Get Behind the New York Declaration on Palestine!

A chance for European leaders to stop being clowns

The New York Declaration issued at the conclusion of the international conference on Palestine in late July looks serious. The European Union and most of the major European powers plus many other countries are declaring that the issue cannot be kicked down the road any longer.

They are talking about a UN mandated intervention to assist the Palestinian Authority, the widely recognized government of Palestine, in taking back Gaza and the West Bank from the Israeli occupiers, in implementing a democratic reform process and holding elections, and in undertaking economic reconstruction. The plan would be presented at the UN in September.

There are two big concerns here. Will the US use its veto in the Security Council? And if they do what will the European powers do? Will they seriously challenge the veto power that allows the three undesirables, China, Russia and the USA to veto two-third majority resolutions of the General Assembly? Could they possibly organize a coalition of the willing with enough military, diplomatic and economic punch to compel Israel to stand aside and cooperate in the process? Or would they just say "well we tried our best but we met an impermeable brick wall"?

The other concern is the role of the Arab regimes. They are all autocracies that do not want to see Palestine succeeding as a democracy. The last thing they want is that country providing a "bad example" for the rest of the Arab world. Their attitude would be a lot like that of Putin when he noticed a burgeoning democracy in Ukraine, a country where a large minority spoke Russian as a first language and everyone else spoke it as a second one, and where many people had relatives over the border. So involvement of these regimes has to greatly limited.

High on the priorities of this process should be obtaining the release of Marwan Barghouti, "Palestine's Mandela", from Israeli prison where he resides on trumped up charges. He is the biggest individual force for democracy and Palestinian unity.

According to the Declaration, following a ceasefire, a transitional administrative committee would be established immediately to operate in Gaza under the umbrella of the Palestinian National Authority. Barghouti should play a role in this. Indeed, his role should be announced as part of the pressure to release him.

The committee would be supported by the deployment of a temporary international stabilization mission, at the invitation of the Palestinian Authority. This force will provide protection for the Palestinian civilian population, support the transfer of internal security responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority and provide security guarantees, including monitoring of the ceasefire and a future peace agreement. A number of countries have already promised troops. The PA has undertaken to hold elections within a year throughout Palestine including East Jerusalem under international auspices. There will also be international support for reform programs focused on good governance, transparency and financial sustainability. There are also commitments to extensive reconstruction aid.

The whole business is going to require a lot of cooperation from Israel, and this will not happen unless that country is placed under considerable pressure. This is doable, if there is the will, given that it is a small country very reliant on the west.

According to the Declaration, Israel will have to accept that there is going to be a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem. An immediate priority will be bringing their "settlers" under control. They don't mention it, but there will also need to be a 50-60 kilometer land bridge between Gaza and the West Bank much like the link between West Germany and West Berlin back in the day.

This whole initiative would benefit greatly from manifestations of popular support. So, it will be interesting to see how the "Free Palestine" crowd react to it. Much of the "revolutionary left" won't like it because according to them the Palestinians can only be delivered from the Israelis by some distant proletarian revolution.