Baker's Got Slightly Wrong Ingredients

Yisrael Medad
My Right Word
21 December '10

Alan Baker has a position paper out at JCPA (and IMRA had it a fortnight ago),

The Fallacy of the “1967 Borders” – No Such Borders Ever Existed

and the executive summary contains these points:

- The Palestinian leadership is fixated on attempting to press foreign governments and the UN to recognize a unilaterally declared Palestinian state within the "1967 borders."

- But such borders do not exist and have no basis in history, law, or fact. The only line that ever existed was the 1949 armistice demarcation line, based on the ceasefire lines of the Israeli and Arab armies pending agreement on permanent peace. The 1949 armistice agreements specifically stated that such lines have no political or legal significance and do not prejudice future negotiations on boundaries.

- UN Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967 acknowledged the need for negotiation of secure and recognized boundaries...the previous lines cannot be considered as international boundaries.

- The series of agreements between the PLO and Israel (1993-1999) reaffirm the intention and commitment of the parties to negotiate permanent borders. During all phases of negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians, there was never any determination as to a border based on the 1967 lines...

As Amb. Baker, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and former Legal Adviser to Israel's Foreign Ministry as well as former Ambassador of Israel to Canada explains in the article:

...the Palestinian leadership, as well as members of the international community, are well aware that such borders do not exist, nor have they ever existed. They have never figured in any of the international, agreed-upon documentation concerning the Israel-Arab and Israel-Palestinian issues, and have no basis whatsoever, neither in law nor in fact.

There are no provisions in any of the agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinians that require withdrawal to the "1967 borders." There were never any geographic imperatives that sanctify the 1967 lines.

But there's a problem.

True, the 1949 armistice lines have no true international legal validity other than being the line where the fighting halted.

Nevertheless, one needs to review the context of the Declaration of Principles (DOP) of the Oslo Accords and see where the Pals. are coming from.

(Read full "Baker's Got Slightly Wrong Ingredients")

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.