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Peace Proposals

Its basic points

US President Ronald Reagan launched his peace plan on the Palestine Question on September 1, 1982 following Israel’s war against the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon. The specific proposals made in the Reagan Peace Plan may be summarized as follows:
 

1. Full autonomy for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza during a transitional period of five years, which would begin to run after an election of a self-governing authority.

2. A freeze on Israeli settlements during the transitional period, because further settlement activity is in no way necessary for the security of Israel and only diminishes the confidence of the Arabs that a final outcome can be freely and fairly negotiated.

3. The US will not support the establishment of an independent Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza, nor their annexation or permanent control over them by Israel.

4. The final status of the West Bank and Gaza must be decided through negotiations, but it is the firm view of the US that self-government by the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza in association with Jordan offers the best chance for a durable, just and lasting peace.

5. In return for peace, Israel would withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza, except from such part as would be required to assure its security. The plan specifies that the extent to which Israel should be asked to give up territory will be heavily affected by the extent of true peace and normalization and the security arrangements offered in return.

6. Jerusalem must remain undivided, but its final status should be decided through negotiations.

The Reagan Peace Plan was disclosed in a secret memorandum, delivered a few days before its publication to Israel and to certain Arab states. The memorandum dealt with two points which were not mentioned in the published plan. These concerned the PLO and Israeli settlements. On the first point, the memorandum declared that the US would not alter its refusal to deal with the PLO until it recognized Israel’s right to exist and Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Regarding the question of settlements, the memorandum indicated US opposition to their dismantling during the transitional five-year period.

Reactions to the Plan

The reactions to the Reagan Plan were varied. The Israeli Government flatly and unequivocally rejected it, and to give more weight to its rejection, Israel announced its intention to establish new settlements in the occupied territories. The attitude taken by the Israeli government was not shared by the Israeli Labor opposition, which considered that the plan offered a suitable basis for negotiation with Jordan.

In fact, the Reagan Plan corresponded in many respects to Labor’s political program, which it had advocated for some time past and had come to be described as the “Jordanian Option”. According to the Israeli Labor plan, Israel-- while maintaining its opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state and insisting upon the preservation of Jewish settlements-- would accept handing over to Jordan under a peace treaty the West Bank, excluding the Old City of Jerusalem, subject to the amputation form the West Bank of such territory as Israel would consider necessary for its security.

As to the Palestinians, they saw two positive aspects in the Reagan Plan, namely, its rejection of Israel’s claim of sovereignty or control over the West Bank and Gaza and the call for a freeze on settlements, but they did not accept its other provisions. In one of the resolutions adopted at Algiers in February 1983, the Palestine National Council declared that the Reagan Plan failed to conform to international legality and did not provide for the attainment by the Palestinians of their inalienable rights of return and self-determination. Hence, the Council did not consider that it constituted a valid basis for a just and durable settlement of the Palestine Problem and of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Evaluation of the Reagan Peace Plan

The Reagan Plan rests upon an erroneous perspective of the Palestine Question and of its dimensions. The plan is restricted to the West Bank and Gaza and ignores the other basic issues involved in the Palestine Question. It is in no way concerned with the territory of Palestine which was earmarked by the UN for the Palestinian Arab State, nor with the two and a half million Palestinians who were evicted from their homeland. It takes no account of the scores of UN resolutions which, since 1948, have called for the repatriation of the Palestinians, for the respect of their inalienable rights and for the restitution of their homes.

It is clear then that the Reagan Plan does not offer an appropriate solution of the Palestine Question. In accordance with its own terms, it is founded on the Camp David formula and on Security Council Resolution 242. It, therefore, combines the flaws of both and is not conducive to the establishment of a just and durable peace.

August 8, 1999

Professor Dr. Ahmad Tell, of Jordanian origin, is Dean of Zarka Private National Community College in Zarka, Jordan. 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.

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

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