VIDEO: Israel-Palestine, Two Nations, Two States 101

Submitted by cathy n on 30 May, 2019 - 8:28
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What do the AWL mean by a "two-states settlement" for Israel-Palestine? This is a contentious viewpoint on the left because there are competing views of the history. Camila Bassi explains the background and ideas involved in the debate.

See Workers' Liberty's channel for other playlists, and individual videos.

Comments

Submitted by John D on Wed, 12/06/2019 - 12:52

The AWL is the only left-wing forum where some discussion of I/P is possible. It is sad, but almost inevitable, that misrepresentation of the simple facts is so common that it colours even the AWL's collective memory, and even sadder when proposed by an "historian".

So - No, Camila Bassi. There were no pre-1967 borders. At Arab's insistence! No Borders! Why does your video repeat and repeat the non-exisiting "1948 Borders" ? No borders, Camila!

So, to use the usual easily accessible routes to sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949_Armistice_Agreements

With Egypt

On 24 February the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement was signed in Rhodes.[1] The main points of the armistice agreement were:

The Armistice Demarcation Line is not to be construed in any sense as a political or territorial boundary, and is delineated without prejudice to rights, claims and positions of either Party to the Armistice as regards ultimate "settlement of the Palestine question".
The armistice demarcation line was drawn for the most part along the 1922 international border between Egypt and Mandatory Palestine, except near the Mediterranean Sea, where Egypt remained in control of a strip of land along the coast, which became known as the Gaza Strip.

With Lebanon

The agreement with Lebanon was signed on 23 March 1949.[2] The main points were:
The provisions of this agreement being dictated exclusively by military considerations.

With Jordan

The agreement with Jordan was signed on 3 April 1949.[3] The main points:

No provision of this Agreement shall in any way prejudice the rights, claims and positions of either Party hereto in the ultimate peaceful settlement of the Palestine question, the provisions of this Agreement being dictated exclusively by military considerations.

With Syria

The agreement with Syria was signed on 20 July 1949.[4]

Syria withdrew its forces from most of the territories it controlled west of the international border, which became demilitarized zones. The territory retained by Syria that lay west of the 1923 Palestinian Mandate border and which had been allocated to the Jewish state under the UN partition plan comprised 66 square kilometers in the Jordan Valley.[11] These territories were designated demilitarized zones (DMZs) and remained under Syrian control.

It was emphasised that the armistice line was "not to be interpreted as having any relation whatsoever to ultimate territorial arrangements." (Article V).

Cease-fire line vs. permanent border

The new military frontiers for Israel, as set by the agreements, encompassed about 78% of mandatory Palestine as it stood after the independence of Transjordan (now Jordan) in 1946. The Arab populated areas not controlled by Israel prior to 1967 were the Jordan ruled West Bank and the Egypt occupied Gaza Strip.

The armistice agreements were intended to serve only as interim agreements until replaced by permanent peace treaties. However, no peace treaties were actually signed until decades later.

The armistice agreements were clear (at Arab insistence) that they were not creating permanent borders. The Egyptian-Israeli agreement stated "The Armistice Demarcation Line is not to be construed in any sense as a political or territorial boundary, and is delineated without prejudice to rights, claims and positions of either Party to the Armistice as regards ultimate settlement of the Palestine question."[1]

The Jordanian-Israeli agreement stated: "... no provision of this Agreement shall in any way prejudice the rights, claims, and positions of either Party hereto in the peaceful settlement of the Palestine questions, the provisions of this Agreement being dictated exclusively by military considerations" (Art. II.2), "The Armistice Demarcation Lines defined in articles V and VI of this Agreement are agreed upon by the Parties without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto." (Art. VI.9)[3]

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