Israel will hold its third election in the space of a year on March 2 in an attempt to finally form a new government. This time, the Palestinian voters will have even more reason to turn out and help bring about change.

Israel’s indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week embraced a peace plan from America’s impeached President Donald Trump that calls for the redrawing of the boundaries to “transfer” some 350,000 Palestinians from northern Israel into a proposed Palestinian state.

The “deal of the century” — or “steal of the century,” as critics are calling it — proposes the creation of a Palestine state that includes most of the West Bank (but minus Israel’s illegal settlements and the Jordan Valley), areas of the Negev desert, the Gaza Strip, and the land in northern Israel commonly referred to as the “Triangle.” The Triangle and the Negev lands would be swapped for settlements, although it is unclear whether the swap would be equal or unequal.

The Trump plan outlines a Palestinian state consisting of Bantustans — a word used in apartheid South Africa to define land set aside for black populations — connected by tunnels, a high-speed rail system and private roads. Although the idea sounds abhorrent, it is nothing new for Israel, which, since its founding, has embraced apartheid by providing benefits for its Jewish citizens while denying equal rights to non-Jews.

There about 2 million Palestinians currently living in Israel, making up about 21 percent of the country’s population. The 350,000 Palestinians to be transferred from the Triangle would come from the enclaves as defined by the 181-page Trump plan. It states: “The Triangle communities, which largely self-identify as Palestinian, were originally designated to fall under Jordanian control during the negotiations of the Armistice Line of 1949, but ultimately were retained by Israel for military reasons that have since been mitigated. The vision contemplates the possibility, subject to agreement of the parties, that the borders of Israel will be redrawn such that the Triangle communities become part of the state of Palestine.”

The Palestinians living in Israel have never previously voted to their maximum capacity, with most embracing the Arab world’s self-defeating strategy of totally rejecting anything short of turning the clock back to 1947. The extremists who have silenced moderate voices have always demanded “all or nothing” for all Palestinians. However, this strategy has always resulted in them receiving nothing.

Trump’s plan merely reiterates the reality of what exists today and hasn’t been able to be changed for decades

Ray Hanania

 

The biggest mistake is Palestinians refusing to engage in the process. Just because Trump has proposed a plan and Netanyahu has embraced it, that doesn’t mean the Palestinians have to embrace it. Kushner has repeated his contention that the plan is negotiable if the Palestinians would come to the table.

In truth, the proposals reflect the reality of life today for most Palestinians. For example, although the plan proposes that the Jordan Valley be annexed by Israel, in reality it already controls this land. The sad reality is that no force on Earth has been able to move Israel to withdraw from the Jordan Valley, and there is nothing on the horizon either. The only counter to Israel’s actions since 1967 has been several failed wars, followed by an excessively emotional campaign of empty rhetoric, with which the Palestinians should be tired.

The Trump plan also states that Jerusalem will remain under Israeli control, including East Jerusalem, which was occupied in 1967 and includes holy sites for both Islam and Christianity. The plan “guarantees” Muslim access to Al-Haram Al Sharif, but the reality is that Israel has occupied and maintained an unbreakable headlock on life in East Jerusalem for the past 53 years. Again, nothing has been able to break Israel’s grip on this holy city. And, frankly, if Christian and Muslim Arabs can’t find the courage to fight to free their holy sites in East Jerusalem, what makes anyone think that is going to change?

This plan merely reiterates the reality of what exists today and hasn’t been able to be changed for decades. The only thing that can change is the attitude of Palestinians themselves. For too long they have buried their heads in the sand and screamed, “No, no, no” — a remnant of the Arab League’s “Three No’s of Khartoum,” as defined in 1967: “No Peace with Israel. No Recognition of Israel. No negotiations with Israel.” Well, 50 years later, we can see where that strategy has led.

Palestinians need to stand up and fight for their rights by being engaged in this process. The Trump plan is not a final plan. None of the past plans have ever been final either. But what Trump has done is force Israel to publicly accept the two-state solution — something they abandoned after the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin after he had signed an agreement to create a Palestine state with the late Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat.

Palestine is being erased, except in the rhetoric of the extremists and the nostalgia of the silenced moderates. Moderates need to find their voice, edge out the extremists, and accept a reality in which they will never get it all back.

We can’t turn back the clock, but the Palestinians can build a state that will one day grow, through strategic diplomacy and brilliant leadership, to force Israelis to merge their state with ours.

• Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at www.Hanania.com. Twitter: @RayHanania