RE: The Debates
SUBTOPIC: Recognition
⁜→ P F Tinemore, et al,
BLUF: Well, I question your premise.
RoccoR said:
3. It is understood that these negotiations shall cover remaining issues, including: Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security arrangements, borders, relations and cooperation with other neighbors, and other issues of common interest.
P F Tinemore said:
Oslo was signed behind the backs of the Palestinians and without their approval.
- Jerusalem is in Palestine.
- Refugees have the right to return.
- Settlements are illegal.
- Security arrangements violate sovereignty.
- Palestine has had international borders since 1922.
What is there to negotiate?
(COMMENT)
I have serious reservations about your interpretations.
I am not sure where Palestine is, or if something like the State of Palestine has met the criteria of the Montevideo Convention (1933).
YOU keep telling me that the "Palestine" you are describing covers the entirety of the territory, formerly subject to the Mandate for Palestine, that is west of the Jordan River. If we take that as a ground truth, then there is place that meets your criteria. Israel is a reality and it is a sovereign nation. It cannot be claimed by the Arab Palestinian people. That is just the plain reality on the "Question of Palestine."
◈. I am still waiting for the actual "Law" or the "International Convention" that says "Refugees" of any sort have a "Right to Return." And just who are the "Refugees of which you speak? Even if you are talking about the displaced people as a result of the Arab Internvetion of 1948 and the War for Independence by Israel,

◈ As to the legality of the Settlements in Area "C" → Well, that was a question in 1993, when the DOP (Oslo I) was signed. And as I pointed out, it was a question deferred by both the State of Israel and the PLO.
✦. As agreed upon by the Israelis and the PLO:
c. "Area C" means areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B, which, except for the issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations, will be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction in accordance with this Agreement. (
Oslo II • Annex I: Protocol Concerning Redeployment and Security Arrangements • Chapter 2 - Redeployment and Security Arrangements • Article XI LAND)
NOW! Without regard to what you want to believe, or what you think is true, the Accords were not signed backs of the Palestinians and without their approval.
◈.General Assembly A/PV.2268. 14 October 1974:
✦. The delegation of the German Democratic Republic considers it to be not only perfectly legitimate and natural but also necessary for the sole legitimate representative of the Arab people of Palestine -- that is, the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] -- to participate in the discussion of this agenda item.
✦. The Soviet Union was pleased to note and to accept the decisions taken at the Sixth Arab Summit Conference held at Algiers in November 1973, and at the Second Islamic Conference of Kings and Heads of State and Government held at Lahore in February 1974, recognizing the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Arab people of Palestine.
✦. In casting a positive vote, my delegation did not consider it necessary to determine whether the PLO is the sole representative of the Palestine people. Its vote is, moreover, without prejudice to New Zealand's attitude to the substance of the item, or to other aspects of the Middle East question, or to the attendance of the PLO at other meetings on other occasions.
etc, etc, etc...
◈. Seventh Arab League Summit Conference • Resolution on Palestine • Rabat, Morocco 28 October 1974:
2. To affirm the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent national authority under the command of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in any Palestinian territory that is liberated. This authority, once it is established, shall enjoy the support of the Arab states in all fields and at all levels;.
This position you espouse, that there is nothing to negotiate, is very similar to that actual political position the Arab Palestinian People have taken since the 1995 Accords (a quarter-century ago). You can see just how successful that strategy has been.
This "behind their back" view point is ridiculous. It could not have been more open in the way the negations were conducted. Anyone that claims they did not know about it, simply did not want to know about it.
Most Respectfully,
R