In an open editorial in the Washington Post edition of April 8, Elliott Abrams argues that the proposition that expansion of settlements by Israel on lands which are to constitute the future Palestinian state as an impediment to peace is a fallacy. He claims that such a request is designed only to create tension between the ultra-right government of Israel and the U.S. administration since according to him these settlements are already there and are part of the realities on the ground.
Israel has created rightly or wrongly a fait accompli on Palestinian lands.
The politics of fait accompli does not work. It never has and it never will. Fait accompli did not stop the abolishment of slavery and discrimination. It certainly did not stop the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.
Fait accompli has always surrendered to the principles of equality, justice and the rule of law! It did not prevent the liberation of all countries, of course with the exception of Palestine.
With a stroke of the pen Abrams renders settlements as realities on the ground and by this dismisses all rules of international law that prohibit occupiers from altering the landscape of the occupied territories and sets aside the grievances of the Palestinian people caused by these settlements which represent the occupation as a trivial.
He brushes aside their rights to live in dignity free from the tension and injustices these settlements create in the daily lives of ordinary Palestinians. He claims that the issue of freezing the settlements is so trivial to the process of peace yet if the United States and the world demands it from Israel this will lead to confrontation between allies - the Israeli government and the U.S. government.
According to this logic the alliance cannot tolerate a point which he claims to be trivial.
Therefore Abrams recommends that it be dropped from the agenda lest there be tension.
All relevant and credible reports on this conflict including the George Mitchell 2001 Report state that the single point that is complicating the peace process is the settlement expansion and the building of new settlements.
This is also the single point that is constantly changing the geography of the Palestinian lands and is suffocating the Palestinian economy and population. This is the single point where Israel needs to be told by the United States and other countries in the world that enough is enough.
The vast majority of the Palestinian people are law abiding citizens who face daily humiliation and degradation at "checkpoints." The Palestinian people and their economy are suffocating because of the ring roads that choke their towns to service these illegal occupation units ("settlements"). These settlements do not serve the state of Israel and are not on Israeli land. The settlements do not enhance Israel's security or its economy; they simply destroy the Palestinians economy and feed their anger.
The Palestinian Authority which is genuinely seeking peace with Israel is being constantly discredited and compromised by no other than the constant grab of land for settlement purpose under one banner or another.
This "grab of land and falling in love with it by Israel" is done under one pretext or another. Either as an expansion of existing settlements in the name of increase in population – a fallacy - or to link settlements together or to link them with the Wall -preferably referred to as the benign fence - or for security reason or some other pretext.
No amount of realities on the ground will convince the Palestinian people to give up what is left of historic Palestine. No amount of justification can surmount people's right for life liberty and justice!
Fait accompli will not work! If anything it will only galvanize radicalism. Israel must freeze the settlement and those settlements that are built on Palestinian lands must go. Reasonable Israeli officials realize this; their statements to this effect are on the record and in the U.S. media. They also understand that fait accompli cuts both ways. If Israel is not careful it can be left with a huge fait accompli called over 5 million desperate Palestinians. This is not a fallacy and certainly not a trivial matter.
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