When I saw this article on the Worldnet Daily (WND), I immediately wondered why it was not front page news in the mainstream media. Its subtitle was, Plan drafted by veteran politician would forfeit strategic West Bank. Given that Israel has steered away from any proposals that gave back the West Bank, which is the only option to a sovereign Palestinian nation, it was incredibly difficult to accept that this plan came from no other than,
Shimon Peres.
Peres, who is presently Israel’s president, took on the past role of Israel’s dove, but more than any other politician, he has singularly done more over the years to nullify Palestinian aspirations for their own sovereign state. And that was precisely because he always attempted to present himself as the conciliator, the man of peace who had feelings for Palestinian aspirations. Just recently, on the Charlie Rose Show, however, he reiterated the fact that Israel had to fend off “seven armies” in 1948 in order to maintain its own sovereignty, an obvious piece of propaganda Israel had been selling for generations. Left out by Peres were details about the now confirmed ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population that occurred beforehand, which stimulated Arab countries to attack Israel, as they watched hundreds of thousands of Palestinians refugees crossing their borders.
History is only now just catching up with Israel. For that reason, perhaps, we are seeing more self reflection on the part of some of Israel’s elite politicians, particularly, the leftward leaning ones, like Barak, that Palestinian evilness is a charade, that Israel must concede that the military occupation/colonization can not be hidden much longer, and that the process to annexing Judea and Samaria is no longer viable. Its only result would be a slide into Apartheid, as Jimmy Carter recently warned.
So perhaps Peres has finally come around, and as president of Israel, is beginning to talk seriously about a Palestinian state. This article by Aaron Klein appeared on August 26, 2007: Palestinian state outline ‘coming by November’
JAFFA, Israel – Newly installed Israeli President Shimon Peres hopes to achieve the outline of a final status deal with the Palestinians before an international conference in November, the veteran politician said.
Israeli diplomatic sources told WND earlier this month Peres quietly drafted a plan for the Jewish state to evacuate and transfer to the Palestinians nearly the entire West Bank and several Arab Israeli cities located within territory that undisputedly is Israel’s according to the international community.
Although the latter suggestion may appear to be a concession to proponents of the transfer of Palestinian Israelis, it is hard to imagine that they would not prefer to be part of their own state. On the other hand, right of return of Palestinian refugees, guaranteed by UN Resolution 194, enacted only six months after the 1948 war, remains a vibrant concern.
The official role of president of Israel is generally limited largely to ceremonial matters; the president is not allowed to lead foreign policy. Yet what the WorldnetDaily claims is that the U.S.-brokered month biweekly meetings between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are being utilized to draft the outline of a permanent status solution, in spite of news reports to the contrary. These solutions, it is said, is scheduled to be aired at the November summit, which is being organized by the U.S. Peres is deeply involved in this summit.
Here is what Peres said about the specifics of his plan:
Last week the Arab media reported Peres held a secret meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad at his official residence in Jerusalem.
(snip)
Peres presented Fayyad with his plan for Israel to evacuate the West Bank…(snip)
Peres’ plan calls for Israel to hand 97 percent of the West Bank over to Abbas, with Israel retaining a small number of the territory’s Jewish communities. In exchange for Israel keeping some land, the Jewish state will give the PA control of Arab Israeli cities north of Tel Aviv which, together with the evacuated West Bank territory, would amount to the equivalent of 100 percent of the West Bank.
Although the article remarks on difficulties that the Peres plan would entail, his apparent recognition of what needs to be done, namely Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank, is a major concession, given Israel’s hard line and rightward drift politically. Peres also called for direct negotiations with Syria, which would entail giving up the Golan Heights.
Although Peres was considered the driving force of the 1993 Oslo Accords, and even developed the Peres Peace Center, the ruse of the generous offer in 2000 during the Barak government cannot be forgotten. Peres involvement in the “invade Iran” drive also places his dove status in question.
However, we will apparently have to await the US sponsored peace conference in November to determine what effect Peres will have on the peace process.
Lest one think that Peres was the first Israel politician of note to believe that withdrawal from the West Bank is critical to Israel’s peace and stature in the world, Ehud Barak made the same proposal on the Charlie Rose Show, January 25, 2005. His view is available on Google Video (half way through the show):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5228207767374451085&q=barak
Barak, however, still trails Netanyahu in the polls for PM in the next Israeli election. If America were smart, it would send political help in the form of consultants, lest America has to undergo and finance another generation of strife in the Middle East. Likewise, Israeli censorship and propaganda in the US is cracking at the seams and by another generation, the American public will find itself unwilling to support Israeli occupation/colonialism of another people. We just like underdogs, and can’t help it.
A further interesting aspect of this WND article is a statement regarding Olmert’s apparent backstage efforts with Abbas to soften his old Likud leanings. One wonders if he is not beginning to listen to his wife, a member of Women in Black, or his rebellious daughter, often seen protesting her father’s policies on the streets of Tel Aviv, or his Refusnik sons. Time will tell.
