Justice for Peace
In recent months consistent rhetoric and meetings on the highest diplomatic
levels have led many to be “optimistic” about future negotiations over
Palestine. President Bush held meetings with the leaders of both parties and has
repeated commitments to achieve a lasting peace. Yet the point we are at today
is far behind that at which we stood years ago in Oslo.
There has long been a myth of the viability of the two-state solution and it is
still voiced today. While ending the occupation is the first priority, any final
agreement which neglects the rights of the refugees is not representative of the
Palestinian people. There is no doubt that Palestinians living in the West Bank
and Gaza endure constant suffering and humiliation and their liberation is
awaited by all those who respect human rights. However the issue of Palestine
reaches far deeper than the lands in the green line.
It is imperative that we hold this debate in the Palestinian community. We can
not succumb to the demands or language of the Israelis. Across the globe we are
told about a solution based on “land for peace” and many of us are guilty of
using this same rhetoric. For too long we have spoken in the language of the
occupier and we must reject this wholeheartedly. The only way to direct the
discourse is by speaking in our terms and in our language.
We can not agree to “land for peace”. As Palestinians we must accept nothing
less than justice for peace. The Palestinians have never removed anyone form
their homes, occupied lands, or taken over the livelihood of the Israelis. We
need to stop making it seem as though we are being done a favor. “Land for
peace” is not a good deal and we must stop selling it as such. Have we given in
to the occupier to such an extant that we have forgotten our own history and our
own rights?
Justice for peace is the new framework we need to follow. It properly
contextualizes the reality of the conflict. We are not resisting because we want
land. We resist because we want justice. The point is Palestinians should not
have to be fighting for their land and we cannot allow it to seem so. Justice
for peace means more than the end of the occupation. Though evacuation of the
Israeli armed forces is a positive step it can not be seen as the last one.
Justice for the refugees does not mean retribution, but compensation and the
opportunity to return to the area which they are from if they so choose. The
refugees are not looking to return to homes which no longer exist. It has never
been about the physical structures which existed before 1948 but about the right
of an individual to return to his home.
The fact that some advocates of the Palestinian cause have effectively dropped
the issue of the right of return is a sign of their submission. There can be no
finality to 1948 while refugees still live in limbo, having no citizenship in
the land they call home. There return has not only been proven realistically and
practically feasible but it is necessary for a just and secure final status
agreement.
What Israel has left us with in the West Bank, as a result of a long term plan
of land acquisition, are small pockets of land surrounded by a matrix of control
that includes racist roads, military boundaries, check points and the apartheid
wall. Israel has recognized the demographic threat it faces and has countered it
by an anaconda plan to strangle the Palestinian population into submission.
Settlements, colonies, or “major population centers” have become immovable
realties and their presence further buries the possibility of a free Palestine.
For years now many have been calling for the one-state option. Critics view this
as a change in direction but in reality there has been no significant movement
since Oslo and the pillars of Palestinian needs (the right of return, Jerusalem,
and independence) have not changed. Talking about a one-state solution is not a
change in direction but merely the candid discussion of the concept of justice
that exists in the Palestinian national conscience.
Yousef Munayyer, is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts in
Political Science and History with a minor in Middle East Studies and a
certification in International Relations.
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