Nadene Goldfoot
As a majority of Israelis have said again and again, in surveys and through the electoral process: A Palestinian state may be possible, but not on Palestinian terms.
When much of the world, including the US administration, buys into the Amr Musa and Saeb Erekat school of negotiations---which posits that Israel, who they deem as the aggressor, has no right to an inch beyond the 1949 armistice lines, and does a total withdrawal, removal of all Israelis living there like what Israel did with Gaza, with a partitioned Jerusalem, and the right of return of Arabs are the OBJECTIVE REQUIREMENTS OF PEACE --a dose of cold water is in order.
Jerusalem happens to be the capital of ISRAEL, and no amount of UN newspeak can change that. for this reason alone, Trump's decision to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was long overdue. It has since turned out to contribute in the long run to the peace with Arab nations now that five of them have made peace with Israel.
This goes against Kerry's passe thinking of February 2017. John Kerry spoke carelessly about an "explosion," which radical Islamists might feel obligated to deliver. It was an attempt to placate Palestinian demands that makes peace less likely. A hard dose of realism may well set the stage for serious negotiations.
Kerry gave a rambling speech after the UNSC Resolution 2334 vote and suggested that Jerusalem be kept united while serving as the capital of 2 sovereign states. no Israeli government in the foreseeable future will take the knife to their dearest city and divide it when it has been a united city since 67's formidable attack on Israel by all the surrounding Arab states when miracle of all miracles, Israel withstood them all and won. Don't you think that tells everyone affected something? Jerusalem is back where it should be; with Israel.
The move to Jerusalem should have been a clear signal to the Palestinians, including key members of Mahmoud Abbas' own Fatah, that their outlandish threats of violence---"WE SHALL OPEN THE GATES OF HELL"UPON AMERICA---will not work, and will no longer be tolerated from an entity that enjoys generous US aid. to validate such threats, as Kerry did, is to succumb to the same mistake that President Clinton made in 2000, when he responded frantically to the Palestinian burst of violence. In effect, Clinton signaled to Arafat that his strategy of violence had worked, and he could no extract better terms than what he had been offered at Camp David a few months earlier. The results were sad but predictable, as they would be if Washington again bows to much coercion.
Trump stopped all the aid to Palestinians, but Biden is renewing them again. "More than $60m (£46m) in annual funds for the Palestinian security services had been ended, and - while Israel has backed some previous cuts in US aid for Palestinians - officials had expressed concern about this move." "Just six days after taking office, the Biden administration took a sharp turn in U.S. policy in the Middle East, announcing it will resume contact with Palestinian leaders and restore U.S. contributions to the U.N. agency which provides aid to Palestinians".
That's all right, explained a general in the IDF, as long as it goes to the people and not to ammunition to use against Israel. A people that are well fed and not wanting would be better neighbors than they are today, state or no state.
The Palestinians have so far been very dependent on Arab handouts, Israel generosity, and UN backing along with their crying, complaining and attacks on Israel. They have had no way of employment by themselves except to make tunnels. For 70 years they have been on the dole. What are their plans for self-induced finances? Isn't that a consideration for becoming a state?
The changes were announced in a virtual speech before the U.N. Security Council by Richard Mills, acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Mills also said the new administration of Biden is committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a secure Israel alongside a "viable Palestinian state." Mills said it is "the best way to ensure Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state." He previously served as the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires for Canada. His education was at Georgetown University, University of Texas School of Law Austin.
After the announcement of US money returning to the Palestinians, Mills also praised the U.S.-brokered establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab nations, which took place in the past year. Palestinians had seen that as a betrayal of Arab pledges to make peace with Israel only after the Palestinians made peace. After 70 years of waiting, what did they expect?
The changes were announced in a virtual speech before the U.N. Security Council by Richard Mills, acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Mills also said the new administration is committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a secure Israel alongside a "viable Palestinian state." Mills said it is "the best way to ensure Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state."
The Palestinians have not had a change of heart along with the US's change in administration. "PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Sunday that the Palestinian leadership is ready for “immediate engagement” with the United States if their conditions are met. Shtayyeh added later that he hoped that the new US leadership will place the Palestinian cause on “their list of priorities.”
“We look forward to constructive bilateral US-Palestinian relations towards achieving a just and lasting peace within the frame of two states and ending the Israeli occupation,” Shtayyeh said in a tweet.
Ending the Israeli occupation usually means the end of Jews in Israel. They still think we are occupiers of Palestine.
Resource:
Much of this has been the viewpoint of Eran Lerman,Col, PhD who is a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. he is also a member of the faculty at Shalom College.
The Jerusalem Report :February 6, 2017
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47095082
https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2021/01/26/960900951/biden-administration-restores-aid-to-palestinians-reversing-trump-policy
https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-lauds-biden-win-said-planning-to-demand-return-of-us-embassy-to-tel-aviv/
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