« Trump said that the United States would work toward peace but said he was leaving it up to the parties themselves ultimately to decide on the terms of any agreement. He said such a deal would require compromises from both Israelis and Palestinians. (…) I’m looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like » (Jerusalem Post — Feb. 21–2017)
For decades, the US & Israel have been working for a One-State solution (=Annexation of the whole of Palestine).
Indeed, by « leaving it up to the parties themselves » AND with unconditional generous funding of the sole Israel state AND opposing any sanction on Israel (for its constant violation of International Laws & Human Rights) >> enables Israel to extend colonies & progressively impose a fait accompli : the Jewish one-state solution.
Palestinians would agree to the one-state solution, with equal rights for all. But granting equal rights to Palestinians is totally unacceptable for the israelian governments. Because it would be the end of a « Jewish State » and it would transform Israel into a fully democratic state with equal rights for Jews and non-Jews. Many israelians (still a minority), instead, would agree to equal rights.
The views of the US Armed Forces Journal (June 1, 2006) is the following :
« International borders are never completely just. But the degree of injustice they inflict upon those whom frontiers force together or separate makes an enormous difference — often the difference between freedom and oppression, tolerance and atrocity, the rule of law and terrorism, or even peace and war.
The most arbitrary and distorted borders in the world are in Africa and the Middle East. Drawn by self-interested Europeans (who have had sufficient trouble defining their own frontiers), Africa’s borders continue to provoke the deaths of millions of local inhabitants. But the unjust borders in the Middle East — to borrow from Churchill — generate more trouble than can be consumed locally.
While the Middle East has far more problems than dysfunctional borders alone — from cultural stagnation through scandalous inequality to deadly religious extremism — the greatest taboo in striving to understand the region’s comprehensive failure isn’t Islam but the awful-but-sacrosanct international boundaries worshipped by our own diplomats.
(…)
Oh, and one other dirty little secret from 5,000 years of history: Ethnic cleansing works.
Begin with the border issue most sensitive to American readers: For Israel to have any hope of living in reasonable peace with its neighbors, it will have to return to its pre-1967 borders — with essential local adjustments for legitimate security concerns. » (US Armed Forces Journal, June 2006)
Several Arab States are committed to a fair two-states solution :
« Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah said in a Cairo meeting on Tuesday that they were committed to a two-states solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict » (Jerusalem Post — Feb. 21–2017)
« They also discussed mutual coordination to reach a two-state solution and establish a Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as a capital which is a national constant that cannot be given up. » (Jerusalem Post — Feb. 21–2017)
But is it not likely that the israelian government will never withdraw from the colonies. And the remaining palestinian land is unsustainable economically, politically, and humanly. In the end, it is likely that no solution will be reached, and this situation will « poison » the region & the world. Indeed, colonization always brings feelings of injustice and humiliation… which extremists will certainly exploit… and any violence will be analyzed as victimization on the israelian side.
Of course some kind of micro-palestinian-pseudo-state is likely to be proposed (i.e. a couple of Gaza-like pieces of land under full control of Israel). This would mean that the International Community implies that colonization still is OK in the 21st Century… an invitation for everyone in the world to ignore the UN decisions and do what they like.
How can we get the International Community to impose a fair solution ? Also through tough sanctions, if necessary. It would work only if the states having the veto right at UN Security Council will put forward the moral Values and democratic Principles which they claim to adhere to. Or maybe can we hope that China & others will help the West to remember of our own Values & Principles. Allegedly universal principles should apply to Arab people too…;-)
Jean P. Ciron (feb. 2017)
