‘S’ for Stalemate, ‘S’ for Statehood

Both the time and conditions are ripe for the United States to publicly support Palestinian statehood as the end result of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

For months the peace process in the Middle East has been bogged down without any substantial progress due to the Israeli government’s intransigence. While Palestinians have consistently and stubbornly been aspiring for (and even dying for) an independent Palestinian state, the Netanyahu government has vehemently opposed it without offering any alternative.

Without agreement even in general terms about the future status of the Palestinian territories, implementing the interim phase of the Oslo peace accords becomes impossible. Every aspect of the interim phase is seen by the current Israeli government as possibly leading to Palestinian statehood. Palestinian negotiators say that Israel has failed to fulfill 32 specific commitments made in the Oslo agreement. Among them are redeployments of Israeli military personnel, opening a safe passage between the West Bank and Gaza, releasing prisoners, repealing military law and opening the airport and port.

U.S. policy has failed miserably to produce real progress. When the American peace envoy, Dennis Ross, comes to the area, the Israelis listen to what he says and then do the opposite, abusing their tremendous military and political advantage over the Palestinians.

It is unrealistic, if not naive, for the U.S. to expect the conflicting parties to change their ideological positions and produce a peace agreement among themselves. This will not happen while one party--namely Israel--is so well supported and endowed by the U.S. A new policy is necessary if the U.S. intends to act as an honest broker. The U.S. must do more than just take notes when both parties meet, but must introduce bold and courageous ideas that will break the jam.

The U.S. would be speaking in harmony with its own history and values if it declared public support for the Palestinian people’s right to determine their own future, including the right to live in an independent state. Officially, the U.S. supports the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, but fails to articulate the “S” word, “statehood.”

Today, a de facto Palestinian state already exists. Palestinians carry passports that are recognized by most countries of the world, including the U.S. and Israel; an 88-member legislative council has been elected; Palestinians have police, postage stamps and a national Olympic team. The world’s most powerful country should take the negotiators out of their misery by supporting Palestinian statehood, turning a point of stalemate into a bridge toward Palestinian sovereignty and national independence.

A public declaration by President Clinton or Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would send a powerful message to all parties concerned about the level of U.S. commitment to a genuine and lasting peace in the Middle East. It would tell the Israelis that their procrastination in the peace talks will not make the desire of the Palestinians to live in a free and independent state vanish. It also would force the Israeli settlers to realize that if they want to live in peace in our country, they have to accept Palestinian sovereignty. The U.S. needs to let Israel know that lust for land and convoluted attempts to connect settlements to one another and to Israel by building bypass roads will not be tolerated.

A U.S. declaration could help Palestinians in many other ways. It could generate new investment and give hope to a disillusioned people who have seen their land robbed, their homes demolished and their economy devastated. Were Palestinians to have the confidence of knowing that the peace talks would result in the Palestinian state they so desire, they could turn concerns and discussions to serious debate about developing democratic laws and creating a constitution that would protect individual rights.

This summer when Islamic extremists carried out suicide bombings in a crowded street in Jerusalem, 2 million innocent Palestinians were punished en masse by the Israeli government, which imposed travel restrictions and withheld money due the Palestinian Authority. Commerce as well as normal social interaction and medical care came to a halt as Palestinians were not only forbidden access to Israel, but were also prevented from traveling to and from nearby Arab countries. When the movement of food, fuel and goods was barred, economic havoc resulted, making an already disillusioned people even more frustrated.

What is needed today more than ever is a signal from the United States of its genuine support for a lasting, just peace in the Middle East. Otherwise, Israel and the Occupied Territories face continued chaos with more people dying and the cycle of violence and hatred reaching new heights, all of it playing into the hands of Islamic militants who want an Islamic state rather than the secular democratic state that the majority of Palestinians want.