September 1, 2010
Direct talks between the Palestinian Authority and Prime Minister Netanyahu are scheduled to begin on September 2nd in Washington, and already the Israeli government has presented its steadfast and unwavering decision in respect to the settlement freeze in the West Bank:
Settlement building would resume on the 26th of September according to Netanyahu. The 10 month Israeli curtailment on construction in respect to West Bank settlements will have neared its end and the Israeli government is more than eager to begin launching a new wave of settler colonies.Pre-Conditioning ‘Peace’
The very premise that pre-conditions do not exist on the Israeli side in terms of the most recent round of ‘direct-talks’ is blatantly absurd. Netanyahu’s government has set their own slew of prerequisites:
1. No removal of Israeli settlements
2. No right of return for Palestinian refugees
3. No return to the 1967 borders
4. No change on the annexation of Jerusalem
5. No withdrawal from the Jordanian Valley
6. Palestinians will have to recognize Israel as a "state for the Jewish people"
Israeli minister for minorities, Avishai Braverman, recently stated that the right of return “...cannot be implemented” and , according to Haaretz, Netanyahu has also insisted that construction resume in all “Jewish” settlements: “We have not presented any proposal to the Americans on an extension of the freeze…the future of settlements will be taken up with other questions in discussions on a final accord.”
These, mind you, are not being presented as Israeli pre-conditions.
The most recent ‘direct-talks’ will be nothing more than a façade. Orthodox and strategic attempts created to make it seem as though the Palestinian Authority and Israel are going to come to an agreement have been cast aside. The need for either faction to put on a show is gone; it’s the same story each and every time.
Israel sets pre-conditions. The United States nods in agreement. The Palestinian Authority bites its tongue.
Israel sets pre-conditions, calls for improving Israeli-Palestinian relations. The United States nods in agreement. The Palestinian Authority lauds a ‘break-through’.
Israel says there are no pre-conditions, asks that Palestinians recognize the “Jewish State”. The United States nods in agreement. Abbas and Co. cower under Israeli pressure.
A transcript from early July documents a meeting between President Barack Obama and PM Netanyahu in which Obama states, “... I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu wants peace. I think he’s willing to take risks for peace. And during our conversation, he once again reaffirmed his willingness to engage in serious negotiations with the Palestinians around what I think should be the goal not just of the two principals involved, but the entire world, and that is two states living side by side in peace and security.”
Netanyahu, in the same transcript, goes on to say that “...we understand fully that we will work together in the coming months and years to protect our common interests, our countries, our peoples, against new threats. And at the same time, we want to explore the possibility of peace.”
To Israel peace is always just a “possibility”, and a vague one at that.
Poll Shows Only 31% Of Palestinians Favor Direct Negotiations
A recent poll published by MIFTAH, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion
(PCPO), revealed that only one-third of respondents representing the various demographic specimens of Palestinians (18 years and above) living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are in favor of starting the direct negotiations with Israel.
It was also noted that a considerable majority of the Palestinian public, precisely two thirds
(66%), feel that the US President is “incapable of establishing a Palestinian state”.
The Palestinians are rightfully pragmatic; they hold genuine disenchanted with the pseudo-negotiations because they are the one group being left out of the conversation. The US, Israel and the Palestinian Authority will attempt to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians while leaving them out of the conversation all together.
The very idea that the PA will be taking part in these ‘direct-talks’, wherein they will be branded as the mouth-piece for the Palestinian people, while at the same time being unable to coordinate the inner-workings of their own system of governance is facetious. It is absurd.
For years it has gone on like this. For years this game has been played.
You will not find excitement in the air when you walk down the occupied streets of the West Bank. You will not feel an indescribable sense of hope when speaking to Palestinians in Gaza about the new ‘direct-talks’. Is it simply because they are despondent or have they come to realize that the three stooges (i.e. US, Israel, PA) cannot create a life for them?
It’s neither.
The Palestinians have always known one thing; Palestine will not be liberated via pseudo-peace- talks run by imperialists and bolstered by traitors. The Palestinian people will liberate Palestine. Grass-root movements will aid in the liberation of their occupied land. Resistance groups will free them from their bondage.
Direct-talks are exactly what they spell out - talk.
While two colonialist heavy-weights and the docile Palestinian Authority are doing all the “talking” the Palestinians will not be listening with optimism; years of empty rhetoric bolstered by massacres and unending sieges have helped bring forward both cynicism and realism.
In the end one thing is fairly obvious to those watching:
A new cascade of ‘direct-talks’ is being coordinated by two nations who have built an entire society on the blood of their country’s native people.
A wolf and an ewe cannot sit and “discuss” peace while another wolf conducts the show.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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