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The latest PA foreign ministry statement is tethered to obsolete paradigms

January 31, 2017 at 3:06 pm

Image of Palestinians protesting against US President Donald Trump’s policies [Nedal Eshtayah/Apaimages]

Recognising belligerent intent somewhat belatedly will remain a characteristic of the Palestinian Authority. Despite evidence that Israel was never seeking to implement the two-state “solution”, it was only recently that the PA expressed such awareness and only then within the context of the new US presidency, which is acting swiftly upon precedents initiated during the Obama administration.

While Donald Trump has evoked the wrath of the Middle East by refusing entry to the US of people from countries targeted militarily by Obama, Palestine is battling against an increased sense of oblivion. Trump’s presidency was summarised succinctly by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett as being — and I am paraphrasing — a green light to increase Israel’s colonial expansion without repercussions.

In a statement issued by its foreign ministry which was published in Wafa, the PA seems to have had a revelatory moment, stating: “It is as if Israel is saying that it no longer needs its previous masks to hide its anti-peace positions; that reject the existence of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state living side by side with the State of Israel based on the two-state solution.” The statement demonstrates that the PA is still tethered to obsolete paradigms.

There is a slight chance that, given Netanyahu’s declaration to remove all impediments to settlement construction, colonial expansion will not be tied routinely to issues such as security concerns, as was the trend in recent years. However, to claim that Israel does not require any masks within the current political scenario does a disservice to all Palestinians. The PA has certainly added a sliver of opposition yet has done so from within an opportunist, albeit valid, premise. Relying upon the repercussions wrought by Trump to elucidate the fact that Israel does not need to masquerade any pretences is incorrect. The intent to colonise Palestinian territory in order to implement the ideology of a “Greater Israel” is not a hidden truth; it has been obvious for many years.

History has provided a clear framework of Israeli violence normalised by the international community. From the 1948 Nakba onwards, Israel has created a perpetual cycle of victims as intended in its infamous Plan Dalet. Yet the PA continues to fragment Palestine through its rhetoric, seeking political refuge in the fallacy of the two-state compromise which, despite being declared obsolete by the international community, still performs a perfunctory role in pretending to shape the foundations for any hypothetical (and utterly pointless) negotiations.

Without the context of Trump’s probable intentions, the PA would have remained ensconced in a lamentable zone. Recognition of Israel’s colonial intent, however, does not constitute opposition to it. Eight years of Barack Obama have also proved a disaster for Palestine; apart from the Israeli offensives against Gaza, the terror unleashed by US interference and intervention in the region has contributed to Palestine’s decline as a political priority. As a result, the international community’s feigned support for Palestine has also been exposed; other than a short-lived furore regarding settlement products and reports highlighting Israeli destruction of EU-funded projects, Palestine was reduced to another item on the agenda. It is still considered as an important filler for diplomatic performances, but not as a political and humanitarian priority.

This sordid degradation should have been at the helm of any decision emanating from the PA. It is useless to argue against Israel’s “escalating occupational and field aggression against the Palestinian existence” when, for decades, the PA has made it incumbent to prioritise the Israeli narrative and fulfilled its compromised role on behalf of the occupation so diligently. Trump’s election and policies will, most likely, entrench the PA further in its preoccupation with a two-state fantasy as a stagnant and increasingly untenable position. To expect anything different goes beyond the realm of illusions.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.