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The top ten things you need to know to begin understanding the Israeli/Palestinian impasse: Part 5
By Henry H. Bucher, Jr., Faculty Emeritus in Humanities, Austin College
Apr 10, 2024
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Parts 1 – 4 appeared in North Texas e-News on March 5, 14, 18, & 27, respectively.

 

Henry H. Bucher, Jr.
10. – The United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967 (The USA voted for it ) set the stage for “land for peace” after Israel seized the West Bank, Gaza, the Syrian Golan Heights, and parts of Sinai (returned after Camp David for peace with Egypt). Almost every UN resolution on the Mid-East since 1967 refers to Resolution 242, as did the Camp David Accords, the Oslo Agreement, and other attempts at peace. Resolution 242 (and its predecessor in 1947/1948) affirm Jerusalem as an “International Zone”(corpus separatum) as it had been for 400 years under the Ottoman Empire.

 

There will be no peace unless Jerusalem is either separate, or better yet shared. That the Syrian/Israeli secret agreements included sharing parts of the occupied Golan Heights suggest that this could be a model for sharing Jerusalem.* Most positive steps toward peace since 1967 have been “time released” and hark back to Resolution 242 of 1967 which is considered pivotal to any serious steps toward a real peace.

    *In a “two state solution,” the embassies of Israel and Palestine would be in West Jerusalem and East Jerusalem respectively and should increase the ability of quicker and closer communication.

 

The above “Top ten things…” was written more than ten years ago for my course: “Ethno-political religious nationalisms in what we call the Middle East.” The footnotes were added in March 2024 when the Israeli/Hamas war was more than five months in the making; and the USA and Israel are not so close as before. The number grows of organizations that have been following closely the Israeli/Palestinian Impasse. A good start would begin by being in touch with Jewish Voice for Peace (magazine@tikkun.org); Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA@wrmea.org); and Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU@aol.com). Also read “Tectonic Opinion Shift on Palestinian/Israel Reaches USA” by Willam Minter in Africa Focus Notes (africa focus@substack.com.), March 28, 2024. The killing in Gaza of seven international people working for World Central Kitchen (Jose Andres) by the Israel Defense Forces in early April has added even more to world opinion becoming more sympathetic to Palestinians. Israel’s neighbors are threatening actions (especially Iran).