Bush deals blow to Middle East peaceApril 21, 2004 The Fellowship of Reconciliation-USA is alarmed and deeply troubled by President George W. Bush's declarations supporting Israeli annexation of large settlement blocs on the West Bank, and rejecting for all time any resettlement of Palestinian refugees within Israel. Bush's endorsement of what is in effect a permanent land grab not only constitutes a major reversal of nearly 40 years of U.S. policy, under seven presidents, but it violates international law, which states that countries may not annex land seized in conflict. A chief principle of previous administrations – whether or not they acted upon it – was that all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands were temporary and would have to be removed as part of a final agreement, unless included in a territory swap acceptable to both sides. Issues such as the Palestinian Right of Return and alternatives to return such as compensation were to be negotiated as part of a final peace. By approving the permanent annexation of West Bank settlements without territorial swaps, and by flatly rejecting the Right of Return, Bush has effectively deprived Palestinians of their key negotiation issues. He has given Sharon a green light to proceed with his plan for a fragmented Palestinian "state" on 42 percent of the West Bank, with total Israeli control over borders. Bush has ignored a second cornerstone of U.S. Middle East policy as well. It was a fundamental tenet of the last three U.S. administrations (including his own and his father's) that negotiations must be between the central parties to the conflict, namely, Israelis and Palestinians. An agreement between Israelis and President Bush that ignores Palestinian claims and concerns violates the basic right of Palestinians to negotiate for their own self-determination and deeply prejudices any final settlement. It makes the prospect of any just and sustainable resolution even more remote. But Bush has not merely disregarded Palestinians. His endorsement of Israeli land annexation and rejection of the Palestinian Right of Return violate international law, directly contravene decades of United Nations resolutions and undercut the future of the Road Map for Peace. Bush has thumbed his nose at his Road Map co-sponsors – the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United Nations. The Road Map is as good as dead and U.S. relations with its European partners and the United Nations further damaged. That loss of trust and goodwill is only exceeded by the loss of credibility among Arab and Muslim nations and the further alienation of Arab public opinion. Both the King of Jordan and President of Egypt – the two countries that have peace treaties with Israel and which will be expected to play a significant role in securing any new Palestinian state -- have expressed their disdain for Bush's pronouncements. As far as Gaza is concerned, the unilateral withdrawal planned by Sharon and endorsed by Bush will not promote peace. Israel will exercise total control of the airspace, sea routes and borders, as well as outposts considered necessary for security. Since Gaza will be fenced off from Israel, this most densely inhabited area on earth will have no access to the outside world. Gaza has no natural resources of its own and access to water for drinking, irrigation, and manufacturing will remain under Israeli control. This is not a plan for peace, but a blueprint for the largest open-air prison in the world, with 1½ million inmates. Finally, by approving Sharon's plan to complete construction of the Separation Wall, Bush has prejudiced the outcome of the case the United Nations has brought to the International Court of Justice about the wall. He has shed all claim the United States might still have made to the role of honest broker. Despite his expressed concern that the wall be temporary rather than permanent, and "a security rather than political barrier," Israelis and everyone else understand fully that under Sharon’s plan, the wall will stay and will eventually become the border, annexing even more Palestinian land to Israel. Contact: Jennifer Hyman, FOR Communications Coordinator. (845)358-4601. communications@forusa.org Joe Groves, Interfaith Peace Builders Coordinator. (202)244-0821 middleeast@forusa.org
|