After weeks of diplomatic stagnation, a number of South American nations have taken it upon themselves to breathe new life into the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations by formally recognizing the Palestinian state.
It’s about time some progress is made.
The negotiations, revamped by President Barack Obama last year, reached a stalemate in September when Palestine backed out after Israel resumed its development of disputed territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Not only did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuse to cease the development, but he also upped the ante by saying Israel would not negotiate unless Palestine officially recognized it as a Jewish nation.
With the additions of Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Uruguay, among others, the number of nations recognizing Palestine’s borders is ever-increasing (especially in Latin America).
However, these nations have chosen to recognize Palestine’s borders as those internationally declared before the Arab-Israeli War in 1967 — and therein lies the problem. During this war, Israel seized control of the West Bank.
There may be ulterior motives behind these countries’ endorsement, though.
With Argentina having faced economic crises and the Brazilian economy booming, one could certainly argue these countries are trying to make names for themselves in the Middle Eastern community with hopes of economic opportunities in the future. Being anti-Israel is a popular position in the Middle East, politically speaking. And as of now, most of these South American nations don’t have any stakes there.
So will the increased international recognition help the peace talks? Probably not.
Palestine is, of course, pleased to know it has a global community backing it, but the prospects of these actions pressuring Israel to concede are nil. In fact, the stakes only seem to have been raised higher.
The most recent advancement (if you can call it that) was a three-month West Bank development freeze from Israel in exchange for 20 American F-35 fighter jets. That’s hardly progress, if you ask me, which is probably why the U.S. abandoned efforts for another moratorium shortly thereafter.
Disregarding Israel’s recalcitrance and the U.S. all but giving up, this still leaves open Israel’s demand to be recognized as a Jewish state. Palestine’s reply: Within what borders?
Israel’s demand to be recognized as a Jewish state seems not only counterproductive but counterintuitive because Israel, being a state, has yet to define its borders and stays on the offensive in border expansion, particularly in the West Bank.
And why should recognition of Israel’s religious identity even be a part of the discourse? Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was right in saying “the Jewishness of the state has nothing to do with the matter.”
What is relevant to the matter is the West Bank’s population, which is more than 80 percent Arab.
Where the discussions go from here lies entirely in the concessions these nations are willing to make, however imbalanced they may be. All that seems to be asked of Israel is for them to stop what they are doing: supplanting Arabic neighborhoods and inserting Jewish ones.
One would think it should not take 20 fighter jets to convince them to take a breather.
The Palestinians, on the other hand, are being asked to officially recognize a nation that continuously encroaches on their land — much like parents punishing their child by having them retrieve the switch with which they are to be beaten.
With all negotiations currently halted, I hope these South American nations inspire a revival of diplomacy regardless of intent, and specifically one that does not involve the U.S. (ironically) trading advanced weaponry to one of the most violent regions on the planet.
Clayton Crockett is a 19-year-old international studies and mass communication freshman from Lafayette. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_ccrockett.