{"id":4003,"date":"2013-08-21T13:19:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T10:19:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-03-21T13:43:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T11:43:38","slug":"a-peek-inside-kerrys-peace-efforts-or","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/2013\/08\/a-peek-inside-kerrys-peace-efforts-or\/","title":{"rendered":"A Peek inside Kerry\u2019s \u201cPeace\u201d Efforts or Propaganda?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A Peek inside Kerry\u2019s \u201cPeace\u201d Efforts or Propaganda?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By Sam Bahour<\/span><\/p>\n

The first proclaimed leak<\/a> from Secretary John Kerry\u2019s
\nefforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as it is so often called,
\nwere published last week in the reputable London-based daily Arabic newspaper,
\nAl-Hayat. The source is said to be a posting<\/a>
\non the website of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, who
\nclaim the information was leaked to them by someone attending the tightly
\nclosed negotiating sessions. The validity of this claim and the contents of the
\nleak are unverifiable and the infighting between Hamas and Fatah give both a
\nvested interest to publicly damage the other; however, a read through the supposed
\nleaked information makes anyone familiar with this issue take worrying note.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Al-Hayat article on the
\nleak states that Secretary Kerry obtained Palestinian President Abbas\u2019 approval
\non general parameters for the restart of negotiations, at meetings between the
\ntwo in <\/span>Amman<\/span> on 17-18 July 2013, prior to Secretary Kerry\u2019s
\nannouncement that negotiations would restart. According to the leaked document,
\n\u201c<\/span>Kerry set a maximum period<\/span> of<\/span>
\ntime<\/span> ranging<\/span> from
\n<\/span><\/span><\/em>6<\/span><\/em><\/span> to 9<\/span><\/em><\/span> months<\/span> to be dedicated to bilateral Palestinian-Israeli negotiations … without any<\/span> preconditions,<\/span><\/span><\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/span> beyond<\/span> the principles<\/span> listed<\/span>
\nbelow and whereby <\/span><\/span>Jordan<\/span> participates in meetings on refugees, <\/span>Jerusalem<\/span> and borders where necessary:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cThe Separation Wall will serve as the security
    \n borders of the \u2018Jewish\u2019 state, and the temporary border of the \u2018Palestinian\u2019
    \n state\u2026 Both parties will <\/em><\/span>acknowledge<\/span><\/em><\/span> and announce this.<\/span><\/em>\u201d  <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. There will be \u201can exchange in disputed
    \n territories within the plan of the Separation Wall noted above, as agreed
    \n to by both parties and with the blessing of the Arab League Follow-up
    \n Committee, as specified by this Committee to Mr. Kerry during their last
    \n visit to Washington, ranging in size from eight to ten percent of West
    \n Bank lands<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. There will be also be a \u201cfreeze in the settlement
    \n projects at a number of outposts, as approved by the Israeli government, which
    \n does not apply to existing projects in large settlement communities located
    \n in the vicinity of Jerusalem and in the Jordan Valley, including the
    \n settlements of Ma’ale Adumim, Givat Ze’ev, Har Homa, Gilo, Neve Yacov, Ramat
    \n Shlomo, Ramat Alman, Kiryat Arba\u2019, and other densely populated
    \n settlements.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The document adds that \u201cresidents in frozen
    \n settlement communities will have the right to choose between Israeli
    \n citizenship or Palestinian citizenship, or both, at the conclusion of
    \n negotiations,<\/em>\u201d and that \u201ctalks will culminate with a historic agreement
    \n \u2026 along the lines of the Oslo Agreement, during which both parties will
    \n announce the end of the historic conflict between their peoples, as well
    \n as full normalization with all Arab states, at a celebratory meeting
    \n attended by the Arab League and representatives of all Arab countries, announcing
    \n their approval of Israel\u2019s establishment of a Palestinian state within the
    \n limits set out \u2026 above, according to agreements\u2026. concluded by the two
    \n parties at the end of the negotiations, which will also entail Palestinian
    \n recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. It adds that \u201cat the end of negotiations, some
    \n Palestinian families will be allowed to reunite in the West Bank, Rafah
    \n and Gaza, while others will have the right to compensation, or emigration \u2026
    \n to Arab countries, especially the Gulf<\/em>\u2026\u201d where they will be \u201c\u2026naturalized\u2026
    \n utilizing the  <\/span>Right of Return Fund
    \n for this purpose.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Concerning the status of East Jerusalem, the
    \n leaked document indicates that it will be \u201cplaced under an
    \n international administration (Palestinian-Israeli-Jordanian) for ten years,
    \n whereby  <\/span>resident Israelis in East
    \n Jerusalem will have the right  <\/span>to
    \n choose their identity,<\/em>\u201d i.e. citizenship.  <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Furthermore, \u201cIsraelis and Palestinians agree to
    \n discuss the issue of land exchanges in the West Bank and Jerusalem through
    \n negotiating committees despite the non-core points of contention between
    \n the two parties\u2026 especially those points that are considered important by
    \n the delegation of the Arab League, including the proposal to grant
    \n citizenship to every Palestinian who has been resident in the Gulf for more
    \n than ten years.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. The document indicates that there will be a \u201cdiscussion
    \n of executive steps in this agreement during negotiations within the time-limit
    \n mentioned above, and that its implementation will extend to ten years from
    \n the signing of the agreement.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Israel will also \u201crelease a number of
    \n Palestinian detainees who <\/em><\/span>have <\/em><\/span>spent twenty years or more in detention,
    \n and no longer pose a security threat.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. It also stipulates that \u201cPresident Mahmoud
    \n Abbas will call for legislative and presidential elections in the West Bank
    \n after the public announcement of the Agreement, in anticipation of the
    \n possibility of the emergence of objections to it, and that the terms of
    \n the agreement will not fully be announced until after the start of negotiations
    \n and the preoccupation of Palestinians with the battles of the Legislative
    \n Council and the Presidency.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. It also says that \u201cwith the signing of the
    \n agreement at the end of the specified time-limit and the declaration of an
    \n independent Palestinian state, the Palestinians and Jordanians will, with
    \n the blessing of Israel and the Arabs, reach an understanding on the role of
    \n Jordanian security assistance \u2026 to the Palestinian Authority \u2026 to stand by
    \n its side and help it overcome potential internal or external dangers \u2026 as
    \n part of a Confederation, which will be announced in conjunction with a
    \n trilateral economic initiative, in whose formation<\/em><\/span> Israel will play an active role<\/em><\/span>.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Shocking, to say the least!<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    If the <\/span>U.S.<\/span> and <\/span>Israel<\/span> continue to choose the game of might is right<\/em>,
    \nthen they should expect, sooner rather than later, a new generation of
    \nPalestinians to look <\/span>Israel<\/span> straight in the eye and say, \u201cYou win! You get it all,
    \n<\/span>Israel<\/span>: <\/span>Israel<\/span>, the <\/span>West
    \n Bank<\/span>, <\/span>Gaza<\/span>, <\/span>Jerusalem<\/span>
    \n– both east and west sides, all the settlements, all the water, all the <\/span>Jordan<\/span>Valley<\/span>, all the electromagnetic spectrum, all the airspace, and
    \nmost importantly, you also get all of us. Now, we heard you have free health
    \ncare in <\/span>Israel<\/span>; where do we pick up our medical cards? We also want
    \nsome of that free education.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    In other words, if the <\/span>U.S.<\/span> and <\/span>Israel<\/span> are adamant on throwing international law,
    \nhumanitarian law, UN resolutions, human rights, rights of refugees, and sheer common
    \nsense into the sea, then they should expect the Palestinians to redefine their
    \nself-determination from a struggle for statehood to a struggle for civil rights
    \nbetween the <\/span>Mediterranean<\/span> and the <\/span>Jordan River<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

    In the words of the late
    \nPalestinian and global intellectual, Edward Said, it\u2019s \u201cequality or nothing.\u201d
    \nWhat is it about these three simple words that is so hard to comprehend?<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    ~ Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American business development
    \nconsultant from <\/span><\/em>Youngstown<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/em>Ohio<\/span><\/em>, living in the
    \nPalestinian city of Al-Bireh in the <\/span><\/em>West Bank<\/span><\/em>. He frequently
    \nprovides independent commentary on <\/span><\/em>Palestine<\/span><\/em> and serves as a
    \npolicy advisor of     Al-Shabaka<\/a>, the
    \nPalestinian Policy Network. He is co-author of <\/span><\/em>HOMELAND: Oral
    \nHistories of <\/span>Palestine<\/span> and Palestinians
    \n(1994) and blogs at     http:\/\/www.epalestine.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A Peek inside Kerry\u2019s \u201cPeace\u201d Efforts or Propaganda? By Sam Bahour The first proclaimed leak from Secretary John Kerry\u2019s efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as it is so often called, were published last week in the reputable London-based daily Arabic newspaper, Al-Hayat. The source is said to be a posting on the website of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[942],"tags":[71,1401,421,787,12,1588,1120],"ppma_author":[936],"class_list":["post-4003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sams-writings","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-hamas","tag-john-kerry","tag-leak","tag-mahmoud-abbas","tag-peace-talks-and-agreements","tag-two-state-solution"],"authors":[{"term_id":936,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"sambahour","display_name":"Sam Bahour","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bca109c333bf6d8ae807746dd512adde46265d37c923f6cd0fc4aab437f8e9aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"1","first_name":"Sam","last_name":"Bahour","user_url":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour","job_title":"","description":"

    Sam Bahour<\/strong> is a Palestinian-American business consultant, writer, and commentator based in Al-Bireh\/Ramallah, Palestine. He is the principal of Applied Information Management (AIM)<\/a>, a consultancy specializing in business development and startup advisory services.<\/p>\r\n

    Bahour played a foundational role in establishing two of Palestine\u2019s publicly traded companies: the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL) and the Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers (APSC). He co-founded Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy (A4VPE), of which he is now an emeritus member, and served as an independent director on the board of Arab Islamic Bank P.L.C. from 2004 to 2025. He currently serves on the board of Just Vision<\/a> and The Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS)<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

    He frequently gives talks to delegations visiting Palestine on the subjects of Palestine\u2019s political economy, Palestinian Politics 101, and a general orientation to the state of affairs under Israeli military occupation.<\/p>\r\n

    A prolific writer on Palestinian affairs, Bahour has been published in major international outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Haaretz, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Al Jazeera America, Le Monde diplomatique, Al-Monitor, +972 Magazine, The Hill, and Arab News. He has appeared as a commentator on NPR, CNN, BBC, and other broadcast media.<\/p>\r\n

    Bahour is the co-editor of Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians<\/a><\/em> (Olive Branch Press, 1993) and was profiled in the bestselling anthology Kingdom of Olives and Ash<\/a><\/em>, edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, in a chapter authored by Chabon titled \u201cThe Tallest Man in Ramallah<\/a>.\u201d He holds an Associate\u2019s and Bachelor\u2019s degree in Computer Technology from Youngstown State University, and a Kellogg-Recanati International Executive MBA \u2014 a joint program of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University.<\/p>\r\n

    He tweets at @SamBahour<\/a>, blogs at www.epalestine.ps<\/a>, and may be reached at sbahour[AT]gmail[DOT]com.<\/p>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4003"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9586,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003\/revisions\/9586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4003"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=4003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}