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A major problem in American thinking relating to the Middle East is the utter rejection of the notion that Palestinian rights are fundamental, if even relevant at all, to the coveted peace and stability.
In the years before the Trump administration’s so-called deal of the century was officially revealed on Jan. 28, 2020, successive US administrations had attempted to “stabilize” the Middle East at the expense of the Palestinians. Earlier plans, or deals, rested on the premise of total marginalization of the Palestinian people and their cause. They included the Rogers Plan of 1969 and the Second Rogers Plan the following year, which culminated in the Camp David Accords of 1978.
When all such plans failed to subdue the Palestinians, Israel and the US began investing in an alternative Palestinian leadership that would be compliant with Tel Aviv’s will, often in exchange for money and a minimal share of power. The outcome was the Oslo Accords of the mid-1990s, which initially segmented the Palestinians politically, yielding competing classes, but ultimately failed to defeat their quest for freedom.
Numerous other initiatives and plans, mostly proposed by the US and other Western entities, tried to conclude the Palestinian struggle in favor of Israel without having to deal with the inconveniences of pressuring it to respect international law. They all failed.
The 2020 deal was another failed attempt. It was centered on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s previously thwarted economic peace of 2009. For Israel, this new attempt was meant to be a win-win scenario: ending Israel’s regional isolation, amassing wealth, making the Israeli military occupation permanent and avoiding any accountability under international law, thus permanently defeating the Palestinians.
Numerous plans have tried to conclude the conflict without having to deal with the inconveniences of international law
Dr. Ramzy Baroud
The ongoing Israeli war and genocide in Gaza, the destabilization of the whole region and the ongoing Palestinian steadfastness and resistance are the final proof that there can never be real peace in the Middle East without justice for the Palestinians and other victims of Israeli brutality. No matter how many US-Western deals and initiatives are proposed in the future, this fact will not be altered.
The same applies to those operating in a less official capacity but who are still committed to the same perusal of creative “solutions” to the so-called conflict. Such notions may suggest that the lack of a solution reflects a lack of imagination and resolve or a dearth of legal texts that make a just end to the conflict impossible. However, a solution is readily available. Indeed, the solution to military occupation, apartheid and genocide is ending military occupation, dismantling the racist apartheid regime and holding Israeli war criminals accountable for their extermination of Palestinians.
Not only do we have enough international and humanitarian laws and court orders to guide us through the process of holding Israel accountable, but also more than the needed critical mass of international consensus that should make this “solution” possible. The main obstacle is the stubborn and unconditional US support of Israel, which has allowed the latter to flout international law and consensus for decades.
International law regarding Palestine is not an outdated solution but a robust and growing legal discourse that refuses to entertain any Israeli or US interpretation of the war crimes, including the crime of genocide, underway in Gaza and the rest of the Occupied Territories.
In February, the International Court of Justice held hearings that allowed representatives of more than 50 countries to articulate their political, legal and moral stances on the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
While the acting legal adviser at the US State Department argued that the 15-judge panel at The Hague should not call for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser contended that the Palestinians’ “use of force to resist oppression is an inalienable right.”
The issue is obviously not the lack of a roadmap to a just peace, but the lack of interest or will to implement it
Dr. Ramzy Baroud
In July, the court issued a landmark ruling that the Israeli occupation in all of its expressions is illegal under international law and that such illegality includes Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem and all of its Jewish-only settlements, annexation attempts, theft of natural resources and so on.
In September, international consensus was achieved again, as the UN General Assembly passed a resolution demanding Israel end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months.
This is a mere footnote in the massive body of international law regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Yet more is regularly being added to the already clear discourse, including last week’s issuing of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court for top Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu.
With such clarity in mind, why then should Palestinians, Arabs and the international community entertain or engage in any new deals, plans or solutions that operate outside the realms of international law and standards?
The issue is obviously not the lack of a roadmap to a just peace, but the lack of interest or will to implement it, specifically on the part of the US and a few of its Western allies. It is their relentless backing of Israel and financing of its war machine that makes a just solution in Palestine unattainable, at least for now.
As far as Palestinians are concerned, there can only be one acceptable deal: one that is predicated on the full implementation of international law, including the Palestinian people’s right of return and right to self-determination. The continued US-Israeli attempts to circumvent this fact will never impede Palestinians from carrying on with their struggle for freedom.
- Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and author. He is editor of The Palestine Chronicle and nonresident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.” X: @RamzyBaroud