Stern-Weiner - Moment of truth: tackling Israel-Palestines toughest questions

More than a century on from the Balfour Declaration, more than 50 years since the fateful war of 1967, and a full decade into the inhuman siege of Gazapainfully, absurdly, almost unbelievably, the Israel-Palestine conflict rolls on. Amidst a growing sense that the Palestinians long struggle for self-determination has reached a crossroads, if not an impasse, this volume seeks to take stock, draw lessons from experience, and weigh paths forward.

Moment of Truth seeks to clarify what it would take to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict, to assess the prospects of doing so, and to illuminate what is possible in Palestine. It assembles an unprecedented wealth of expertiseencompassing political leaders, preeminent scholars, and dedicated activists from Israel, Palestine, and abroadin direct critical exchange on the issues at the heart of the worlds most intractable conflict. Has Israels settlement enterprise made a Palestinian state impossible? Can the Palestinian leadership end the occupation? Is Israels rule in the Palestinian territories a form of apartheid? Could the US government force Israel to withdraw? In a series of compelling, enlightening, and at times no-holds-barred debates, leading authorities tackle these and other challenges, exposing myths, challenging preconceptions, and establishing between them a more sober and informed basis for political action.

Contributors: Musa Abuhashhash, Asad Abukhalil, Mkhaimar Abusada, Gilbert Achcar, Ghaith al-Omari, Ghassan Andoni, Usama Antar, Nur Arafeh, Shaul Arieli, Arie Arnon, Tareq Baconi, Sam Bahour, Sari Bashi, Shlomo Ben-Ami, Suhad Bishara, Nathan J. Brown, Diana Buttu, Jan de Jong, John Dugard, Michael Dumper, Hagai El-Ad, Richard A. Falk, Norman G. Finkelstein, Neve Gordon, Ran Greenstein, Yoaz Hendel, Jamil Hilal, Khaled Hroub, Amal Jamal, Leila Khaled, Raja Khalidi, Rami G. Khouri, Lior Lehrs, Gideon Levy, Alon Liel, John J. Mearsheimer, Jessica Montell, Rami Nasrallah, Wendy Pearlman, Nicola Perugini, William B. Quandt, Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, Glen Rangwala, Glenn E. Robinson, Nadim Rouhana, Sara Roy, Bashir Saade, Robbie Sabel, Dahlia Scheindlin, Daniel Seidemann, Michael Sfard, Muhammad Shehada, Raja Shehadeh, Sammy Smooha, Mark Tessler, Nathan Thrall, Ahmed Yousef, Ido Zelkovitz.

2018 The contributors

All rights information:

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except brief passages for review purposes.

First printing 2018

Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress.

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

Published for the book trade by OR Books in partnership with Counterpoint Press.

Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West.

ISBN 978-1-944869-69-4 paperback

ISBN 978-1-944869-70-0 e-book

Typeset by Lapiz Digital Services, Chennai, India.

To my parents, to Offer, and to Kate.

I am grateful for the assistance of Norman Finkelstein, Clestine Fnfgeld, Ofer Neiman, Michaela Collord, John Dugard, Eve Lacey, Mohammed Omer, Mouin Rabbani, Colin Robinson, Sara Roy, and Muhammad Shehada.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
(West Bank and Gaza Strip)

The West Bank (2011)

Greater Jerusalem (2007)

• November 1917 : British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour declares, His Majestys Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.
• April 1920 : The San Remo Conference assigns the Mandate for Palestine to the United Kingdom. The text, which is adopted by the League of Nations in 1922, incorporates the wording of the Balfour Declaration.
• 19361939 : Arab Revolt in Palestine, which begins with one of the longest general strikes in history (AprilOctober 1936), is crushed by the British authorities assisted by Zionist forces.
• November 1947 : UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 181 (II), which recommends the partition of Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish State. Conflict breaks out in Palestine upon the resolutions passage.
• 14 May 1948 : Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel proclaimed by David Ben-Gurion, who becomes Israels first prime minister.
• 15 May 1948January 1949 : First Arab-Israeli War (the War of Independence or Nakba ). During the hostilities, Israel expands its territory to encompass 78 percent of Mandatory Palestine, from which some 700750,000 peoplemore than half the Palestinian Arab populationare driven into exile.
• September 1948 : All-Palestine Government established by the Arab League to administer Egyptian-controlled Gaza. It is soon exiled to Cairo. Between 1949 and 1967, Gaza is under Egyptian control.
• December 1948: UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 194 (III) which, inter alia, resolves that the [Palestinian] refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practical date.
• FebruaryJuly 1949 : Arab-Israeli armistice agreements establish demarcation boundaries. These become Israels de facto borders until the 1967 War.
• 24 April 1950 : Jordan annexes the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The annexation is recognized only by Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
• 29 October 1956 : Britain, France, and Israel invade Egypt (the Suez Crisis or Tripartite Aggression). Israel occupies the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. Under US pressure, Britain and France withdraw on 23 December. Israel withdraws in March 1957.
• 19581959 : Fatah, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, established.
• May 1964 : Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) established.
• January 1965 : Fatah launches armed struggle against Israel.
• November 1966 : The regime of martial law that has been imposed on Israels Arab citizens since 1948 is formally lifted.
• 510 June 1967 : The Six Day War pits Israel against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Israel achieves a resounding military victory. The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights and Egyptian Sinai, come under Israeli military occupation.
• 27 June 1967 : Israel de facto annexes East Jerusalem.
• 22 November 1967 : UN Security Council adopts Resolution 242. This affirms the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war; calls for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on [w]ithdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict; and simultaneously calls for the [t]ermination of all claims or states of belligerence and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats of acts of force.