We said in our previous press release that we understand the motives which pushed them to make this choice, after almost two decades of negotiations which, up to now, have not succeeded. Their bid is based on the inalienable right of nations for self-determination. It was the very right on which the request for the recognition of the State of Israel was based at the time of its creation. The right of a nation to have the protection of its own state, a sovereign entity, faced with history’s rifts, has been at the heart of the Zionist project.
Palestinians have the same right and it is urgent to put an end to this situation of occupation where Israel occupies the land on which they want to build their state.
However, even if we all share at JCall the objective of seeing a Palestine emerge next to Israel, there are, among those who signed the ‘Call for Reason’, some voices who claim that the Palestinians’ unilateral move at the UN cannot free them from direct negotiations with the Israelis. This perfectly legitimate argument should also apply to the actions of the Israeli government; indeed, what could be more unilateral than the settlement policy carried out since 1967?
The speeches by President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu at the UN have once again shown the gap between the two positions, with each side leaning on its own narrative and blaming the other for everything that’s wrong.
Yet, whatever the responsibilities for the current situation, the status quo into which the peace process has been entrenched has become humanly and politically untenable, especially in the context of ongoing revolts in the Arab world.
That is why, in our last press release posted this week, we call on the two parties to unconditionally accept the Quartet’s proposition and to start negotiations quickly and with the Quartet’s help. The Israeli government has already announced its agreement, but we are not fooled. We know that they have no intention to put an end to the development of settlements, as was shown by their recent decision to build 1100 housing units at Gilo. But we also know that the worst is the upholding of the status quo. Given the threat of an American veto at the Security Council, wouldn’t the Palestinian Authority, which would be satisfied with a non-state membership at the UN (for which they need a simple majority at the General Assembly, which they already have) come out sufficiently strengthened in the international arena to tackle these negotiations?
To get back to politics, to have audacity, to get out of the pincer held by the extremes which, on both sides, strive to weaken the powers in place in order to exist: this is what the whole world expects from now on from Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
« Politics is the art of reconciling what is desirable with what is possible » (Aristide Briand, in Paroles de paix).
But we know that they will not succeed on their own. That is why we also call upon the European countries to fully play their part in the Quartet and be the driving force in the running of these negotiations which will have to stick to a precise and restrictive timetable in order to avoid the mistakes of previous attempts.
This new year 5772 must be the year of our mobilisation to support the process that we all wish to succeed. Join us, become a member of our association, we need you!
We wish you and your loved ones a happy new year, hoping it will finally be the year of a serious resumption of negotiations in the Middle-East.
Ivan Terel, JCall Newsletter editor, lawyer and David Chemla, European JCall secretary