There’s a new idea for peace between Israel and its Arab
neighbours: a regional peace plan. Its goal is to make sure both Israelis
and ‘Palestinians’ are pressured to make concessions. Some think it’ll work. Veteran
Middle East journalist Khaled Abu Toameh thinks it won’t work (“Palestinians:
Why a "Regional Peace Process" Will Fail”, gatestoneinstitute,
February 27, 2017). Why? Because of Arab attitudes.
Take a look at this essay. Note that I’ve edited it for this
format. You can read the unedited original at gatestoneinstitute:
With a regional approach to solving the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, as many Arab countries as possible would be directly involved in the
effort to achieve a lasting and comprehensive peace agreement between Israel
and the Palestinians. Advocates of the regional approach believe that Arab
countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have enough
leverage with the Palestinians to compel them accept a peace agreement with
Israel.
But as Toameh points out, Palestinians dismiss this idea. They
see it as just another American-Israeli-Arab conspiracy to liquidate their
cause and force them to unacceptable concessions. Chief among these ‘unacceptable
concessions’ are recognizing Israel as a Jewish state and giving up the demand
for a 'right of return’ for millions of Palestinian refugees into Israel.
What advocates for this regional approach miss is that
Palestinians simply don’t trust their Arab brothers. The Palestinians consider
most Arab leaders and regimes as "puppets" of the US. Worse, Many
Palestinians actually refer to Arab leaders and regimes as the "real
enemies" of the Palestinians. They’d rather have France, Sweden, Norway
and Belgium oversee a peace process with Israel than any of the Arab countries.
Palestinians don’t trust their Arab brothers. They have more
confidence in Western countries than they do in their Arab brothers. That’s why
the Palestinian Authority (PA) headed by Mahmoud Abbas continues to insist on
an international conference as its preferred method for achieving peace in the
region. He doesn’t want Arab countries to have a role in solving the conflict. Such
involvement, Toameh argues, is the last thing Abbas wants (ibid).
Helping Palestinians, meanwhile, may also be the last thing
Arab countries want to do. This is what Hani al-Masri, a prominent Palestinian
political analyst, believes.
Arab countries worry about themselves, al-Nasri says, not Palestinians.
-Jordan worries that a regional solution would promote the
idea of replacing the Hashemite kingdom with a Palestinian state.
-Egypt worries that a "regional approach" could force
it to give up land from Sinai to the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.
-Lebanon worries that a "regional solution" might somehow
force their country to grant full citizenship and equal rights to hundreds of
thousands of Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon.
-Syria is far too preoccupied with own implosion to think
about peace between the Palestinians and Israel. Besides, when have the Syrians
ever expressed concern for Palestinians? Since the beginning of the civil war
five years ago, more than 3,400 Palestinians have been killed and thousands
injured. In addition, more than 150,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee
Syria to neighboring Arab countries or to Europe. The Syrian regime doesn’t
care about its own people, who are being massacred on a daily basis. Why would it
be expected to care about Palestinians?
So, which Arab countries would help to end the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Saudi Arabia? Qatar? Kuwait? Oman? Tunisia?
Morocco? Really?
A regional approach would suggest some kind of Arab-Israel
rapprochement. Abbas isn’t interested in such rapprochement. Abbas's Foreign Minister,
Riad al-Malki, made it clear this week that the Palestinians reject the idea of
a regional solution that would give Arabs any role in the peace process. He
denounced Netanyahu's regional approach as a ‘twisted policy’, adding:
"Netanyahu thinks that by establishing ties with Arab governments he could
force the Palestinians to enter negotiations with Israel." According to al-Malki,
Palestinians wish to see Europeans, not Arabs, at their side when they ‘negotiate’
with Israel.
The Palestinian Foreign Minister is saying that the
Palestinians would rather have the Europeans in their court than their Arab
brothers when it comes to trying to squeeze the life out of Israel. They believe
that this is their best bet.
In any event, Toameh says, any regional solution involving
Arab countries would be doomed to fail. Palestinians and their Arab brethren
hate each other too much. Besides, even if Abbas accepted terms dictated to him
by such an alliance, his own people would reject them.
Toameh’s essay suggests that ‘Palestinian’ leaders don’t just
hate Jews. They also hate other Arabs.
With that kind of hate, can ‘Palestinians’ make peace with
anybody? Don't bet on it.
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