Without international law there cannot be peace

By Mazin Qumsiyeh

We are told that peace negotiations can only "resume" in the Middle East if Palestinians end their resistance to Israeli occupation. Many think that this discourse is the only one tenable under an international system dominated by a single superpower whose foreign policy is wed to Zionist interests. But this is a defeatist attitude that presupposes static history and hopes for no more than "manageable conflicts" instead of real peace. A closer examination shows that a durable peace is possible if four key factors are finally faced honestly.

First, international law must become central. Negotiations outside international law are clearly destined to fail, whether they produce agreements with some Palestinians (i.e., Oslo accords) or they don't (Camp David negotiations).

International law is very clear on the illegality of all Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. International law recognises Jerusalem as "occupied" and Israel's annexation of it illegal. International law is very clear on the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands and be compensated for their suffering. The International Court of Justice ruled, in July 2004, that the apartheid wall Israel is building on Palestinian land, as well as the colonies/settlements the wall supports, are illegal and must be dismantled. No "negotiated" agreement can lead to peace if it ignores international law.

Second, ideologies incompatible with peace must be transcended. Few consider pan-Islamic nationalism, as advocated by Osama Ben Laden, compatible with peace. Yet, Zionism has disturbing parallels. At the core of Zionism is the notion that any Jew and convert to Judaism is considered by Israeli law a member of the nation/people of Israel ("Am Yisrael"). Considering members of a particular religion around the world as nationals of a single state (whether they want it or not) is unique in world history. These members are then accorded "rights", including rights to automatic citizenship in Israel and the right to live on land confiscated from non-Jewish natives.

To accomplish the goals of creating a state with Jewish majority, native non-Jews had to be removed; some 530 Palestinian towns and villages were completely wiped out between 1947 and 1949. But converts from Judaism to other religions are excluded from this "Nation of Israel", and thus from these privileges.

A group of prominent Israeli artists thus stated: "If the state of Israel aspires to perceive itself as a democracy, it should abandon, once and for all, any legal and ideological foundation of religious, ethnic and demographic discrimination. The state of Israel should strive to become the state of all its citizens. We call for the annulment of all laws that make Israel an apartheid state, including the Jewish law of return in its present form."

Third, allocation of natural resources must be fair, with equal economic opportunities to all. An economic discourse based on the allocation of resources to tiny minorities while exploiting the majority is not sustainable.

Finally, civil society and people around the world can bring peace to the Middle East by following the same strategies of education, divestments and boycotts employed successfully in ending apartheid in South Africa. We are not talking about dismantling Israel or even evicting colonial settlers. Studies show that Palestinian refugees can return without displacing Israelis and that economic integration would benefit everyone. But the massive resources being spent on war and destruction could be spent to build an inclusive society for all people, regardless of their religion.

The conflict has never been between welfare of Israelis and welfare of Palestinians. Zionist propaganda over the decades has claimed that the welfare and security of Jews is its goal (even at the expense of non-Jews). But this is contradicted by the well-documented history where Zionist goals were put far ahead of even Jewish lives. Even now, 30 per cent of the Israelis live below the poverty line while their government builds a wall costing billions of dollars to strangle the remaining Palestinians.

Israeli professor Jeff Halper said at a UN conference that today a Jew is safer in Berlin than in Tel Aviv. Political Zionism has yet to show any evidence that its existence does anything but foster violence, war, ethnic cleansing and hatred.

Peace based on justice and rooted in human rights and international law is the only way forward.

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The writer is co-founder and board member of Palestine Right to Return Coalition. He contributed this article to The Jordan Times.

This article was published in the Monday, January 31, 2005 edition of the Jordan Times