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THE JERUSALEM
SABEEL DOCUMENT PRINCIPLES FOR
A JUST PEACE IN PALESTINE-ISRAEL "Seek
Peace and Pursue it." (1 Peter 3:11) In pursuit of peace and
out of our faith commitment, Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center,
Jerusalem has formulated a set of principles by which we, as Palestinian
Christians, feel a just, secure, and lasting peace can be achieved. THEOLOGICAL
BASIS Our faith teaches us
that,
MORAL BASIS
LEGAL BASIS: International
Legitimacy The following principles have been affirmed
and repeatedly reaffirmed by the international community:
THE PRINCIPLES WHICH SABEEL
STANDS FOR: The people of the region--Palestinians and
Israelis--both need and deserve a lasting peace, and security. With peace and
security in place, bonds of acceptance and friendship can grow. It is no
service to either community to promote a peace which flouts international
law, ignores justice, and ultimately cannot endure since this will lead to
continued bitterness and violence. The following principles are therefore, based
on international legitimacy. The international community has a responsibility
to see that they are fulfilled. Once achieved, the strongest international
guarantees must be given to ensure that the people of Palestine and Israel
will live in peace and security.
POLITICAL BACKGROUND In 1948 a grievous injustice was committed by
the Zionists (forerunners of the state of Israel) against the Palestinian
people. The Zionists acquired by force 77% of the land of Palestine and
displaced three quarters of a million Palestinians. Consequently, the state
of Israel was declared as a Jewish state. Since then, most of the displaced
Palestinians have lived in refugee camps and their national rights have been
denied. Despite UN Resolution 194, passed in December 1948 and reaffirmed
annually by the UN, Israel has adamantly refused the right of return of
Palestinian refugees to their homes. The 150,000 Palestinians who remained
within that part of Palestine which became the state of Israel were given Israeli
citizenship. However, they have been discriminated against and have been
treated as second class citizens. In 1967, the state of Israel acquired by
force the rest of the country of Palestine (the 23%) further displacing
approximately 325,000 Palestinians. The Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank came under Israeli military rule. The occupation has been
oppressive, brutal, and dehumanizing. Palestinian land has been
systematically confiscated, human rights violated, and people systemically
humiliated, as documented by a number of international, Israeli, and
Palestinian human rights organizations, such as Amnesty
International, B’Tselem, LAW and Al-Haq. Furthermore, Israel assumed
control of Palestine’s water supply (unfairly restricting water to
Palestinians and charging them exorbitant prices), began building exclusively
Jewish settlements on Palestinian land and, through hundreds of military
laws, persisted in its oppression of the Palestinians. As to East Jerusalem,
Israel annexed it and, in 1993, closed it and cut it off from the rest of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip, thus denying Palestinians the right of access to
it. Consequently, even the right to worship in its churches and mosques is
obstructed. Moreover, Israel enacted a policy to limit the Palestinian
presence in Jerusalem to 27% of the city’s population, through demolition of
homes, confiscation of land, revocation of Palestinian residency rights as
well as other means. In 1991 at the end of the Gulf War, the peace
process was initiated by the United States and Russia. In spite of its
initial promise in the Madrid Conference to achieve a just peace, it became,
in its Oslo form, an instrument for furthering the injustice. As it evolved,
certain portions of the occupied territories were returned by Israel to the
Palestinian Authority. By the end of March 2000, only 18.2% of the area of
the West Bank has been returned to full Palestinian Authority; 24.7% is under
Israeli security and Palestinian civil control. The remaining 57.1% of the
West Bank is still under full Israeli control. The areas that have been
returned to the Palestinians are not geographically linked together. The
Israeli Army controls the highways and major roads throughout the occupied
territories, as well as everything below the ground and sky above. It is
important to note that in the Gaza Strip, only 60% of the land is under
Palestinian control where over a million Palestinians live; while Israel
controls the 40% of the Strip for the benefit of 6100 Jewish settlers.
Furthermore, some of the 194 Israeli settlements (166 in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip and 28 in East Jerusalem - - all illegal under international law)
have expanded to sizable towns. It is estimated that the number of settlers,
including those who live in the settlement ring in and around Jerusalem, is
approximately 400,000. The two sides, Israelis and Palestinians,
have more recently been engaged in the final status negotiations which
include the thorniest issues, namely, Jerusalem, borders, refugees, water,
and settlements. We feel we are standing at a most important
juncture in our history. The United States Government has been working to
broker a peace agreement between Israel and Syria as well as to keep alive
the negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Many of us are
afraid that what might ensue in Palestine is an unjust peace. We at Sabeel
feel we have a Christian responsibility to speak our mind for the sake of a
lasting peace that will bring an acceptable justice to the Palestinians and
security for all the peoples of our region. We fear that the Palestinian
Authority might be forced to accept an unjust peace which will be
attractively packaged by the state of Israel and the United States
Government. We are, however, sure that an unjust peace will only be temporary
and will inevitably plunge our region into greater violence and bloodshed. We
will not be silent. We lift our voice prophetically in pointing to the
pitfalls of injustice. The following points comprise the different scenarios.
We would like to present them clearly with their probable consequences. THE GREATEST CONCERN: A
bantustan state Taking a good look at the Gaza Strip and the
West Bank, it is clear that Israel’s eye is focused on the West Bank which
includes East Jerusalem. The confiscation of Palestinian land, the building
and expansion of the settlements have never stopped. Israel continues to
insist that the settlements will remain under Israeli rule. If this is done,
Israel will maintain its military presence on the West Bank while allowing
the Palestinian Authority to have autonomous rule over its own people. The
areas under Palestinian rule will be called Palestine. They will have the
semblance of a state but will exist under the suzerainty of Israel and will
not enjoy genuine sovereignty. What we are witnessing, therefore, is a
bantustan-type state, home rule, just like what was proposed by the former
apartheid government of South Africa to its black citizens. From all
indications, this is the picture which is emerging on the ground. If pressured, Israel may even concede the
Gaza Strip, where it currently has only 6100 settlers and controls
approximately 40% of the land and one third of the water. It might withdraw
totally from the Gaza Strip, which now has a damaged aquifer and a serious
lack of usable water, and allow the Palestinians to have their sovereign
state there. That area will be small and contained in one corner of Palestine
and, from Israel’s perspective, will, presumably, not pose any serious threat
to Israel. On the West Bank, however, the Palestinians will only be given
autonomous rule, a homeland, in the guise of a state yet void of actual
sovereignty. This we believe is an unnatural, unhealthy,
and unjust scenario and will only lead to a bloodier conflict. History
teaches us that oppressed nations will not give up their struggle for freedom
and independence. Under this scenario, Israel will not achieve the security
it seeks because the forced and unjust peace settlement cannot be permanent. Sabeel rejects outright this peace formula or
any variation of it and warns that its imposition will be ultimately
catastrophic for both peoples. THE GENUINE HOPE: Two sovereign
and fully democratic states This scenario envisages the total withdrawal
of Israel from all the occupied territories including East Jerusalem
according to United Nations resolutions 242 and 338. The Palestinians will
establish their sovereign state on the whole of the 23% of the land of
Palestine. One way to redeem the settlements is to make them the new towns
for the returning Palestinian refugees. This can constitute a part of Israel’s
reparations to the Palestinians. Israel must compensate the owners from whom
the land was confiscated. The Jewish settlers who choose to remain in
Palestine can become Palestinian citizens and live under Palestinian
sovereignty. As to Jerusalem, it will have to be shared.
The city must remain open to all. A peace treaty will be drawn up and the two
countries will become inter-dependent economically and will help each other
develop their resources for the well being of both their peoples. This is the formula which the Palestinians
have been hoping and working for. Indeed, it is not the ideal solution, but
it carries within it an acceptable justice which most Palestinians are
willing to live with for the sake of peace and prosperity. Furthermore, as
this scenario agrees with United Nations resolutions since 1967, it will
ensure the support of the international community of nations. This formula
gives the Palestinians a state as sovereign as Israel, rids them of the
Israeli occupation, and restores to them the whole of the occupied
territories of 1967. Indeed, a state within the West Bank and Gaza, composed
of only 23% of Palestine instead of the 43% allotted by the UN in 1947, is
already a very signficant compromise by the Palestinians. The Palestinians
would have to give up their right to most of historic Palestine. Obviously,
Israel, with the help of the United States and the international community,
will have to compensate the Palestinian people. THE VISION FOR THE FUTURE Our vision involves two sovereign states,
Palestine and Israel, who will enter into a confederation or even a
federation, possibly with other neighboring countries and where Jerusalem
becomes the federal capital. Indeed, the ideal and best solution has always
been to envisage ultimately a bi-national state in Palestine-Israel where
people are free and equal, living under a constitutional democracy that
protects and guarantees all their rights, responsibilities, and duties
without racism or discrimination. One state for two nations and three
religions. STANDING FOR JUSTICE At every turn, the principle of justice must
be upheld. Unless justice is rendered and security is achieved, the solution
must be rejected because it will not endure. A just solution must include an
equal measure of justice and security for both sides to make it viable.
Otherwise it will not lead to a permanent peace. This is the basic principle
that must be upheld and used as the measure for every one of the above
points. This is where Sabeel takes its stand. We will
stand for justice. We can do no other. Justice alone guarantees a peace that
will lead to reconciliation and a life of security and prosperity to all the
peoples of our land. By standing on the side of justice, we open ourselves to
the work of peace; and working for peace makes us children of God. "Blessed are the
peacemakers for they shall be called children of God." Jerusalem ,may 2003 (Matthew 5:9)
Sabeel Ecumenical
Liberation Theology Center |
