After 11 years of not accomplishing anything on the Israel-Palestinian peace process, and arguably taking many steps backwards, the US is dusting off the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative (API) as a basis for future talks.
In essence, the API followed the UN Security Council’s 1967 resolution calling the Israeli conquest of the occupied territories unacceptable, and offered region-wide recognition and peace treaties in return for a Palestinian state along those borders.
The decision to bring it back is interesting, as the US was mostly ambivalent on the matter in 2002, with the Bush Administration spending the year talking up Iraq’s non-existent “weapons of mass destruction” and Israel rejecting the API out of hand, seemingly ending the proposal.
A lack of better ideas seems to have revived it, but the most interesting aspect is that Israel’s government is suddenly claiming it has always “publicly praised” the API and looks forward to the talks.
The reality couldn’t be farther from the truth. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the API in 2002 then again in 2007, saying that the Gaza pullout proved that any plan that involved giving Palestinians territory for peace was unworkable. Incoming Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has been particularly critical of the API, calling it a plan to “destroy Israel.”
Palestinian officials have long endorsed the API, and polls have long showed it enjoys broad support among the Palestinian public. Polls have also shown Israelis opposed to the deal, however, and since consecutive Israeli governments have rejected ending the occupation of East Jerusalem under any circumstances it seems like a non-starter.
A lesser difficulty may be the Arab Spring, with Arab League nations that were supposed to agree to a peace deal with Israel in return for the API greatly changed in the last 11 years. Syria, in particular, appears to be an obstacle, though the API would return the Golan Heights to them, since they are in the middle of a civil war and there is no real front-runner among the rebels to see if they are on board.
Bill Kristol is mad that Jewish Americans sent a letter to Netanyahu asking for peace to be given a chance. It looks like the two state solution may not be dead. It is proof that not everyone thinks that imperialism is the first and only solution to all problems between states and peoples like Bill Kristol does.
All that brings us to understand that Israel is not and have not and will not understand the basic laws of respect for any international laws.., that Israel only understand the language of a total boycott regarding a political and economical issues, a total boycott of any talks by Turkish or other government when it comes to having any relation with an apartheid regime, it tell us that those who support such regimes have no respect for anything that is said or documented by UN which in terms shows the fact that they have no respect for the existence of UN as such, that they have no respect for human rights especially when it comes to Arab nationals or other colors mankind. All that bring us back to a point that once again the Palestinians need to start a peace process that's needed to be done with in 1967 when UN called the stealing Palestinians land a illegal.., but the question remains.., considering the Obama "liberalism" and "non partial" in this matter.., assuming that Obama policy is about "peace".., would Israel accept the fact that they need to give back the stolen land for Palestinians to start create their country.., would israel respect the UN resolution.., the past and eventual new ons demanding for Israel to do the same thing as in 1967.., or they are going to kill times until Obama is no longer president in two years.., then what.., Palestinians had a home land and it was Palestinian. By the time when the land was changed to Israel.., for last 60 years the people of Middle East have seen nothing but a political and a economic brutality rained on their land.., Iraq and now Syria is yet another examples brought to the people by what is called western civilization and "democracy".