beyond the point of no return, says Mesika. He expects one million settlers in three years.

 

So does Samaria Liaison Office Coordinator David Ha'ivri. Peace process illusions persist. Reality explains otherwise.

 

A Final Comment

 

North American Palestinian activists reject fake peace talks. They issued the following statement:

 

"We, the undersigned Palestinians and Palestinian organizations in shatat and exile, write today to express our firm opposition to the resumption of bilateral Israeli/Palestinian negotiations under U.S. auspices in Washington DC, today, July 29.

 

For twenty years, the negotiations have not served Palestinian interests. Through countless sessions of futile negotiations, Israeli settlement construction has escalated, thousands of Palestinian political prisoners are held behind bars and Palestinian rights - including Palestinian refugees' right to return - are no closer to implementation. 

 

While the Netanyahu government is planning the massive dispossession of Palestinians in the Naqab via the Prawer Plan, the negotiations serve only to provide a thin veneer of legitimacy to the aggressive policies of Israeli occupation and apartheid.

 

Our rights - the rights of the Palestinian people - and our land - the entire land of Palestine - are not for sale or bartering at the negotiations table. 

 

That this process is presided over by the United States government, which provides $3 billion annually in military aid to Israel, and specifically by Martin Indyk, former research director at infamous Israel lobby organization the America Israel Public Affairs Committee, only adds insult to injury and makes clear that these negotiations will bring nothing of value or benefit to the Palestinian people.

 

Today, we say: PA President Mahmoud Abbas does not represent us! Our rights cannot and will not be bargained away at a negotiating table in Washington, DC.

 

Instead, we affirm that the Palestinian people are one people and our cause is one cause. Our people have struggled for 65 years in order to achieve the liberation of the land and people of Palestine and the implementation of the right of Palestinian refugees to return their homes. 

 

As Palestinians in shatat/diaspora, we are not being represented here, and we demand to reclaim our voice and role. We do not accept these negotiations, and our rights, our people and our land are not for sale!" 

 

Signatories:

 

Al-Awda NY - Palestine Right to Return Coalition

 

Al-Jisser Group

 

Al-Nakba Awareness Project

 

Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign - Vancouver

 

Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign

 

Canadian Students' Coalition for Palestine

 

Labor for Palestine

 

Palestine Solidarity Group - Chicago

 

Palestinian American Society - Rancho Cucamonga, CA

 

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

 

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights at McMaster University

 

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights at University of Calgary

 

Students for Justice in Palestine at Florida Atlantic University

 

Students for Justice in Palestine at Brooklyn College

 

Students for Justice in Palestine at Hunter College

 

Students for Justice in Palestine at College of Staten Island

 

Students for Justice in Palestine at John Jay College

 

Toronto Students for Justice in Palestine

 

US Palestinian Community Network

 

Voice of Palestine

 

Women for Palestine 

 

1948 Lest We Forget

 

Abdullah Khalifeh, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Abe Deeb, Dublin, Ireland

Abeer Fadda, Heidelberg, Germany

Ahmad Ali Bawab, Amman, Jordan

Alaa Milbes, Los Angeles, CA

Ali Salama, London

Amador Navidi, Australia

Amani Barakat, Moorpark, California

Amar Husain, USA

Amer Shurrab, Monterey, CA

Amer Taha, Houston, Texas

Amin Arar, Amman

Amin Husain, New York City

Aya Dama, London

Bader Takriti, Montreal, QC

Bargas Hatem

Bianca Shana'a, Paris

Cynthia George Taha, Bellingham

Daleen Elshaer, Falls Church, VA

Dana Olwan, Syracuse, NY

Deena Duwaik, Aurora, CO

Dina Omar, New Haven, CT

Dr. Anita Shanley, Edinburgh

Dr. C. Nureddin Awad, Cuba

Dr. Ismail Zayid, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Dr. Jamal Abu-Attiyeh, Oxford, Ohio

Dr. Samir Abed-Rabbo, Texas

Edgar Tawfiq Zarifeh, Toronto

Ehab A. Alrmoony, Amman, Jordan

Ehab Shqair, Pacifica, CA

Eid Masri, Alta Loma, CA

Ezdihar Shalabi, Oak Forest

Fadi Saba, San Jose, USA

Fadi Shbita, Montreal, Canada

Falastine As-Saleh, Palestine

Farah S., Canada

Farid Bitar, New Jersey

Farouq Shafie, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Faten Toubasi, Toronto, Canada

Fayez Abdel-Fattah, Poland

Feras Al-Hefnawi, USA

Fuad Abboud, Calgary, Canada

G. Nijim, Indiana, USA

Ghada Talhami, Evanston, Illinois, US

Ghasan Taha, Bellingham

Ghassan Alami, VA

Ghassan Al-Sahli

Gihad Ali, Chicago, IL

Haitham Salawdeh, Wauwatisa, WI

Hala George, Scotland

Hamed Khalil Awad Ahmad, Amman, Jordan

Hanaa Yosef, Lebanon

Hanna Gamal Eldin, Philadelphia, PA

Hanna Kawas, chairperson, Canada Palestine Association and co-host, Voice of Palestine

Hatem Abudayyeh, Chicago, IL

Hazem Ghanam, Coquitlam, BC, Canada

Helmy Mostafa, Jackson, PA

Hicham Harati

Hicham Harati

Ida Audeh, Colorado

Imad Hatu, Chicago

Imad Shalbak, Bayshore, NY, USA

Inas Abbas, Berlin, Germany

Isam Nubani, Canada

Issam Al-Yamani, Toronto, Canada

Iyad Arar, Edmonton, Canada

Iyas AlQasem, London, UK

Jadallah Safa, Brazil

Jafar Ramini, London

Jawad Jaser Abukhalaf, NJ, US

Jilnar Ramahi, Amman

Kamal Boullata, France

Kamal Hassan, Grants Pass, Oregon, USA

Karmel al-Ramahi, Jordan

Khaled Barakat, Vancouver, Canada

Khaled Mouammar, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada

Lamis J. Deek, J.D., NY/ Huwarra Nablus Palestine

Lamis Kayali-Sakr, Rockville, Maryland

Lutuf Ghantous, Wilmette, IL

Maher Alrai, Minnesota

Mahmoud Abdulal, Sweden

Majdi Rabah, Bahrain

Mariam Abu Thallam, Amman

Marsilio Salem

May Abboud, Bethesda, MD, USA

Mazin Al Nahawi

Mohamed Salah El Ramahi, Algiers

Mohammad Ghbari, Jordan

Monadel Herzallah, California

Monira Kitmitto, Toronto, Canada

Moussa H Kassis, Girard, Ohio

Munir Atall, Boston, MA

Nabil Ayad, California

Nabil Keilani, San Diego, CA, USA

Nabila Mango, San Mateo, California

Nadia Shoufani, Toronto, Canada

Nahla Abdo, Canada

Nasser Mashni, Australia

Nicola Abu-Khalil, Germany

Nicolas A. Sayegh, Laval, Quebec, Canada

Nidal A. Barakat, Los Angeles, California

Noura Khouri, Oakland

Rabab Abdulhadi, California

Rabiah Nezar, Lansing

Rafe Abdulla, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Rafik Neme, Colombia

Rajai Ghattas, Vernon, BC, Canada

Raji Abuzalaf, Hawaii

Rami Alsaqqa, Vancouver, Canada

Ramy Abdeljabbar, Paterson, NJ

Ramzi Issa, North Bergen, NJ

Rana Hamadeh, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Randa Kamal, San Francisco, California

Rania Lafi, Amman, Jordan

Rania Laswi, Amman, Jordan

Rania Madi, Geneva, Switzerland

Rena Zuabi, Palestine

Rob Moubarak, Ontario, Canada

Sabha Salman, Jerusalem

Sabrina Azraq, Toronto, Canada

Said Shehadeh, California

Salah Al-Aswad, Hamburg, Germany

Salah Fakhri Khalaf, Hamilton, ON

Salim A.S. Al-Nabahin

Salma Abu Ayyash, Cambridge, MA

Samah Sabawi, Melbourne, Australia

Samar Yunis, Kuwait

Sami Joseph, Bucks, UK

Sami Zubi, Canada

Samia A. Halaby

Samia Shannan, Jerusalem, Palestine

Samira Ahmad, Illinois, US

Sana Ibrahim, USA

Sana Kassem, Athens, Greece

Shahin Shabanian, Williamsport, PA, US

Suhail Shafi, Ozark

Suleiman Hodali, Los Angeles, CA

Sumbal Naz

Talal A. Kanaan

Tarek Abu-Jbarah, Boston, MA

Tarek Zaher, Terre Haute, IN

Tareq Salameh, Alexandria, USA

Tariq Alardah, Dubai, UAE

Tawfiq Mousa, California

Wafaa Adwan, Palestine

Waqar Mohsin, Manchester

Wesam al-Khatib, Jordan

Wesam Cooley, Calgary, Alberta

Yahya Ghunaim, Los Angeles, CA

Yara Erian, London, Ontario

Yasmeen Daher, Montreal, Canada

Yasmine Wasfi, Doylestown, PA

Ziyad Zaitoun, Seattle

 

 

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

 

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

 

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

 

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http://www.dailycensored.com/fifty-ways-to-subvert-peace/