Palestinians close to the Palestinian "left-wing' Zionists have put forward a set of proposals known as the Geneva Accords. The most notable Israeli involved is Yossi Beilin, a key figure in the Labour Party in the past, and architect of the Oslo Accords. The most prominent Palestinian involved is PA Minister of Information Yasser Abed Rabo.
The Accords have three key planks:
Territory: For every acre Israel annexed beyond the 1967 borders, the Palestinians will be compensated with an acre of Israeli territory. Israel will therefore keep many large settlements, including at least 2.5 per cent of the West Bank. This will tear up and fragment Palestine, exchanging chunks of Jerusalem, Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron, and Bethlehem for wasteland saturated with nuclear waste in the Negev desert.
Jersualem: Arab areas would pass to Palestine, Jewish' areas to Israel. So, the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall in the Old City would become part of Israel, but 75% would become part of Palestine. This would be enforced by a very heavy •UN presence.
Refugees: While Palestinians do not actually give up their right of return in those exact words, the Accords stipulate "an end to all past claims". It would be left to Israel to decide on the number of refugees allowed to return. Yossi Beilin assured Israel Radio that "no Palestinian will enter Israel under the right of return. There is no right of return." T he Israelis involved are not representative of wider Israeli opinion, but are members of the supposed "Zionist left' (an oxymoron if ever there was one). They have ensured the settlements are legitimised, and large parts of conquered territory are accepted as being naturally Israel' or 'Eretz Yisrael' (greater Israel).
Therefore, even the left of Zionism makes an automatic assumption that the Israeli occupation and various military victories over the years have been legitimate, and start their analysis from this viewpoint.
Alarmingly, Palestine is to have no UN mercenaries for security Given the overwhelming economic disparities between the •US-backed and funded Israel and Palestine, which has suffered so much destruction of its crops, uprooting of olive trees, house demolitions, poisoning of water supply, and other acts of sabotage, it is unsurprising that the Zionists feel more comfortable with an unarmed Palestine.
The crucial issue of water is left curiously unaddressed, conspicuous by its absence.
While these Accords were being published. and discussed, over 100 houses were demolished, leaving 1400 more homeless Palestinians. All this amounts to is a split within the Labour Party along hawk/dove lines, with the nominally dovish wing of the Labour Party possibly looking to merge with the left-liberal Meretz party. Mainstream. Zionist opinion remains with the infamous and thoroughly discredited "Road Map' to nowhere.
Labour veteran Shimon Peres defended the Accords on the grounds that it "lets them dream", meaning that it is more beneficial to Israel to allow the Palestinians to imagine that they can negotiate their way to a just peace. Echoing Peres, Beilin stated that the Accords give "hope to Palestinian hearts".
Within Palestinian political opinion and civil society, the response has been mixed but generally negative. While the PFLP, Hamas, DFLP, and Islamic jihad are completely opposed, the Fatah leadership does not appear to have learned from its past mistakes. The refugee question will be the sticking point for most people.
The Accords also violate international law. UN Security Council Resolution 242 states explicitly that the acquisition of territory by war is inadmissible. This means that Israel's occupation of Palestine must end completely, with all soldiers and setters out of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
Israel gains everything and Palestine nothing from these Accords. Israel now has even lower demands to hold Palestine to. All the PA has done is to further alienate its people and indulge in phantom talks with elements of the Zionist opposition. Meanwhile, the Zionist state continues to devastate - Rafah and implant nev Bantustans all over Palestine
page 17 of the scan
soclalist resistance Winter 2003 17