Encountering peace: Framework document for the establishment of permanent peace (part 3 of 3)

At the time this article was being prepared, there seems to be a breakdown in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

By GERSHON BASKIN
Abbas at Arab League summit (photo credit: REUTERS)
Abbas at Arab League summit
(photo credit: REUTERS)
This is the third part of the draft I presented to the Israeli, Palestinian and American negotiators in January 2014.
ARTICLE EIGHT: CREATING A CULTURE OF PEACE, EDUCATION FOR PEACE AND FIGHTING AGAINST INCITEMENT With the signing of this Declaration of Principles the two sides undertake to work in partnership in a decisive way to foster a culture of peace, including the undertaking of curricula review and modification of textbooks and the inclusion of education for peace within the schools systems of both sides.
The two sides also agree to make a concerted and decisive effort to eliminate all forms of incitement against the other side in the public arena and in the media.
ARTICLE NINE: PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE PEACEMAKING Both sides make a full commitment to advance comprehensive programs for people-to-people peacemaking activities at all levels of both societies. The governments of both sides declare their undertaking to provide full legitimacy for these activities and to allocate budgets for advancing them. The two sides call upon the international community to support the people- to-people peacemaking efforts with international donor support.
ARTICLE TEN: MINISTRIES OF PEACE Both sides will establish senior cabinet-level positions of peace ministers. The Peace Ministries will be empowered to coordinate the implementation of all non-military aspects of the peace treaty. The ministries will coordinate the development of cooperation between all of the parallel government ministries on both sides. The ministries will foster and support the work of non-governmental organizations supporting the development of peace and normalization of relations between the two peoples.
ARTICLE ELEVEN: TIME-LINE AND IMPLEMENTATION BENCHMARKS The parties agree to complete the negotiations for a full permanent- status agreement by the end of April 2015. The agreement will include a timetable for implementation. The parties will also agree to specific performance-related benchmarks to ensure the full implementation of the agreement.
ARTICLE TWELVE: MONITORING, VERIFICATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION The parties agree that a mechanism for third-party monitoring and verification of implementation be included in the full permanent-status negotiations. The monitoring and verification mechanism will be led by the United States and will include other nationals that the US will bring in with the agreement of the parties. The monitoring and verification mechanism will be empowered to monitor all aspects of the peace treaty and to verify the full and proper implementation of both parties’ treaty obligations.
The Monitoring and Verification Mechanism will issue regular reports, which will be made public. The Monitoring and Verification Mechanism may also issue confidential reports on sensitive issues concerning security on the condition that both parties receive the reports. The agreed-upon mechanism will also provide for negotiation, mediation and, if need be, arbitration of disputes concerning the implementation of the agreement.
ARTICLE TWELVE: END OF CONFLICT Once a full agreement is reached which satisfactorily deals with all of the issues in conflict, the US with Israel’s agreement will sponsor a resolution in the UN Security Council for full statehood membership in the UN of the State of Palestine.
A second UNSC resolution will be sponsored by the US that grants the Israel-Palestine peace agreement the force of international law and legitimacy. The UNSC resolution on Israeli-Palestinian peace will declare that a state of peace exists between Israel and Palestine. The resolution will declare that the Israeli- Palestinian peace agreement fulfills UNGA Resolution 181 with the establishment of a Jewish state and an Arab Palestinian state in the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement will constitute the full implementation of UNGA Resolution 194 and UNSC resolutions 242, 338 and 1397.
The parties recognize Palestine and Israel as the nation-states of their respective peoples. Israel and Palestine agree to adhere to principles of the UN charter and to guarantee the full rights of minorities within their states regardless of race, religion, nationality or gender, including the Palestinian minority in Israel and the Jewish minority in Palestine.
At the time this article was being prepared, there seems to be a breakdown in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. This is of course just one of many. The ideas that I have presented in this framework document will sooner or later be similar to the ones that eventually become embodied in a future Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty. As this conflict continues to be one between two national movements fighting over the right to a territorial expression of their identity – to be a free people in their own land, there remains only one solution to the conflict, and that is two states for two peoples. Eventually the two peoples will find the path that will lead them to peace.
The author is the co-chairman of IPCRI, the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information, a columnist for The Jerusalem Post and the initiator and negotiator of the secret back channel for the release of Gilad Schalit. His new book, Freeing Gilad: The Secret Back Channel has been published by Kinneret Zmora Bitan in Hebrew, and The Negotiator: Freeing Gilad Schalit from Hamas from The Toby Press.


Related Tags
AIDS