Abbas Accepts Occupation Harshness

by Stephen Lendman

He's a longtime Israeli collaborator. He's a tailor-made stooge. He's Palestine's Quisling. He's straight from central casting.

Israel rigged his 2005 election. He served illegitimately from day one.

In January 2009, his term expired. He refuses to call new elections. He was involved in Oslo peace talks. He took full credit for negotiating Palestine's surrender.

He never left Tunis. Arafat had final say. Oslo was Palestine's Versailles. It was unilateral surrender.

Palestinians got nothing in return renouncing armed struggle, recognizing Israel's right to exist, and agreeing to leave major unresolved issues for later final status talks. They're still waiting.

Issues awaiting resolution include ending occupation, Palestinian self-determination, the right of return, settlements, borders, water and other resource rights, as well as East Jerusalem as Palestine's exclusive capital.

A new Palestinian Authority (PA) was established. Arafat agreed to enforce Israeli authority.

Subsequent agreements followed. The West Bank was divided into three parts. Each has distinct borders, administrations, and security rules.

They include Areas A, B and C. A fourth for Greater Jerusalem was established. A complicated system works as follows:

PA officials control Area A. They do so for internal security, public order, and civil affairs.

They have civil control over Area B. It's for hundreds of West Bank towns and villages.

Israel retains overriding authority for its own interests. It's for alleged settler safety. It's for whatever justification Israel claims.

It has full control over Area C. It's the West Bank's most valued

land. It's over 60% of the territory. It includes water, its other

resources, and settlements.

They're connected by special by-pass Jews-only roads. Israel

keeps Gazans besieged. Doing so constitutes slow-motion

genocide.

More West Bank land is stolen daily. It's for settlement construction, military areas, no-go zones, nature reserves, commercial areas, by-pass roads, tourist sites, checkpoints, and other barriers.

Israel considers Jerusalem its exclusive capital. It violates

international law claiming it. Land-grabbing is official Israeli policy.

Since collaborating on Oslo, Abbas did nothing to stop it. He

conspires with Israel against his own people. He's done so for more than 20 years.

His title is president. His role is enforcer. Oslo was no peace plan. It was unilateral surrender. Israel fielded an array of experts.

They were supported by maps, documents, statistics, and at least 17 drafts before both sides agreed. Palestinians were limited to three PLO representatives.

None spoke English. None had international or other legal training. None matched Israel's expertise. None matched its Machiavellian intentions. None fought for Palestinian rights.

Abbas took credit for what Arafat arranged. He was way out of

his league. Final terms left Palestinians much worse off than before. Conditions deteriorated markedly through today.

Abbas is best known for betraying his own people. He's been doing it for over 20 years. Israel got various deals it wanted. Palestinians got occupation harshness.

Abbas is at it again. In late January, he agreed to militarized

occupation for three years. He did so in return for no-peace peace. He claimed Palestinians will eventually control their own territory.

Oslo and subsequent agreements made similar promises.

Palestinians are still waiting. They don't believe peace is possible.

Not with traitors like Abbas in charge. He proposed more.

On February 2, The New York Times headlined "Palestinian Leader Seeks NATO Force in Future State," saying:

He proposed indefinite US-led NATO occupation. He did so for a future Palestinian state.

He favors foreign troops "positioned throughout the territory, at all crossings, and within Jerusalem," said the Times.



What responsible leader would hand over his country to foreign

occupiers. Who'd want soldiers on civilian streets.

In neighborhoods. In communities. Able to enter private homes on demand. Able to enforce military rights over their own.  

Who'd give away that much control. Who'd do it unilaterally. Who'd assure business as usual.

At the same time, Abbas said Israeli forces could stay up to five

years. More than his late January three year proposal.

Maybe next week, hell make it 10. Maybe he'll want NATO staying forever.

Maybe he plans unconditional surrender 2.0. He welcomed NATO for "a long time," he said. To occupy wherever it wants. At all crossings. Throughout Jerusalem.

                              

They can stay, he said. To "reassure the Israelis." "To protect us." What about what Palestinians want?

Who says they'll accept foreign occupiers? They've waited over 46 years to be free from Israeli ones.

It's hard imagining their willingness to have US troops replace

them. Why would they want Israeli ones staying another five years. Or 10. Or longer.

Hamas categorically rejected Abbas proposal. A published statement said:

His "ideas do not reflect" what Palestinians want. Their "national

consensus rejects negotiations that violate (their) rights."

Hamas official Salah Bardaweel added:

His "statements are a preface for liquidating the Palestinian cause and preventing the right of return for Palestinian refugees."

"The biggest disaster would be to recognize Israel as a Jewish

state. This would pave the way for the expulsion of more

Palestinians from their historic land."

According to senior Hamas official Wasfi Qabaha, Abbas's proposal would be "a new Israeli occupation under a different label and shape." Foreign troops in Palestine is totally unacceptable, he stressed.

Islamic Jihad expressed the same sentiment, saying:

"Just as we have fought against the Oslo process in the past, so

will we destroy any accord that legitimizes the Zionist occupation of Palestine," senior group official Ahmad al-Medlal said.

He urges a third Intifada. "Resistance is the best response to the occupation's crimes against" millions of Palestinians.

It doesn't have to be armed struggle. It can be sustained nonviolent opposition to longstanding injustice. Passivity is no option. Indifference assures continued business as usual.

Kerry wants it maintained. He wants NATO troops involved. He

wants Palestinians demilitarized. He wants them defenseless. He wants them more vulnerable than now.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat is another longtime Israeli collaborator. He met with Kerry in Washington. He reported no progress made.

Talks have been stillborn for decades. They aren't for peace.

They're same old, same old. They assure continuation of the worst of occupation harshness.

They make conditions worse ahead than now. Kerry is no

peacemaker. He's no honest broker.

He one-sidedly favors Israel. It's not enough. Netanyahu demands more. He'll pick and choose from Kerry's guidelines.

"Israel will not be obligated to agree with everything the Americans put forth in the framework agreement," he said.

"I don't want another terror state on our borders," he added. What he means is he doesn't want real Palestinian self-determination.

He demands Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. As

"the national homeland of the Jewish people," he said.

In peace talks going back to Carter's Camp David Accords, this

never once surfaced.

Francis Boyle compared Netanyahu's ultimatum to Washington

demanding Iran recognize America as a "White Anglo-Saxon

Protestant (WASP) State as a condition for negotiating"

rapprochement.

"(S)uch demands are racist and premeditated non-starters," Boyle stressed. Accepting them would "denationaliz(e)" 1.7 million Arab Israeli citizens.

It would make ethnically cleansing them easier. It would

"set the stage for their mass expulsion," said Boyle. It's

Netanyahu's "final solution."

It's "racist and genocidal." It would destroy any hope for diaspora Palestinians to return. It would "doom all prospects for peace forever," Boyle stressed.

It would "pave the way" for creating "Greater Israel" Palestinian

domination. Netanyahu can transform Israel into a Jewish state any time he wishes, Boyle explained.

He can do it without Palestinian consent. Every state can change its name freely. Congo became Zaire then back to Congo.

Israel can call itself "Jewistan - the State of the Jews," said Boyle. Doing so would automatically replace Israel in the UN System, all other international organizations, as well as all bilateral and multilateral treaties to which Israel is a contracting party.

Given Israel's genocidal history, "Jewistan is (its) perfect new

moniker," said Boyle. From its creation, it always "functioned as

Jewistan - the world's Bantustan for the Jews."

Israel might as well "own up to its racist birthright." Make it official, said Boyle. Acknowledge what everyone knows.

Strip off its fake democratic facade. Reveal its ugly face officially. "Palestinians should sign nothing with Jewistan/Israel and let this Bantustan for Jews collapse (under) its own racist and genocidal weight. Good riddance," said Boyle.

Peace is impossible without world pressure demanding

longstanding Palestinian injustice end.

Or as long as collaborationist Palestinian negotiators are involved. Or America manipulating things for Israel. Or terms agreed on less than fully compliant with international law.

None of these conditions exist. Peace remains a convenient

illusion. Continued occupation harshness makes it impossible.

Palestinian suffering continues. US/Israeli collusion permits it. So do collaborationist Palestinian negotiators. Nothing ahead looks hopeful. Some day perhaps, not now.

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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