Report: Palestinians already told John Kerry “No” on key elements of framework
Until Arab Muslims accept a Jewish state in their midst, any peace deal is just a stepping stone to more war.
The Times of Israel, based on communications with unnamed Palestinian Authority officials, reports that the Palestinians have conveyed their rejection of John Kerry’s draft “framework” proposal:
The Palestinian Authority has informed US Secretary of State John Kerry that it will not accept his framework peace proposal as it currently stands, PA officials told The Times of Israel….
Central clauses of the framework deal as presented by Kerry, and rejected by the PA, the Palestinian officials said, are as follows:
Borders: The peace agreement is to be based on pre-1967 lines, but will take into consideration changes on the ground in the decades since.
Settlements: There will be no massive evacuation of “residents.”
Refugees: Palestinian refugees will be able to return to Palestine or remain where they currently live. In addition, it is possible that a limited number of refugees could be allowed into pre-1967 Israel as a humanitarian gesture, and only with Israeli acquiescence. Nowhere is it written that Israel bears responsibility for suffering caused to the refugees.
Capital: The Palestinian capital will be in Jerusalem.
Security: Israel has the right to defend itself, by itself.
The Jordan Valley: The IDF will retain a presence in the Jordan Valley. The length of time the IDF will remain will depend on the abilities of the Palestinian security forces.
Border crossings: Israel will continue to control border crossings into Jordan.
Definition of the countries: Two states will result, “a national state of the Jewish people and a national state of the Palestinian people.”
So what’s the problem? Some of these issues probably are surmountable.
But one issue probably is not, the recognition of Israel as the Jewish homeland, as further reported by the Times:
The PA is also having trouble digesting the Israeli insistence on the Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, he noted.
“We have no intention of dragging this conflict in a religious direction. Every sensible person in the Middle East is trying to keep religion away from the various conflicts, except for you. What’s in it for you? The conflict between us is not religious. So why do you need our recognition that your state is Jewish? In your ID cards, your nationality is listed as ‘Israeli’ and not as ‘Jewish.’ You never asked such a thing of Egypt or Jordan. What is your concern? We are telling you outright: the peace agreement will bring about the end of the conflict and the end of all claims. So what is all this nonsense you are saying that this proves we won’t accept the state of Israel? The whole world recognizes you. These are not the days of the founding, when the world didn’t accept you. But you’re still stuck in that mindset.”
Netanyahu has called Palestinian recognition of Israel as the “Jewish state” his “first and most unshakable demand.” “Recognizing Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people means completely abandoning the ‘right of return’ and ending any other national demands over the land and sovereignty of the State of Israel,” he said last October. “This is a crucial component for a genuine reconciliation and stable and durable peace.”
There is good reason for both Netanyahu and the United States to insist on acceptance of a Jewish state: It goes to the fundamental issue that transcends borders. Will Muslims finally accept a non-Muslim state in their midst?
The answer appears to be what it has been since even before Israel was a state: No.
Until that “No” becomes a “Yes,” any peace agreement is just a stepping stone in the war to destroy Israel.
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Comments
The Palestinians won’t even live up to the promises they’ve already made, so we should be delighted they aren’t buying into Kerry’s nonsense by making more promises they don’t intend to keep.
But the fact is that decades on nonsensical propaganda has led to a situation where NO Palestinian leader can EVER acknowledge Israel’s right to exist – as a Jewish state or anything other than an Arab state – without in effect signing his own death warrant. The radicals are in charge wherever they can drive out any moderates, and that’s what has been done.
The “PA” is just the formal government name for the PLO, a terrorist group. But they were even voted out of power in Gaza for not being radical enough.
As long as the Arabs teach their kindergarteners that suicide bombing is good and Jews are bad, nothing will change. Israel has over time already signalled they will give whatever they can reasonable give to obtain a lasting peace. But no Arab can accept that. Until they tire of the status quo, the status quo is their permanent fate.
Reality won’t matter to Kerry. Collectivists only need to convince themselves that X is true, and that X is accomplished.
This is underpants-gnome foreign policy.
So the US is pressuring Israel to accept concessions that the Palestinians are already rejecting but the US won’t stop beating up Netanyahu.
A cursory look at Google & Wikipedia yields: the Islamic Republics of Iran, Afghanistan,and Pakistan; Islam, the state religion of Tunisia: Jordan’s motto ‘Allāh, al-Waṭan, al-Malik “God, Country, The King”‘; Iraq’s motto ‘Allahu Akbar’…
Yeah, I totally see why the modern nuanced sophisticates of the Middle East balk at “drag(ging) this conflict in a religious direction”.
Muslims won’t even accept non-Muslims in their midst without lying about, oppressing, terrorizing, and killing them.
For that state of affairs to change, their “holy” book must change and their “god” must stop feeding on blood. When those things happen, then “no” can become “yes”.