Author: Mahnoor Khan
Affiliation: Habib University, Karachi
Organization/Publisher: Pakistan Horizon
Date/Place: February 10, 2021/Pakistan
Type of Literature: Article
Word Count: 1796
Keywords: Peace of the Century, Abraham Accord, Palestine, Evangelical Community, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.
Brief:
The year 2020 was a rabble-rousing year for Israel. The coalition government formed in May 2020 by Netanyahu dissolved on December 22, 2020, as the coalition of Likud Party and the Blue and White Party failed to pass a bi-annual state budget. On March 23, 2021, the stage for the fourth election in two years will be set again. Another development in 2020 was Israel’s recognition by some Arab states under the Abraham Accords, mediated (purchased) by the Trump administration. The agreement helped Trump’s bonds with the Evangelical community, which accounted for a “sizeable” portion of Trump’s election funds. Astonishingly, Sudan’s adverse history with Israel since the Khartoum Conference of 1967 after Al-Naksah (the “setback”), was defied. At the Khartoum Conference, the Arab League notably published its three “No’s”: No to peace, No to recognition, and No to negotiations with Israel. While many are buoyant on Biden’s take on world affairs, for Palestine, the case doesn’t seem very encouraging. The current US administration will need to take action and clarify the so-called “Deal of the Century” as the scheme ignores international law and accepts Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley. The entirety of Jerusalem is recognized as the Israeli capital, ignoring Palestinian calls for East Jerusalem to be the Palestinian state’s capital. The word “occupation” is not mentioned a single time in the whole document. Additionally, it deprives the right of return of the Palestinian diaspora, who left their homes after Nakba in 1948 and which now constitutes one of the world’s largest diaspora—numbering 7 million people. The “Deal of the Century” roughshods over multiple United Nations General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, including Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which states that “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” The author references the text, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, in which John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt write that “there is very little room for US public servants to stray from the official ‘line’ on Israel.” Consequently, President Biden, throughout his political carrier, has remained explicit in his support for Israel. When it was the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 or US military aid to Israel, he called it “the best $3 billion investment we make.” Therefore, Biden would be more prone to revitalize the ‘Oslo Paradigm’ that refers to the US as playing the role of mediator to achieve a two-state solution. However, for that, the US has to win the Palestinian Authority’s confidence.
By: Maryam Khan, CIGA Research Associate
