65 years after the decision to divide their country, the Palestinians return to the United Nations today to obtain the long-delayed recognition of their sought-after state with its borders delineated as per Resolution 181, i.e. as they had been before the 5th of June 1967, and East Jerusalem as its capital, after Israel has been persistently eating away at it and Judaizing it during 45 years of occupation and still today.
Recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state at the United Nations, which is expected to occur within hours, represents the reinstatement of a right which the international community has long neglected to implement, as well as another historical victory for Palestinian realism and political skill, far from hollow rhetoric, outbidding and emotional slogans that cannot be applied within the framework of the current regional and international balance of power.
President Mahmoud Abbas’s insistence on his initiative attests that the Palestinian Authority is well aware of the extreme moral and practical importance of such a diplomatic move, on the background of the ruling Israeli Right ignoring the peace process, obstinately refusing to complete the implementation of the Oslo Accords, and going to extremes with its settlement-building policy, taking advantage of the fact that international attention has been focused on other issues in the region.
It also attests to the firmness of the Palestinian Authority in demanding such legitimate rights despite Israeli and American threats to dissuade it from seeking after them, especially as such a step enjoys broad Arab and international support – as well as its conviction that, in case Israel were to implement financial sanctions against it and the United States to suspend the aid meant for it, which is extremely likely, Arab countries would rush to compensate for such shortage and provide political and financial support to prevent Palestinian state institutions from collapsing, especially as the Palestinian initiative corresponds perfectly to the Arab Peace Initiative ratified at the Beirut Summit, which endorsed the two-state solution according to the principle of land for peace.
Whatever the dangers of the Palestinian move’s repercussions, they will most likely be limited to the economic aspect, which can be compensated, because Israel will not take the risk of returning to invade the West Bank for reasons purely related to security. Indeed, it was unable to bear the rocks of the popular Intifada and was forced to withdraw. What will it then do if it were to return to clash directly with over two million Palestinians who have experienced freedom – even if in a limited way?
As for American talk of reviving negotiations for peace, it has as usual come too late, especially as Washington has for the past few years refrained from playing its role as sponsor of the peace process, and granted Israel nearly complete freedom to gradually eat away at the Palestinian territories under the pretext of its security needs. In spite of this, the Palestinian Authority is prepared to resume negotiations after international recognition of the borders of the state of Palestine, on the condition that the United States and Europe play their role as just arbiters who aim at reaching a comprehensive settlement and permanent peace, without bias in favor of Israel.
There remains the fact that the Hamas movement welcoming the step taken by Abbas, which has come under the condition that the price of recognition of the state of Palestine at the UN should not come at the cost of “sacrific[ing] or compromis[ing] any inch of Palestinian land from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river”, reflects the ambivalence of the Islamist movement’s stance, as it seeks to take part in Abbas’s diplomatic victory, but refuses at the same time to recognize his legitimacy as leader of the Palestinians. Thus, if Abbas wins, Hamas would win with him. And if Israel besieges and tries to isolate him, Hamas would say that the Israelis cannot be trusted or dealt with, and that the only solution is to resort to armed struggle, especially after the recent endorsement received by the movement in the second Gaza war.
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