A solution to the Palestinian issue

If an ethnic minority is denied full citizenship rights, then striving for right of separation is quite natural. There are many such movements which are still fighting for their rights. However, in the case of Kosovo, it was a different issue.

That is because the US and European nations were adamant on recognising its unilateral declaration of independence. It shows the West's recklessness towards the UN and its Charter, as much as it exposes the double standard they follow, especially when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians.

Compared with 1948 Palestinians (ie the Palestinians who hold Israeli "citizenship"), it should be mentioned that while the Serbian Albanians have been enjoying full citizenship rights as an ethnic minority in Serbia, and their demand for expanded self-rule only developed last year, the Palestinians in Israel have been fighting for equal rights with the Jews of Israel for 60 years now.

Hence the talk of ethnic cleansing, genocide, compulsory migration and collective punishment by the Serbian regime (as propagated by Washington and its allies) should continue when one notices that such endeavours are Israeli documented daily practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian National Council (parliament in exile) adopted the "Independence Declaration" of the Palestinian State, within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in its ordinary session in Algiers, as of November 15, 1988.

More than 100 states of the world endorsed that declaration. On May 4, 1999, the same Council again approved the independence declaration amid overwhelming international support. But because of Washington's opposition, the issue has remained ink on paper.

Such a double standard approach has led some Palestinians to suggest "a Palestinian Kosovo" solution.

Apart from the considerations of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) General Secretary's proposal to follow the Kosovo example by endorsing a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence; and irrespective of the opposition of the Palestinian presidential office and the PLO's negotiation department, all these announcements make an outspoken acknowledgement of failure bidding on the US for eliciting minimum Palestinian rights, even within the American "vision" of a "two-state solution".

Declaration of independence

In my opinion, a Palestinian unilateral declaration of independence would likely be, in the current circumstances, a priceless homicide. Among other disadvantages is the absence of effective, legislative Palestinian institutions.

In comparison, we have seen the Albanian parliament in Kosovo endorsing unanimously the resolution of the Kosovo prime minister. We can't say that such institutions are at hand in Palestine.

Moreover, the Palestinian government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has never set for parliamentary confidence.

To say more, the PLO is currently paralysed, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) is practically not functioning. Some may pose the question: What about international mandatory? As being a semi-paved way, in the eyes of many Palestinians and some Israelis.

At this point, the rightist Israeli writer Gadi Taub wrote in the Israeli newspaper Maariv in an article "International Mandatory is the Only Way", that "hence there is no useful policy to follow with the Palestinian identity.

As long as sovereignty is absent, then the administration of the conflict - not its solution - is the possible thing. So a UN mandatory is an indispensable conclusion that would undertake the responsibility of provisional administration [of the Palestinian territories] and the rehabilitation of the Palestinians, and that would be the only solution".

That said is an apparent negligence of the British mandate imposed on Palestine by the League of Nations in 1922. In fact, the Palestinians are very cautious of such a hint.

Everybody is cognisant of Britain's then legal and administrative role in the creation of Israel. Then, what is the logical solution far from the Palestinian Kosovo's type and from a new type of international mandatory?

The nature of East Timor's independence from Indonesia is a closer and probably more quintessential case that can also be applied to the Palestinian issue. The primary step would be to hold a referendum, under international auspices, on independence.

Multi-national forces should oversee security and order. It would be a process of separation and independence under international supervision on internal security and development based on defined agenda and plans.

External security comes next, as the Palestinian state would not have armed forces. The third task would be ensuring support for the Palestinian government, its stability and equilibrium. This is not a far-fetched issue.

The US special envoy for security in the Middle East, James Johns, was reported in the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post as saying that the US is considering the temporary deployment of Nato forces in the Palestinian West Bank upon the withdrawal of the Israeli army.

The paper further elucidated that the Israeli problem lies in that of being assured "of its forces' power to move into the West Bank to react against any Palestinian operation while the Nato forces were deployed there".

This seems to be the right practical move other than the present futile "negotiation game" that is even proven to be non-existent.

Professor As'ad Abdul Rahman is the Chairman of the Palestinian Encyclopedia.