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| Patir, Erekat, Bar and Barakat at PIJ event. |
The Palestine-Israel Journal
MK Hilik Bar, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Secretary General of the Labor Party, Chair Knesset Lobby to Promote the Two-State Solution:
Bar urged the Palestinians to utilize the Kerry initiative to enter into a negotiating process now, without any preconditions. The younger generation should be more engaged than they have been in the past decade. In the last elections, the Israeli public voted mainly on social and economic issues, yet there was an increase in the number of Knesset members elected who are committed to the Israel-Palestine peace process. He declared that 70 MKs would support a two-state solution. The Arab Peace Initiative is also an important foundation for progress. He emphasized that his party will keep pushing the Netanyahu government to engage in a real peace process or will push it out of office.
Bar urged the Palestinians to utilize the Kerry initiative to enter into a negotiating process now, without any preconditions. The younger generation should be more engaged than they have been in the past decade. In the last elections, the Israeli public voted mainly on social and economic issues, yet there was an increase in the number of Knesset members elected who are committed to the Israel-Palestine peace process. He declared that 70 MKs would support a two-state solution. The Arab Peace Initiative is also an important foundation for progress. He emphasized that his party will keep pushing the Netanyahu government to engage in a real peace process or will push it out of office.
Dr. Saeb Erekat, Member of the PLO Executive Committee, Member of Fatah Central Committee, Chief Palestinian Negotiator:
The Palestinian leadership is ready to negotiate a resolution of the conflict based on the 1967 borders, but said that continued settlements activities in Jerusalem and the West Bank leave no room for real negotiations. He added that he hopes that Kerry will succeed to restart the negotiations, but the Palestinians want to negotiate the substance of the process and not marginal side issues. He wondered why Israel wants the Palestinians to recognize its identity differently than it is recognized by the UN, and in its peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. Anyone who knows how to count knows that there will be a Palestinian majority in the land within 20 years. And Israel has to choose between an apartheid regime or democratic state alongside the state of Palestine. The younger generation has strong stereotyped images about each other because of the wall between Israel and Palestine and the lack of contact between them. The current leadership, led by President Abbas, believes in non-violence as the key to the struggle to end the occupation. The younger generation is impatient with us, and we do not know what will happen if there is no breakthrough.
Yael Patir, Israeli Representative of J Street on “Who is Afraid of Peace?”:
Patir highlighted the Oslo Accords’, the impact of the Rabin assassination–“we lost our grandfather”– the second Intifada, the policy of separation and the military reality in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that all young Israelis face, and how these issues shape their perspective. Israel is a Jewish and a democratic state. The problem is not the army, the IDF, per se. The key problem can be stated in three words: occupation, occupation, occupation.
Patir highlighted the Oslo Accords’, the impact of the Rabin assassination–“we lost our grandfather”– the second Intifada, the policy of separation and the military reality in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that all young Israelis face, and how these issues shape their perspective. Israel is a Jewish and a democratic state. The problem is not the army, the IDF, per se. The key problem can be stated in three words: occupation, occupation, occupation.
Riman Barakat, Palestinian Co-CEO of IPCRI on “The Challenges of Democratic Transitions in the Middle East”:
Barakat highlighted the importance of engagement by the younger generation, focused on gradual and systematic social change which includes promoting human rights values and freedoms. She is against “normalization” with the occupation, but does not think that joint political activities and meetings between Israelis and Palestinians against the occupation is normalization, and is in favor of a joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle to end it. Barakat is a member of the new Palestinian committee to engage the Israeli public.
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