Yesterday, I had the honor of speaking to a conference organized by the Council on International Relations – Palestine about the thesis of my new book Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
I talked to them about how Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people could not go on without US support, and how at this moment in history the Palestinian leadership has a unique opportunity to forge a path that would see the end of Israel’s occupation regime.
I explained the nature and extent of this US support and how the US-led so-called “peace process” is the means by which Israel and its superpower benefactor have long blocked implementation of the two-state solution.
I also explained how Donald Trump gaining the presidency in the US ironically presents the Palestinian leadership with an opportunity. The reason is that with Trump in power in the US and Benjamin Netanyahu in power in Israel, the “peace process” will have no credibility left even among the world’s governments, which have long allowed themselves to be deceived by Washington that the “peace process” is intended to bring about the two-state solution.
This conference presented me with the incredible opportunity to speak directly to the Palestinian people about the need for the Palestinian leadership to seize this moment to: (1) withdraw from the Oslo Accords; (2) cease pursuing useless negotiations that Israel only uses to gain more time to establish “facts on the ground” to prejudice the outcome of those negotiations; (3) and turn to the international legal mechanisms now available to them to seek accountability for Israel’s crimes against their people.
I emphasized further how the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established under the Oslo Accords to serve as Israel’s collaborator in enforcing the occupation regime and hence could not be relied upon to do so; and how, if the present leadership will not do what is right for their own people, new leadership will need to be found. Whichever the case, the leadership would need to be determined and unified.
If this can be done, an end to the occupation regime can be achieved.
Here are some photos from the conference, which I attended via Skype (courtesy of the COIR-P).
If you want to learn more about why the US is the greatest obstacle and what the path forward is, you can own my book Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in hardcover, paperback, or Kindle.
Learn More about Obstacle to Peace
Update (January 27, 2017, 2:30 pm ET) – The Watania Media Agency has a news segment about my talk to the conference. Watch here (in Arabic):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ueits302w
Update (January 27, 2017, 2:40 pm ET) – The Middle East Monitor has an article about the conference. A lot is lost and found in translation here, but it’s good to see my talk getting some media attention. The title for example, is not an actual quote, but one of those things “found” in translation. Anyhow…
Click here to read the MEM article: “‘US aid to Israel cannot continue,’ says American writer”.
Thank you so much Jeremy for your efforts in securing justice for the Palestinian people. Lord knows that few and not enough people are speaking on their behalf .
Congratulations Jeremy, you are doing a great job but I think with Trump things will not get better. The situation with the settlements is getting worst as revenge for the UN resolution.
Yes, I realize that, but we must recognize that this also presents an opportunity as I explain here:
https://www.jeremyrhammond.com/2016/12/30/why-netanyahu-and-trump-are-good-for-the-palestinians/
Thank’s for your reply and the article Jeremy, somehow I missed it. You might be right and due to both personalities, Trump and Netanyahu, things will stall which at the end that should be good for Palestinians.