Training | 2009.04.16
Manuel Hassassian on Avigdor Lieberman, Israel, Palestine and the Middle East peace process
Unless Israel\'s new leaders change tack, they offer Palestinians no partner for peace
Warning against the dangers of totalitarianism in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell famously summed up its perverse logic in three words: "War is peace." Last week, Avigdor Lieberman admonished: "If you want peace, prepare for war." The difference between Orwell and Lieberman is that one was a writer of fiction and a relentless critic of power without restraint. The other is Israel\'s new foreign minister.
Behind Lieberman\'s ominous warning is a sentiment that runs counter to the premise of negotiations, on which the Middle East peace process is built.
He is saying that Israel will impose an outcome, not negotiate a solution, and that it will substitute dialogue for the blunt instruments of war. In another ominous warning, he also dismissed the November 2007 Annapolis conference in which Palestinians and Israelis committed to undertake bilateral negotiations on all permanent status issues.
In Israel, Lieberman appeals to a volatile mix of nationalism and racism that scapegoats Palestinians and blames them for all of Israel\'s ills. As a settler living illegally in the occupied West Bank, his contempt for international law begins at home. But Lieberman is not the full story. The real story is still Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel\'s new prime minister. Does he endorse Lieberman\'s comments, and if not, will he rein Lieberman in? The answer seems to be yes to the first, and no to the second.
In his speech to the Knesset last week after the swearing in of his government, Netanyahu had an opportunity to show that he is a real partner for peace. He missed that opportunity.
Falling far short of the benchmarks set by the international community, reiterated by President Obama in Turkey this week, Netanyahu failed to endorse the two-state solution or explicitly support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and made only vague commitments to continuing negotiations. All we had was a promise of more "process", not a promise of peace.
Netanyahu\'s slogan of an "economic peace" is no substitute for a just and lasting peace. Ending Israel\'s occupation is not on his agenda; trying to normalise the occupation is. Instead of an independent state, he is offering Palestinians nothing more than a cluster of cantons with limited self-rule. The conflict is first and foremost about Israel\'s occupation, and the suppression of Palestinian rights. In the absence of a political settlement, talk of an economic peace is both misleading and insufficient.
As he did last week, Netanyahu is also likely to continue to couch what he says within the framework of the "war on terror", whose capacity for political manipulation has left many of us weary. Regional security and the "war on terror" form the "common ground" on which Netanyahu hopes to shore up Israel\'s relationship with the US and Europe. They also serve as the backdrop against which he has tried in the past to downplay the importance of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, portraying it as a second order issue dwarfed by more pressing regional concerns such as Iran.
The peace process faces an uncertain future. Using negotiations as a cover to create "facts on the ground", designed to pre-empt and prejudice their final outcome, has become a time-honoured tradition in Israel. The failure of successive governments to implement Israel\'s obligations under existing agreements undermines the credibility of the peace process. Without a credible enforcement mechanism designed to hold both parties accountable to their respective obligations, one can expect little to change under a Netanyahu government. To be a real partner for peace, words need to be matched by actions, and rhetoric by reality. A genuine commitment to peace requires genuine movement on the ground on Israel\'s part.
Israeli settlements threaten the viability of a future Palestinian state and endanger the two-state solution. If we are to salvage the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security, the new Israeli government must immediately freeze all settlement activity, including all natural growth, in line with international law and Israel\'s obligations under existing agreements.
Restrictions on Palestinian movement, including over 630 Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank; Israel\'s regime of permits that imprisons Palestinians in their own towns and villages; and the construction of Israel\'s wall, which separates farmers from their land, workers from their employment, and children from their schools, have all brought Palestinian life and the Palestinian economy to a virtual standstill.
Israel must restore freedom of movement for Palestinians both in and out of, and within, the occupied Palestinian territory. This includes lifting its siege on Gaza, and alleviating the humanitarian catastrophe it has created. And Netanyahu must unequivocally endorse the two-state solution and commit to all previous agreements between Israel and the PLO. Without this, Palestinians will have no partner for peace.
• Professor Manuel Hassassian is the Palestine Liberation Organisation representative to the UK
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/[...]ace-process-avigdor-lierberman
