Tony Blair says that
before he is to leave office, he will dedicate himself to "advancing
peace between Israel and Palestine". Let me offer him some advice then.
On Israel's side, their main gripes are well known:
- A few years ago they said there was no partner for peace while Arafat was alive
- When he died, there was still the issue of suicide bombing. Hamas have not carried out one of these for over two years now.
- Now they say no peace till Hamas recognise Israel
Hamas for their part have observed a ceasefire in terms of
martyrdom operations for two years now. They have said that if Israel withdraw from
territories occupied in 1967, to the UN green line, then there will be
a longstanding peace, with final issues decided by future generations.
Israel have refused. Thus far, no one in the international community
have held them to task for this. The Hamas offer seems like a good proposal.
However, the dominant narrative is about humiliating Hamas into making
an explicit statement recognising Israel, despite the fact that their
above proposal would de facto recognise them anyway. Hamas have gone a damn
sight further in recognising Israel than Israel have gone in
recognising Palestine.
Hamas will not go further than they have because in doing so, they know that Israel will simply add another bullet point to the ones above, and then the "international community" will talk only about how that can be met. Time for Israel to stop making excuses. Blair and friends need to have some long overdue harsh words with their Israeli friends.
Talking about Israel withdrawing from "parts" of the West Bank is not good enough, and indeed contrary to international law. Those who say "parts" of the WB should remain with Israel need to explain why. Israel has no business in the West Bank. Get them out, and you have peace.