Palestinians shouldn't accept subservience
Ida Audeh, Boulder
Letters to the Editor
February 11, 2002
The Feb. 1 Speakout column by
Anti-Defamation League official Bobbie Towbin, "Respecting Israel's rights will
end troubles," recycles all the sterile propaganda of the pro-occupation
activists. I don't think the issue is whether Israel has a right to exist, but
rather whether it can and should exist as a predator state, at the expense of
the indigenous population and the neighboring countries.
The 34-year occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syrian Golan Heights, the only ongoing occupation today, is illegal and immoral. American blacks did not accept being second-class citizens in this country; South African blacks did not accept subservience under apartheid. Why should the Palestinians?
Towbin's claim that Yasser Arafat rejected Ehud Barak's generous offer deserves a response. The Palestinians are negotiating for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which constitute 22 percent of historic Palestine, a huge compromise. Barak wanted to retain 69 settlements in the territories, indefinite Israeli civil and military control over 10 percent, and Israeli control of all border crossings.
The net result? Palestinians would have no sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem. They could have a patchwork of cantons with no territorial contiguity, unable to absorb any Palestinian refugees, with pockets of lawless settlers in its midst. Israelis could continue to place Palestinian towns under siege, just as they do today.
The Barak plan restores maybe 65 percent of the 22 percent of historic Palestine to Palestinian control. Even many Israelis concede that Barak's "generous offer" is no more than a demand for unconditional Palestinian surrender. Even the incompetent Palestinian leadership could see that.
Above: Banner hung on the outside walls of President Arafat's compound in the
besieged Palestinian city of Ramallah by international civilians on
Friday 14 December 2001 as a message to their respective
governments, the Israeli people and the world.
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