Paradox of Peacemaking: Fayyad's Unilateral Statehood Plan

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs ^ | November 15, 2009 | Alan Baker

[jerusalemjudy]

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad published a plan in August 2009 to unilaterally declare statehood after a two-year state-building process. The Fayyad plan involves numerous governance components that already exist within the various frameworks composing the Oslo Accords, which already enable the Palestinians to develop their state-building capabilities within the peace process, and not necessarily as a unilateral initiative outside the process.

The only valid legal framework between the Israelis and the Palestinians remains the 1995 Interim Agreement, which represents the source of authority for the existence of the Palestinian governance and its component institutions. The Interim Agreement established that: "Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the Permanent Status negotiations."

In November 2009, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat publicly confirmed discussions with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and EU policy chief Javier Solana who reportedly expressed support for a UN Security Council resolution calling for a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, which is the stated goal of the Fayyad plan.

The Fayyad plan contains elements regarding Jerusalem, borders, and economic aspects that are part and parcel of the established final-status negotiation process and, if dealt with unilaterally, would undermine the process and violate the solemn commitments entered into by the Palestinians.

Any unilateral action that undermines the existing Oslo interim framework could jeopardize the peace process and remove the basis for the existence of the Palestinian Authority. However, were the Fayyad plan to be adapted and integrated within a resumed negotiating process, on the basis of the extensive infrastructure that already exists in the Oslo Accords, then this plan could serve as a constructive starting point for any new round of negotiations.

[SunkenCiv]

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad published a plan in August 2009 to unilaterally declare statehood after a two-year state-building process... The only valid legal framework between the Israelis and the Palestinians remains the 1995 Interim Agreement, which represents the source of authority for the existence of the Palestinian governance and its component institutions. The Interim Agreement established that: "Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the Permanent Status negotiations."

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[asantane]

The Palestinians deserve to be able to live in peace and their diaspora, pushed out by Jewish extremists ought to have the right to return back to Palestine.

There’s not many things that sicken me more than the unholy alliance between Israel and USA. Israel spies on us, creates enemies for us abroad and Jewish interlopers are hellbent on destroying the fabric of society here in the US while espousing a totally different, vastly ethnocentric policy in Israel.

Sad.