Palestine Monitor, December 2, 2010

Mushtaq Kahn, a lecturer from the School of Oriental and African Studies, was the speaker at a special development lecture convened in memory of the Palestinian development economist, Yusif A.Sayigh. Speaking at the Palestinian Economic Research Institute, Khan spoke plainly about the problems facing a potential Palestinian state.

In analysing the failure to create a sovereign Palestinian state thus far Khan blamed the lack of Palestinian bargaining power with the Israelis. He said the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) wrongly assumed Israel would be forced into a two-state solution by the threat to a Jewish minority should they annex the Palestinian Territories. Khan however believes that the Israelis had no interest in creating a Palestinian state.

The assumption that Israel would create the state for demographic reasons must be wrong, he concludes, as Israel had the opportunity to do this and chose not to. Instead they increased their control of the West bank through checkpoints, settlements, and other forms of control.

Why did it not detach itself? Israel’s claims that not enough security was offered for a withdrawal are false, Khan argued. A country either has the ability to defend itself or not, Israel did have, so could have withdrawn immediately. It chose not to as its chief goal was not to create a Jewish state with a Jewish majority but rather to protect Zionism, which could not survive the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.

Khan went on to explain why a sovereign Palestinian state would spell the end of Zionism. "As a Zionist the last thing I would want would be a solid border", Khan told us. A semi-permanent border undermines the confidence of the Arab population in Israel. With the ability to move borders there is always the threat that Palestinians currently living on the Israeli side of the wall could find themselves back in the oPt, something few would want after the freedom of living in an unoccupied land. East Jerusalem residents are particularly vulnerable to this.

Borders could also potentially be redrawn to encompass towns with large Arab populations. Thus the main aim of the Israelis is to keep the borders temporary and keep the Palestinians uncertain about their status. If the PA accepted the borders, Khan believes Israel would be sure to alter them.

Secondly the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state would secure, beyond doubt, Israeli citizenship for Palestinians within Israel. These Palestinians may initially accept the differential laws imposed on non-Jews in Israel, however it may not take long for a civil rights campaign to emerge demanding full equality. This would threaten the Jewish character of Israel. Furthermore, their plight in the eyes of the international community would be enhanced if, as Palestinians in Israel, they lived under an Apartheid system of discriminatory laws whilst other Palestinians, living in an adjoining sovereign state, enjoyed full rights.

Lastly a central tenet of the Zionist ideology is that Israel is a home for all Jews. Therefore the ability to absorb more Jews coming to Israel is essential to Zionism. Creating solid borders would ultimately put a cap on the number that could make aliyah and thus would be unacceptable to Zionism.

Khan believes that mass mobilisation of all Palestinians, refugees, Palestinians in Israel and those in the oPt, is the only way Palestinians will be able to amass the bargaining power necessary to make the Israelis listen. The focus must not be on land, Khan stressed, for land is fought and lost everywhere, land is negotiable. The fight must be over rights for rights are non-negotiable. When Israel is seen to be ignoring the Palestinians rights then the International community will step in, Khan believes, and this will ultimately bring an end to Zionism.

Learn more about Mushtaq Khan http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff31...