Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1221489
Writing in The Guardian, Rashid Khalidi observed that the USA's proposed policy for the Middle East "cannot work because it requires the Palestinians to ac- cept they are a defeated peo- ple." Do you agree with that assessment? Yes, I do. To accept this deal would mean a total surrender: not just for the Palestinian peo- ple and cause, but also for the region as a whole. Because ul- timately, this is a business deal proposed by [US President] Donald Trump… who also said that, 'when I do a deal, I like to see it through to the end.' So my concern is that we may reach the extreme stage where this deal is imposed on us, without having any say in the matter. For we were never consulted on this deal; we were not asked for our advice, or to provide any insight. To be honest, the US admin- istration did, at one point, try to contact our President; but he refused to talk to them be- cause they did not consult us from the beginning. Also, af- ter the decision was taken to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, we cut our connections with the USA, and they closed our office in Wash- ington DC. Since that time, we don't really have any diplomat- ic or official relations with the Americans. Coming back to the specifics of the USA's proposals: what is Palestine objecting to, in prac- tical terms? The biggest problems with this deal, from a Palestinian perspective, are: one, the ref- ugee issue; two, the issue of Jerusalem; and three, the im- position of this deal on the Palestinian people without any consultation. As you know, there are around 6 million Palestinian refugees scattered across dif- ferent countries: two million of them are in Jordan, around 600,000 in Lebanon… and God knows how many are left in Syria, after the civil war. But wherever they are, these refugees still hope to one day go back to their homeland. And it is their right to do so, as clearly confirmed by a UN resolution: refugees have a right to return to their home, and even to be compensated for the years they spent in exile. But according to this deal, the 6 million Palestinian refugees are regarded only as part of the 17 million refugees all over the world: as if their situation is not, in itself, the result of Is- rael occupying Palestine. They have been included alongside refugees from Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and elsewhere… turning the issue into a global one, instead of a product of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. Secondly, the deal would cut down our territory to around 18% of the original 22% of the historical Palestine: as had been originally established in 1948, and further recognised in 1967. If this were to happen, it would not only be a defeat for the Palestinian people, but also a loss for humanity as a whole. Because what they are suggesting is to have a Pales- tinian state, yes… but without borders; without sovereignty; without an airport, or access to the sea… in other words, with- out access to the outside world. It is even suggested that we call part of this state 'Jerusa- lem': not the original city of Jerusalem, but a 'New Jerusa- lem' that would be the state's capital. This is not acceptable to us. In fact, this whole deal is unacceptable. It takes away the basic rights of the Palestinian people: rights which are recog- nised in UN resolutions – espe- cially resolution 181 and 242, which call for an immediate end to the Israeli occupation; and also to establish a Palestin- ian state, existing side-by-side with an Israeli state. In an article last week you wrote that: "The plan presents a disconnected and unviable archipelago of Palestinian com- munities stripped of any sover- eignty or viability". Could you expand on that? If you look at the map that is being proposed: basically, it looks like a piece of Swiss cheese… divided into differ- ent enclaves, with no access to each other. And the way Trump proposes to connect those isolated communities is a form of discrimination in itself. He is suggesting having streets for Palestinians, and separate streets for Israelis, adjacent to each other… in other words, a form of apartheid… Yet the same disjointed map is also a reflection of a real dis- connect: not just between dif- ferent Palestinian territories, but also with the refugee com- munities in other countries. If Palestine were to reach the sort of agreement it wants… what would the resulting map look like? How can the different ter- ritories be brought together as one state? Being myself from the orig- inal Palestinian territory, and never having been a refugee, I can tell you that Palestine is al- ready connected. Putting aside the settlements that were add- ed recently… the West Bank is already one entity: even if Israel has built a separation wall, and annexed some areas from here, and others from there. But no: the West Bank should be one entity; Gaza should be one entity; and there should be a clear connection between the two. We should have sov- ereignty over our own land: es- pecially the border with Jordan, at the Dead Sea area. And we should also have access to the Mediterranean sea. Our fisher- men in Gaza are suffering; we are not allowed to have a port to connect us with the outside world. It would be very easy to im- plement all this, too, if only there was the will. Yet we don't have access to any of these things. The only border that is open for the people of Gaza is with Egypt. So for me, the only solution which would be in accord- ance with UN resolutions - and which would satisfy the demands of the international community: including Russia, China, the EU… even Malta – would be a two-state solution, based on the 22% of the origi- nal Palestinian territory estab- lished in 1948: comprising the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza strip. Definitely, we would also want our refugees to have the possibility of coming back. As things stand, most of our 6 mil- lion refugees – which is a huge number – don't even have citi- zenship in the countries where they live. This is a decision tak- en by those other Arab coun- tries, specifically to ensure that Palestinian refugees retain the right to return to their home- land. Its proponents call it the 'deal of the century'… but Palestinian ambassador to Malta, FADI HANANIA, argues that President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan would not only be a defeat for the Palestinian people… but also for humanity as a whole 'Palestine is not for sale' Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 MARCH 2020 INTERVIEW