Palestinian autonomy is an
illusion. A plan B involving a struggle for equal rights would expose the
reality of occupation by Israel
"....Abbas has recently threatened to relaunch the UN application if Israeli
settlement expansion continues. This time he would seek UN non-member observer
state status, but has yet to decide to consult with Arab and other states, and
it may come to nothing again. Only a bankruptcy of ideas could be driving him
towards this move, given the present situation of US acquiescence to regional
Israeli hegemony, and Israel's stunning success in diverting world attention
from the conflict on its doorstep to Iran's nonexistent nuclear weapons.....
Given this situation, should there not be a reassessment of Palestinian
political strategy? To date there is no sign that the Palestinian leadership, or
indeed any official body, can think beyond the two-state solution. Yet the facts
on the ground point to a very different conclusion. Israel now controls 62% of
West Bank land – encompassing most of its richest farmland, including the
fertile Jordan Valley. The colonisation process continues unabated, and to date
Israel has resisted every call for a settlement based on a two-state solution.
Despite this, the west has been extremely reluctant to press Israel......
This situation demands a new Palestinian strategy, a Plan B that converts the
Palestinian struggle for two states into one for equal rights within what is now
a unitary state ruled by Israel. The first step in this plan requires a
dismantlement of the PA as currently constituted, or at least a change of
direction for the Palestinian leadership. The PA's role as a buffer between the
occupier and the occupied should end, along with the illusion of a spurious
Palestinian autonomy it has fostered. This has not only shielded Israel from
facing its legal obligations as an occupying power, but it has created a false
equivalence between occupier and occupied.....
The 2.5 million potential new Arab citizens of Israel would be able to
challenge its much-vaunted democracy, and upend the old order in the
Palestinians' favour. Will they have the courage to grasp the challenge?"
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