wfn.org | Update: International law in Palestine-Israel peace process

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World Council of Churches 7 Press Update
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 13/11/2003 - pu-03-42

Panelists at odds over role of international law in
Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts

Cf. WCC Press Update PU-03-42 of 11 November 2003
Cf. WCC Press Release PR-03-33 of 6 November 2003

Media contact in New York: Jeffrey Penn, Mobile +1 646 265 0405

Free high-resolution photos available - see below

Despite their longstanding efforts to bring peace between
Israelis and
Palestinians, two experts clashed sharply over the role of
international
law in the peace process at an 11 November public forum
entitled, "Peace
and international law in Israel and Palestine: assessing the
paths to
peace." The forum was part of the World Council of Churches'
(WCC)
International Affairs and Advocacy Week in New York.

"The situation in the Middle East is a sad and vicious cycle
of actions and
reactions, retaliation and revenge," said Avraam Burg, a
member of the
Labour Party and former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, and a
participant
in negotiations between Israeli opposition leaders and
Palestinians leading
to an October 2003 draft peace agreement known as the Geneva
Accord.  Burg
asserted that peace would only succeed if peace negotiators
focus directly
on the practical concerns of ordinary citizens, rather than
"theoretical"
international norms.

"The principal flaw in the Oslo peace process - and the problem
with the
Geneva Accord - is that both exclude the relevance of
international law
from the process," said Richard Falk, Milbank professor of
international
law emeritus at Princeton University and visiting distinguished
professor,
Global Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara.

Falk argued that both processes were flawed, since both sought
to strike a
bargain between unequal parties.  "The fundamental defect of
Oslo was that
it incorporated a geopolitical inequity into a so-called peace
process,"
since it sought to "bargain between two sides of unequal
capacities," Falk
added. "And the mediator of the conflict - the United States -
was aligned
with the stronger party in the negotiations."

The realm of possibility
In opening remarks that framed the discussion, Salpy Eskidjian,
WCC
programme executive for the Middle East, expressed a sense of
urgency in
the situation.	"In the midst of deadly violence in the
Palestinian
occupied territories and Israel, despair and humiliation, fear
and
frustration, the Palestinians and the Israelis as well as the
international
community are trying to find acceptable, just, sustainable ways
of sharing
the land and sharing the peace," she said.  "Our task is to
bring the
impossible into the realm of possibility."

"We must overcome the biblical mentality of 'an eye for an
eye" and end the
tribal disputes at the root of the conflict," Burg said.  He
argued that
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict "is much more than a squabble
over a piece
of land," and hence, he said, any resolution of the matter "will
have to be
more than a real estate deal."

Instead, Burg suggested that the root of the conflict "is much
deeper,
originating at the level of symbols and icons".  If peace
negotiators do
not explore the deeper symbolic roots of the conflict, "they
will remain on
a collision course," he said.

Much of the conflict, Burg asserted, is fuelled by "the clash
between the
holocaust and colonialism" still lingering in the politics of
the Middle
East.  He also argued that international law has a transitory
quality - not
unlike when new legislators often change old laws.

Compromise on both sides
In his review of the process leading to the Geneva Accord, Burg
said that
both sides have to relinquish some cherished symbols: for the
Israelis,
control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem; for the Palestinians,
the notion
of the "right of return".  Both sides, said Burg, have painfully
agreed to
this transfer of symbols.  The only peaceful way forward, he
continued,
"is for a change in mindsets based on mutual respect, and the
will to
compromise on both sides."

According to Burg, many practitioners of religion in the 21st
century have
hardened their positions, revealing an image of God who is
"stubborn,
tough, and angry". He argued that fruitful dialogue must
confront such
religious intolerance.	Yet, Burg argued, "Any analysis of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a clash between
Judeo-Christianity and
Islam is shallow and superficial."  Instead, Burg contended, the
real clash
exists between "democratic societies and theocratic ones".

A genuine equality
When Palestinians ultimately rejected peace proposals, they were
unfairly
blamed for the failure to reach an agreement, Falk said. "If the
process
doesn't produce a vision of equality, then the weaker side is
forced to
swallow an unfair bargain." "The real failure of the
Palestinian
leadership," he continued, "was that it did not offer an
alternative vision
of what real peace would consist of."

Falk also rejected Burg's contention that the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict
represents a clash between theocracy and democracy. 
"Democracies should
not be uncritically confirmed," Falk argued.  "Democracies are
no better or
worse than the political cultures in which they exist.

In the end, Falk said, the choice is between "a geopolitical
process that
seeks to bargain between two unequal sides, and one that
acknowledges the
principles of international law."

 According to Falk, the only genuine way to secure a peace is to
appeal to
the perspective of international law on all critical issues -
including
settlements, water rights, and the occupation - even though such
an appeal
might appear to favour Palestinians.

Without appealing to international norms, Falk fears that any
peace process
that is based on the inequities - including the Geneva Accord -
will lead
to unrealistic expectations, distortions, and eventually
disappointment on
both sides.

Reconciled neighbours, secure borders
"The best and most secure borders rely not on the accumulation
of nuclear
weapons or weapons of mass destruction, or of spying, but in the
existence
of reconciled neighbours," said Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, head
of the
Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East, who is a
Palestinian
Christian and a citizen of Israel.

Describing both the Oslo and Geneva processes as "steps in the
right
direction", El-Assal endorsed the appeal to international law,
and added
that any successful process must "address the root causes of
suffering".
The bishop also expressed support for a two-state solution, "and
eventually
perhaps a federation or confederation of two states with open
borders".

"Jews and Palestinians have so much in common," El-Assal said.
"We have
lived side by side for so many years, and both communities have
a sense of
living in the Diaspora," he said.  El-Assal urged people on all
sides of
the conflict to "stop being ready to die for your cause, and
start living
for peace and justice".

In response to a question from the audience, the bishop was
especially
critical of the current construction of a wall between Israel
and the
occupied territories.  He called on the international community
"to address
the issue of the wall".

"This is not an era for erecting barriers, but for breaking down
barriers,"
he said.

Free high-resolution photos from the WCC New York Advocacy Week
are
available on our website:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/churchcenter-ny.html 

The complete programme of public seminars of the Advocacy Week
and biodata
about the key speakers are available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/advocacyweek-prog.html 

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