Learn about the history of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, equality and justice by exploring major events in the history of their oppression on this day of the year.
11 July
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE 'GENEROUS OFFER'
On this day in 2000, the US-Israel-Palestine Camp David summit opened. Yasser Arafat was later widely condemned for a failure to accept Israel’s supposedly “generous offer”. In 2006, Shlomo Ben Ami, Israel's Minister of Foreign Relations who participated in the talks, stated that "Camp David was not the missed opportunity for the Palestinians, and if I were a Palestinian I would have rejected Camp David, as well”. The Palestinian cantons that were offered would not have been viable but dependent on Israel.
"الحقيقة حول "العرض السخي
11 يوليو
في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 2000 ، افتتحت قمة كامب ديفيد بين الولايات المتحدة وإسرائيل وفلسطين. وقد تم إدانة ياسر عرفات في وقت لاحق على نطاق واسع لفشله في قبول عرض إسرائيل المزعوم بالسخي . في عام 2006 ، صرح شلومو بن عامي ، وزير العلاقات الخارجية الإسرائيلي الذي شارك في المحادثات ، بأن "كامب ديفيد لم تكن الفرصة الضائعة للفلسطينيين ، وإذا كنت فلسطينياً كنت سأرفض كامب ديفيد أيضًا". الكانتونات الفلسطينية المقترحة لن تكون قابلة للحياة لكنها ستعتمد كليا على إسرائيل.
The Israeli generous offer "account is one of the most tenacious myths of the conflict. Its implications are obvious: There is nothing Israel can do to make peace with its Palestinian neighbors. The Israeli army’s increasingly deadly attacks, in this version, can be seen purely as self-defense against Palestinian aggression that is motivated by little more than blind hatred."
From Palestine Remembered
At the failed Camp David summit, Arafat was clearly ambushed by Clinton and Barak, when both presented him a deal that was much more favorable to Israel than to Palestine. Because of domestic U.S. political reasons, a sitting U.S. president could never propose a deal that is unfavorable to Israel. What was fundamentally wrong at Camp David that Arafat was negotiating in miles while Barak was negotiating in inches.
According to Ron Pundak, a main architect of the Oslo Accords and director of the misleadingly named Peres Center for Peace:
“The Israeli offer at Camp David was based on a map which included an annexation of approximately 12% of the West Bank without territorial compensation… Towards the end of the talks, the Americans made clear to the Palestinians that the maximal Israeli offer included an annexation of 9% and a compensation of 1%. The version presented in retrospect by Israeli spokespersons, claiming that Barak at Camp David offered 95% and an additional 5% in compensation, or alternatively 97% and another 3% compensation are an attempt at writing history”.
6-minute video on Zionism - deserves to be shared widely.
https://youtu.be/2U92n1DRR7g