Until when?
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, told Egyptian television yesterday that peace between Palestinians and Israelis could be reached in months if the Israelis were willing.
He thus revealed the least best kept secret of international diplomacy in recent history: Israel, not the Palestinians, has it in its power to change the course of history in this turbulent region by doing one simple thing, namely, abide by international law.
Because that is all it would take. Every Arab country has offered Israel the peace it claims to so long for, in exchange for a full withdrawal from territories it occupied in 1967 and a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.
For the price of dismantling its illegal settlements and relocating the many settlers it has unlawfully moved into the occupied territories, a price the international community will no doubt fall all over itself to help pay, Israel can have what it wants: peace and recognition.
The only problem, of course, is that Israel does not want this. Israel wants more land, it wants to keep its settlers and it does not want to grant Palestinian refugees their right to return to their homes and lands.
And that, in a nutshell, is what the conflict is about. It is not about terrorism or extremism. It is not about the West versus the East, democracy versus Islam, freedom versus tyranny. It is about justice and law.
And justice and law simply state that Palestinians have a right to self-determination in a state of their own and their refugees, like refugees anywhere in the world, have the right to choose to return or be compensated for their losses.
International law states that Israel has no right to rule over any part of occupied territory, whether through its military or annexation.
And so, it really is as simple as Abbas puts it. There could be peace in months if Israel wants it. Since it won’t choose peace, the question that has to be asked, over and over again, is this: Why does the international community let Israel get away with it?
When will this pariah state be reined in?
One would have thought it would only take a simple suspension of US loan guarantees, plus international sanctions against Israeli products, sportsmen, and a severing of cultural and academic relations, and before long, international law will prevail.
27 May 2010
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