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Independence and Justice For All?

© lawhawk

The Palestinian Authority has continued to assert that it intends on unilaterally declaring independence in May 1999. This has caused great consternation in the United States and in Israel because they have read the Oslo Accords as not giving the Palestinian Authority the ability to do just that. The Palestinians, however, have read the Oslo Accords in a light most favorable to them and see the May deadline as one that either gives them the right to unilaterally declare independence or that the Israelis and Palestinian Authority have reached a comprehensive deal on outstanding issues including the final status of Jerusalem.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the Israelis wouldn't allow the Palestinians to declare unilateral independence in May 1999 since it would mean a general uprising in the West Bank, Gaza and within Israel proper. The Israelis are extremely worried but they also feel that the Palestinians are not in a position to continually assert this possibility since they need to rely upon funding from European and US sources to fund Palestinian Authority operation. To that end, the US has put together over $400 million in new aid this weekend and has moved to open the Palestinian Airport in Gaza.

The airport was a bone of contention for the Israelis as its international designation was initially going to include the Israeli prefix of LL but the Palestinian Authority was able to get the designation LV instead. Although this would appear to be a symbolic victory for the Palestinians, it suggests that there is greater acceptance of Palestinian rights to self determination.

Self determination is a major part of the United Nations charter and as it currently stands, the Palestinians are getting closer to that goal. Iraq on the other hand, has continued to try to avoid the UN sanctions against building up its military (something that a nation is allowed to do as a sovereign state). Iraq has been found to have tried to acquire advanced missile guidance equipment from Romania during 1995 in direct contravention of the sanctions. However, this plan was thwarted by UN officials and stands to show that Iraq has continued to try and build up its military following its losses in the Gulf War.

Elsewhere in the region, the Israeli military continues to be knee-deep in the Lebanese quagmire that has seen additional soldiers killed in South Lebanon. Although Israel has accepted the UN Resolution requiring Israeli withdrawal, it has attached conditions on Lebanon to provide security and crack down on Hizbullah guerillas in the buffer zone. Unfortunately, Lebanon doesn't act autonomously as Syria has tremendous sway over the Hizbullah and therefore Syria is the main player that Israel must deal with. Negotiations between Syria and Israel have gone nowhere since Israel has refused to give back the Golan Heights to the Syrians and Syria supports Hizbullah efforts against Israel. Therefore, the Lebanese people continue to suffer as Israel is planning on using force to strike back at the Hizbullah positions and Lebanese infrastructure positions.