Matthew Williams/The Conflict Archives
As President Trump’s pompous announcement of the ‘Deal of the Century’ is presented as an avant-garde proposal to many, it is simply an outcome of different plans, agreements, documents, and secret meetings between various parties starting as early as 1967; aiming to ensure that a sovereign Palestinian state would never be crafted. In contrast to what Trump has announced, the ‘Deal of the Century’, will not improve the livelihoods of Palestinians; instead, it will fulfill Israel’s expansionist agenda into more domination and expansion, at the expense of Palestinian freedom, dignity, and self-determination.
Successive Israeli Governments have never been in favor of the creation of an independent, sovereign, Palestinian State. After the Six-Day War in 1967, A Ministerial council for security affairs met on the 18th and 19th of June to discuss what has to be done with the newly-occupied West Bank. The council was led by then Prime Minister, Levy Ashkol, and included Menachem Begin. This is where the idea of ‘Palestinian Autonomy’ first started. The council discussed ways to control the West Bank without directly ruling the Palestinian population residing there.
When Menachem Begin became Prime Minister, he proposed an ‘Autonomy Plan’ in 1978. He was the only person who altered the abstract idea into a concrete plan and took it to the Knesset. In one of his speeches, Begin stated that, “the administration of the military rule in Judea, Samaria (West Bank) and the Gaza Strip will be abolished. In Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip an Administrative Autonomy of, by and for the Arab residents will be established.”[1]
He planned for the Palestinians to be autonomous and have an authority ruling them, yet that was never meant to become a state. This autonomy plan also encompassed an administrative council responsible for education, health care, legal issues, and other departments administered locally to manage the livelihoods of Palestinians; yet security will be sustained and controlled by the Israeli Authorities in the West Bank and Gaza.[2]
Similarly, the ‘Deal of the Century’ aims for the creation of a non-sovereign Palestinian state, which, according to the administration’s economic plan, empowers Palestinians to build a ‘prosperous and vibrant Palestinian society’[3]; where billions of dollars would flow into the Palestinian economy in order to ‘Transform the West Bank and Gaza’[4]. All of these investments come with limitations that do not in any way jeopardize Israel’s security. The state of Israel will continue to control the State of Palestine’s security through controlling the airspace of the West Bank, annexing the Jordan Valley to protect its eastern border, and having a demilitarised Palestinian state as essential conditions for the existence of a ‘so-called’ state.
The Deal of the Century, presented in the ‘Vision of Peace’ document, also comes as a fulfillment of Prime Minister’s Yitzhak Rabin’s aspirations in halting the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state. In the document, it is stated explicitly that, “Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who signed the Oslo Accords and who in 1995 gave his life to the cause of peace, outlined in his last speech to the Israeli Knesset his vision regarding the ultimate resolution of the conflict. He envisioned Jerusalem remaining united under Israeli rule, the portions of the West Bank with large Jewish populations and the Jordan Valley being incorporated into Israel, and the remainder of the West Bank, along with Gaza, becoming subject to Palestinian civil autonomy in what he said would be something “less than a state.”[5]
Yitzhak Rabin, who voted in favor of the Autonomy Plan in 1978, had a televised debate with incumbent prime minister Yitzhak Shamir. Shamir asked him, “Do you really want a Palestinian state within the land of Israel?” Rabin answered, “I opposed a Palestinian state between us and the Jordan (river). At the same time, I don’t want 1.7 million Palestinians to become citizens of Israel.”[6]
Rabin opposed a Palestinian state until he died, and for him, Oslo was never meant to result in Palestinian statehood, it is merely reaffirming Menachem Begin’s idea of autonomy, which was consequently endorsed by the current American administration’s ‘Vision of Peace’.
In every phase of Oslo, the direction was to contain Palestinian autonomy as per Begin’s plan, according to which Rabin viewed as a permanent agreement. Since 1993, this agreement was also an instrument of Israeli domination which has been used by successive Israeli governments for extreme control over all parts of Palestinian livelihoods. Edward Said called it an ‘instrument of Palestinian surrender’[7], labeling it as a ‘final stage, and not an ‘interim one’. He adds that it is ‘flawed’ and ‘unfavorably weighted’, stating that self-determination means freedom, sovereignty, and equality rather than ‘perpetual subservience to Israel’[8], which is apparent twenty-eight years later. Oslo required so many unilateral concessions to Israel. Said was able to foresee the ramifications of these accords, which guaranteed increasing control over the West Bank, through interim rule. The Oslo accords only gave the Palestinians limited power over the West Bank and Gaza, only enough to ‘self-rule’ people living there, and not even close to ever become a sovereign, independent state.
When Oslo was signed, there were more than two hundred Israeli Settlements in the West Bank, with an independent system of roads connecting them to Israel, thus disconnecting the main areas of the West Bank. Over 55% of the Occupied Territories’ total area of land has been taken. In 1995, Rabin’s labor government announced that it plans to confiscate 135 acres of mainly Arab-owned land in East Jerusalem[9]. Sharon and Barak continued on the same path. While in 2014, Netenyahu announced that Israel was seizing 400 hectares of land in the West Bank to build housing for 1,000 Israeli families[10]. This was the largest appropriation in more than 30 years. Consequently, the ‘Vision of Peace’, allows further land domination through the annexation of the Jordan Valley which means total fulfillment of Rabin’s wishes for what a Palestinian state should and should not look like, claiming that Israel will always control the Jordan River, the Boundaries with Egypt and Jordan, the sea, the land between Gaza and Jericho, Jerusalem, and all settlements and roads[11]. This would simply leave Palestinians living in different cantons with their movement, boarders, and livelihoods controlled by Israeli Security.
Economically, the Oslo Accords were the starting point of complete economic Israeli control over the West Bank and Gaza. A few months after Oslo, the Paris Protocol was signed, which has caused damage to any prospects for sovereignty and independence of the Palestinian state[12]. With the creation of a customs union, this allowed Israeli businesses to access the Palestinian market yet restricted Palestinian products entry to the Israeli market, had complete control over tax collection, the Palestinian authority had no control on finances[13].
Today, Israel has direct control over all facets of Palestinian economy including farming, labor, telecommunications. It is important to note that the military occupation of the West Bank also played a vital role in staggering Palestinian economy[14]. In a World Bank study in 2007, the Palestinian economy lost 6% of its GDP, or 229 Million Dollars due to the effects of checkpoints spread in the West Bank[15]. Although the vision of peace endorses Palestinian autonomy and economic prosperity, yet any activities should be conducted under Israeli control, and a so-called ‘state’ would only come to life unless American and Israeli conditions are fulfilled.[16]
Another important initiative that may have set precedent for Trump’s vision is the Abbas-Beilin document. Mahmoud Abbas, the current Palestinian Authority leader has, whether intentionally or not, played a vital role in crippling the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state. As many concessions as the Palestinian negotiators may have given during Oslo, Abbas made sure to follow along the same path, by giving more and more concessions right after. In 1995, secret negotiations took place between him and Yossi Beilin, who at the time was the Israeli minister of Economy and planning, to create a framework for the final status agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis ensuring the birth of a non-sovereign Palestinian State[17].
There was never a signed document since both parties failed to find support for this agreement, which entailed the matters of Palestinian statehood, Jerusalem, Settlements in the West Bank, refugees, borders and security. Twenty-five years later, similar aspects of this secret document have partially come to life in Trump’s Vision, where both parties agree that the State of Palestine should be demilitarized, as well as having a passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The documents also include an agreement to form an Israeli-Palestinian Coordinating Security Commission (CSC), which coordinates all security matters and works as an interim party between Israeli security forces and the Palestinians. According to the Vision, “One of the most significant understandings within those agreements provided for security cooperation between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF).While not perfect, and subject to periodic disputes and even suspension, the security cooperation in recent years has greatly enhanced the stability of the West Bank for both Palestinian and Israeli residents.”[18]
In regards to Jerusalem, Abbas and Beilin agreed on expanding the city to include neighboring suburbs of Abu Dis and Ezariyah, where Abu Dis, will be the capital of the Palestinian state as per the Vision of Peace; naming it ‘Al-Quds’, which is also the name suggested by Abbas-Belin, who stated that East and West Jerusalem should be under complete Israeli control. The document also suggests that the Palestinians recognise Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) as the sovereign capital of the State of Israel, while the Israeli government recognizes Al-Quds, as the sovereign capital of the state of Palestine.
When it came to the Right of Return and implementing UN resolution 194, Abbas and Beilin have considered the implementation of this right an ‘impractical solution’[19], yet ensured the welfare of these refugees; as in ‘compensation and rehabilitation of moral and material losses’. Along the same lines, the Vision claims that ‘there shall be no right of return by, or absorption of, any Palestinian refugee into the State of Israel.’ According to the plan, refugees will be able to do the following:
Be absorbed into the future state of Palestine (with restrictions)
Allowed resettlement plan where Refugees are resettled into the current countries they live in, upon the consent of host countries[20].
As Trump’s ‘Vision of Peace’ derives as an outcome of previous agreements and negotiations, it also ensures the liquidation of the Palestinian struggle to freedom and sovereignty, allowing only the creation of scattered cantons here and there, and calling them a ‘state’. Unfortunately, the American administration and successive Israeli Governments are not the only parties to be held responsible for that; The Palestinian Authority, who is supposed to be the sole representative of the Palestinian people, led by Mahmoud Abbas, is equally (if not more) responsible for the annihilation of the Palestinian cause, since it played a completely opposite role to what it was supposed to do; by giving concessions to Israel and coordinating with Israeli security forces, not to mention its corrupt governance which deprived Palestinians of any opportunity to decent livelihoods.
[1]“The Peace Process: Autonomy Plan for the West Bank and Gaza Strip:December 28, 1977”. Jewish Virtual Library. July 2003, Accessed January 22, 2020. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/autonomy-plan-for-the-west-bank-and-gaza-strip
[2] “The Peace Process: Autonomy Plan for the West Bank and Gaza Strip:December 28, 1977”. Jewish Virtual Library. July 2003, Accessed January 22, 2020. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/autonomy-plan-for-the-west-bank-and-gaza-strip
[3] Peace to Prosperity: A vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People, January 2020 Foreword p.1
[4] Peace to Prosperity:A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People, January 2020, p.20
[5] Peace to Prosperity:A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People, January 2020, p.3
[6] Adelman, Yakir, “Yitzhak Rabin never supported Palestinian statehood”. +972 Magazine , October 27, 2015. Accessed January 15, 2020. https://www.972mag.com/yitzhak-rabin-never-supported-palestinian-statehood/
[7] Said, Edward. “The Morning After” London Review of Books. Vol.15,20. October 21, 1993. Accessed January 16, 2020. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v15/n20/edward-said/the-morning-after
[8] Said, Edward. “The Morning After” London Review of Books. Vol.15,20. October 21, 1993. Accessed January 16, 2020. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v15/n20/edward-said/the-morning-after
[9] “Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.” United Nations. September 22, 1995. Accessed January 23, 2020 https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/745DF0095583F6E08525628300782BCB
[10] “Israel to expropriate 400 hectares of West Bank land.” DW, August 31, 2014. https://www.dw.com/en/israel-to-expropriate-400-hectares-of-west-bank-land/a-17891802
[11] Peace to Prosperity:A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People, January 2020, p. 12
[12] Kamisher, Eliyahu. “The Failure of Economics to Foster Israeli-Palestinian Peace. Australian Institute of International Affairs. 30 July 2014. Accessed January 30, 2020. http://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/news-item/the-failure-of-economics-to-foster-israeli-palestinian-peace/
[13]Hawari, Yara. “Money can’t ‘fix’ Palestine’s occupied economy”. Al-Jazeera, 27 January 2020. Accessed 1 February 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/money-fix-palestine-occupied-economy-190624180405267.html
[14] “The Palestinian economy: Macroeconomic and trade policymaking under occupation”. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. 2012. Accessed February 2, 2020. https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/gdsapp2011d1_en.pdf
[15] Simpson, Cam. “In West Bank, Checkpoints Splinter Palestinian Economy. Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2007. Accessed January 27, 2020. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB119549435612298089
[16] “Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu of the State of Israel in Joint Statements.”
White House January 28, 2020
[17]“ The Beilin-Abu Mazen Document October 31, 1995”. The Reut Institute. October 31, 2004. Accessed 28 January 2020. http://www.reut-institute.org/data/uploads/ExternaDocuments/20050328%20-%20The%20Beilin-Abu%20Mazen%20Document.pdf
[18] Peace to Prosperity:A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People, January 2020, p.3
[19] “ The Beilin-Abu Mazen Document October 31, 1995”. The Reut Institute. October 31, 2004. Accessed 28 January 2020. http://www.reut-institute.org/data/uploads/ExternaDocuments/20050328%20-%20The%20Beilin-Abu%20Mazen%20Document.pdf
[20] Peace to Prosperity:A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People, January 2020, p.9