Ramallah -The world is preoccupied in combating terrorism and economic crises, while the Arabs are sunk in interior sectarian wars. No one is concerned in Palestinians, their case, problems, splits, and crises that took place 22 years after non-constant negotiations. Palestinians have learned two things: first, negotiation with Israel is useless and second, they can’t count completely on USA.
With this complicated fact, Palestinians have limited options as they can’t hold an agreement without Israel (main party) and USA’s international sponsor. Thousands of negotiations failed in concluding an agreement on only 22% of the historical territories of Palestine, despite all the attempts by the Palestinian authority.
No for Surrender
The Palestinian official Wasel Abu Yusuf told Asharq Al-Awsat that the authority will not give up and that it didn’t run out of options. He added that the Palestinian authority has adopted a three-pillar strategy that consists on accounting the occupation for its crimes, breaking the separation among Palestinians and returning the national unity, and refusing any negotiations sponsored exclusively by USA, in addition to an inclusive interior and exterior boycott for Israel.
The Compass and Dangers
The Palestinian Central Council, which is the highest legislative authority in Palestine, has decided in 2015 to bind Israel to all its responsibilities as occupation authorities according to the international law, and to ensure that any new resolution from the U.N. will renew the international community’s commitment to the Palestinian case and the Palestinian- Israeli conflict, and to determine a date to terminate the occupation of the Palestinian authorities.
In addition to imposing the Palestinian control on the territories occupied in 1967 including Jerusalem, and to solve the refugees crisis according to the resolution no.194 under the sponsor of the BRICS and Arabic countries.
The council also rejected the idea of a Jewish state with temporary borders, or any concept that will impose a settling or military Israeli existence on the Palestinian territories. It also called to achieve the national reconciliation and supported the popular resistance. Yet the council’s decisions were not applied, waiting for the international congress proposed by France, which is considered the last chance of negotiations between the two parties.
7+2 instead of American “Morphine Right”
In his latest speech before the European Parliament in Brussels, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that he supports the two-state solution, according to which the Palestinian State will be established according to the borders of 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital.
Abbas added that they are looking for an international peace conference based on the international law and legitimacy, the Arab Peace Initiative as adopted in Beirut in 2002, in addition to the composition of a follow-up mechanism and frame like (7+2) as happened in the Iranian case.
Abbas’s speech has reflected a sort of hopelessness from the American role and focused on the president’s support for a bigger European role in any peace settlement in the region. He also lauded the Palestinian-European relations and noted that the cooperation between them is ongoing to build his country’s institutions to emphasize independence on the Palestinian territories.
Commenting on the Palestinian position from Paris’s conference, Abu Yusuf said that all the parties should understand that the Palestinians will not accept another era of bilateral negotiation with an exclusive American sponsor, which uses the policy of “morphine injections” with people.
In Eid Al Fitr speech, the Palestinian president has renewed his refusal for an exclusive American role and claimed the international community to reject the Quartet’s report, and described it as an imbalanced report.
But what if the Palestinians lost their bet on the Europeans?
Palestinian officials cite different ideas including the suspension of the authority, security and economic agreements with Israel, Oslo agreement, ending the security cooperation with the Israeli party, while others call for resistance. Yet, Chief Negotiator, and Member of the PLO’s Executive Committee Saeb Erekat has set a new study that could be used as a roadmap for the current leadership.
Palestinian Roadmap
Erekat said that Mahomoud Abbas demanded from the U.S. Secretary of State to agree on holding an international peace conference to resume negotiations based on a specific timeline and with the participation and supervision of the five permanent member-states in Security Council, Arabic countries and other like Brazil and South Africa, or he will be obliged to implement the Palestinian Central Council’s decisions concerning the relation and cooperation with Israel.
Decision is not for Abbas Only
According to Abu Yusuf and Erekat, the current strategy is based on changing the mechanism of dealing with the international community and Israel following a number of frustrating experiences. The decision is not only for Abbas to take, and Europeans have to show a bigger power facing USA, and the Security Council should show the same facing Israel, while Hamas should express more flexibility toward the Palestinian authority in line with mutual compromises.