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Australia should recognise Palestine to push for peace with Israel

Australia should recognise Palestine to push for peace with Israel

27 July 2017 in 2017
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Please find below the text from an article written by H.E. Ambassador Abdulhadi for The Australian newspaper:

 

The push for recognition of the State of Palestine within the Labor Party is too momentous to be discussed solely in the context of factional infighting. Support for the Palestinian right to self-determination transcends factional and partisan divides. The merits of recognising this right speak for themselves.

The push for recognition is backed by overwhelming support among the Labor rank and file as well as among Australians more broadly. A Roy Morgan poll this year showed that 73 per cent of Australians support recognising Palestinian statehood.

This widespread support stems from the fact self-determination is a right enshrined in international law, international treaties and UN resolutions. The right of Palestinians to self-determination is not one of the issues that is open to negotiation with Israel, the international community or ALP factions.

By recognising the Palestinian state, Australia will recognise the right of Palestinians to freely determine their political status and pursue economic, social and cultural development within their state — the foundations of self-determination.

Recognition will solidify Australia’s reputation as a good international citizen and increase its soft power by aligning its position with that of international law, the UN and the vast majority of the international community.

More than two-thirds of the world (138 states) have already recognised Palestine, including like-minded states such as Sweden and the Vatican.

It is time for Australia to add its name to this growing list.

Australian recognition will contribute to the peace process between Israel and Palestine by creating a more equal balance of power — a necessary condition for achieving a sustainable solution to the conflict. It also will provide hope to the Palestinian people, symbolising that their struggle for self-determination has not been forgotten by the international community.

This symbolic gesture is urgently needed, as the hope for peace is being squeezed out of Palestinians by the tightening grip of the Israeli occupation.

Pro-Palestine is not synonymous with anti-Israel. It is not a zero-sum game. Continuation of a meaningful peace process, aided by recognition, is in the long-term interests of both nations, despite the views of the incumbent hardline Israeli government.

In the words of eminent just-war theorist Michael Walzer, “good borders make good neighbours”. Finding a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute will contribute to peace and stability in the region. The Palestinian cause will no longer be able to be hijacked by extremist groups for their own agendas. In the age of globalised terror threats, this will contribute to global security more broadly.

Unfortunately, direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine have failed.

The vastly unequal balance of power between the two nations means that Israel has sought to dictate, not negotiate, terms. As a basis for the Oslo Accords and the two-state solution, Palestinians made a historic compromise — to accept a state on 22 per cent of the total land area of historic Palestine. They cannot be asked to make compromise after compromise as they watch their land torn out from under them. Any solution based on unequal terms will not be sustainable.

Every day, additional Israeli settlements, unequivocally declared illegal by international law, are being built on public and privately owned Palestinian land. These land grabs have escalated dramatically, with the announcement of 5500 new settlement houses already this year.

Through its illegal settlement project, Israel is imposing a one-state reality.

If Palestinians were to be granted equal civil and political rights in one state, creating a secular and democratic state for Israelis and Palestinians alike, then problem solved.

Unfortunately, this will never be acceptable to Israel, as it is a nation founded on its exclusive Jewish character.

The alternative, which is the blatant intention of Israel’s present government, is the continuation of the status quo and the creation of one apartheid state.

South African international law expert and former judge at the International Court of Justice John Dugard believes the threshold into an apartheid state was crossed years ago. The moral repugnance of such a state needs no explanation.

This is why the two-state solution remains the only immediate solution.

Perhaps in the future, once the occupation has ended and Israelis and Palestinians have engaged in large-scale reconciliation, some form of federation between the two states can be negotiated.

Until then, self-determination for Palestinians in their own sovereign, democratic and secular state is the goal.

Australian recognition of Palestine is another brick in the path to this goal.

Certainly, the present state of governance in Palestine is by no means perfect. Palestinian politics is characterised by deep divisions. However, the Palestinian Authority has done a remarkable job in providing vital services to the Palestinian people and building internationally lauded institutions, given the immense con­straints of the occupation. These achievements have been recognised widely by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the UN, the EU and the US, among others.

For democratic institutionalisation and the state-building process to continue, the occupation must end. Palestine recognised the State of Israel in 1993 and has reiterated this recognition on multiple occasions. In 1947, the UN partition plan for Palestine proposed two states for two peoples. In 1949, Australia recognised one of these states. It is time to recognise the other.

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