By George S.
Hishmeh
Israel’s continued expansionist
policies are about to torpedo all intentions, international or local, to reach
a peace agreement with the Palestinians and other Arab states. As long as
Israeli occupation of Palestine, now in its 50th year, continues, peace will
remain a far-fetched possibility — thanks to the failure of western powers,
especially the United States, to twist Israel’s arms. A crucial step that
Washington needs to take is cutting its financial and military support that has
disappointingly increased lately.
This
time around, Israel’s expansionist objectives are loud and clear, such as
earlier this month, when Palestine announced its negotiations with the Egyptian
government over the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, which has a 40km coastline.
The
Palestinian status was upgraded in November 2012 by the United Nations General
Assembly, awarding the Israeli-occupied region, where 1.8 Palestinians live,
the status of a non-member observer state. Accordingly, the Palestinian
Ambassador at the United Nations, Riyad H. Mansour, explained that they are now
entitled to declare an undersea “exclusive economic zone” in the Mediterranean.
In other words, the Palestinians will be negotiating with the Egyptians, who
control the southern border of the Gaza Strip, about developing this portion of
Palestine. Their plans include the building of an airport and a seaport among
other much-needed projects to improve life in the region.
But a
few days later, Israel’s Intelligence Minister, Israel Katz, revealed that he,
too, was pushing for the construction of an “artificial island” off the
besieged coast of Gaza, saying it will give the Palestinians there one and only
seaport — and maybe a hotel and an international airport.
The
Palestinians, have greeted the Israeli plan with scepticism, voicing concern
that Israel’s real aim is to further cut off Gaza from the Palestinian West
Bank. Katz said his plan calls for an eight square kilometre island linked to
Gaza by a 5km bridge. The cost of these projected Israeli developments will be
about $5 billion (Dh18.36 billion).
Adding fuel to the fire, Israel
is reportedly now constructing a deep underground wall around the Gaza Strip,
in an attempt to, according to the Washington Post, counter the threat of
assault from tunnels built by Hamas, which now rules this strategic coastal
enclave. The wall will extend the length of the Palestinian territory’s roughly
40-mile border with Israel and cost an estimated $570 million.
“The
only move that will make Israelis feel more secure,” the Washington Post quoted
an Israeli colonist, “is to reach a point of interaction and normalisation
between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza, the way it was once.”
Obviously
this is not the view of the ultra-rightist Israeli government led by Priem
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His government has now allocated about $20 million
in additional financing for Jewish colonies in the Israeli-occupied West Bank,
a step that the New York Times has interpreted as “underlining its strengthened
right-wing orientation and raising the ire of political opponents and the
Palestinians”.
“Most
countries,” the paper’s Jerusalem-based correspondent, Isabel Kershner,
underlined, “view [colony] construction as a violation of international law and
an impediment to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the [Barack]
Obama administration has described the [colonies] as ‘illegitimate’”. But, she
added, “Israel considers the West Bank territory that it conquered from Jordan
in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 to be disputed, not occupied, and says the fate
of the [colonies] should be determined in negotiations.”
Saeb
Erekat, a top Palestinian official, highlighted the Palestinians’ position,
saying “It is time for the international community to assume its
responsibilities towards this extremist government that openly supports
apartheid and stands against the two-state solution.”
But
whether the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, will take this
position when he is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu this week is uncertain,
despite growing international pressure for the resumption of peace talks.
Netanyahu is on record as opposing the French initiative in this respect — in
contrast to the fact that the Palestinians had welcomed the French move.
Coincidentally,
the European Council announced last week that it was ready to provide Israel
and Palestine with massive economic and security support as part of any peace
agreement. A statement to this effect was issued by the European Council
President, Donald Tusk, soon after his meeting with Israeli President Reuven
Rivlin in Brussels. He stressed that “a lasting peace in the region remains a
top priority for the European Union”.
The EU
foreign ministers said in a statement last Monday, after their meeting in
Brussels, that they hoped to hold an international conference before the end of
the year to focus on Middle East peace.
Much as
these gestures are welcome, nothing may actually happen until Israel’s arm is
twisted and the continued financial and military support to the Zionist regime
is curtailed by Washington.
George
S. Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at
ghishmeh@gulfnews.com
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