Week 5

What perspective do you (in your assigned class role) have on the Arab-Israeli conflict?  What is your assigned role, what are your major interests in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and what would a satisfactory resolution look like to you?  What do you think are acceptable compromises and what compromises are not acceptable in resolving the conflict?

14 thoughts on “Week 5

  1. David Cutler

    (Mahmoud Abbas)

    Before we sit down together in a few hours, I believe that it will be most helpful to briefly outline the starting positions and red lines for the P.L.O., which I will represent at these talks as Chairman.

    There can be no negotiations without a settlement freeze. Israel’s ongoing attempts to unilaterally change the facts on the ground are not only illegal under international law, but also represent an unwillingness to show even the slightest amount of flexibility or goodwill. Moving on to the final status issues, the P.L.O. will never sign an agreement, under any circumstances, that establishes a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital. In addition, Israel must recognize the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The borders of the two states will be based on pre-1967 borders with limited, non-intrusive, mutually agreed upon land swaps, which will not compromise the contiguity, demography, or natural resources of either state. Finally, the P.L.O. will not allow Israeli forces to patrol our sovereign state or police our border with Jordan. Palestine will be solely responsible for its own security, as well as the safety of its borders with Israel and Jordan.

    I look forward to the upcoming negotiations, and I encourage the Israelis to demonstrate as much flexibility as we have in the past.

  2. Zachary Dallmeyer-Drennen

    As Binyamin Netanyahu, my greatest interest is the safety and security of the Israeli people. We live in a dangerous part of the world, and unless our very real security concerns are addressed there cannot be an agreement. We cannot allow the West Bank to turn into another Gaza, showering our people with rockets day after day. I support the creation of a demillitarized Palestinian state – as long as they recognize Israel as a Jewish state. We cannot abandon Jerusalem, but can allow access to all religious groups. We will not abandon all our settlements, as in Gaza, but are willing to halt construction of new settlements if that is the price of peace.

    Above all, we just want to negotiate without preconditions. We realize that peace is in our best interests.

  3. Jordan Weiss

    As a Palestinian peace negotiator, I believe the only way to describe how I feel at this point is “frustrated”. I am frustrated with the current Israeli administration for allowing settlements to continue to expand, making future negotiations more difficult. I am also frustrated with my fellow Palestinians who, through violence and a refusal to recognize Israel’s existence, contribute to the hold on negotiations. I wish both sides could realize that the only way to achieve security and give both sides what they want is to compromise and comply with a 2 state solution. I believe fully in the Palestinian right to a nation-state, and I believe that it should follow the 1967 borders. I am committed to ensuring that Palestinians get a fair deal, yet I also understand that Palestinians will benefit the most by cooperating with Israel and the international community, something that extremist factions on my side and on the Israeli side fail to comprehend. I feel helpless in the current situation, with right-wing Israelis burning down Mosques and Hamas leadership calling for the eradication of Jews and the State of Israel. Something has to change or else both groups of people will surely suffer.

  4. Zachary Abdu-Glass

    Avigdor Lieberman:

    As Israeli Foreign Minister, I would hope to have some leverage in these talks. I live with my family in a West Bank settlement, but I would be willing to move if a peace agreement can be reached. I formerly did not believe in a two-state solution, but I now do. However, I am quite hesitant to trust the Palestinians, even the Israeli Arabs who have been living within the pre-1967 borders of Israel. I believe that Arabs can be Israeli citizens, but that if they are not loyal to Israel, they should be denied citizenship. They should not be able to support terrorist attacks agains the state of Israel, nor support Hamas, while maintaining the privileges provided by Israeli citizenship.

    There are three main false assumptions on which the peace process has been based. I am an active member of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, which has been characterized as secular, ultra-nationalist, and to the far right, but my personal political decisions do not always coincide with those of the party. I pride myself on stirring up controversy; I feel that the controversy I create is a positive one.

  5. Emma Kramer

    I am a peace negotiator for Israel. It is a very complicated position to be in because I have to manage the peace and security of Israel while managing to find reasonable compromises with the Arab countries and the Palestinian nation. It is very difficult to negotiate with the Palestinian government because their negotiators have been fully set on fully liberating Palestine for the last several decades. They believe that military aggression is the only way to liberate Palestine. They also believe that Israel is just an imperialist aggressor repressing the Palestinian people. As a peace negotiator I must deal with finding a compromise between such ideologies. On behalf of Israel, we believe that giving up certain territory would compromise the peace and security of Israel. There are terrorist organizations throughout the Arab world that, if given the chance and a close border to Israel would pursue attacks. Also, as former Prime Minister Golda Meir said in 1973, “The state of Israel, by its nature, has no wish for war, does not desire loss of life. All governments of Israel have been convinced that war would not promote peace.” Israel wants to find a peaceful solution but it is very difficult to find an equal compromise.

  6. Laurence Langley

    Ismail Haniyeh (One of two disputed leaders of Hamas)

    My Arab brother and sisters,

    We all know of the atrocities that the Zionists have committed against our Arab muslim brother and sisters. We must continue our fight, our struggle, our jihad against the Zionist oppressors. We must take back our lands and free our people. We must never give up the fight to free our umma and to take back our Palestinian lands. We will never recognize the state of Israel. Arab Israeli meetings in the past have produced no real changes in our conditions in Palestine. The Israelis and their American allies continue to oppress us. Why should we recognize Israel when Israel will never recognize Hamas and the legitimacy of our struggle? When they wage war against the people of Allah? We are not interested in recognizing Israeli statehood. We will consider a multi year cease fire if our Palestinian brothers are released back to us from prison and if we are granted Palestinian borders as they were in 1967, and if Jerusalem is given back to us as the capital of our Palestinian state. If and only if these conditions are met will we consider room for peace and negotiation for a period of time.

  7. Jakob Terwitte

    As one of the first Israeli Settler families in the West Bank no one day has passed in the settlement without experiencing fear. For the longest time, my family’s biggest fear was that some Palestinians would somehow manage to jump over the settlement fence and shoot at everyone they see.
    In retrospect, this fear was nothing compared to the insecurities we face today. It seems that we, the settlers and core of Israel’s character, are surrounded by all sides–including some ungrateful Israelis. There is still the problem of Palestinians not accepting what already the Likud Party clearly stated: “The right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is eternal and indisputable…between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.” Their terror is still a threat to all of us here. Then there’s the international community that is forgetting the historic responsibilities it has for Israel. They should support Israel’s rightful claims without even thinking about it. Perhaps most painfully, some Israelis and even politics is contemplating the possibility of a two-state solution. I’ve talked with some of my fellow settlers and with one voice we say No. This scenario would make us aliens and foreigners in our land. We therefore urge the government to take harder measures to protect our, and therefore Israel’s, interests.
    But I’m not a brute. Palestinians are human beings and they deserve to live under humane conditions. While I oppose any compromise that would even in the slightest threaten Israel’s security, I do endorse plans to support the Palestinians in attaining self-sufficiency and economic well being. I expect Israel’s politicians to work on that.

  8. Cassy Charyn

    As president of Syria, I am very concerned by the many wayward actions of Israel. While I frequently find myself disillusioned with Israel’s behavior, I intend to continue my father’s commitment to achieve peace. Of course, any such resolution will necessarily involve the support of the Palestinians and the return of the Golan Heights to Syria. We refuse to recognize Israel’s right to existence until a peace accord is reached. Any reported nonsense about protests in Syria are simply ridiculous, as evidenced by the tens of thousands who turned out in support of my rule yesterday. I am here to stay, and will continue to pursue the protection of both Syria and Palestinians from Israel. Although Syria remains skeptical of the Israeli commitment to peace, we are curious to see what unfolds during this peace process. Undeniably, we all have a vested interest in seeing the arrival of lasting peace, and we hope to find a solution.

  9. Daniel Loehr

    Salam Fayyad—(Disputed) Palestinian Prime Minister

    Our goal as Palestinians is to live in our own state, next to the Israeli state. Polls show that both Israelis and Palestinians overwhelmingly support a two state solution. The only way to reach a two state solution is to take matters into our own hands and get to work. Violence and peaceful negotiations have failed us. We need to create state infrastructure to gain legitimacy and functionality, and with that we will be working towards independence. To gain statehood we start now with stronger Palestinian security, good governance, and economic opportunity. We will get an airport, a government with a separation of powers, a free market, and a stock market. We will have gun control in the streets and monopolize the use of force for our security forces. We will be a democracy and allow for Israeli settlers to become Palestinian citizens. It is infrastructure and good governance that will bring us independence, not negativity. We must impress Israel and the US and prove our legitimacy because they won’t grant it to us in honor of violence. Hamas has it all wrong—their efforts of violence take us further from independence and perpetuate or position of oppression. We are not Hamas, we are peaceful people seeking independence. I remain hopeful. Occupation is oppressive for us and corrosive to Israel. It will end—we just have some work to do to get there.

  10. Kathryn Nagel

    As a representative of the Israeli Labor Party, my primary concern is the well being of the Israeli people and the peace and security of our state. We believe that everyone in this region has the right to self-determination, and we must take steps to achieve stability so that goal can be realized. Thus we are open to negotiations with Palestine and other Arab nations. However, there are several criteria that must be met in order for us to maintain the security of our state. First of all, it is critical that we have defensible borders. On our Eastern edge this border can be the Jordan River. We will work hard to keep our army stronger than all surrounding military powers. Secondly, Jerusalem must remain under Israeli sovereignty as Israel’s capital. We will make arrangements for appropriate access to the holy sites, and Palestinians already residing in Jerusalem may remain there in their municipal quarters. Finally, we will not tolerate terrorism. Acts of terrorism will be met with an aggressive response and will halt peace-making processes.

    In the interest of self-determination and stability in our region, we are willing to compromise with our Arab neighbors. Although we cannot permit the right of return for Palestinians within Israel, we can negotiate rights of return within Gaza and the West Bank. Furthermore, we are willing to recognize Palestine as a state under limited sovereignty. We are also willing to halt settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. Our stance is well represented in the Oslo Accords.

  11. Carl Gayle

    Hi friends and fellow dignitaries,

    I am Barack Obama, president of The United States of America. History has proven to us that peace has a faint heartbeat and in some regions of this world, no beat at all. Yet, in the past year the world has heard what was once a faint beat turn to a resounding heartbeat in the Middle East. I would not be being faithful to the American way, if I did not lend a breath, a hand, or more practically diplomacy to the Middle East, specifically to the Arab-Israeli conflict. For decades these two nations have waged physical and mental warfare to the point where hate is born into the minds of little Palestinian and Israeli children. No more! These peoples must sit at the table of Brotherhood, not as Arab or Israeli, but as human beings. Peace is what the U.S. seeks, and peace is what should be desired. While we cherish our strong bond with the Israeli state, America maintains that the solution to this problem is a two-state plan. Palestinians deserve to have their own state recognized and Israel must stop extending their borders by occupying more territory. We understand the Israelis fear their safety and implore the Palestinians to cease their belligerence towards Israelis. To this end, the issue of borders in the new Palestinian state need to be addressed, the refugees on the border need to be placed and the status of Arab citizens in Israel needs to be addressed. I hope in our talk tomorrow we can come to a general consensus that will satisfy a lasting peace not a temporary one.

  12. Gordon Woodworth

    As a member of the post-Mubarak leadership of Egypt, my first priority is to ensure stability on our Sinai border. I hope to maintain channels of communication with both Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, and Israel, with whom Egypt has maintained diplomatic ties since soon after the 1979 war. By doing this, I hope to be able to facilitate further compromises in the vein of the recent prisoner exchange and draw down tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. I identify with my fellow Arabs in Palestine, but I recognize the right of Israel to exist, in contrast to many other Arab states. Therefore, I will push for the two sides to adopt UN Security Council resolution 242 and return to pre-1967 borders, particularly in Arab Jerusalem. In addition, Israel must be prepared to recognize the state of Palestine. While my proposal may seem unreasonable to some in Israel and the U.S., they would be well served to consider it as an alternative to the far harsher rhetoric of Hamas and others. I welcome the recent apology by Israel for the killing of a number of Egyptian policemen on our border and I hope that we can continue to cooperate for our mutual benefit.

  13. Alison Foster

    Christiane Amanpour: Reporting from the Middlebury Peace Talks

    My only interest with regard to this round of peace talks between Israel and Palestine is in reporting the truth and ensuring that the world at large hears and understands the positions and demands of both sides of this negotiation. It is my goal to ask tough question and bring the challenging stumbling blocks in achieving peace to the forefront of the international dialogue.

    Though I have been accused of allowing my left-leaning political ideology to show through in my reporting and that I have failed to remain neutral with regard to the issue at hand, I can assure you that I will uphold the standards of my profession and will ensure that equal side gets an equal chance to present their issues to the world at large. I bring over 20 years of experience covering political crises in the Middle East and the broader international arena, and I look forward to covering this round of negotiations.

  14. Virginia Johnson

    I believe in “Peace Now.” As an Israeli leftist I think that there are better ways to solve the Arab-Israeli problem then by continuing the war effort. I am not pro-government or against the government I simply think that it’s important to encourage both populations to learn to co-exist. In order to resolve the conflict with our neighbor states we should go back to the pre-1967 borders and establish an independent Palestinian state. I am against continued development in the West Bank because it will further alienate the Palestinians (and other Arab states that disapprove). Because of this belief I help other leftists monitor settlements every day in the West Bank and publish the accounts- which foreign governments monitor. My hope is that eventually we can learn to coexist peacefully. Until then I will continue to support a variety of programs that teach others my views.

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