The Main Problem Is Palestinians' Goals And Not Land

Through its 63 years of war and peace – Israel has shown once and again its willingness to go very far for peace. Israel is willing to give up significant land in exchange for true lasting peace.

Over the last few days since President Obama’s speech calling on Israel to return to pre-1967 borders, the main discussion on media outlets has been the issue of borders and land.

But this is not and has never been the main obstacle to the peace process. The main issue is that of Palestinian goals and Palestinians actions over the last few weeks have been less than reassuring.

While the US and Europe have been pressuring Israel to make concessions, the leader of the Palestinian “moderate” branch, Mahmoud Abbas, is not only refusing to make any concessions of his own but is also turning his back on American diplomacy — and methodically setting the stage for another Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Abbas has turned his back on both Israel and the United States; he is seeking accommodation with the extremist Hamas movement and has announced that he will seek a declaration of Palestinian statehood from the U.N. General Assembly in September. Abbas is pushing a radical strategy – he believes the U.N. vote will “pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights bodies and the International Court of Justice” — in other words, sanctions.

Last week’s Nakba Day events have proven that external forces like Iran and Hezbollah are happy to muddle and push the Palestinians to further provoke Israel, hoping another to spark another regional conflict and to save Assad’s regime in Syria. Assad specifically allowed the Palestinians to march towards the Israeli border and try to breach it. More attempts like this are expected as we approach September and the UN vote.

In his speech at the Knesset last week Prime Minister Netanyahu said that, “the root of the conflict is, and always has been, their refusal to recognize the Jewish state. It is not a conflict over 1967, but over 1948, over the very existence of the State of Israel.”

He added that there was a consensus in Israel on six basic issues:

• First, that the Palestinians recognize the State of Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people .
• Second, that the agreement between us must end the conflict and end the demands from the State of Israel .
• Third, that the problem of the Palestinian refugees will be resolved outside of Israel and not within its borders .
• Fourth, that a Palestinian state only be established under a peace treaty that will not compromise the safety of Israel. It will be a demilitarized state and allow an Israeli [military] presence along the Jordan River.
• Fifth, we to maintain the settlement blocs. Many of us agree that the settlement blocs must remain inside the borders of the State of Israel .
• Sixth, that Jerusalem remain the united and sovereign capital of the State of Israel.

While President Obama is sincere about his hopes for peace in the Middle East, he made a mistake presenting the borders of 1967 as the beginning of the process. While we may reach a peace agreement based on some version of 1967 borders, Israel cannot start the negotiation from this point.

We in Giyus.org feel that world attention should be on the Palestinians actions and their implications on the peace process, not on the intentions of both US and Israel which we all know are all for peace.