The way to a viable Palestine

by Margaret Beckett British Foreign Secretary
The Deccan Chronicle
28 October 2006
http://www.deccan.com/Columnists/Columnists.asp#The%20way%20to%20a%20via... 20Palestine

Millions of people across Lebanon, the Occupied Territories and Israel were deeply affected by the summer’s violence. Large numbers were evacuated and saw their homes and livelihoods destroyed. And most tragically, many continue to suffer the trauma of having lost a loved one. We in Britain were, and are, deeply conscious of these effects. That is why from the beginning of the crisis the UK worked intensively behind the scenes to secure the earliest possible sustainable ceasefire. Tony Blair was the first world leader to speak publicly about the need for a UN force as part of a comprehensive package for a lasting peace. On August 11, I myself went to New York to push hard for the earliest possible agreement on a resolution and its rapid implementation.

Today the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is allowing those affected to begin rebuilding their lives. Now we must put all our effort into ensuring that such a conflict does not reoccur. We cannot forget that Gaza is still blighted by the daily reality of danger, uncertainty and instability. West Bank closures, economic deprivation and restrictions on movement are preventing people from experiencing any kind of normality. At the same time, there is a wide consensus that peace must have at its core a negotiated settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis. For only such a settlement offers a way in which we can bring about the creation of a viable and prosperous Palestinian state. Helping to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has always been one of the UK’s highest foreign policy priorities.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and I hope that our recent visits to the region will be the beginning of a process to establish the framework for guiding the sides back to the negotiating table and moving past the current deadlock. We may disagree on how to achieve this vision, but few disagree with the vision itself. Violence only undermines our efforts to realise it. Those calling for the total destruction of Israel are a minority, but their influence still threatens to derail efforts to achieve peace and risks bringing about further senseless violence. Their prescription can lead only to another decades of dispossession and violence.

I am well aware that lack of progress on this issue continues to poison relations between the parties in the region. Progress towards a just and comprehensive peace represents the key to tackling so many of the complex challenges facing the whole Middle East. Central to the creation of a Palestinian state is the creation of fully-functioning government institutions. These cannot be expected to spontaneously appear in response to the signing of a final status agreement. Rather, by working now towards this end, we can all help strengthen the Palestinians’ hand in negotiations on the nature of that Palestinian state.

This is why the UK and its EU partners place so much emphasis on working with the Palestinians to achieve genuine progress towards this goal, even though we are aware of the difficulty of undertaking such a project under continuing occupation. This is not by any means an alternative to work towards a final settlement, but precisely in order that the conditions will exist to make such a final settlement realisable.

Thus, in addition to supporting the political process, the UK is helping develop the institutions and economy of a future Palestinian state. For example, the UK has supported work on security sector reform and instigated projects to improve the capacity of the Palestinian ministries, and the police, so that these institutions could function as the organs of a fully-fledged state. We are pushing hard to ensure the regular opening of crossing points which are vital arteries for the movement of goods and people; and on plans to improve security at the Karni crossing to enable Palestinians to export their harvests. This practical support is vital for improving the lives of ordinary people and in ensuring that a future Palestinian state is a functioning and thriving entity.

However, the potential for what we could do would be significantly enhanced if the international community were working with a Palestinian government which accepted the principles of renouncing violence, recognising Israel, and accepting previous agreements. Hamas’ dogmatic prevarication in accepting the need for a national unity government has effectively put the brakes on progress of any kind, while every day the lot of ordinary Palestinians deteriorates.

Countless polls have demonstrated the support of a clear Palestinian majority for a two-state solution. Yet Hamas, whose founding charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel, continues to thwart this desire for a lasting peace based on a negotiated settlement. I want here to rebut the lie once and for all that the UK and the EU have imposed sanctions against the Palestinians. The EU has given more to the Palestinians this year than in previous years ­ over $820m.

The UK, the largest European donor, has given the same amount this year as it gave in the last financial year ­ $57m ­ hardly a financial siege! The UK led the way in establishing the Temporary International Mechanism earlier this year which has provided 165 million euro assistance to the Palestinian people since June alone; supporting Palestinians with low incomes; paying health workers’ salaries; and helping pay fuel bills.

But the bulk of the PA’s monthly budget, prior to January, was financed by revenues which Israel collects on its behalf, and to which the PA is entitled. These amount to some $55m per month and their release would make the single greatest difference to the PA’s budgetary situation. We have called on Israel to use the TIM to channel the frozen revenues it is holding to the Palestinians.

We are not asking Hamas to make concessions on final-status issues ­ Jerusalem, refugees, or the borders of a future Palestinian state. They are entitled to make any demands they wish on these issues. Rather our position continues to be that a solution to these issues must be negotiated, rather than being dictated by any one side or even the international community. However, for negotiations to happen and be meaningful there must be a common basis for them to start from: namely, that the goal is a two-state solution, achieved through talks between two parties which mutually acknowledge each other.

When people lose faith in the possibility of peace, those who don’t want progress gain an opportunity to set an agenda of violence, confrontation and hatred. Violence only adds to the mistrust and human suffering and puts off the tough but unavoidable process of talking to the opposite side in order to bring about a definitive solution.

We in the UK know, from our own experience in Northern Ireland, that the path to peace can require painful compromises on both sides. But we also know that the dividends of peace are far greater than the sum total of these compromises. Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve the chance to achieve peace. The UK is committed to supporting them.