US President Donald Trump has done what no other US president has done by unilaterally declaring Occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. He has ripped the Band-Aid off from the wound caused by the elusive dream of the Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The pain was sharp but at least the worst is over. This is not to say that there will not be more pain and misery to come but at least the Palestinians have a clarity and closure that was previously clouded by hopes and empty promises of a future state.
All previous US administrations sold the Palestinians on such a dream but never delivered and perhaps never planned to deliver. Instead, the Band-Aid was being slowly pulled every day, the pain was minimal but it was constant. Although Palestinian pain rarely made the mainstream news around the world –Israeli crimes were committed every day. The injustice of occupation, illegal colony building, extra judicial executions, curbing freedom of movement, and freedom of enterprise was constant.
All of these crimes were committed under the watchful eye of Washington, who advocated openly for the two-state solution, all the while giving Israel their annual $6 billion in aid yearly. Surely, at times, they used strict rhetoric discouraging Israel from colony expansion, but, to use the American expression, they never “put their money where their mouth was”.
The US was never an honest broker for peace and Trump’s move has gifted the Palestinians the clarity they have been searching for all these years. Now the Palestinians are free to explore alternative options which could greater benefit their cause going forward. To anyone who has eyes, Israel’s colony expansion, separating Palestinian villages and drilling holes into the promised Palestinian state, was an obvious indication that they were never going to get one.
Change in tactics
For the first time in 26 years, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told the New York Times he no longer believed in the two-state solution, instead calling for a single state where Palestinians would enjoy the same civil and voting rights as Israelis. “Our struggle should now focus on equal rights,” he said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has in fact warned in the past that this was an option. This prospect terrifies Israel, which would lose its majority due to the fast growing Palestinian population.
Whether the Palestinians will formally abandon the two-state solution, remains unclear. But already, it has started discussing serious alternative paths including, halting contacts with the US consulate in Occupied Jerusalem, closing the PLO office in Washington and filing a complaint to the UN Security Council over the US plans to move its embassy.
International Prosecution
The Palestinians could also try to press prosecutors at the International Criminal Court to charge Israeli leaders with war crimes over their assaults on Gaza and illegal colony building. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refrained from such a step until now, under apparent US pressure that such actions would “hurt” peace efforts. But now, his hands are no longer tied.
In 2012, the PLO fought tooth and nail to upgrade their status at the United Nations from permanent observer to a non-member observer state -the same position the Vatican holds- a move that incensed Israel. When the PLO joined the International Criminal Court three years later, Israel huffed and puffed again. Israel is not a member of the ICC, but the country’s military and civilian leaders could now face charges if they are believed to have committed crimes on Palestinian territory.
Europe as a counterweight
Alternatively, the Palestinians could turn to their European sponsors for help. European states in the past were relegated by Washington to the role of paymaster, sending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to support the Palestinian self-rule government and help manage the long-running conflict.
Israeli destruction of schools or hospitals, built by European aid money, has enraged European leaders who often take a more critical stance against Israel at the United Nations. If push comes to shove, European states could unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state which could be echoed by other countries around the world.
The EU's top diplomat pledged on Thursday to reinvigorate diplomacy with Russia, the United States, Jordan and others to ensure Palestinians have a capital in Jerusalem. The European Union, a member of the Middle East Quartet along with the United States, the United Nations and Russia, believes it has a duty to make its voice heard as the Palestinians' biggest aid donor and Israel's top trade partner.
"The European Union has a clear and united position. We believe the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states and with Jerusalem as the capital of both," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference.
She met Jordan's foreign minister on Friday December 8, while she and EU foreign ministers would discuss Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels on Monday December 11. Mogherini, who also spoke to Abbas, threw her weight behind Jordan's King Abdullah, saying he was "a very wise man" that everyone should listen to as the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Occupied Jerusalem.
Trump's decision stirred outrage across the Arab and Muslim world and alarm among U.S. allies and Russia because of Jerusalem's internationally disputed status, and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas urged Palestinians to abandon peace efforts and launch a new uprising against Israel.
Grassroots movements
What Israel fears the most perhaps, is an all-out war on its economy. The grassroots movement worldwide called Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) has advocated sanctions on companies who operate or do business in occupied territories. The movement has been so effective that the American-Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC), the powerful Israeli lobby in America, declared open war on BDS, and designated fighting it as its top priority. BDS could potentially kick Israel where it hurts the most -its economy- which is why it has dedicated an exorbitant amount of resources to fight it.
Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights activist and the author of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights penned an opinion piece in 2014 in the New York Times, where he states, “The Israeli government’s view of BDS as a strategic threat reveals its heightened anxiety at the movement’s recent spread into the mainstream.”
He further goes on to say that Israel is deeply apprehensive about the increasing number of American Jews who vocally oppose its policies - especially those who are joining or leading BDS campaigns. “Israel is also threatened by the effectiveness of the non-violent strategies used by the BDS movement, including its Israeli component, and by the negative impact they have had on Israel’s standing in world public opinion.
What is clear by now—to anyone paying attention— is that endless negotiations mainly serve Israel by providing diplomatic cover for its expansion of colonies on occupied lands. Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, said on Wednesday, any talks going forward now with the US are ‘irrelevant’ adding that the ‘peace process is finished’.
Already the Palestinians have the undeniable moral high ground and support from a majority of countries around the world. This is indicated by the massive support it receives at the General Assembly. Even the Security Council has tried to rein Israeli violations of international law in, only to be vetoed by their trust ally, the United States. All the Palestinians have to do now is turn that momentum in their favor and now they must focus -without distractions of useless peace talks- to achieve this at all costs.
