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Barak's 'generous offer'....
8/27/2002 (6:03) |
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SEE PHOTO:
http://electronicintifada.net/coveragetrends/images/gen1.jpg
The West Bank and the Gaza Strip (orange areas), captured by Israel in 1967, comprised 22 percent of Israel/Palestine.
When the Palestinians signed the Oslo Agreement in 1993, they agreed to accept this 22% for a Palestinian state and recognise Israel within the remaining 78% of the historic Palestinian homeland.
Conceding 78% of the land was a huge Palestinian compromise but one not 'generous' enough for Barak. In his talks with the Palestinians, it became clear that he wanted more...
SEE PHOTO:
http://electronicintifada.net/coveragetrends/images/gen2.jpg
Barak proposed that 69 Israeli settlements, populated by 85% of the West Bank's settlers, would be annexed as blocs to Israel (the dark areas on the map).
Palestinians would thus be expected to relinquish another 10% of their 22%.
The settlement blocs intrude into the existing road network that links the main Palestinian population areas (depicted by the red dots on maps), and would severely disrupt any aspect of daily life in the West Bank that required travel.
Barak still wasn't done....
SEE PHOTO:
http://electronicintifada.net/coveragetrends/images/gen3.jpg
'Temporary Israeli control' was a unique concept that showed its face during the talks. It suggested that a foreign power, Israel, would control the sovereign land of another nation, the Palestinians, for an indefinite time.
These areas -- yet another 10% of the 22% -- contain many settlements populated by the most extreme Jewish religious zealots.
Gush Shalom noted that this would make it highly unlikely that Israel would evacuate them '[even] in 50 years time.'
SEE PHOTO:
http://electronicintifada.net/coveragetrends/images/gen4.jpg
The remaining areas, although appearing to be territorially contiguous, would in fact be further broken up by Israeli bypass roads and checkpoints.
Finally, in Barak's plan -- which left the Palestinians able only to tortuously navigate throughout 17.6% of their historic homeland -- they were further expected to relinquish control of the land most essential for their trade and tourism development, and for the absorption of refugees -- their borders.
No nation in the world would accept this as a 'peacetime' solution.
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