Jerusalem-forum@wanadoo.jo

Peace Proposals

A number of peace plans have been advanced. Many of them, like US Secretary of State William Rogers’ plan of December 9, 1969, do little more than reaffirm a commitment to Security Council Resolution 242 of November 22, 1967 and its basic principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war.” The Rogers’ plan added that the only variation in the pre-June 1967 boundaries which should be permitted were insubstantial ones required for the mutual security of states in the region.

The Camp David Agreements of September 17, 1978 were also stated to be subject to Security Council Resolution in the withdrawal of Israel from the Sinai and, most important of all, a separate peace between Israel and its strongest Arab military opponent. The Palestinian component of Camp David involved a plan of “autonomy” for the Palestinians to be negotiated by others than the recognized representative of the Palestinian people and subject to Israeli veto.

In accordance with the Peace Treaty, Israel agreed to return the whole of Sinai to Egypt and to withdraw within three years behind the international boundary between Egypt and mandated Palestine. It also agreed to dismantle all 17 settlements it had established and to withdraw all its armed forces and “civilians” from Sinai. The price paid in return was Egypt’s recognition of Israel, its abandonment of its original position on Palestinian rights (self-determination and a Palestinian State) and its acceptance of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s autonomy plan for the West Bank and Gaza. 

Begin’s Autonomy Plan

The Camp David Agreements, like other agreements entered into by the State of Israel, have been subjected to unilateral Israeli interpretation. The one advanced here is that the Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza provides autonomy for the inhabitants of the area and not for the territory. Even the limited “autonomy” involving an “elected self-governing authority in the West Bank and Gaza” included in this plan has not been brought into existence.

The Camp David Accords provided that Egypt, Israel, Jordan and representatives of the Palestinian people should participate in negotiations on the resolution of the Palestinian problem in all its aspects. It may be observed that neither Jordan nor the Palestinians were consulted concerning their willingness to participate in such negotiations. In fact they condemned the Camp David Accords and never participated in such negotiations.

The Accords stated that to achieve such an objective, namely to resolve the Palestinian problem, negotiations relating to the West Bank and Gaza should proceed in three stages:

• In the first stage transitional arrangements would be set up for a period not exceeding five years. Under these arrangements, the inhabitants would enjoy “full autonomy” and elect a “self-governing authority” (which was described as an administrative council). Upon such election, the Israeli military government and its civilian administration would be withdrawn by Israeli forces would be re-deployed into specified security locations.

• In the second stage Egypt, Israel, and Jordan would agree on the modalities for establishing the self-governing authority and would define its powers and responsibilities.

• Finally, when the self-governing authority was established, the transitional period of five years would begin to run. As soon as possible, but not later than the third year after the beginning of the transitional period, negotiations would take place to determine the final status of the West Bank and Gaza and its relationship with its neighbors.

The refugee problem

The Camp David Accord included provisions related to the refugee problem. A special committee constituted of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the self-governing authority would decide “by agreement” on the modalities of admissions of persons displaced from the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. As for other refugees, Egypt and Israel would establish “agreed procedures” for the resolution of their problem. The requirement that decisions on the repatriation of the refugees should be subject to agreement meant that Israel reserved the right of veto over the matter. The Camp David Accords substantially reproduced the main provisions of Begin’s plan of December 28, 1977 for the West Bank and Gaza. 

Condemnation of the Camp David Accords

The Camp David Accords and the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty were denounced and condemned by the Palestinians and by all Arab States with the exception of Somalia, Sudan, and Oman. They were also condemned by 95 states at the conference of the Non-Aligned Nations at Havana in September 1979 as being a sell-out by Egypt of Palestinian rights. All the Arab states-- except Somalia, Sudan, and Oman-- severed diplomatic relations with Egypt and excluded it from the League of Arab States whose offices were removed from Cairo to Tunis. The Camp David Accords were also denounced.

The Camp David Accords are in flat contradiction to UN resolutions. In particular, Resolution 181 of 1947 which called for the establishment of a Palestinian State; Resolution 194 of 1948 which called for the repatriation of the refugees, and numerous other resolutions which affirmed the national and inalienable rights of the Palestinians.

In its Resolution 33/28 of December 7, 1978, the General Assembly declared in paragraph four that:

Resolution 34/65 was reaffirmed by the General Assembly on December 16, 1981 in its Resolution 36/120F which rejected any accords that ignore, infringe, violate, or deny the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return, self-determination, national independence and sovereignty in Palestine. In short, the Camp David Accords were nothing but an attempt to liquidate the Palestine Question and to impose Israel’s domination under the pretence of an illusory autonomy for the Palestinians.

June 14, 1999

Professor Dr. Ahmad Tell, of Jordanian origin, is Dean of Zarka Private National Community College. In 1980 he received an Award of Distinction from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. He is the author of several books and publications: Higher Education in Jordan , published in 1997, including Abdullah Tell, the Hero and Why Did the Arabs Fail?, both of which are currently under print. Dr.Tell also wrote a research paper about the former Prime Minister Samir Rifai and the Palestinian cause in 1997.

He was an officer in the Arab Legion from 1946-1950 and fought in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948.

References:

1. Cattan, Henry,  The Palestine Question, Croom Helm Ltd., London, New York, 1988.

2. Mallison, Thomas W. and Mallison, Sally V., The Palestine Problem in International Law and World Order, Longman Group