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Middle East messages
The announcement that Canada may recognize the current Palestinian territories as the State of Palestine is a step toward the intended goal of the United Nations in 1947. At that time, the UN proposed a partition plan to divide the original Palestinian Territory into two states: one Jewish state and one Arab state. This proposal is known as the UN Resolution 181. The Jewish population accepted Resolution 181 immediately and created the country of Israel. The Arab population did not accept Resolution 181.
The Arab Palestinians rejected Resolution 181 because it designated much of the lands that had been shared between the Jewish population and the Arab population for centuries and gave those lands exclusively to the new State of Israel. Over several conflicts since 1947, thousands of people have died during the resulting battles.
In 1988, the Palestinian Liberation Organization finally acknowledged that it was prepared to accept a Jewish state alongside a Palestinian State. This was widely interpreted as acceptance of a two-state solution framework as proposed in U.N. Resolution 181. However, several issues emerged which prevented an agreement by both sides.
The Arab Palestinians rejected Resolution 181 because it designated much of the lands that had been shared between the Jewish population and the Arab population for centuries and gave those lands exclusively to the new State of Israel. Over several conflicts since 1947, thousands of people have died during the resulting battles.
In 1988, the Palestinian Liberation Organization finally acknowledged that it was prepared to accept a Jewish state alongside a Palestinian State. This was widely interpreted as acceptance of a two-state solution framework as proposed in U.N. Resolution 181. However, several issues emerged which prevented an agreement by both sides.
- Jerusalem: Both sides wanted Jerusalem as their capital
- Settlements: Israel had established major communities throughout the Palestinian West Bank
- Refugees: Palestinians wanted to be able to return to their home villages on the Israeli side
- Borders: No agreement could be reached on where the border between the two countries would be.
Another roadblock is that the Palestinian leadership is split. The Fatah Party rules the West Bank, and the Hamas Party rules Gaza. Other aspects intervened as well, such as access to water, transportation, defence, etc.
The current leader of the Palestinian Fatah party in the West Bank is President Mahmoud Abbas. I met President Abbas in 2009 when we had discussions about the possibility of him authorizing members of the Palestinian Legislature to come to Canada for a parliamentary conference, including Israeli legislators, Palestinian legislators, and Canadian legislators. At the time, he agreed to send his members, and he was quite enthusiastic. The proposed meeting did not happen for several reasons, mostly political in Canada.
In 2018, I met President Abbas again for discussions about the possibility of Canadian parliamentary contributions. President Abbas has now been President for 26 years, with no elections. One of the conditions that Prime Minister Carney has placed on recognition of Palestine as a nation state is that Palestinians hold open and democratic elections.
During that attempt to bring legislators together in Canada, Hon Rawhi Fattouh was the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislature. Speaker Fattouh and I met twice during the attempt to arrange the three-way conference of Israeli, Palestinian and Canadian MPs in Canada. The meetings were held in the Palestinian Legislature in Ramallah.
At the end of our second meeting, I was surprised when Speaker Fattouh asked me to take messages to the Israeli Speaker, Hon Reuven Rivlin at the Knesset in Jerusalem. I agreed to his request and took several messages with me when I met the Israeli Speaker, Hon Reuven Rivlin, the next day. I was encouraged when Israeli Speaker Rivlin reacted positively and gave me constructive responses to take back to Speaker Fattouh in Ramallah.
Speaker Rivlin also agreed to send members of the Knesset to Canada for the proposed parliamentary discussions. It was an amazing experience for me to be bringing these messages back and forth between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It was also amazing to me that they were both more than willing to engage in discussions on sensitive issues with a positive attitude. It was a perfect example of how parliamentarians can conduct wide-ranging dialog on many subjects that ministers cannot discuss.
At one point I asked Speaker Fattouh if he had met the Israeli Speaker Reuven Rivlin, and he said No, we have never met. I asked if they had ever spoken, and again the answer was No. This was a surprise to me because Ramallah is only about 25 kms away from the Knesset in Jerusalem. The messages delivered by me were the closest that they had ever come to direct communication at that point. The thought crossed my mind that there must be many missed opportunities here.
Former Speaker Rawhi Fattouh has now been designated to be interim President of the Palestinian National Authority, if the position becomes vacant. In my discussions with Speaker Fattouh, he was open to discuss any issue and anxious to have discussions with his Israeli counterparts on the other side. Should he become leader of the Palestinians, I can’t help but think that he would work to find compromise solutions to end the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.
In 1947, Canada played a significant role in the process when the United Nations proposed and passed Resolution 181 to create a Two State Solution by dividing the original Palestinian Territories. I always felt that Canada had an obligation to help bring Resolution 181 to a successful conclusion. However, Canadian initiatives have been intermittent and inconsistent, depending on the government of the day. This is a missed opportunity for Canada, but it is not too late.
Thanks for reading,
Bill
The current leader of the Palestinian Fatah party in the West Bank is President Mahmoud Abbas. I met President Abbas in 2009 when we had discussions about the possibility of him authorizing members of the Palestinian Legislature to come to Canada for a parliamentary conference, including Israeli legislators, Palestinian legislators, and Canadian legislators. At the time, he agreed to send his members, and he was quite enthusiastic. The proposed meeting did not happen for several reasons, mostly political in Canada.
In 2018, I met President Abbas again for discussions about the possibility of Canadian parliamentary contributions. President Abbas has now been President for 26 years, with no elections. One of the conditions that Prime Minister Carney has placed on recognition of Palestine as a nation state is that Palestinians hold open and democratic elections.
During that attempt to bring legislators together in Canada, Hon Rawhi Fattouh was the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislature. Speaker Fattouh and I met twice during the attempt to arrange the three-way conference of Israeli, Palestinian and Canadian MPs in Canada. The meetings were held in the Palestinian Legislature in Ramallah.
At the end of our second meeting, I was surprised when Speaker Fattouh asked me to take messages to the Israeli Speaker, Hon Reuven Rivlin at the Knesset in Jerusalem. I agreed to his request and took several messages with me when I met the Israeli Speaker, Hon Reuven Rivlin, the next day. I was encouraged when Israeli Speaker Rivlin reacted positively and gave me constructive responses to take back to Speaker Fattouh in Ramallah.
Speaker Rivlin also agreed to send members of the Knesset to Canada for the proposed parliamentary discussions. It was an amazing experience for me to be bringing these messages back and forth between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It was also amazing to me that they were both more than willing to engage in discussions on sensitive issues with a positive attitude. It was a perfect example of how parliamentarians can conduct wide-ranging dialog on many subjects that ministers cannot discuss.
At one point I asked Speaker Fattouh if he had met the Israeli Speaker Reuven Rivlin, and he said No, we have never met. I asked if they had ever spoken, and again the answer was No. This was a surprise to me because Ramallah is only about 25 kms away from the Knesset in Jerusalem. The messages delivered by me were the closest that they had ever come to direct communication at that point. The thought crossed my mind that there must be many missed opportunities here.
Former Speaker Rawhi Fattouh has now been designated to be interim President of the Palestinian National Authority, if the position becomes vacant. In my discussions with Speaker Fattouh, he was open to discuss any issue and anxious to have discussions with his Israeli counterparts on the other side. Should he become leader of the Palestinians, I can’t help but think that he would work to find compromise solutions to end the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.
In 1947, Canada played a significant role in the process when the United Nations proposed and passed Resolution 181 to create a Two State Solution by dividing the original Palestinian Territories. I always felt that Canada had an obligation to help bring Resolution 181 to a successful conclusion. However, Canadian initiatives have been intermittent and inconsistent, depending on the government of the day. This is a missed opportunity for Canada, but it is not too late.
Thanks for reading,
Bill