Abbas misses another chance to help Palestinians
On Sept 27, Palestinian Authority President and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly for the 14th time. Among Palestinians, expectations had been high that Mr Abbas’ speech at the United Nations would be “historic”, and that he would articulate a new strategic path forward for Palestinians in the wake of the Trump administration’s near total adoption of Israel’s positions, namely moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, cutting all funding to UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for the well-being of Palestinian refugees, and closing the PLO diplomatic mission in the United States.
Yet, once again, Mr Abbas failed to deliver. His “historic” speech turned out to be more of the same: a call for the world to salvage a two-state solution that died years ago, systematically destroyed by Israel as a result of its relentless construction on Palestinian land of settlements deemed illegal by the United Nations.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Oslo Accords, which launched peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Sold to Palestinians as a short-term process that would end in 1999 with our freedom, the negotiations process, which Mr Abbas oversaw and championed in 1993, has worsened, not improved, Palestinian lives and prospects.
For example, in 1993, there were 250,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; today that number exceeds 700,000. As Palestinians are effectively imprisoned behind Israeli military checkpoints and walls, the Palestinian economy is now entirely dependent on outside sources, namely international donors.
Palestinian poverty has dramatically increased since 1993. In the Gaza Strip, data shows that the average child under the age of 11 has not only experienced three military conflicts, but has never seen a day without electricity blackouts or exposure to contaminated water. Palestinians in the West Bank dream of seeing the sea while those in Gaza dream of visiting Jerusalem — all denied because of Israel’s restrictions on their freedom of movement. Yet Mr Abbas continues to insist that peace negotiations with Israel are the only path to liberation — even though they have proven time and again to be the path to our further subjugation.
Equally alarming, Mr Abbas continued to push in his UN speech for international recognition of a Palestinian state. In Mr Abbas’ mind, pressing for statehood will improve his position in negotiations; he believes that this will allow Palestinians to negotiate over what their state will look like, instead of being forced to negotiate over statehood itself.
To many this may sound reasonable. Why should the world not recognise Palestine so that Israel will eventually be forced to do the same? Indeed, some will argue that this approach has proved fruitful. Mr Abbas embarked on his recognition initiative seven years ago; since then, 137 UN member states have recognised Palestine
as a sovereign state, and the United Nations has upgraded it to the status of non-member observer state.
Yet, despite all this, the number of countries that recognise Palestinian rights remains unchanged. Even if Mr Abbas were successful in getting most of the world’s countries to recognise Palestinian sovereignty, this would not alter the lived reality for most Palestinians. The real problem is not a lack of recognition, it is that the world has failed to hold Israel sufficiently accountable for denying us our freedom.
For five decades, as Israel has built and expanded settlements and trampled on the rights of Palestinians, the world has done little more than issue empty condemnations declaring how “unhelpful” Israel’s actions are to achieving a two-state solution. Israel has not faced meaningful sanctions, it is recognised in international forums and Israel’s leaders have not been shunned — although they should be. Rather, largely as a result of Mr Abbas’ dual demands — recognition and negotiation — Israel continues to reap the benefits of seeking peace while sowing the seeds of its own version of apartheid.
Mr Netanyahu and his government have made it abundantly clear that they will not allow Palestinians to enjoy freedom or selfdetermination as long as they are in power. And with the recent passage of the nationstate law, which enshrines in Israeli law Jewish supremacy over Arab citizens of the state, the government has made it clear that Palestinians with Israeli citizenship will not see equality either.
Instead of pushing for the same failed strategy that he has advocated for a quarter of a century, Mr Abbas should instead have pushed for change. With the Trump administration firmly on side with Israel, and with the vast majority of Palestinians no longer supporting the negotiation process, it is past time for bold moves by Mr Abbas: to make it clear that our rights are not negotiable; to promote support for the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement; to push to hold Israel accountable; and to make it clear that Palestinians will press for equality.
That would have been a truly historic, and visionary speech. Unfortunately, Mr Abbas is not a visionary, and he, like his speeches, will soon be relegated to history.
It is past time for bold moves by Mr Abbas: to make it clear that our rights are not negotiable.