– Why did you let Israel destroy the Palestinian state all these years if you are in favor of a two-state solution, asks Hanan Ashrawi. The question is directed at Western leaders. news meets her at her office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. She says that she usually says no to interviews, but lets us in since Norway “behaves properly”. BEEN FOR A LONG TIME: The picture is from 1991. Hanan Ashrawi meets the American ambassador to Israel, James Baker. Photo: Ap Hanan Ashrawi refers to the situation the Palestinians now find themselves in as extreme where everyone is traumatized, both in Gaza and in the West Bank. – You don’t get peace, stability and security if the Palestinian people continue to be targeted and dehumanized, she says. Hanan Ashrawi has been a central figure in Palestinian politics for over 30 years. In the 1990s, she was involved in the start of the Oslo process, which is the closest that has come to a peaceful solution between Israel and the Palestinians. THE OSLO AGREEMENT: Hanan Ashrawi together with the PLO leader and the Secretary-General of the UN Photo: Afp She resigned because she believed that the power relationship between the parties was skewed. Today, she says they lost the negotiations twice. Should you have signed? – We should have been more skeptical. We should have understood that this occupation would continue. We ended up with more oppression, death and destruction, she says. NEGOTIATION: Hanan Ashrawi does not believe in negotiations on a two-state solution now. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news – The world has watched while we have died The war in Gaza has revived the demands for a two-state solution led by, among others, the United States, as a close ally of Israel. Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) also believes that there is no credible alternative to a two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly rejected it. – Listen to what they say and see what they do, says Ashrawi. She does not believe in any negotiation with the current government. PULL BACK: Hanan Ashrawi at his home in Ramallah. The picture was taken on 16 December 1993, shortly after she resigned as spokesperson for PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Photo: Ap – But if the world can stop the racism and the theft of land and resources, then I say fine, give me a two-state solution. We can live side by side in peace and harmony. We don’t have to love each other. Neighbors can be just neighbors. But if the world can’t stop the abuse, then don’t sell us empty words and slogans. – Is that what they do? – I think there is a real danger of that. Europe has been telling us for decades that they are in favor of a two-state solution. But they did nothing to save it or stop the settlements, she says. Two-state solution In 1937, the first plan for a two-state solution saw the light of day in the then British mandate area of Palestine. * It was written by William Peel, head of a British commission to find a solution to the conflict between Jews and Arabs. * Ten years and a world war later, the UN General Assembly in 1947 adopted a plan to create two states in the area. Jews were allocated 56 percent of the land, which the Muslim and Christian Palestinians opposed. * The partition plan triggered an armed uprising in which local Palestinian militia eventually gained support from Arab countries. * In April 1948, Jewish militia groups initiated what was later known as Plan D, in which over 400 Palestinian villages were razed and laid waste. * A few weeks later, David Ben Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel in an area far larger than the UN partition plan had set out. Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia went to war. * The Israeli forces emerged victorious from the war and took control of 77 percent of the area. * In the Six Day War in 1967, Israel occupied the remaining Palestinian territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. * The Palestinian liberation movement, led by Fatah, took up the fight, but in reality had no chance. * The UN Security Council has, in several resolutions, demanded Israeli withdrawal, but as a result of opposition from the USA, has never put power behind the demand. * At the end of the 1980s, a popular uprising (intifada) broke out in the occupied territories. Then the USA got involved in the peace process and advocated for the first time the creation of a Palestinian state. * A Palestinian state is not mentioned in the so-called Oslo agreements, which in the early 1990s ensured the Palestinians limited autonomy in certain parts of the occupied area. * The number of Israeli settlers in the occupied territories has increased sevenfold since the first Oslo agreement was signed in 1993. Infrastructure linked to the settlements is occupying an increasingly large part of the Palestinian territories. * The world community maintains that a negotiated two-state solution is the way to peace, but the negotiations in reality broke down around ten years ago. Source: NTB Today there is a patchwork of settlements in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967. Between them are roads that can only be used by Israelis. 146 settlements have been established there and 144 smaller outposts, which means that many believe it is difficult to imagine a Palestinian state. KNOWS MANY: Hannan Ashrawi met the American actor Richard Gere in 2003. She was then president of the Institute for Global Dialogue and Democracy. Photo: REUTERS – I have followed this for 30 years and we are moving further and further away from it every year, says researcher at PRIO, Jørgen Jensehaugen. He doesn’t believe in any breakthrough now either. – I’m afraid that people just use it as a rest cushion instead of making tough choices. If you are serious, you must do more to reverse a development that has gone on for over 50 years and you must treat Israel differently, he believes. Ashrawi believes the Palestinians have good reasons to be skeptical. PALESTINE: Hanan Ashrawi is sure that one day they will have their own state. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news – The world has watched while we have died, lost our country, freedom and rights. Thinks Israelis will wake up But she still hasn’t lost faith that the Palestinians will one day live in their own country. – Yes, I am convinced that it will happen. Not soon, but it will happen. Because Palestinians are here to stay. We are here with our history, culture and identity determined to stay no matter what the cost. And sooner or later the Israelis will wake up and see where this got us. Not just Palestinians, but Israelis and the entire region. Murder, bombing, starvation and harassment. Palestinian and Israeli trauma is great and the violence only continues. Nevertheless, there are some who believe in a way out of the war. The presenter is Eline Buvarp Aardal.
ttn-69
Convinced that there will be a Palestinian state – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
