Dr. Aaron Lerner responds to Peace Now "Excuse me, your bias is showing..."

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
07 November 09

Noam Shelef issued an offer to me on the Peace Now website that I endorse requiring a national referendum to approve settlement construction as well as agreements that involve territorial concessions.

[He offered it on the website (click here) - but didn't actually send me a message with the offer - but thanks to Google Alert I received the item in my e-mail mailbox. But that's not the point of this note.]

There is a fundamental difference between settlement construction and territorial concessions Israel makes in diplomatic agreements and implements.

Reversibility.

As was well illustrated in the retreat from Gaza and destruction of settlements in northern Samaria under the Sharon Administration, settlements can be unilaterally removed by Israel without requiring either the cooperation or approval of third parties..

In sharp contrast, Israel cannot unilaterally retake territory it ceded to another country without profound diplomatic and other consequences.

So a politician who betrayed his constituents by promising them to, for example, keep the Golan, in order to get elected and then cut a deal to hand it over to Syria might very well get the boot come election time - but the Syrian would still have the Golan.

This fundamental difference was recognized in the Oslo agreements. Changing the status of territory was banned - not settlement construction.

Article XXXI Paragraph 7 of the Interim Agreement: "Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations."The meaning of "status" means "legal status". A violation of the agreement would take place if Israel annexed part of the West Bank or Gaza Strip orthe PA declared an independent state in the area before the negotiations were concluded. Israeli settlement activity is no more a violation of theAgreement than Palestinian construction.

This is not just an Israeli interpretation.

"the Oslo agreement was not clear in the need to stop the settlement machine"

That's straight from "The political agenda of the national liberation movement Palestinian "Fatah" Submitted to the Sixth Conference of the Movement " June 28, 2009 Draft. www.fatehconf.ps/pdfs/fatehpolitical.pdf

Related: Powerful Need for National Referendums
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