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Balfour Declaration Final Phase
2-05-2020
What do you get when you combine a glorified slumlord, a crooked real estate agent, a half-witted son-in-law of a super moronic U.S. President the world has ever witnessed? A Monty Python Flying Circus sketch of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Initiatives, not a “Deal of the Century.”
When nepotism trumps common sense compounded with lack of judgement, coupled with devoid of wisdom, historical insights and expert’s advice, we end up with Kushner Palestinian Surrender Plan. A one-sided treaty agreement favouring Israel and expecting Palestinian’s absolute surrender to Israel.
Let’s call spade a spade. Last week the White House did not unveil “Trump Administration” Middle East Peace Plan. It unveiled Trump’s half-witted son-in-law’s convoluted version of “Path to Peace” for the Palestinians, that has been ridiculed, mocked, and rejected by the entire world, from Arab League, to Organization of Islamic Countries, from European Union, to United Nations.
The latest development at print time was “U.N. drafts resolution to condemn Trump Admin Middle East Peace Plan.” The text raises concerns “the illegality of the annexation of any part” of Palestinian-occupied land, and “condemns recent statements calling for annexation by Israel” of the same territory.
Kushner Plan dangles couple of high tech economic industrial zones, small residential area, and some farm land to the Palestinians, in exchange for surrendering everything they’ve ever stood for: end of occupation, self-determination, freedom, right to live in peace and security and ultimately agreeing to handing over absolute control on all aspects of their lives to Israel. The Kushner Plan categorically omits all that and seeks Permanent and Absolute Surrender by the Palestinians. Afterall, what else can one expect from slumlord from New Jersey.
Anyone examining the maps that have been drawn in Kushner Plan clearly hands absolute control to Israelis on Palestinian Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel will maintain control over Palestinians economically. Israel will have absolute control over all Palestinian entry points, as well as all exit to outside world. This makes any future of the Palestinian State (if that was to ever to occur) totally dependent on State of Israel. Any future independent Palestinian State’s entire security, and economy will be under Israeli control.
In addition, Palestinians will handover Israel the control over Jordan Valley, bordering Jordan, which Israel views it critical to Israel’s security.
Jerusalem will become Israel’s undivided capital. Only a small Part of East Jerusalem will be given to Palestinians for the capital of future Palestinian state.
Israel will maintain sovereignty over all illegal settlement blocks in occupied West Bank and those settlements will become part of Israeli territory.
Let us highlight Kushner Plan omitting the most contentious issue and why we feel its devoid of wisdom and lacks historical insight.
One of the most contentious issues in the region since biblical times has been access to water and it still reigns. Biblical Isaac and the Philistines fought over access to water wells, Genesis 26:1-35.
The struggle over access to clean drinkable water has been the central part of each peace initiative since the creation of Israel, even higher than control over Jerusalem. Kushner Plan ignores all past agreements that dealt with water, water sharing, water rights, and devoted only one paragraph. Water access was the precursor to the Six-Day 1967 War. Since then, Israel made control of access to water a cornerstone of its approach to the Palestinians. At present, water access in west bank is limited and under Israeli control. In Gaza Strip the situation is dire, where more than 90% of water supplied is unfit for human consumption. Whether its 1995 Oslo Accord where water was number issue, or 1994 Peace Accord between Jordan and Israel, where water was third on seven pillar agreement.
The Kushner Plan gives no rights and have no concessions for the Palestinians. Palestinian president, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas calls it, “The final phase of Balfour declaration.” Those unfamiliar with Balfour Declaration, The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population. It read: “His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
No one from Palestinian Authority was consulted before finalizing the Kushner Plan. Mr. Abbas rejected Mr. Trump’s calls for a meeting or receive the advance copy of the Kushner Plan.
Clearly, any sane person examining these totally convoluted, absurd, and insane terms which would enslave the Palestinians leaving them at absolute mercy and dependence of Israel for generations to come would reject it.
That is exactly what the Palestinian Authority has done. That is what the European union has done so. And that is precisely the Arab League and OIC have done so in a single-unanimous rejection of the Kushner Plan.
The 57 member nations strong OIC, second largest intergovernmental organization after UN, representing the 1.8 billion Muslims around the word, summarized their rejection in a few words, "rejects this US-Israeli plan, as it does not meet the minimum aspirations and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and contradicts the terms of reference of the peace process."
EU also rejected Kushner Plan. In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell underlined the bloc's commitment to a two-state solution, based along the 1967 lines, with the possibility of mutually agreed land-swaps, made up of the state of Israel and “an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable state of Palestine.”
Borrell said the U.S. initiative “departs from these internationally agreed parameters.”
“To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties," Borrell said. "This includes notably the issues related to borders, the status of Jerusalem, security and the refugee question.”
At the end the world saw how incapable and biased United States and Trump Administration is when it comes to dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The solution will have to come from the Muslim Ummah. Let us all pray that it comes in our lifetime.
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