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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 30-Mar-2011
30-Mar-11 News -- A Palestinian state in the United Nations by September?

Web Log - March, 2011

30-Mar-11 News -- A Palestinian state in the United Nations by September?

Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas consider reconciliation

A Palestinian state in the United Nations by September?

While the eyes of the world are focused on Libya, Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have been moving ahead with plans to discuss reconciliation, with the expectation that the United Nations will create a Palestinian state in September.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday

The so-called Mideast peace process has been dead as a doornail for some time, and many people in the international community blame Israel's policies of permitting the construction of new settlements in East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians were doing nothing until the "Arab Revolution" reached Gaza and the West Bank, in the form of young Palestinians demanding that the two warring Palestinian factions reconcile. (See "21-Mar-11 News -- March 15 reconciliation movement triggers Hamas attacks on Israel.")

Hamas, which has been governing the Gaza strip since the 2007 war with Fatah, has previously been completely opposed to any reconciliation, but the March !5 protests have divided Hamas leaders, and forced some of them to consider the possibility.

The result is that Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar traveled to Cairo to meet with the Arab League, and the Arab League will host reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo some time in April, according to AFP.

The idea of reconciliation, which wasn't even being considered until recently, is now highly significant in view of a statement issued on September 21, 2010, by the Middle East Quartet (United Nations, Russian Federation, United States, European Union). This statement called for recognition of a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders by September of this year, with reconciliation being one of the conditions.

The statement has been specifically endorsed by President Barack Obama. Here are some excerpts:

"The Quartet expressed its strong support for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which can resolve all final status issues within one year. The Quartet reaffirmed its full commitment to its previous statements, which provide that negotiations should lead to an agreement that ends the occupation that began in 1967 and results in the emergence of an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours. ...
Recalling that change on the ground is integral to peace, the Quartet reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian Authority’s August 2009 plan for building the institutions of a Palestinian State within two years. The Quartet commended the significant progress towards that goal as reported by international institutions to the 21 September 2010 meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee. The Quartet took particular note of the statement in the Economic Monitoring Report of the World Bank that: “If the Palestinian Authority maintains its current performance in institution-building and delivery of public services, it is well-positioned for the establishment of a State at any point in the near future.” ...
The Quartet reiterated its support for efforts to restore Palestinian unity based on the commitments of the Palestine Liberation Organization."

In view of this statement, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is studying what steps have to be taken to meet its obligations by September, according to the Palestine News Network, with the expectation that a Palestinian state will become a member nation of the United Nations by a vote in September.

A reconciliation between the Palestinian factions is one of the steps. Another step, already ordered by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is to draw up the constitution for a future Palestinian state, according to the Arab News.

However, talk of a reconciliation has drawn a sharp reaction from Israel, according to AFP. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the following in a speech on Monday evening:

"We hear in recent days that the Palestinian Authority is thinking of uniting with Hamas.
It’s thinking of effecting peace, not with Israel, but with Hamas. Well, I say to them something very simple: you can’t have peace with Israel and Hamas. It’s one or the other, but not both.
Choose peace with Israel. Abandon unity with Hamas because Hamas is the antithesis of peace."

This highlights one of the difficulties with "unity," because the nature of the unity is a factor. The Quartet statement, excerpted above, calls for "efforts to restore Palestinian unity based on the commitments of the Palestine Liberation Organization." One of these commitments, for example, is recognition of Israel and its right to exist, something that Hamas has refused to do.

Thus, Netanyahu has threatened to take unspecified unilateral actions, if the UN creates a Palestinian state in September, governed by a unified government, especially if it doesn't recognize Israel's right to exist.

Furthermore, the PA is willing to give up hundreds of millions of dollars of US aid, if that's the cost of reconciliation, according to the Jerusalem Post. This decision was necessary because the U.S. has in the past indicated that it would not provide aid to a unity government that included Hamas.

So, in summary, the plan being pursued by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas appears to be the following: Pursue a unity government with Hamas, despite opposition from Israel and potentially from the U.S., and then go the United Nations in September and demand that they fulfill their commitment to create a Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders, and make it a member of the United Nations.

It sounds like a straightforward plan, but from the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the Mideast is headed for a new war between Arabs and Jews, re-fighting the genocidal war that followed the 1948 partitioning of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel.

With the entire Mideast in turmoil with "Arab Revolutions," any plan that stretches out to September is sure to have to deal with many unexpected complications. As the old saying goes, planning is what you do when life happens.

(Note: For simplicity, this report did not attempt to make any distinction between the following organizations: Fatah, the Palestinian Authority, the PA, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the PLO.)

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 30-Mar-11 News -- A Palestinian state in the United Nations by September? thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (30-Mar-2011) Permanent Link
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30-Mar-11 News -- A Palestinian state in the United Nations by September?