10 de junio de 2010

Western Sahara and Spain


WESTERN SAHARA AND SPAIN 
Nuno Catarino and Martín Secaira
  
The Western Sahara conflict is one of the oldest still unresolved disputes on the African continent. The clash between Morocco and the POLISARIO has provoked a horrendous crisis in the North African region. A 2,700 km-long defensive wall (“The Berm”) runs through the Western Sahara and the south-eastern part of Morocco. “The Berm” divides the disputed territory, which includes about 10 million landmines. The frightening fact is that these landmines have not yet been identified and mapped.
 As a result of the hostilities, more than 200,000 people fled their homes, the majority of whom, Sahrawi, have been forcibly displaced to the border countries of Algeria and Mauritania. The Tindouf refugee camp, in Algeria, holds around 177.000 refugees who live in precarious conditions. In addition, water and food shortages have provoked serious health problems that the authorities are not able to handle. Humanitarian aid is usually not allowed by the POLISARIO and, on the other side of “the Berm,” Morocco claims that it is insufficient. 
Moreover, war prisoners are victim of torture and abuse from the opposing party. The rule of international humanitarian law is not respected in the Sahrawi territory. Families have not had information about their loved ones, many of whom are believed dead, for many years. They are defined as “the oldest prisoners of war in the world.” The international community, including the United Nations, has developed many plans to put an end to this conflict, but the major inconvenience is the absence of political will. 
What is the role of Spain in the Western Sahara conflict?  Morocco is one of Spain’s closest economic partners.  Instability in Morocco would affect Spain at several levels: increasing numbers of illegal immigrants, growing drug traffic, and possible terrorist threats, as was shown during the events of March 11 in Madrid. 
Although economic relations between the two countries are very limited, by 1996, Algeria supplied 70% of Spain’s natural gas needs. Besides, Spanish public opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of Western Sahara’s independence. 
In this conundrum Spain has to tread carefully in order not to undermine its relations with its North African neighbours.  On the one hand, Morocco calls on Spain to follow a policy of “active neutrality” in the conflict.  On the other, Algeria is unhappy with the absence of a pro-active Spanish role in supporting Western Sahara’s independence.   It is inconceivable that the Spanish Government would take radical steps in favour of either Morocco or Algeria. Supporting an independent Western Sahara would be welcomed favourably by Spanish public opinion. The downside is that it would undermine Spain’s relations with Morocco.

PALESTINE PEACE NOT APARTHEID

Motivated by the recent incidents that ocurred when a humanitarian fleet transporting humanitarian relief items to the occupied territories, was abruptly intercepted in international waters by the Israeli Military, I would like to introduce you to a commentary I have written on the book " Palestine, Peace not Apartheid", written by former US president Jimmy Carter:


PALESTINE PEACE NOT APARTHEID



I.            Introduction.

The Arab – Israeli conflict has been the main topic regarding Middle Eastern politics. Indeed, when referring to the region the first images that will come to ones mind are the thousands of rockets launched by Hamas[1] into Israeli cities and the asymmetrical response of attacks and bombings carried out by the Israeli army. According to the media, the Palestinian paramilitary forces have launched twelve thousand rockets since 2003[2] killing dozens of civilians and destroying hundreds of houses, hospitals and schools. In the meanwhile, in Gaza, bulldozers driven by Jewish soldiers destroyed many buildings inhabited by Palestinians, reaffirming the willingness of continuing with the occupation of the Arab territories.

Another sign of the complexity of the problem are the hundred thousands of refugees and internally displaced people that have been living for more than sixty years in dramatic conditions, victims of greed and lack of political will of both sides, the Israeli government and Palestinian authority. Many efforts have been made by the international community to solve the problem; probably the two most important are the Camp David Accords and the Oslo agreement. Nevertheless, the intentions of the international community, the conflict is still unsolved and continues challenging the stability of the region.

Based on the book “Palestine peace not apartheid”, this paper will present an overview of the conflict, it will explain the main efforts made by the former president of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, and will conclude with an analysis of the elements that impeded the enforcement of the Camp David Accords.

II. Overview of the conflict.

            The background of this ongoing conflict can be analyzed from the times of Abraham and his journeys from Ur to Canan, passing through the exile of the Jewish people provoked by the Roman empire in the year 135 A.C.. The rule of the Muslims after year 570 A.C with the birth of prophet Muhammad, and the birth of the Islamic faith that lasted for more than 500 years. Then the Crusade wars that capture Jerusalem and the territories of the holy places, which started the Christian rule over Palestine for less than one century until the Ottoman Empire took control in the beginning of the XV century.

The most delicate history of this conflict occurs during World War I, where Great Britain issued the Balfour declaration, which after the war became the “Sèvres peace treaty”[3], promising a land for the Jewish in the territories of Palestine. Several acts of rioting occurred when the treaty was being enforced. The Arabs claimed that the Jewish should be banned from entering the Palestine territories and that major restrictions should be applied to them. Even though, the British tried to control the disturbances, the violence continued and the Peel Commission[4] recommended the partition of Palestine between Jewish and Arabs. The violence erupted from the Arab side with the cry of one Arab nation. Great Britain allowed the United Nations (UN) to decide what to do about Palestine, which divided the territories into Jewish (fifty-five percent[5]), Arabs and some international areas. 

In 1948, when the British mandate terminated, Israel declared its independence and the violence rose again, but as a way out to the conflict,  an Armistice was signed in 1949, allowing Israel to gain even more land of the Palestinian territories. As a response a new actor emerged in the years of 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) appeared in scene announcing that they will battle to liberate the occupied territories of the Palestinian people. As a reaction to the threat Israel launched several “preventive attacks” against Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, and in 1967 occupied the Golan Heights, this war is known as the Six-Day War. The same year the UN Security Council (UNSC) passed resolution 242, which established the inadmissibility of the attainment of land by force. The same resolution called for Israel’s “withdrawal from occupied territories, and the right of all states in the region to live in peace within secure and recognize borders, and a just solution to the refugee problem.”[6] Even after resolution 242 of the UNSC was passed, the episodes of violence instead of stopping have been persistent, having one of its major occasions in the years of 1973 in the Yom Kippur War. Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli troops that where deployed in the Golan Heights and in the Sinai. After sixteen days of hostilities the UNSC passed resolution 338[7] calling for international peace talks and confirming resolution 242.

Five years later in 1978 former president of the United States (USA) Jimmy Carter gather with Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, and Menachem Begin, prime minister of Israel, at Camp David in the USA. A long and difficult negotiation aiming to achieve long-term peace and understanding.  The negotiations lasted thirteen-days and Carter acted as a mediator between 100 of negotiators, fifty on each side. Nevertheless, radical positions adopted by both parties and the several omissions, on September 17 1978 the Camp David Accords were signed.

After serious and continuous arguments, meetings, misunderstandings, and vague promises to enforce the treaties that have been signed, Israel kept on occupying the Palestinian land. It is Only in 1993 that a new peace agreement is concluded between the PLO and Israel. The Oslo Agreement, which includes mutual recognition and a five-year plan to resolve the remaining issues. A hopeful step was taken by the Palestinians with the election of Yasir Arafat as president in 1993; nevertheless, when the Likud Party returned to power in Israel the Oslo agreement was undermined.[8]

Since then several riots and acts of violence have occurred in the region, principally the call for a second intifada in the year of 2000 and the definitive breakdown of the Camp David Accords. Three years later (2003) the Geneva Initiative was released designing a road map to peace but a year later with the dead of Yasir Arafat (2004) and the election of Hamas as the head of the Palestinian government (2006) Israel and the USA stopped conversations with Palestine. As well the new election of Ehud Olmert as prime minister of Israel (2006) and the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers by Hamas provoked a new discharge of violence. In December 27, 2008, Israel launched an attack in the Gaza strip murdering over nine hundred Palestinian civilians and causing thousands of others to flee.

At the moment the peace process is in stand by, although the major efforts made by the international community to bring the conflict to an end. In his book, Jimmy Carter, explains the difficulties that a mediator has to go through when dealing with two parties that do not see any common ground where they can meet in order to achieve a long lasting peace. As an illustration it is time to refer to how the negotiations where conducted during the Camp David meetings and all the follow up carried out after the Accords were signed.      

III. Jimmy Carter efforts to achieve a conclusive peace agreement.

One of the first international attempts of a solution to the Arab – Israeli conflict was the Camp David meeting. Here various topics were dealt with, but probably the main issue of the negotiation was, as said by Carter, the incompatible personality of Begin and Sadat. Both representatives were too rigid, “On several occasions either Begin or Sadat was ready to terminate the discussion and go back home.”[9]

“Perhaps the most serious omission of the Camp David talks was the failure to clarify in writing Begin’s verbal promise concerning the settlement freeze during subsequent peace talks.”[10] Carter explains with this phrase how verbal promises can be easily reneged in international politics. The effort made by the former president of the United Sates goes further than just a simple meeting where the picture taken is the main objective. Carter had the power and the ability to get together two of the most controversial leaders of the Middle East and draw together with them an alternative to cease hostilities and come to an end to this millenary conflict.[11] It is probably Jimmy Carter the only mediator that has been able to make Menachem Begin compromise for   a settlement freeze; although, as it is said before this was never honored.[12]

Clearly a fail in the attempt of peace, the lack of commitment of Israel only put the finger in the wound. In the spring of 1983 Carter met with Begin and explained why he believed that he had not honored the agreement to withdraw Israeli forces and to refrain from building new Israeli settlements in the West Bank? The response given to Carter was a very discouraging one, giving the impression that it was no longer important for Israel to honor any agreement. The government of Israel imposed its own understanding of the accords and in fact took this as an advantage to negotiate the Oslo Accords fourteen years later.[13] 

Next to the verbal commitment, Israel agreed “In order to provide full autonomy to the inhabitants, under these arrangements the Israeli military government and its civilian administration will be withdrawn as soon as a self-governing authority has been freely elected by the inhabitants of these areas to replace the existing military government.”[14] Between 1979 and 1981, serious changes took place in the occupied territories these were in preparation for the arrangements that were to be made between Israel and the PLO in the Oslo Accords. Here the parties included the transfer of responsibility over water resources from the military government to the Israeli National Water Carrier, Mekorot, the acceleration of the establishment of Jewish settlements, the creation of Jewish Regional and Local Councils in the West Bank under Israeli jurisdiction, and the institution of a Civilian Administration to take over the responsibilities for the civilian affairs of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and create a separation between them and the Jewish settlements both territorial and administrative.[15]

Israel carried out these changes in an unilateral manner, an the transfer of administration over the Palestinian Authority was strengthened by the Agreement between Israel and the PLO. Of course, these were a better deal for the Israeli government at that moment leaded by Rabin, now “Jewish settlements will be placed under an exclusive Israeli jurisdiction; the Autonomy Council will have no authority over them. The forces of the Israeli army will be redeployed in locations determined only by us, unlike the Camp David agreements, which mandated a withdrawal of the Israeli army forces.”[16]

Nevertheless, in his last chapter, Carter, remarks “There has been a determined and remarkably effective effort to isolate settlers from Palestinians, so that a Jewish family can commute from Jerusalem to their highly subsidized home deep in the West Bank on roads from which others are excluded, without ever coming in contact with any facet of Arab life.” Also, “the honeycomb of settlements and their interconnecting conduits effectively divide the West Bank into at least two noncontiguous areas and multiple fragments, often uninhabitable or even unreachable.” It is clear that at the moment the people from Palestinia are living in inaccessible enclaves that  are not adjacent, all the settlements are integrally connected to Israel.[17]

Nothing has happened the way Israel agreed on the Camp David Accords and the way the situation has developed gives a very strong impression that it has been premeditated by the Israeli government. All the facts point out to Israel’s decision to obstruct any peace effort made by the international community. Carter memoirs  present it in a knock down argument. Although there has been a lot of controversy around this book, most of it do not approach the thesis of the book they mainly refer to the title of the book and its very controversial word ‘apartheid.’ And the question that comes to my mind is: ¿Is the case of Israel, and the application of an isolating policy towards Palestine, the analogous to the one of South Africa during the apartheid regime?


Bibliography
News Papers:
·      Inicia Israel el repligue de sus tropas en la Franja de Gaza, Diario la Nación Sábado 02.05.2009.
Internet Resourses:
·      World War I Archive at: http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/versa/sevindex.html
·      Security Council Resolution S/RES/242 (1967) of 22 November 1967.
·      Security Council Resolution S/RES/338 (1973), of 22 October 1973
Books:
·      Carter Jimmy, Palestine Peace not Apartheid, Simon and Schuster, New York 2006.
·      Karin Aggestam,  REFRAMING AND RESOLVING CONFLICT, Lund Political Studies 108, 1998
·      Gossett, Michael Andrew, A Study Examining Perception And Knowledge Of Criminology/Criminal Justice And Political Science Students On Terrorism As It Pertains To The Palestinian/Israeli Conflict,  Westview Press, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, an imprint of Brill, 2001
·      CE Swisher, The truth about Camp David: the untold story about the collapse of the Middle East peace process, N Books,2004
·      DG Pruitt, Ripeness theory and the Oslo talks, International Negotiation, 1997
·      W Zartman, Explaining Oslo, International Negotiation, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, an imprint of Brill, 1997
·      Aharon Kellerman, Society and settlement: Jewish land of Israel in the twentieth Century, SUNY Press, 1993






[1] HAMAS means Islamic Resistance Movement.  It is an Islamic Palestinian sociopolitical organization which includes a paramilitary forces known as the  Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Since June 2007, Hamas has governed the Gaza portion of the Palestinian Territories.
[2] Inicia Israel el repligue de sus tropas en la Franja de Gaza, Diario la Nación Sábado 02.05.2009.
[3] Available online at the World War I Archive at: http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/versa/sevindex.html
[4] Also known as the Palestine Royal Commission, was a British Royal Commission of Inquiry set out to propose changes to the British Mandate of Palestine following the outbreak of the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. It was headed by the Earl Peel.  See also, Aharon Cohen, Israel and the Arab World (Funk and Wagnalls, New York, 1970)
[5] Carter Jimmy, Palestine Peace not Apartheid, Simon and Schuster, New York 2006.
[6] Carter Jimmy, Palestine Peace not Apartheid, Simon and Schuster, New York 2006.  Referring to the Security Council Resolution S/RES/242 (1967) of 22 November 1967.
[7] Security Council Resolution S/RES/338 (1973), of 22 October 1973
[8] Karin Aggestam,  REFRAMING AND RESOLVING
CONFLICT, Lund Political Studies 108, 1998

[9] Carter Jimmy, Palestine Peace not Apartheid, Simon and Schuster, New York 2006.
[10] Carter Jimmy, Palestine Peace not Apartheid, Simon and Schuster, New York 2006.
[11] Gossett, Michael Andrew, A Study Examining Perception And Knowledge Of Criminology/Criminal Justice And Political Science Students On Terrorism As It Pertains To The Palestinian/Israeli Conflict,  Westview Press, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, an imprint of Brill, 2001
[12] CE Swisher, The truth about Camp David: the untold story about the collapse of the Middle East peace process, N Books,2004
[13] DG Pruitt, Ripeness theory and the Oslo talks, International Negotiation, 1997
[14] Text of the Camp David Accords signed on September 17, 1978.
[15]  W Zartman, Explaining Oslo, International Negotiation, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, an imprint of Brill, 1997
[16] Carter Jimmy, Palestine Peace not Apartheid, Simon and Schuster, New York 2006. Carter quotes Prime Minister Rabin.
[17] Aharon Kellerman, Society and settlement: Jewish land of Israel in the twentieth Century, SUNY Press, 1993