Table of Contents
Introduction
The following article was originally published at Foreign Policy Journal and has been adapted from an excerpt of chapter three of the author’s book Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which chapter focuses on how the “peace process” has served to block implementation of the two-state solution.
For many decades, the international community has focused on what’s termed “the two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but unfortunately, there exists a great deal of confusion about what this actually is.
Regrettably, the two-state solution is mistakenly conflated even by supporters of Palestinians’ rights with the US-led so-called “peace process”.
The confusion stems from the fact that the US characterizes the “peace process” as intended to bring about the two-state solution. In reality, however, the “peace process” is the means by which Israel and its superpower benefactor have long blocked implementation of the two-state solution.
The principal means by which the US and Israel have perpetrated this fraud against the world is by mischaracterizing the meaning of UN Security Council Resolution 242.
To illuminate the path forward to a just peace, it is critical to understand Resolution 242’s true significance, what the two-state solution really is, and how Israel and the US have prevented it by means of the “peace process”.
What UN Resolution 242 Says
UN Security Council Resolution 242 is one of the key documents comprising the legal foundation for the two-state solution. It was passed unanimously on November 22, 1967, following the June “Six Day War”, during which Israel invaded and occupied the Syrian Golan Heights, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (the latter of which had until then been under the administration of Jordan and Egypt, respectively).[1]
Prior to the 1967 war, Israel held positions up to armistice lines that were drawn in 1949, at the conclusion of the 1948 war, during which more than 700,000 Arabs were ethnically cleansed from their homes in Palestine in order for the “Jewish state” to be established.[2]
The 1949 armistice lines are also referred to as the pre-June 1967 lines, or the “Green Line” for the color with which it was drawn on the map.
According to Israel’s own interpretation, Resolution 242 permits Israel to retain some of the land it conquered and requires no withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory until a final agreement is reached that settles all outstanding claims, including determination of borders.
To assess the veracity of this interpretation, it is necessary to examine the actual wording of the relevant portions of the resolution. The preamble and first operative clause state:
The Security Council,
Expressing its continuing concern with the grave situation in the Middle East,
Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security,
Emphasizing further that all Member States in their acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations have undertaken a commitment to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter,
Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:
(i.) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force . . . .[3]
The Zionist Interpretation of Resolution 242
The Israeli interpretation of Resolution 242 rests primarily on two arguments.
First, there is the claim that the absence of the definite article “the” before “territories occupied” in sub-paragraph (i.) of the first operative clause means that the Security Council did not intend for Israel to withdraw from all of the territory occupied.
Second, there is the claim that sub-paragraph (i.) is conditional upon sub-paragraph (ii.), meaning that there is to be no withdrawal until “secure and recognized boundaries” are established through negotiations.[4]
Thus, the Israeli position is that the Palestinians must negotiate a final settlement on borders while remaining under foreign military occupation and while Israel continues to prejudice the final outcome of those negotiations with its ongoing colonization of the West Bank.
This interpretation is not sustainable.
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Am I right in recollecting that the Palestinians have ALREADY removed the PA, by the election held years ago?
Except that the PA, with help from the US and Israel, chose not to abide by the electoral result that voted in Hamas in both the West Bank and Gaza. So much for the sacred principle of democracy. The only reason democracy is better than all the other methods, according to Winston Churchill’s dictum, is that it is the only method of removing an unpopular government without the risk of bloodshed. In this case, unfortunately for the Palestinians, and probably for the whole world, it didn’t work.
Why do I say “for the whole world”? Because the continued occupation of Palestine is a principal reason for the spread of “Islamist” terrorism around the world. This is despite the fact that this use of “Islamist” perverts just about everything true Islam stands for. Also, every one of these terrorist acts sets back the cause these terrorists believe, or claim, they are fighting for. Each of these acts is pure gold for those forces in the West opposed to the liberation of the Palestinians and the emancipation of many, perhaps all, Arab/Islamic people from their present undemocratic rulers. Does anyone disagree?
No, the legislative election Hamas won did not eliminate the PA. It made Hamas the dominant part of it.