I would often see an Israeli tank just outside my office in Ramallah including, at times, when we were supposed to be in negotiations. At one point, the Israeli army took over my apartment, also in Ramallah, at gunpoint in the middle of the night, sending me outside into a gun battle. I could not return for three days.
In the latest plan, there are absolutely no guarantees that aid will be allowed into Gaza, that control will be ceded by Israel, that Israel will pull back or that Gaza will be rebuilt. Instead, if Palestinians give up their claims for accountability for Israel’s war crimes, we may get a vague “pathway to self-determination and statehood”. Not a state – a “pathway”. How generous.
I find myself thinking back on my experience over the years, wondering what would have happened had there been a genuine, robust attempt to end Israel’s military rule. What if, instead of looking the other way, the international community had imposed sanctions on Israel? What if instead of just endlessly repeating that they believe in the “two-state solution”, states had actually taken tangible action to bring it about?
And so, two years into Israel’s genocide, we are witnessing a willful repetition of the mistakes of the past. This time, some more countries have recognized a “state” with great fanfare but still do nothing to ensure a free and prosperous Palestine. They cannot even ensure the basic protection of Palestinian life.
By Diana Buttu, lawyer and former adviser to the negotiating team of the Palestine Liberation Organization