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P Peace plan is biggest diplomatic gift US ever gave Israel (Editorial)
President Donald Trump’s gestures and comments during the announcement said it all: This is a pro-Israel
U.S. President Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu discuss Middle East peace proposal at White House in Washington
(photo credit: BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS)
The “Deal of the Century” is the biggest diplomatic gift an American administration has ever given to the Jewish state since its founding.
Even without reading its contents, one could see during the unveiling at the White House on Tuesday that this plan was orchestrated in tight cooperation with Israel. President Donald Trump’s gestures and comments during the announcement said it all: This is a pro-Israel plan.
And Israelis received the gift with open hands. The Right appreciated the fact that Israel does not have to uproot the settlements. The Left was satisfied that once again peace is on the nation’s agenda, and both sides were satisfied by the response of the Arab world, which by large, called on the Palestinians to consider the plan as a basis for negotiations.
However, after the lights were shut in the East Room, doubts started to flow.
Alongside questions about the definition of the Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem and the tunnel connecting the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, some serious questions also came up on the borders section.
According to the plan, Israel will compensate the Palestinians for every inch in order to keep the West Bank settlements. “Land swaps provided by the State of Israel could include both populated and unpopulated areas,” the plan reads, a reference to Arab towns and cities located in the northern and southern “triangles” and Wadi Ara – three areas stretching from Rosh Ha’ayin to the Lower Galilee.
The Triangle communities consist of Kafr Kara, Arara, Baka al-Gharbiya, Umm el-Fahm, Kalansuwa, Taybeh, Kafr Kassem, Tira, Kafr Bara and Jaljulya, according to the document. “These communities, which largely self-identify as Palestinian, were originally designated to fall under Jordanian control during the negotiations of the Armistice Line of 1949, but ultimately were retained by Israel for military reasons that have since been mitigated. The Vision contemplates the possibility, subject to agreement of the parties that the borders of Israel will be redrawn such that the Triangle Communities become part of the State of Palestine.”
It is true that the triangles, or the Triangle, as it is often referred to by Israelis, and Wadi Ara were supposed to be part of Jordan and were handed to Israel in 1949. But since then, they have been part of Israel and the people who live there are Israeli citizens.
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The argument could be that the residents identify as Palestinians. But do they really? According to an Israel Democracy Institute poll in 2019, most of the Israeli-Arabs see themselves as being part of Israeli society. Sixty-five percent are proud to be Israeli while 83% say they want to become better integrated into Israeli society and play an active role in it. When asked what was the main component of their identity, only 13% said their Palestinian roots. The most common answer, answered by 38%, was simply “Arab.”
There is no basis to think that the Arabs living in these areas feel more Palestinian than those living in the Galilee or the Negev. The people living in Taybeh, Baka al-Gharbiya or Umm el-Fahm are integrating into Israeli society. They work and study with Jews and shop in the same places.
The State of Israel has always been ambivalent toward its Arab citizens. In the country’s first years, the Arabs lived under a military administration. Since then, they were given full citizenship and political rights. Arabs serve as heads of hospital departments, as government ministers and play in the country’s different sports leagues. Proposing to hand citizens over to another country is not only insulting, but it is also damaging.
A similar idea was already offered by Avigdor Liberman years ago and the Arabs living in these areas completely rejected it.
Despite this, there is no question the issue is complicated. Many of the Israeli-Arabs do affiliate themselves – to a certain degree – with Palestinian culture and history. But it doesn’t mean that they are not part of the State of Israel. Israeli society consists of many cultures and identities. After almost 72 years, we should learn how cope with this complex situation and be more accepting.
Trump’s plan offers peace. Accepting the Arab minority in Israel could be the first step in that direction.
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