Maen Rashid Areikat, the PLO’s Ambassador to the United States will be at Columbia to speak about the most recent phase of peace negotiations from the “Palestinian Perspective.” However, many Palestinians challenge and criticize Mr. Areikat and the Palestinian Authority (PA) for their participation in “peace talks”. Furthermore, the world has proved time and time again that the opinion of Palestinians is of no significance. Each time Palestinians have participated in these “peace talks” they have lost more control of their land, homes, and everyday life.
Israel’s 10-month “settlement freeze” expired a few weeks ago and, despite pressure from the Palestinian Authority and the Obama administration, it appears that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not extend it. Of the occupation, the settlements are the largest obstacle to the two state solution, since they illegally confiscate forty percent of the West Bank while their inhabitants have reigned terror on Palestinians since the beginning of the occupation.
It is simple: If Israel wants a two state solution, then it must put the settlement enterprise in reverse and return the West Bank to the Palestinians. But, as this episode verifies, the Israeli government has no interest in compromising their expansion into what would be the Palestinian state. Yet, they are insistent that Palestinians continue peace talks, Israeli President Netanyahu said, “I call on president Abbas to continue with the good and honest talks we have just embarked upon, in an attempt to reach a historic peace agreement between our two peoples.”
Since the end of the “freeze,” settlers across the West Bank celebrated the end of the so-called freeze (so called because the Israeli group Peace Now documents 600 violations of the freeze, while the Associated Press estimated that construction slowed by only 10%). Settler groups and their supporters released 2,000 balloons as a symbol of the number of houses they plan to build on stolen Palestinian land in the next week.
While there are some Palestinians who benefit from the negotiation process and are willing to continue the farcical negotiations in face of continued colonization of Palestinian land, most Palestinians view the end of the settlement moratorium as proof that a two state solution is impossible. Since the start of the peace process in the 1990s, Palestinian participation in negotiations has only produced increased land confiscation, a worsening occupation, and the persistent denial of Palestinian rights (PDF). If Palestinians continue negotiating while their land is being stolen by the acre, what prospects should they have for an outcome that achieves any of their fundamental needs?
Just last week, the Jerusalem Post reported that Obama sent a letter to Netenyahu asking for a 60 day freeze. In exchange for this, the U.S will not ask for another extension, the U.S would commit to veto any UN Security Council proposals related to Israel, and not request that Israeli military forces leave the Jordan Valley. These are only a few of the several offerings Obama threw at Israel. Nonetheless, Netenyahu declined the White House offer. The opinion of Palestinians was not asked, nor mentioned in his letter.
With this in mind, it will be interesting to note what the Palestinian Ambassador has to say regarding this issue. Due to the lack of a true partner in peace, Palestinian civil society has adopted the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign (BDS). Rather than attempting to justify the negotiation process, the PA should join mainstream Palestinian society in this new form of resistance which has already shown numerous signs of success.8
Alaa Milbes is a graduate student at Columbia University in the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies, and she is a member of Students for Justice in Palestine. A version of this article originally appeared in the Columbia Spectator.
