How do you “End the Occupation?”

(please review my Purpose Statement)

“Free Palestine!" "End the Occupation!"

Calls to "Free Palestine" and "End the Occupation" express a nostalgic yearning for justice and peace. In the same breath, protesters place complete blame and responsibility on Israel for the ongoing “occupation.”

It’s vital to note that Israel never sought the occupation of land designated for an Arab state in the 1947 Partition Plan (**see end of article for clarification).

So, how do you end an occupation that was never desired or sought? And what, exactly is an "occupation" that is defensive in nature?

Facts:

1. By 22 September 2005, Israel's withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip to the 1967 Green Line, and the eviction of the four settlements in Samaria, was completed.

2. Since 2001, Palestinian militants have launched tens of thousands of rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip as part of the continuing Israeli–Palestinian conflict.*

Following its establishment in 1948, Israel faced aggressive wars from neighboring Arab countries aiming to seize all the territory—including Israel, which emerged victorious from these attacks. Pushing back its attackers, Israel acquired some land previously earmarked by the U.N. for a Palestinian state, while Jordan and Egypt occupied the rest—namely the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza—from 1948 to 1967.

No Arab country petitioned to establish a two-state solution between 1948 to 1967.For the most part, Arab Countries have always wanted Israel “GONE.” When Israel did not obligingly disappear, the 1967 war, initiated by five Arab nations, resulted in Israel winning and occupying the above territories from Jordan and Egypt, plus the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.

“After the aggressive Arab war against Israel in 1967, in which Israel won, the Arab League met in Khartoum, Sudan. It’s known as “The Three No’s.” The Khartoum resolution read:

1. no peace with Israel

2. no recognition of Israel

3. and no negotiations with Israel

Despite its stubborn desire to exist, Israel has made substantial efforts to resolve the problems of “occupation,” notably during the 2000 and 2008 Camp David Accords. Unfortunately, Arafat and Abbas rejected all proposals without making any counteroffers—a minimum requirement for treaties to be “negotiated.”

The idea that simply “leaving” or withdrawing from the West Bank and East Jerusalem would automatically create a Palestinian state does not recognize what is required and necessary for such a state to exist—all of which require negotiations for borders, water and electric resources, security, trade, and much more.

There have been no Jews in Gaza since 2005. Current protests—based on the naive principle of "land for peace"—demand that Israel "just leave" and "free Palestine." It’s ironic to note that Israel did just that when it conducted a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.

Despite this significant concession by Israel to ensure success for Palestinian self-determination, this initiative failed due to internal Palestinian conflict and the subsequent Hamas takeover, leading—yet again—to ongoing and unprovoked rocket attacks against Israel once again.

Let’s not be fooled: Israel did not seek the occupation, does not want it to continue, has tried to get rid of it, and cannot simply withdraw without dire consequences. Framing Israel as the sole villain in this dire situation is misleading, counterproductive, and is leading to the place where all lies dwell: in misunderstanding, in misdirection, in uninformed objections.

Knowing these facts, how is it possible to end the supposed "occupation" so that Israel can remain in tact and a two-state solution establishment of a Palestinian state (which has been rejected for decades) can occur?

*The attacks, widely condemned for targeting civilians, have been described as terrorism by the United Nations, the European Union, and Israeli officials, and are defined as war crimes by human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The international community considers indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets to be illegal under international law.

**The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was responsible for the 1947 partition plan. The UN General Assembly adopted the plan on November 29, 1947, with a vote of 33 to 13, and 10 abstentions. 

The plan called for the division of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, with the city of Jerusalem under international trusteeship. The Jewish state would be slightly larger than the Arab state, at 56% compared to 43% of Palestine. The plan was intended to ensure that each state had a majority of its own population. 

The Jewish side accepted the plan, but the Arabs rejected it and launched a war against the Jewish state.