Instead of offering to Buy East Jerusalem, the Arab League should invite Israel to Join It

Shaikh Hamad al-Thani, the leader of Qatar, proposed in his speech to the Arab League the creation of a $1 billion fund to preserve the Arab character of East Jerusalem, which is gradually being taken over by Israelis and its Arab inhabitants gradually expelled. Shaikh Hamad offered to put in $250 million to start off the project.

Palestinians reacted skeptically, since Arab League summits have seen many munificent offers of aid to them that never materialized. Qatar has a better track record on such matters, however, and really does have the money.

Qatar has also pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to Palestinians in Gaza, to alleviate the worst effects of the Israeli blockade on its Occupied civilians.

This tendency to try to deal with the Palestinians’ problems by throwing money at them is an improvement on the military flailing about of past decades, which never produced any breakthroughs. But it is no substitute for diplomacy.

What would be really radical would be for the Arab League to recognize Israel inside 1949 borders and invite Israel to join the organization. After all, the vast majority of Israelis are either Jews who had lived in the Arab world or Palestinian-Israelis. There is a better case for Israel than for Somalia. And Egypt and Jordan already have extended that recognition, and Qatar and other states have behind the scenes perfectly correct relations with Israel.

While the Israelis are unlikely to change any policies as a result of such an offer, it would at least begin bringing them into the diplomatic system in the Middle East and would be a means of putting diplomatic pressure on them.

I know, it won’t happen soon. Maybe eventually. But it would be more practical than just promising to pour money into Palestinian areas. That won’t work because the pledges often aren’t fulfilled, and since the Palestinians are stateless, they don’t really have firm property rights, so any new property or refurbished buildings can just be usurped by the Israeli squatters at will.

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Posted in Arab World, Israel/ Palestine | 19 Comments | Print

§ 19 Responses to “Instead of offering to Buy East Jerusalem, the Arab League should invite Israel to Join It”

• Henry James

  

  03/27/2013 at 9:08 am

  Is not Saudi cooperation with Israel on Syria and Iran enough? How they will cooperate with anti-Shiite juhadists if they will formally cooperate with Israel?
• Farhang

  

  03/27/2013 at 9:13 am

  Juan! As you know, after the 2002 peace proposal by the then Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah at the Arab League summit meeting in Beirut and re-endorsed at the Riyadh Summit in 2007, the entire Arab League declared that it would recognize the state of Israel in exchange for her complete withdrawal from the occupied territories (including East Jerusalem), but the Israeli government swiftly rejected it. Incidentally the Islamic Conference Organization, including Iran, has also endorsed that proposal. Iran’s official policy is that it will stand by any decision adopted by the Palestinians. Ironically, Ariel Sharon said that the new plan could not be accepted because it would replace US resolutions 242 and 338, which in fact Israel has no intention of implementing. Even HAMAS has grudgingly recognized Israel.

  The founder of HAMAS, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was blown up in his wheelchair after morning prayers in March 2004 together with two bodyguards and nine bystanders, had offered a 100-year truce with Israel. HAMAS military commander Ahmed al-Jabari, who was killed in an Israeli strike as he was riding in a car in Gaza on 14 November 2012, which started the nine-day Israeli war with Gaza, was reportedly considering another long-time truce with Israel. So there has been no shortage of attempts by the Arabs to recognize Israel in return for her withdrawal from the occupied territories but Israel has officially annexed Jerusalem and has no intention of leaving most of the conquered territories.

  The offer of money to buy East Jerusalem is a non-starter. However, as you say, now with the Palestinian Authority accepted as an observer member of the UN, it is time for all Arabs – and instead of making belligerent comments Iran should also joint them too – to push for the Arab League plan and for the international community to support them to achieve their goal, to ensure that Israel lives in peace with her neighbors, alongside an independent, viable Palestinian state.