Israel's Denial of Palestine's Right to Exist
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STATE OF PALESTINE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION NEGOTIATIONS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT ISRAEL’S DENIAL OF PALESTINE’S RIGHT TO EXIST 2020 DEDICATION: To the memory of all children, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, and loved ones, we have watched the Israeli occupying forces kill them in cold blood. Most recently, Iyad Hallaq, Ahmad Erekat, Fadi Samara, Maher Za’atreh, and Sufian Al-Khawaja who were left to bleed to death until they took their last breath. Israel’s shoot-to-kill policy is designed to terrorize Palestinians into giving up on our right to self- determination and existence in the one place we call home: Palestine. Israel’s colonization, oppression, and dispossession of Palestinians will go down in history as a dark chapter of apartheid. Until then, it’s our collective moral and legal obligation, in Palestine and beyond, to not give up until the prevalence of justice, freedom, and peace. CONTENTS 4 Foreword PART ONE: BACKGROUND 8 Contextual Background with Analysis: Annexation Dr. Saeb Erakat 12 Illegal Annexation Over the Years: Focus on Current Scenarios Fatina Hodali and Ashraf Khatib 18 Analysis of the Geopolitical Aspects of the Trump Plan Dr. Jad Isaac and Suhail Khalilieh PART TWO: ANNEXATION & STRANGLING POTENTIAL 36 Opportunity Cost of a Belligerent Occupation and Incremental Annexation Dr. Nabeel Kassis 42 Annexation and Tourism Dr. Hamdan Taha 50 Annexing Air Dr. Sabri Saidam 54 Annexation :The Ghettoization of Bethlehem Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb 60 Palestine’s Water - De Facto Annexed since 1967 Dr. Shaddad Al Attili 68 Annexation and Culture Mahmoud Muna 72 Annexation and Human Rights Dr. Susan Power 80 Annexation and Threats to the Two States Amb. Issa Kassissieh PART THREE: RESPONSE 88 Defiance and Resilience against Annexation and Subjugation: Palestinian Options Samar Awadallah 96 Looming Annexation: Concerns and Questions Dr. Varsen Aghabekian 102 Analysis : Regional and International Reactions to Annexation Xavier Abu Eid 114 Contributors Bios LOOMING ANNEXATION: ISRAEL’S DENIAL OF PALESTINE’S RIGHT TO EXIST Part two comprises eight articles on annexation and its im- FOREWORD pact on different sectors and Palestinian potential: The timing of this Negotiation Affairs Department (NAD) Nabil Kassis discusses the opportunity cost of the Israeli bel- publication coincides with the impending annexation an- ligerent occupation and incremental annexation which has nounced by the recently formed Government of Israel. We deprived Palestinians of enormous development opportu- have embarked on this publication not because of the novelty nities. His main message is that: “Annexation undermines of illegal Israeli annexation of Palestinian land, but because the viability of the Palestinian state, whose embodiment of the urgency -now more than ever -of raising our voices is the mainstay of the only workable peace settlement. The against Israeli annexation that jeopardizes the viability of the continued belligerent occupation and concomitant creep- State of Palestine and the right to self-determination, and ing annexation is a road to disaster and is contrary to the entrenches occupation with its violations of Palestinian hu- national interests of countries that view peace in the Mid- man rights. dle East as such…. if occupation and annexation continue then the greatest lost opportunity is one for regional peace, The intertwine in politics: annexation, the daily life of Pales- stability and prosperity”. tinians, and the future of the Palestinian state, is presented in the three parts of this publication with one unified and clear message by all contributing authors: “Annexation is illegal; it ends the two state solution, legalizes apartheid, and has to be stopped”. Part one covers a historical background and analysis. As a chief negotiator who has been engaged in the peace process since the early 1990s, I open this part with a contextual back- ground on annexation focusing on Palestinian-Israeli rela- tions under annexation and moving forward. My main mes- sage on the illegality of annexation is that: “It is Palestine’s responsibility to do everything possible to stop annexation, dismantle Israel’s colonial-settlement enterprise, and achieve freedom and independence”. Fatina Jaouni and Ashraf Khatib then take us brief- ly through Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian land throughout the years while focusing on current annexation. They explain Israeli measures of land control since the be- ginning of the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967 that prepared the ground for incremental an- nexation. Their main message is that: “The imposition of Is- raeli sovereignty over occupied Palestinian land is yet an- other illegal action to be added to a long list of violations of international law characteristic of the State of Israel to Hamdan Taha provides a general description of tourism un- date. By imposing annexation, Israel officially recognizes der occupation with focus on the impact of the Trump Plan apartheid as its policy and signals that a negotiated agree- on “Palestinian land turned into a series of disconnected par- ment is off the table”. cels and tourism fully controlled by Israel”. He stresses that: “annexation of historic sites in Jerusalem and Hebron, Jad Ishaq and Suhail Khalilieh present a geopolitical analy- and archeological sites, including religious and potential sis of the Trump Plan. With the pertinent maps, they outline world heritage sites or cultural landscapes, will deprive the elements of the Trump Plan, the Palestinian localities Palestinians of their cultural and natural assets. These enclaved, and the consequences for the 1948 localities, Gaza, plans will deepen the conflict and will make peace further and for Jerusalem. They emphasize that the “Trump plan away than ever”. shows clearly the amputation of Palestinian aspirations for a just and comprehensive peace based on the two state Sabri Saidam walks us through the challenges facing the cel- solution and its replacement with a capitulation map that lular companies, internet and radio and television services perpetuates the colonization of Palestine”. under policies of occupation. while presenting the imminent 4 LOOMING ANNEXATION: ISRAEL’S DENIAL OF PALESTINE’S RIGHT TO EXIST nightmare for Paltel and Jawwal, he shows what exists and that: “Water is still an issue of conflict 25 years after the what’s to come with impending annexation in a seeming- signed agreement between Israel and the PLO. Through- ly endless battle with loss which will have negative conse- out the years post the agreement, Israel’s appetite for more quences on the Palestinian economy currently stretched by land and resources has never abated. This reflects Israel’s political challenges and health conditions both depressing intention to maintain an endless occupation that deprives Palestinian finances and national revenues. Palestinians of their rights, and exploits their land and natural resources with creeping annexation”. His message in regards to the effect of annexation on tele- communication is that “annexation adds further pain and Mahmoud Muna describes what he terms “culturecide” in complications to what makes up an almost impossible life which the occupation attempts to erase not only the existence of operations, evolution, and development of all sectors in of Palestinians, but also their memory, their history, and their which telecom is a vital part for existence and survival.” past. The innumerable challenges culture planners and those in the arts already face will be exacerbated by further annex- Mitri Raheb unveils the ghettoization of Bethlehem, the ation. He stresses that: “Culture has become synonymous implications of annexation on the land and its native popu- with resilience and steadfastness….. Palestine will suffer as the annexation plans progress. However, the culture will always evolve as required to form an impenetrable barrier behind which the Palestinian identity will foster itself”. Susan Power examines annexation under the lens of the accompanying violations of international human rights law and, in particular, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and the important responsibilities of third states when addressing a situation resulting from a serious breach of international law. She sends a strong message that: “Annexation, as a violation of jus ad bellum, constitutes an internationally wrongful act from which no rights can be derived. Imperatively, annexation which threatens the maintenance of international peace and security requires collective action to bring the illegal situation to an end”. Issa Kassissieh presents the threat posed by annexation to the two state solution. He describes Israel’s non-compliance with signed agreements and the response of the Palestinian lead- ership. His main message is the need to generate diplomatic momentum in the hopes that world capitals will succeed jointly to halt the impending annexation, in a last attempt to rescue the two-state solution before it is too late….. A successful, prosperous and contiguous state of Palestine can become an important guarantor of security and sta- lation, and the danger it poses to the future for the cities of bility in the region and a bulwark against extremism”. Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, and Doha by hastening Christian migration and robbing Palestine of a very import- Part three has three articles that cover Palestinian, regional, ant component of its colorful tapestry. To Reverend Mitri, and international