‘Peace’ plan a hammer blow for Palestinians

JEWISH Voice for a Just Peace — Ireland (JVJP) stands with the Palestinians who reject the Trump-Netanyahu ‘peace’ proposals.

As Jewish people living in Ireland, we condemn these plans unconditionally as a further violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people and join the many Jewish and Israeli voices who oppose them. These include Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for Justice for Palestine, the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions and B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights, which called the “deal of the century”, “not peace, apartheid”.

The proposals are a further step towards a repartition of Palestine and recognition of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Israeli territory would expand to 85% of the country, leaving the Palestinians, who are both the indigenous and majority population, with only 15% of land.

Palestinians will be left with sterile slivers of territory, not unlike the Bantustans of South Africa’s apartheid regime. These areas will be isolated from each other, have no border with Arab states and no control over water and other vital resources. Palestinians also face the loss of Jerusalem as a religious, cultural and political centre.

Trump and Netanyahu propose to deal with the refugee problem by refusing the right to return to Palestinians, yet few, if any, of the 700,000 illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied territories will be removed and control of the massive settlement blocks, highways and military bases will remain with Israel in violation of international law.

In response to this apartheid plan, we call for:

• A ban on trade with Israel’s illegal settlements in Palestine;

• An end to the Irish arms trade with Israel and EU funding of Israeli military manufacturers and;

• Free speech and protection of the right to engage in boycott, divestment and sanction campaigning.

Finally, we assert our right, as Jewish people, to oppose the Israeli government’s ongoing human rights violations and its blatant disregard for international law. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Palestinian brothers and sisters. Israeli Zionism does not speak for us.

RONIT LENTIN, LAURENCE DAVIS, SETH LINDER, SUE PENTEL AND AISLING MCGEOWN Jewish Voice for a Just Peace — Ireland