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MIDEAST: Palestinians Threaten Unilateral Independent State
By Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH, Nov 17, 2009 (IPS) - Following the political deadlock between the Israelis and Palestinians, the
Palestinian Authority (PA) has decided to take the matter directly to the U.N.
Security Council.
In an interview with IPS, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat denied media
reports that the Palestinians were seeking to unilaterally declare an
independent state.
"Actually, we’re not planning to declare our state unilaterally, as has been
mistakenly reported," Erekat told IPS Monday in Ramallah.
"What we intend to do is to take to the United Nations Security Council a
request that the international community re-endorse the two-state solution
based on the pre-Jun. 5, 1967 borders."
On Sunday PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad addressed a press conference
organised by the Saban Forum, a media institute established by American-
Israeli media tycoon Haim Saban, in Ramallah.
Fayyad has been behind a plan to establish a viable Palestinian state in the
future by building Palestinian institutions and winning international support
for this.
"I know some people are concerned that this is unilateral. But it seems to me
that it is unilateral in a healthy sense of self-development," said Fayyad.
Fayyad’s plan is also intended to bypass Israel’s refusal to discuss a
Palestinian state - let alone the borders of the future state - and Israel’s
continued settlement building in the West Bank.
"Now is our defining moment. We went into this peace process in order to
achieve a two-state solution," he said. "The endgame is to tell the Israelis
that now the international community has recognised the two-state solution
on the '67 borders," stated Erekat.
The Israelis, however, reacted angrily accusing the PA of making a unilateral
declaration for statehood. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
threatened to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank in return.
"There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the PA and any
unilateral path will only unravel the framework of agreements between us and
will only bring unilateral steps from Israel's side," Netanyahu was quoted as
saying in the Israeli daily Haaretz.
While Netanyahu’s right-wing partners expressed their outrage at the PA
move some members of the more moderate Labour party, including Trade
Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer, threatened to leave the Israeli government if
Netanyahu followed through on his threat to annex parts of the West Bank.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak further warned that Israel risked being
alienated by the international community as the world lent its support to the
Palestinian move.
However, both Palestinian and Israeli analysts explained the PA’s appeal to
the UN was more a result of frustration with gridlocked peace talks and not,
as the Israelis fear, a serious bid to declare an independent state just yet.
"The move by the Palestinians was more about putting pressure on the
Israelis to recommit seriously to peace talks," says Professor Moshe Ma’oz of
Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. "It was also a move to win international
sympathy for Palestinian frustration at Israeli obduracy as many believe the
Israelis are the ones hindering further negotiations."
"And on both counts the PA appears to have succeeded. The Europeans would
most likely support the PA as would the Chinese and the Russians for
starters," Ma’oz told IPS.
"The U.N. General Assembly might also back the PA’s request to re-endorse
the two-state solution. But the real litmus test would be the U.N. Security
Council giving this their backing," added Maoz.
The Palestinians have unilaterally declared independence before. The late
Yasser Arafat, former chairman of the PA-affiliated Palestine Liberation
Organisation (PLO), did so in 1988 during the first Palestinian Intifadah, or
uprising - but the move was never practically implemented.
On May 4, 1999 - the deadline set by the 1993 Oslo Accords for the
beginning of the final peace agreement - the Palestinians again declared
independence. Then Israeli premier Netanyahu, in his first term as prime
minister, managed to win international support against the move.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak was prime minister after the failed Camp
David talks and the outbreak of the second Intifadah in 2000. He too
threatened to annex parts of the West Bank when the Palestinians spoke
about independence.
Despite growing international support for Palestinian independence Ma’oz
explained that establishing an independent state in the near future would be
difficult and impractical.
"There are over 500,000 Israeli settlers residing, and tens of thousands of
Israeli soldiers stationed, in the West Bank which would physically prevent the
establishment of a state," Ma’oz told IPS.
The Americans stated Monday that they too supported the eventual
establishment of a Palestinian state but via negotiations between the two
sides.
But, the Americans may use the PA’s appeal to the U.N. to lean on the Israelis.
The Israelis know that they have no choice but to deal with the current
moderate Palestinian leadership.
Without Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Fayyad there are no
negotiations. Without any peace negotiations there is no international support
for the Palestinians and no funding.
No funding would mean the end of the PA - which relies heavily on
international donations. Abbas’ threats to resign have already weakened a
frail and unpopular PA.
No PA would mean the collapse of law and order and hundreds of thousands
of unemployed Palestinians, especially amongst the PA’s institutions and
security forces, which are dependent on the PA for their livelihoods.
Anarchy and chaos could fill this vacuum. Somalia style.
(END)
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