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Press Release World Is Waiting For
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by Sam Bahour
(Jerusalem, 2001) - Today, for the first time
since 1948, the Middle East woke up to its future. Late into the
night, hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, surprised even
the most radical Palestinians, and ordered the Israeli Defense
Forces to end 34 years of military occupation of Palestinian lands.
Israel has militarily controlled every aspect of Palestinian life
ever since it illegally occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and
Gaza Strip in 1967. The operation of withdrawing Israeli forces to
their pre-1967 borders has been coined, “Operation Face History”
and is expected to be completed in 48 hours.
Prime Minister Sharon went on national Israeli
television and called for a 3-day curfew in Israel and Palestine
while Operation Face History is implemented. Reporters were
the only ones there to witness truckloads of Palestinian political
prisoners being set free and Israeli soldiers, military assets and
settler families being hauled toward Israel proper. In his 20-minute
address to the nation, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon made three
references to similar blunt actions taken by the South African
regime in 1994 that ended Apartheid once and for all.
Israeli settlements, once a major obstacle to
peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, are surprisingly being
left behind for Palestinian use in housing the surge of Palestinian
refugees expected to return from their Diaspora. Sharon, who as a
General in 1977 ordered the bulldozing of the Israeli settlement
Yamit in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula prior to the ending of Israeli
occupation there, was quoted today as saying, “The settlements in
the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip were once our hope and
dream. A dream that was based on Eretz Israel [Greater Israel].
Today, we are facing the historical reality that this fantasy has
utterly failed and during our attempt to force our will upon the
region we have caused tremendous human suffering to the
Palestinians. Keeping these housing units behind for Palestinian
refugee use is the least we can do to start and mend 53 years of
oppression.”
Concerning the complicated issue of the
Palestinian Right of Return (to their homes in Historic
Palestine that they were expelled from in 1948 by Israel), the
Israeli Prime Minister stated for the first time ever that Israel
acknowledges this as a Palestinian political and human right. Sharon
affirmed that Israel, which created the Palestinian Diaspora, would
do its utmost to ensure that an equitable resolution takes place
within an internationally led commission. Sharon stated that this
international commission, led by the UN, would oversee the practical
implementation of Palestinian’s Right of Return and would
be bound by a definite timeline which will be fully respected. In
the meantime, Sharon announced that, since the Palestinians are now
in full control of their own borders, they have the unilateral
option of accepting any person they wish into their country.
As for another historical sticky point,
Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian President
Arafat issued a joint communiqué stating that they have both
accepted that the city would remain open and be the capital of both
States. Likewise, a second international commission will hold the
responsibility to manage the interaction between East and West
Jerusalem for as long as it takes until both sides agree to a
governance model that brings lasting stability. This international
commission will be comprised of representatives of all of the
recognized supranational
political bodies of the
world such as, The League of Arab States, United Nations, European
Union, Organization of African Unity, and the Organization of
American States. In addition to these regional bodies,
representatives from the three monolithic religions, including the
Holy See, will be equal partners in this International Jerusalem
Management Commission as will a team from Palestine and another from
Israel, guaranteeing the access to all holy sites, including Muslim,
Jewish and Christian. As for immediate security concerns, both
leaders acknowledged their acceptance of a 10,000-strong UN
Peacekeeping force that will start to arrive within 48 hours.
The world’s reaction to these extraordinary
developments has been one of joy and relief. Expectations are that
tourism over the next 5 years in the region will rise by over
3,000%. Corporations from all corners of the globe are competing to
get a piece of the peace dividend.
Corporate America alone has offered hundreds
of millions in financial, material and in-kind support to the State
of Palestine to facilitate its rehabilitation following its bitter
years under U.S.-funded Israeli Occupation. A group of 100 American
Fortune 500 firms issued a joint statement today stating that, “our
government was on the wrong side of history in the Middle East for
the last 50 years, we owe it to our nation and to the Arab World to
bring Palestine into the 21st century
as rapidly as possible.”
In related news, dovish Israeli
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres committed suicide today in his New
York hotel room following a speech that he gave at a gala dinner of
the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which is the
pro-Israeli lobby in the U.S. It was reported that Foreign Minister
Peres left behind a note explaining how he could not face returning
home to confront the Israeli people after accepting to be sent to
the U.S. by Prime Minster Sharon to cover up for the last 7 months
of Israeli aggression on Palestinians civilians.
Mr. Sam Bahour is a
Palestinian-American businessman, born and raised in Youngstown,
Ohio, who relocated to his family's home in Al-Bireh, West Bank
immediately following the signing of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. He
is co-author of HOMELAND: Oral Histories
of Palestine and Palestinians (1994).
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