domingo, 2 de abril de 2017

Israeli Apartheid Week 2017 IV: Hasbara + land theft

 
Life in a Palestinian refugee camp in Palestine
  Palestinian refugee: "I feel like a stranger in my own country"
Quando Israel bate na mesma tecla acompanhado dos EUA, nunca é para dar o tom da música que vai tocar e sim um preâmbulo do acorde violento que quer esmurrar.
Todo discurso do "One State solution" - a solução inviabilíssima de Um Estado, não passava de um preâmbulo à velha teoria de retalhar a Cisjordânia em vários bantustãs e aumentar um pouquinho a Faixa de Gaza na famosa teoria de "land swap" que era o que Tel Aviv queria desde o início - conforme o mapa ao lado.
Essa "troca de terra" é uma ideia antiga soprada de Tel Aviv à Geneva Initiative há duas décadas, quando as invasões civis/assentamentos/colônias ainda eram reduziveis e poderiam ter sido desmanteladas facilmente como foram na Faixa de Gaza.
Já era surreal na época e hoje mais ainda.
No mapa, parece simples. Porém, os defensores dessa alternativa não levam em conta a situação real no terreno. Ou seja, a ocupação que se propagou por toda a Cisjordânia paulatinamente e que transformou a Palestina em uma colcha de retalhos em que as cidades são cercadas de estradas exclusivas para judeus, de colônias que invadem lavouras, quintais e matas palestinas e de checkpoints que impedem a população autóctone de circular até de um bairro a outro. Enquanto que os invasores se locomovem e se expandem livremente.
Enquanto isso, a situação dos palestinos expulsos de suas cidades que ficaram no estado de Israel continua precária. A dos refugiados nos países vizinhos, nem se fala!
A solução me parece simples. Ou a ONU força o desmantelamento de todas as invasões civis israelenses na Cisjordânia, ou estas ficam no território roubado, porém, como parte de um estado palestino livre e soberano. Assim como os palestinos residentes no estado de Israel. Direitos e obrigações iguais de culto, circulação e de cidadania dos dois lados da Linha Verde qualquer que seja a origem do cidadão. E o retorno dos refugiados, é claro.
Só que toda solução é inviável enquanto Israel não admitir o direito de existência da Palestina.

When Israeli opposition leader and Labour Party chairman Isaac Herzog published a plan for "kick-starting the peace process" in February 2017, it was really "to save the settlements blocs" - areas of the West Bank where Israel has built clusters of colonies, including larger towns.
Settlement blocs are often referred to by politicians and pundits alike, but there is no common understanding about precisely what the term means.
From Israel's point of view, the term is intentionally vague and amorphous. It is a meaningless formulation, and on the vast majority of occasions when it is loosely referred to, there is a deliberate absence of delineation.
In negotiations over the past two decades, Israel has demanded that West Bank settlement blocs become part of Israeli territory in any final deal, typically as part of a land swap in which certain areas within Israel become part of a future Palestinian state. But on the rare occasions when talks have reached the details stage, there have been significant hurdles.
The problem is that "the blocs encompass large swaths of land and, depending on the negotiators, can often be 10 or more percent of the West Bank," says Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former adviser to Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) negotiators.
Palestinian maps presented in various rounds of negotiations have allowed Israel to annex some two or three percent of the occupied West Bank. The best Israeli offer, territorially speaking, came via Ehud Olmert in 2008 - 6.5 percent, at close to a one-to-one swap - but that was when he was already a lame-duck prime minister.
Nor is it just about percentages. Swapping out settlements such as Ariel, Maale Adumim and others would prejudice contiguity, water aquifers and the viability of Palestine.
"No Israeli government to date has accepted the Palestinian stipulation that land swaps be fully equal in size and 'quality'," veteran Israeli negotiator Michael Herzog acknowledged.
While many have despaired over the prospect of a two-state solution, the concept of land swaps has remained crucial for those who remain optimistic about its viability. Pro-Israeli groups have dismissed concerns about Israeli settlement expansion - and its effect on the possibility of Palestinian statehood - in light of potential future land swaps.
Eric Pickles, chairman of the UK parliamentary pressure group Conservative Friends of Israel, recently urged Theresa May's government against "treating all settlements equally", specifically on the basis that there will be "land swaps". He suggested that some settlements should, therefore, be exempt from criticism.
 The Empire files: Home demolitions for Israeli illegal settlements
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu might deflect pressure from the international community against illegal Israeli settlements by using the concept of blocs and swaps. I think that very soon he will begin to say that he will focus on continued growth within the blocs, without defining the blocs, and that he will show restraint outside the blocs, but without defining restraint. That is how the hasbara works.
For Palestinians, such dodging is one of the key problems with the land swaps concept. According to Buttu, "the land swaps have delayed and hindered negotiations and also fuelled the Israeli mindset that it is perfectly acceptable to steal land and build settlements because other land will be 'swapped' in the future".
Meanwhile, Israeli settlements continue to have an enormous impact on the ground.
"There are clear links between settlement policies and practices, illegal under international law, and humanitarian needs," Robert Piper, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory told Al Jazeera. "This is true both for large settlements as well as small, more remote ones. With settlement expansion, Palestinians lose access to land, and frequently, to natural resources like water springs. They often face physical violence and intimidation, compounded by movement restrictions."
Experts deny the suggestion by some politicians and pro-Israeli groups that land swaps are a kind of magic formula for achieving a viable two-state solution.
According to international lawyers, a peace agreement that permits settlement blocs to be part of land swaps could be invalidated by operation of international law for its conflict with the peremptory norm prohibiting the acquisition of territory by force. Even if an agreement preserved a two-state solution in territorial terms, that in itself would be no guarantee of civil and political rights, or the right of displaced persons to return home, and as such, would be only a partial contribution to the resolution of the 'conflict'. 
 
As a matter of fact, only a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories could save the two-state solution - but that is not on the agenda of any plausible Israeli government. Even a land swap of a small percent would leave more than 100,000 settlers in place, with no political appetite for their removal.

Another possible solution would be a swap of state allegiancy. That is, that the settlements be subject to Palestinian government, just as the Palestinians living in Israel are subjected to Israeli government. That would assure equal rights to Palestinians and Isaelis alike, living in either state - Israel or Palestine - and peace would be granted forever.
There are creative solutions to various problems. But creative solutions can't paper over a gap that is so huge, because one side, Israel, simply does not accept the legitimacy of the independent sovereign existence of the other.
AIPAC meeting 2017

Empire files: Abby Martin on Palestinian refugees
 

 Global Empire - The Israeli State and its Rogue Allies
PALESTINA
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