Palestinians Against Fake Peace Talks

by Stephen Lendman

Palestinians want genuine peace. They want their fundamental rights respected. They want long denied liberation. Activists reject ongoing talks. More on this below.

Israel wants unchallenged control. It wants unconditional surrender.

It wants militarized occupation harshness continued. It wants Palestinians denied all rights.

Washington provides full support. Kerry is no honest peace broker. Nor Netanyahu. Nor longtime Israeli collaborators.

They represent Palestine illegitimately. They have no credibility whatever. They sold out before. They did so for special benefits they derived. Another surrender is likely.

The charade continues. Peace in our time remains elusive. It's a convenient illusion. Palestinians have no legitimate partner. They never did. For sure not now.

On January 26, Haaretz headlined "Kerry to present Israeli-Palestinian framework deal 'within weeks.' "

He and Netanyahu met in Davos. They attended the 2014 World Economic Forum. They addressed participants.

Previous articles discussed their deplorable comments. One lie followed another throughout them.

Privately they discussed Kerry's framework agreement. It's duplicitous. It's entirely one-sided. It's a work in progress.

No legitimate Palestinian leader would accept it. Abbas is a longtime traitor. It remains to be seen what he'll do. Odds favor Oslo 2.0.

Nothing will be resolved. Occupation harshness will continue. So will settlement expansions.

Netanyahu was clear and unequivocal saying: "I do not intend to evacuate any settlements or uproot a single Israeli."

A previous article discussed Israel's likely Jordan Valley annexation. It comprises 30% of the West Bank. It's 90% Judaized.

In 1967, Jordan Valley Palestinian residents numbered around 320,000. Less than 60,000 remain.

Israel controls over 60% of the West Bank. It demands Jerusalem as its exclusive capital. Netanyahu and like-minded hardliners want all valued Judea and Samaria areas annexed.

Kerry endorses worthless land swaps in return. He wants them legitimizing the illegitimate. His plan assures leaving Palestinians worse off than ever.

He'll call it success. So will Netanyahu. Expect Abbas to accept what demands rejection. How Palestinians react remains to be seen.

On Friday, deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf lied saying Kerry's plan isn't a US one. "The framework that we are in discussions with is based on our discussions with both sides and the parties leading up to this point."

It's provisions "will guide the discussion on all of the issues going forward."

It's a US/Israeli one. Palestinians negotiators are being pressured to accept it.

Netanyahu lied saying Kerry only offered ideas so far. What Israel wants it's getting. Major issues are agreed on.

Fine tuning continues. Expect months more of the same. Maybe longer. Rights mattering most to Palestinians are denied.

The include ending occupation, genuine peace, Palestinian independence, control of their borders, offshore waters and air space, the right of return, illegal settlements, resource rights, and East Jerusalem as their exclusive capital.

Kerry's plan is more frame-up than framework. He said Palestinians will have an independent state.

False! They'll have isolated bantustans on worthless scrub land.

Israel will be left more secure, he said. It's a ruse to continue occupation harshness. It legitimizes annexation of over 60% of the West Bank.

Continued land theft takes more. When Israel's Apartheid Wall is completed, additional territory will be declared part of Israel.

Its only security problem is one it creates. No legitimate one exists. Nor regional threats.

An eventual full, phased, final Israeli army withdrawal is coming, said Kerry. False! Palestine will stay occupied. Israel will control its borders, coastal waters, air space and resources.

Kerry addressed diaspora Palestinians. He promised a just agreed on solution. False again! Since 1948, their legitimate right of return was denied. It remains so.

Nothing in Kerry's plan suggests equitable conflict resolution. He claims its terms end it and all claims. It mutually recognizes Palestine for Palestinians and Israel for Jews, he said.

It bears repeating. It's entirely one-sided. It gives Israel everything it wants. It denies fundamental Palestinian rights.

It leaves them worse off than ever. It makes ending conflict impossible. It assures continued Palestinian suffering.

Its negotiators are coming to Washington. They'll arrive this week. They'll meet with Kerry. Rhetorically they reject his terms. They fundamentally accepted them much earlier.

According to Haaretz:

"Both sides have come out with aggressive statements to make the other side derails the talks and bears responsibility for their failure."

Public comments belie what's agreed on privately. Fine-tuning continues. Abbas wants Palestinians fooled. Oslo 2.0 is disastrous. It's unconditional surrender. Expect him to call it success.

On January 26, Palestinians demonstrated across the West Bank. They held marches. They challenged ongoing peace talks. They denounced them as fake.

They called them farcical. They make conflict resolution impossible. Hundreds rallied in Hebron and Nablus. Talks intend to "liquidate the question of Palestine and prolong the Israeli occupation," they said.

Palestinian People's Party central committee member Fahmi Shahin called on PA officials to "immediately stop peace negotiations and reject US sponsorship to these talks."

America's proposal "to accept the Israeli occupation as a fact must be rejected," he stressed.

He urged PA officials to oppose recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. He demands they support Palestinians rights.

He wants Israel's occupation ended. Diaspora Palestinians right of return must be respected. Conflict resolution depends on granting Palestinians all rights sovereign independent states enjoy.

In Nablus, hundreds rallied at the Martyrs roundabout. Kerry's plan prevents conflict resolution. It makes current conditions worse.

Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine political bureau member Ramzi Rabah said Kerry's drawn out talks give Israel more time to steal land, dispossess Palestinians and expand settlements.

He wants a new status quo worse then the current one. He's destroying any possibility of Palestinian liberation with East Jerusalem its exclusive capital.

He demanded PA officials categorically reject his ideas. He called for ending sham talks. He called them "a vicious circle of futile negotiations."

Israel alone benefits. Palestinian rights are being compromised. The longer talks are drawn out, the closer they are to being beyond fixing.

Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi called ongoing talks a slippery slope to "zero results."

He believes armed resistance is the only possible way to change things. "We must go back to initiating and become part of a circle of action," he said.

"If we become part of this circle, many things will change. I'm talking about all kinds of resistance, but within a unified Palestinian framework that is agreed to by all sides of Fatah and factions outside it."

"As part of our plan, we will choose the correct form of resistance and act accordingly."

"The big explosion in Palestine is coming," he believes. "All of Israel's actions have placed the Palestinian public under immense pressure. They have no choice but to explode in the face of the occupation."

"We know what the Israelis and Americans are suggesting" in private talks. "So far, the negotiations are taking place only with the Americans, not the Israelis, and the Americans are liars."

"There is no framework agreement. It’s a lie. Even if Kerry (presents) an agreement, Palestinians will reject it."

"There will be a vote, either inside Fatah or among the Palestinian leadership, and the American proposals will be rejected."

"Anyone who thinks there will be a (lsraeli/US recognized legitimate) state is sorely mistaken."

Under current conditions, he added, Palestinian liberation is impossible. Don't expect it in the next two decades.

US, other Western, and complicit Arab states pressured Palestinians to negotiate against their will, he added.

PLO secretary general Yasser Abed Rabbo said much the same thing. He called current talks futile. They fall short of even agreeing on a framework deal.

Palestinians can't accept his ideas. They're vague. They're entirely one-sided.

"Israel revealed its cards during the talks, and all the illusions that existed in the beginning have since drowned at sea," he added.

Talks began last July. Zero progress was made, he said. Everything Palestinians most want they're denied. Israeli demands alone are met.

It's pointless to continue what can't work, he said. It's futile without ending occupation harshness. It's impossible while Israel employs brutal force.

On January 25, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian. They injured five others. They used live fire in response to stone throwing.

In the week ending January 22, Israeli warplanes attacked Gaza eight times. Two deaths were reported. So were at least four  injuries.

Israeli forces commit repeated high crimes against humanity. They murder Palestinians in cold blood. They kill young children.

From January 16 - 22, they conducted 73 incursions into Palestinian communities. Doing so reflects state terror.

At least 44 Palestinian civilians were arrested. They included 10 children and three women. They committed no crimes.

Israeli naval forces opened fire on Palestinian fishermen. No casualties were reported. Several arrests were made.

Israeli violates international humanitarian law with impunity. It does so repeatedly. It does it multiple times daily.

So-called peace talks ignore these abuses. They're crimes against humanity. Palestinian negotiators should prioritize ending them.

They're not discussed. Nor settler violence. Nor the impossibility of peace with Netanyahu's fascist government.

In November 2013, the General Assembly declared 2014 as the "Year of Solidarity with Palestinians." Why this year? Why not every year? Why not action, not words accomplishing nothing?

Israel's UN ambassador Ron Prosor responded as expected. He's a right wing extremist. He fronts for Israeli lawlessness. His comments are way over-the-top. He turns truth on its head. He does it repeatedly.

He accused General Assembly members of "oiling the Palestinian propaganda machine."

"Rather that putting an end to Palestinian incitement, the UN is now the primary platform for Palestinian propaganda," he claimed.

"The organization allocates endless resources to advancing lies and half-truths of the Palestinian leadership instead of dealing with pressing issues facing the international community and the Middle East region."

He claimed encouraging solidarity with Palestinians fosters a climate of anti-Israeli sentiment.

He blamed Palestinians for Israeli crimes. Netanyahu does it repeatedly. Peace is elusive as ever. Palestinian liberation remains a distant dream. It's impossible under current conditions.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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