by JONATHAN COOK
Britain’s Keir Starmer is already pulling the rug from under his own grudging declaration. The only hope of change is of the unintended consequences variety
The reluctant recognition of Palestinian statehood by Britain, France, Australia, Canada this week is a con – it is the same switch and bait that has been blocking the creation of a Palestinian state for three decades now.
Imagine that these four leading western countries had recognised Palestine not in late 2025, when Palestine is in the final stages of being eradicated, but in the late 1990s, during a period of supposed Palestinian state-building.
That was when the Oslo accords were signed with western backing. The Palestinian Authority was established under Yasser Arafat with the apparent aim that Israel would gradually withdraw from the territories it still occupies in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem and begin ruling an emergent Palestinian state.
At Israel’s insistence, let us note, the Oslo accords carefully avoided any mention of the ultimate destination of this process. Nonetheless, the message from western politicians and media was the same: this was heading towards a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel.
Looking back, it is evident why that did not happen when it still looked feasible.
The Israeli leader of the time, Yitzhak Rabin, told the Israeli parliament that his vision was not of a state but of “an entity which is less than a state”: a glorified Palestinian local authority utterly dependent on its bigger neighbour, Israel, for its security and economic survival.
After Rabin was assassinated by a far-right Israeli gunman, his successor, Benjamin Netanyahu, was propelled into power by a majority of the Israeli public on a mandate to stop the Oslo process in its tracks.
He repeatedly reneged on commitments to withdraw Israeli soldiers and Jewish settler-militias from the occupied West Bank. In fact, in this period of supposed “peace-making”, Israel colonised Palestinian land at the fastest rate ever.
In 2001, during his time in opposition, Netanyahu was secretly caught on camera, explaining how he achieved this reversal.
shocking: Netanyahu speaks in private to settlers about his agenda and view of Americans.
Here’s the transcript: Bibi: Today everyone understands the slogan “The settlements are here”. It is everywhere. What’s the difference? What do you think Arafat wants? He wants one big settlement that is called Tel Aviv. As far as they are concerned, I think, the territorial waters are also theirs.That they want us to be pushed into the sea, is obvious, but only further away…The main thing is, first of all, to strike them, not once but several times, so painfully that the price they pay will be unbearable. SO far, the price-tag is not unbearable.[I mean] a large-scale attack on the Palestinian Authority, causing them to fear that everything is about to collapse. Fear is what brings them to…
Woman: Hold on, but then again, “the world” will say that we’re aggressors. Bibi:
They can say whatever they want Woman:
Aren’t you afraid of what they’ll say, Bibi?
Bibi: NO. Especially today, with the US. I know how they are. American is something that you can easily maneuver, and move in the right direction.
And even if they say something….So then they say something, so what? 80% of Americans support us! It’s absurd! We have such support there, and here we’re thinking what we should do “if”…
Look I wasn’t afraid to maneuver [the Clinton administration] I wasn’t afraid to confront Clinton. I wasn’t afraid to go against the UN.
What happened with the Oslo Accords?
Bibi: The Accords, which were ratified by Parliament – I was asked before the (1996) elections: “Will you fulfil them?” I said:”Yes, subject to reciprocity, and minimizing pull-outs” But how can one minimize the [obliged] pull-outs? I gave my own interpretation to the agreements, in such a way-that will allow me to stop the race back towards the 1967 borders. How did we manage to do this? Nobody defined what “military facilities” are. So I also defined them as being security zones. The entire Jordan valley, for me, is a “military Facility”. Nobody has…
Woman: Yes. Like the Beit She’an valley
Bibi – You see, go figure. But then there was the question of who will define these “Military Facilities”? I received a letter from (Secretary of State, Warren] Christopher to me and to Arafat at the same time saying that Israel, and Israel alone, will define the “military Facilities”, their locations and size. Now, they didn’t want to give this letter. so I refused to ratify the Hebron Accords (of 1997). I stopped the governmental meeting and I said: “I won’t sign”. And only when the letter has arrived, during that meeting, to me and to Arafat, I signed the Hebron Accords. Or ratified it, if to be exact, it was already signed. Why is this important. Because at that very moment, in fact, I halted the fulfilment of the Oslo Agreements. It’s better to give 2% than 100%. And this is the choice we’re facing. You give 2%, but you stopped the withdrawals, rather than 100%. The wisdom is not to be there and break, but rather to be there and pay the minimum.
Settler: Amen, as a Prime Minister
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