It's no secret that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plans to lobby the U.N. General Assembly this September for a resolution that will predetermine the results of any Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on borders. He made clear in a New York Times op-ed this week that he will insist that member states recognize a Palestinian state on 1967 lines, meaning Israel's boundaries before the Six Day War.More at the link above.
Unfortunately, even President Barack Obama appears to have been influenced by this thinking. He asserted in a speech Thursday that Israel's future borders with a Palestinian state "should be based on the 1967 lines," a position he tried to offset by offering "mutually agreed land swaps." Mr. Abbas has said many times that any land swaps would be minuscule.
Remember that before the Six Day War, those lines in the West Bank only demarcated where five Arab armies were halted in their invasion of the nascent state of Israel 19 years earlier. Legally, they formed only an armistice line, not a recognized international border. No Palestinian state ever existed that could have claimed these prewar lines. Jordan occupied the West Bank after the Arab invasion, but its claim to sovereignty was not recognized by any U.N. members except Pakistan and the U.K. As Jordan's U.N. ambassador said before the war, the old armistice lines "did not fix boundaries." Thus the central thrust of Arab-Israeli diplomacy for more than 40 years was that Israel must negotiate an agreed border with its Arab neighbors.
Added: Now a thread at Memorandum, featuring Israel Matzav.
Wonderful and clear explanations, thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Maurice.
ReplyDeleteIsrael has never declared its borders. One reason a growing number of Palestinians and Israelis support the controversial One State Solution is because it allows Israel to delcare its current borders, and unify as a more democratic and secure nation.
ReplyDeleteBack when King Hussein I of Jordan was alive, he was a great broker of peace as well as the first major Arab leader to affirm Israel's need to keep its post 1967borders - perhaps even grow to take all of the crucial Golan Heights. Of course, countries don't invade by land anymore, so the issue of Israeli security against a land invasion is symbolic at best. But the One State Solution is gaining traction as it becomes clear that Israel encouraged settlements all over the proposed Palestinian state, making the Two State Solution logistically imopossible.
Look, Israel is still the only democracy in that region, but it is a severely imbalanced democracy. Orthodox Jews hold almost all the political power in the Likud party. At least the parlimentary system allows for opposition coalitions. In a One State Solution, that coalition would include a Palestinian political party.
The Palenstians want civil rights, political representation and most important, jobs. In short, they want to be Israelis. The sooner they have a unified nation, the sooner terrorism in Israel becomes a topic for the history books.
Excellent post Donald, I will use this Video.
ReplyDelete