Two People One Land
Anyone with even a modicum of intellectual honesty and critical thinking skills would admit the following:
- Both the Israelis and the Muslims who call themselves Palestinians have a legitimate historic claim to the land that was once called the British Mandate for Palestine.
- Both sides (the Israelis and the Muslims who call themselves Palestinians) have legitimate grievances against the other side. Innocent blood has been shed on both sides. This article will not attempt to list the tragedies suffered by both peoples but to acknowledge that they are part of the history of the land.
- The land that was previously called the British Mandate for Palestine is currently divided into two sovereign states (Israel and Jordan) with a third area that is known as the West Bank that was previously occupied by Jordan and Gaza that was previously occupied by Egypt (from 1948 to 1967) and is currently occupied by Israel but populated primarily by Muslims who now call themselves Palestinians.
Please read that third paragraph again and fact check it for yourself if you have any doubt.
For most of my adult life I believed that the only reasonable solution to the conflict was to create a (third) independent sovereign state and that the question was exactly where to draw the borders of the new state that would be called Palestine. In 1948 there was a very specific plan proposed and approved by the United Nations but the Muslim countries in the region rejected the proposal because they refused to accept a plan that called for the creation of a Jewish State that is now known as Israel.
That rejection was a tragedy for the people in the West Bank and Gaza who ultimately lived in squalid refugee camps controlled by Jordan and Egypt for the next 19 years. In 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank and Jerusalem from Jordan and conquered Gaza from Egypt. After the 67 war Israel would have given back Gaza and all of the West Bank except for Jerusalem in return for a peace agreement but once again the Arab countries who claimed to be representing the Palestinians refused to accept the existence of the Jewish state of Israel.
The ultimate border of what will someday be a sovereign state called Palestine is pretty obviously the land that is predominantly occupied today by Muslims who call themselves Palestinians but the question now exists about what will happen to the settlements of Jews scattered throughout the West Bank (that the Israelis call by the historic/biblical name of Judea and Samaria). Israel will not give back its holy sites in Jerusalem.
In the negotiations mediated by President Bill Clinton at the very end of his term in office in July, 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat failed to reach an agreement and the bloody “Second Intifada” was launched.
According to President Clinton the Israelis offered the Palestinians a sovereign state on 96 percent of the West Bank (and Gaza) with a trade of 4 percent of Israeli land for the settlements on the West Bank that they would not abandon. That was the best offer the Palestinians would get for the next 25 years and in my opinion is the best offer the Palestinians will get for the next generation. There are of course arguments and disagreements about what exactly where the details of the last offer that was on the table in 2000 which is why I specifically referred to President Clinton’s claim of what was offered by Israel and ultimately turned down by Arafat. It really does not matter at this point (26 years later) if you think that was a good offer or a fair settlement of the dispute, the reality remains that it was the best offer the Palestinians would get and it resulted in a tragedy for them and the Israelis that they turned it down.
In my opinion, the debate is no longer about boundaries, it is now about how the Palestinians can prove to the Israelis after October 7 that they can be trusted to not turn a new state into a launching pad for another genocidal attack. Israel withdrew all its forces from Gaza in 2005 and dismantled the more than 20 settlements that existed there. Billions of dollars of international aid went to Gaza and instead of building housing and hospitals and schools and roads and improving the quality of lives of the civilians Hamas built tunnels and imported missiles and other weapons to continue to threaten and attack Israel. The vast majority of Israelis (especially those who used to be strong two state advocates) and now fear trusting the Palestinians with self governance.
A fourth truth needs to be added (to the three with which I began)
- The horrible massacre inflicted by Hamas on October 7, 2023 resulted in a tragedy for the civilians of Gaza and for the hopes of the Palestinians. It set back the cause of Palestinian statehood for another generation and resulted in still uncounted injuries and loss of life.
Those who truly care about justice for the Palestinian people need to denounce Hamas and Hezbellah and the politics of anti-Zionism and urge Palestinians to show by deed and action that they are ready for peace with Israel.
It is not a question of left or right. It is a question of decent and indecent.
Once again (as always) I invite your feedback/comments/thoughts. Please write me at adrchildlaw@hotmail.com