source: Al Jazeera, 7-8-2005.
summary: A general belief among Palestinians is that the "Israeli" plan to "disengage" from Gaza is primarily aimed at consolidating "Israel`s" grip on the West Bank. (PCHR)
The proposed expansion of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank has convinced many Palestinians, intellectuals and laymen alike, that peace with "Israel" is no longer within the realm of possibility. A general belief among Palestinians is that the "Israeli" plan to "disengage" from Gaza is primarily aimed at consolidating "Israel`s" grip on the West Bank.‏‏
Recent polls in Palestine have shown that a majority of Palestinians are convinced that a genuine peace with "Israel" - that is, one based on UN resolutions 242 and 338 and the land-for-peace formula - is no longer possible.‏‏
According to the Ram Allah-based Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), which conducts regular opinion polls in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem (al-Quds), and more Palestinians are willing to accept the view that the "Israeli"-Palestinian conflict has reached the "point of insolvability".‏‏
In an opinion poll conducted between 10-12 March, as many as 65% of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories said they did not believe that a "permanent peace with "Israel" was possible". Only 3.1% of respondents said such a peace was possible.‏‏
Settlements factor‏‏
In his fight to persuade settler leaders and right-wing critics that "disengagement" from Gaza was in their best interest, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on many occasions that the pullout, scheduled for July, would only lead to the "strengthening" of Ariel, Maale Adumim, Gush Itzion and other Jewish settlement-colonies in the West Bank.‏‏
But the "strengthening" of these settlements would, Palestinians and the international community argue, effectively undermine the possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank.‏‏
The creation of such a state is the centerpiece of President Bush`s "vision" of seeing two states living peacefully side by side in Palestine, "Israel" and Palestine. Moreover, "Israel`s" relentless bid to isolate Arab-East al-Quds with an impenetrable belt of Jewish-only settlements is already rendering Palestinian hopes of making the city their future capital unrealistic, Palestinian analysts say.‏‏
With this sense of pessimism being constantly fed by provocative "Israeli" decisions, such as the construction of the West Bank separation Wall, many Palestinians are unsurprisingly resorting to divine predictions to interpret the seeming irreconcilability of the conflict with "Israel".‏‏
Perpetual strife‏‏
Recently a Palestinian legislator told Aljazeera.net that the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza incorporating East Jerusalem (al-Quds) was no longer a realistic option.‏‏
Hatim Abd al-Qadir also recognised that the "one state solution" where Jews and Palestinians could live as equals in a unitary democratic state in all of mandatory Palestine ("Israel", West Bank and Gaza), wouldn`t be possible because of "Israel`s" vehement rejection of the idea. "So all is left is perpetual strife until God decrees a solution," Abd al-Qadir said. His dark view of the situation seems to be accepted by many Palestinian intellectuals.‏‏
Atif Adwan is a professor of political science at the Islamic University of Gaza. He says "all "Israeli" actions and behaviours in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967 have consistently demonstrated that "Israel" is not interested in a true peace with the Palestinians".‏‏
Adwan says a simple examination of "Israeli" behaviour towards Palestinians shows that the Zionist state is interested first and foremost in "imposing its will and fait accompli", regardless of what Palestinians think.‏‏
Religious conflict‏‏
Given the failure of UN resolutions demanding "Israeli" withdrawal and the ground reality, are the Palestinians then resigned to whatever "settlement" "Israel" imposes on them? Adwan says no. "We have to keep in mind that Palestine is not just another piece of real estate. Palestine is Jerusalem (al-Quds) and al-Quds is al-Aqsa Mosque, without which Islam loses an important and conspicuous part of it," he said.‏‏
Adwan argues that what prompted Muslims in the 12th century, under the leadership of Salah al-Din, to wage wars against the Crusaders would eventually prompt Muslims to do the same to dislodge "Israel" from al-Quds. He believes the conflict could morph into a straightforward religious conflict between Muslims and Jews. "It is already a religious conflict. In fact the religious aspect of the conflict has always been there.‏‏
"We have to remember that Zionism is nothing but an outer cloak for Talmudic Judaism. Even today, the strongest and most vehement opposition to "Israel`s" planned withdrawal from Gaza and some parts of the West Bank stems from religious considerations." Religious Zionism, it may be recalled, views "Israel" as the first flowering of redemption.‏‏
Khalid Amayreh is a journalist based in the occupied West Bank. This article was originally published on August 6, 2005 by aljazeera.net‏‏