GLOBAL VANTAGE POINT

Upping the Ante

Op-Ed: Palestinians Should Present Counteroffer to Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’

BY BISHARA A. BAHBAH

hey say diplomacy is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in a way that they look forward to the trip. at’s exactly how the Palestinians should respond to President Trump’s Middle East peace plan, bucking the mainstream consensus that the “deal of the century” is dead on arrival. PALESTINIAN OBJECTIONS ere are so many elements of Trump’s proposed peace plan that are not only objectionable to the Palestinians but outrageous. ey range from: T

• Allowing Israel to annex 30% of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley and all its settlements. is would create a permanent eastern border for Israel along the Jordan River and a gerrymandered, disjointed state for the Palestinians connected by bridges and tunnels and surrounded by Israeli territory. • Guaranteeing Trump’s previous recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital while oering Palestinians a capital on the outskirts of East Jerusalem. • Ignoring the basic rights of Palestinians to live in a viable state — territorially, economically and in control of its own security, borders, airspace and ports. • Permitting Palestinians to establish a demilitarized state and aer a four-year waiting period, during which time a number of conditions have to be met. ese include the disarming of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza — a task that Israel with all its military might has failed to accomplish. • Refusing the so-called “right of return” of any Palestinian refugees to Israel, and resettling refugees only in a future Palestinian state or third countries. • Ignoring the right of all Palestinian refugees to be repatriated and, for those who choose and are able to stay in the countries where they are currently residing, to be appropriately compensated. • Ignoring international law, including the Geneva Conventions, as well as the Oslo Accords and past U.N. resolutions.

Instead of being continuously outraged and incensed, however, Palestinians are better served by presenting a counter proposal of what would be an acceptable oer to them.

POSSIBLE PALESTINIAN COUNTERPROPOSAL e Palestinian counterproposal could include the following components:

CREDIT: OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY SHEALAH CRAIGHEAD President Trump joins Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he unveils details of the administration’s Middle East Peace Plan at the White House on Jan. 28.

• Negotiations between Israel and Palestine are to be based on the 1967 borders with mutually acceptable modications. • Palestinians could be open to Israel’s annexation of Israeli settlements adjacent to Israel’s borders of 1967 in return for acceptable Israeli territories of equal size and geographic importance. • Settlements deep inside the West Bank would have to be evacuated — not dismantled — so that they may be used for returning Palestinian refugees. • Appropriate compensation and reparations are to be paid to the Palestinians primarily by Israel, the United States and Britain. • An international “Palestine Trust Fund” is to be established for funds collected from all donors, those listed above and others, to help build a modern Palestinian state, compensate and repatriate all Palestinian refugees. (Trump has proposed a $50 billion plan to develop a future Palestinian state and provide 1 million new jobs over 10 years, although it oers no specics on how to induce international donors to fund the plan.) • Security — internal and external — is of paramount importance to both Israel and Palestine. ere would be comprehensive security cooperation between Israel and Palestine within their respective borders and in cooperation with the neighboring countries of Jordan and Egypt. • International monitors would be allowed to be stationed in the State of Palestine in various locations and along its borders to ensure compliance with agreed-upon security arrangements. Such international monitors will be authorized by the United Nations as long as their presence is warranted and mutually agreed upon. • e State of Palestine will agree to be a demilitarized state. Its security forces will be used to maintain internal order, control and secure its border, airspace and coastline. • Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails for any politically related reason would be released upon the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and Palestine. Israel and Palestine, in turn, would have the right to ban whomever they want from entering their state in the future. • Palestine will have complete control of all of its natural resources, such as water, land, oil and gas. Palestine would be party to a regional cooperation council that includes Israel, Jordan and Egypt to coordinate the exploration of natural resources on land and oshore. • Jerusalem will be the capital of both Israel and Palestine. e Palestinian village of Abu Dis will be linked to the Old City of Jerusalem, providing Palestinians with access to the Old City and East Jerusalem, where Palestinians would have a religious, administrative and political presence. From a Machiavellian perspective, the success of Trump’s peace proposal hinges on the Palestinians’ refusal to accept that proposal but, more importantly, their refusal to submit a counterproposal. BISHARA A. BAHBAH “

”SEE PALESTINE • PAGE 39