How could Palestinians beat Trump’s deal? They need a new strategy Part 2
The economic side of the plan is due to be discussed at a special workshop in Bahrain scheduled for June 25-26, which Arab finance ministers, investors and businessmen are expected to attend. The Palestinian leadership has made it clear that they are boycotting the event, with President Mahmoud Abbas saying recently the deal « will go to hell ». According to a recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Centre of Policy and Survey Research, 80 percent of Palestinians also rejected the deal.
But rejection is not enough. Even if the Trump deal is now postponed or never happens, its essential parameters will resurface sooner or later in the form of a new peace proposal. This is because western peace-makers are hamstrung by self-imposed conditions that do not allow for any other outcome.
They have consistently tried to reconcile diametrically opposed demands between two parties while being irretrievably committed to one of them. Preserving Israel as a Jewish state has been a Western imperative since 1948, and pressuring Israel into complying with anything it does not want to do has been a complete taboo. Today, this stance is stronger than ever, as the West moves to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, silencing all criticism of Israel.
How can Palestinian demands be accommodated in these circumstances? The answer of the West so far has been a succession of mean-minded peace proposals that pander to Israeli wishes and abrogate Palestinian rights, Trump’s deal being the most extreme example. While this logic prevails, no Western peace proposal will ever give the Palestinians their rights.
Western peace proposal will ever give the Palestinians their rights. Therefore, pursuing the failed objectives of the past – the appeal for help from outside bodies paralysed by pro-Israel bias, the futile quest for an independent state against the odds and the peace negotiations weighed in favour of Israel – is a time-wasting distraction.
Instead, Palestinians must soberly examine what options they really have in this context. They cannot take on the combined power of the US and Israel, nor look for help from state allies in the Arab world, several of which have been compromised by a growing alliance with Tel Aviv.
Adapted from: www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/palestinians-beat-trump-deal-190612211614400.html
Distributed by PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish Unity)
