Debate 5
|
Borders for Israel
– where?
|
The fifth debate in week 14 of the class
considers the current conflict in Israel/Palestine. There seemed little doubt
now (since the Oslo
agreement of 1993 to recent months) that the Israeli
government has accepted the presence of a
Palestinian state; the debate and the conflict is about where it should be
placed and exactly where its borders should be. At the present time, before the
recent upsurge in fighting after October 2000, it seemed that most of the West
Bank would be allocated to the Palestinians, as well as Gaza, with some indetermination
about the fate of the Jordan River valley, east Jerusalem, and the Israeli
settlements scattered around the West Bank (Judea
and Samaria
to Israelis).
For background reading, take a look at this
BBC site. Look especially at the
section on the “separation fence” between Israel
and the West Bank and “key maps” that lay out
the historical geography of border making in the region. In conflict zones (e.g. Balkans, former Soviet
Union and the Mideast), borders
are heavily guarded and state control up to the last meter of the border
are zealously protected. The control is magnified when the borders coincide
with the location of important landscape icons, such as the Temple Mount (Al-Haram-al-Sharif) in Jerusalem. Such is
the case with the current impasse about the borders of Israel.
The stumbling point of talks on the scope of
the Palestinian state at Camp David
in summer 2000 was the eventual disposition of the Old City of Jerusalem,
containing the holy sites for Christians, Moslems and Jews. Since 1967, the
area has been under Israeli control. East Jerusalem
beyond the Old
City
is the Arab area and West Jerusalem
is Jewish. While it is conceivable that an Israeli government could negotiate
away areas of the West Bank that have been settled by religious Jews (about
quarter of a million people), it is far-fetched to imagine that they would be
able to survive politically if they allowed the holy sites to become part of a
Palestinian state. A similar dilemma
faces President Mahmoud Abbas
and the Palestinian authority, as well as the Hamas-dominated
Palestinian assembly. So, border-lines still matter and the consequences for
the wider state of relations between Israelis and Arabs are immense. One option
under discussion (but not yet seriously considered by either side) is some sort
of international authority for the holy sites, allowing access for all
worshippers. Here is a live webcam link that shows the Dome of the Rock
mosque on Al-Haram-al-Sharif and the Western Wall (of
the Second
Temple)
below.
Team A
|
Government
of Israel
|
Here is a link to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Team B
|
Palestinian Authority under the Presidency
of Mahmoud Abbas
|
Here is the official website for the PLO.
(The Palestinian National Authority website is down). The Electronic Intifada
reports on the conflict from a Palestinian perspective.
Team C
|
Hamas (Palestinian Islamist Movement)
|
Here is a link to Aljeezera
account of Hamas.
An account of Hamas (origin and strategy) is
given in this BBC Profile
(helpful, though a bit dated). Here is
the Covenant of the
foundation of Hamas.
(The Hamas website is offline).
Team D
|
U.S.
State Department
|
The U.S. Embassy
in Israel has
speeches and transcripts.
Here are the links to Peace Now in Israel
and to its linked organization, Americans for Peace Now.
Questions
to answer:
- Can
the peace process continue?
- What
borders do you want as a minimum condition for a settlement?
- What
is your position on the current “separation fence” or wall between Israel
and most of the West Bank?
- What
should be the eventual disposition of Jerusalem and the holy sites? Would
you accept international control of the Old City of Jerusalem?
