It is time for a new approach to peace between Israelis and Arab-Palestinians

It is time for a new approach to peace between Israelis and Arab-Palestinians
For decades people have tried and failed to bring about a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. While there is plenty of blame to go around, we believe too many in the international community are ignoring a fundamental truth about this conflict:

It’s time for a new approach to peace between Israelis and Palestinians
For decades people have tried and failed to bring about a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. While there is plenty of blame to go around, we believe too many in the international community are ignoring a fundamental truth about this conflict:
According to a senior American peace negotiator, “Since 2000, there have been three serious negotiations that culminated in offers to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict… In each case, a proposal on all the core issues was made to Palestinian leaders and the answer was either “no” or no response… It’s time to stop giving the Palestinians a free pass.”
There will be no justice and no peace until we start holding Palestinian leaders accountable.

Say yes to peace. Take action today.
According to a senior American peace negotiator, “Since 2000, there have been three serious negotiations that culminated in offers to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict… In each case, a proposal on all the core issues was made to Palestinian leaders and the answer was either “no” or no response… It’s time to stop giving the Palestinians a free pass.”
There will be no justice and no peace until we start holding Palestinian leaders accountable.

Say yes to peace. Take action today.

There will be no justice and no peace until we start holding Palestinian leaders accountable.

Say yes to peace. Take action today.

In 1920 the League of Nations unanimously recognized the land of Israel, then known by the Roman name ‘Palestine’, as the home of the Jewish people under international law. The Jews, an indigenous people from the area in and around Israel, who were dispossessed and oppressed for 1,900 years across Europe and the Middle East, were finally granted their right to self-determination in their ancestral home.

The British were given the responsibility to facilitate the return of Jews and rebirth of the Jewish state, while doing nothing to, “prejudice the civil and religious rights” of Arab residents and others. Unfortunately, in 1920 the British empowered a racist extremist named Haj Amin al-Husseini to lead the Palestinian Arabs. Husseini proceeded to organize violent attacks and boycotts against Jews throughout the 1920s and 1930s in an attempt to kill the local Jews and suppress their liberation movement.

Largely because of the violent intransigence of the Palestinian Arab leadership, a proposal was made to divide the land into two states for two peoples – one for the Jews and one for the Palestinian Arabs. The proposed Jewish state represented only 20% of the land promised to the Jews by the League of Nations, but the Jewish leadership said yes to it as a basis for negotiations.

Haj Amin al-Husseini and the rest of the Palestinian Arab leadership said no to the peace plan. They refused to accept any form of Jewish independence or self-determination. They continued to incite violence, and a few years later al-Husseini began collaborating with Hitler.

Conflict continued between the Jews who sought to reestablish a state in their ancestral homeland and the Palestinian Arab leadership which opposed these aspirations. In response, the United Nations proposed another division of the land into a Jewish state and an Arab state. Roughly 70% of the land proposed as a state for the Jews consisted of the arid Negev Desert, but Jewish leaders said yes, and offered citizenship to Arabs in their territory.

Palestinian and Arab leaders said no and offered no alternative. Two years after the Holocaust ended, they launched a war to wipe out any possibility of a Jewish state. During the 1^st phase they laid siege to Jerusalem, nearly starving 100,000 Jews to death and ethnically cleansing the holiest part of the city. Then, in May, 1948 after Israel declared independence, five Arab armies invaded to destroy it.

In 1993 Israelis and Palestinians began peace negotiations by signing a treaty called the Oslo Accords. In 2000, President Bill Clinton brought Israeli and Palestinian leaders together and proposed the creation of a Palestinian state in 97% of the West Bank and all of Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said yes.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said no – a “colossal historic blunder” according to President Clinton. Arafat refused to make a counteroffer and instead launched the 2^ndIntifada – a brutal campaign of suicide bombings and other attacks which murdered over 1,000 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians. Israel responded with checkpoints, a security barrier, and other measures to protect its people.

In September, 2008 Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered a peace agreementgiving the Palestinians virtually all of the West Bank and Gaza for a Palestinian state. He agreed to divide Jerusalem so that the eastern part of the city could become the Palestinian capital.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas promised to get back to PM Olmert but never did. Olmert remained in office for 6 months after his offer and Abbas refused to respond. He effectively said no to peace.

In 2014 negotiations began again, facilitated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. While no comprehensive peace deal was put on the table, Kerry did propose a framework agreement on the major issues. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said yes to the framework. Additionally, according to a document leaked to Israeli media, there had been secret negotiations in which Netanyahu offered many concessions.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said no to Kerry’s framework agreement. In April, 2014, Kerry shifted his efforts to focus on extending the deadline for an agreement and keeping Abbas at the negotiating table. Abbas refused, and instead chose to join with the racist terrorist organization Hamas in a unity government.