Analyzing the one-sided peace process

The Mideast peace process has gone up in flames—again. The latest round of peace talks have resulted in mounted tensions on both sides. On April 4, U.S. mediator John Kerry threw up his hands in frustration and called for a “reality-check” on the U.S. role in negotiations. The media’s knee-jerk reaction has been to blame Israel for striking the match that started the blaze. This viewpoint has been largely promulgated by the one nation that should know better—the United States.

After a long history as a negotiator and go-between for the Israelis and Palestinians, the U.S. has borne witness to repeated attempts toward peace. This makes the current U.S. assumption that Israel is to blame all the harder to comprehend because in every failed negotiation to date, Israel has had the most to lose.

Let’s take a look at what Israel has conceded in an attempt to bring about peace with the Palestinians, and what the Israeli people received in return.

One instance would be the Sept. 13, 1993, Oslo Agreement. It signified mutual recognition by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Israel would withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza in stages. In return, the Palestine Liberation Organization would recognize Israel’s right to be a nation and live in peace.

In 2005, as a part of the disengagement plan to bring about peace with the Palestinians, Israel evacuated the Strip and some settlements in the West Bank. Those Israeli citizens who did not comply were forcefully evicted, and dragged, kicking and wailing, from their homes. Israeli residences and settlements were torn down and destroyed. The Gaza Strip was made Jew-free in a matter of days.

This task—signed off in the Knesset and carried out by the Israel Defense Forces—was supposed to be a monumental step toward creating a Palestinian state that could function alongside Israel in peace. How did it work out?

Since 2005, Israeli towns and cities have been held to ransom by terrorists launching rocket after indiscriminate rocket into the Israeli state. The Israel Defense Forces has reported over 8,000 rocket attacks since the withdrawal. Gaza has devolved into a terrorist safe haven.

Israel’s defensive actions against these attacks (yes, protecting yourself from rocket attacks is defensive) have repeatedly drawn the ire of the international community. Organizations such as the United Nations condemn Israel’s actions as a stumbling block on the road to peace. They refuse to recognize the fact that Israel is reacting to Arab aggression.

Israel gave up Gaza and received violence and fear in return. What did the Palestinians contribute toward peace? Did they renounce terror? Did they become responsible peace partners? Did they recognize Israel’s right to exist?

Beginning on July 29, 2013, negotiations for a new peace deal were heavily one-sided. Israel promised to release 114 Palestinian prisoners—some of them convicted murderers—in return for the Palestinians to remain at the negotiating table and not pursue unilateral statehood through the UN. Here again, Israel made all of the tangible concessions in exchange for promises. Releasing hardened terrorists and murderers back into the Palestinian community will not make the general community more favorable to Israel; undoubtedly, these radicals will incite more violence.

We must remember that the ultimate Palestinian goal is not merely the establishment of a Palestinian state. The real goal is the complete replacement of Israel. While a far more long-term objective for the Palestinians, this widely held goal is often preached by Palestinian officials. “Anyone willing to look can see, what they truly want is not a state of their own living side-by-side with Israel but a state that replaces Israel altogether” (Wall Street Journal, April 9.)

Since Israel’s formation, it has been under one form of attack or another. The calls to wipe Israel off the map have continued unabated. The international community keeps telling Israel to make more concessions—concessions that bring the Palestinians closer and closer to statehood without any security improvements for Israel.

Yet Israel goes along with predictable results: A momentary flight followed by a hard nosedive. And each and every time it fails, Israel comes away with the bloody nose yet is the one blamed for the failure. Most recently Israel released three waves of long-serving Palestinian prisoners, got nothing in return, and now the peace process has gone up in flames again. Israel loses.

In the third wave of prisoner releases, Israel released:

Juma Ibrahim Juma Adam—Murdered Rachel Weiss and her three children and an idf soldier in a firebomb attack in 1988.

Jamal Haled Ibrahim Abu Muchsan—Stabbed 76-year-old Shlomo Yichye to death in 1991.

Mahmoud Fauzi Salma Falena—Convicted of carrying out a roadside bomb attack that killed an Israeli citizen in the town of Ramallah in 1992.

Ahmed Awad Ali Camil—Murdered five Israelis and 50 Palestinians; commander of the Black Panther terrorist group.

At least 20 more convicted murderers.

But the Palestinians lose nothing. The Palestinian Liberation Organization promised to withhold steps to gain statehood at the UN while negotiations were going on, only to apply for 15 organizations in the UN, ignoring those promises—prompting Israel to cancel its fourth and final scheduled release of prisoners. Over the course of the negotiations, all that the Palestinians sacrificed were a few months of progress. Israel on the other hand, sacrificed peace and stability by releasing murderers back into society.

The history of the entire peace process is largely the same: Israel gives all and gains nothing. Under such a scenario, there can only be one outcome: the realization of Palestinian goals—and the destruction of Israel.

For more on where events are heading for Israel and the Palestinians, be sure to read Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s article “Watch Jerusalem!” This article explains what will come of peace negotiations, and how they will affect not only Israel but the whole world.