Slavish conformism to conventional wisdom has done practically nothing to resolve the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel, trapping the sides in a stalemate for decades. Yet, in The Sydney Morning Herald, academic Paul Duffill relied upon traditionally unhelpful cliches in his analysis of recent Australian developments vis-à-vis Israel and the Palestinians (“Gap between parties becomes a chasm on Middle East peace”).
According to his view, the Morrison government’s recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital undermined prospects for peace, while the federal Labor Party national conference call for a future ALP government to immediately recognise a Palestinian state bolstered it. A look at some basic recent history shows that, in reality, the opposite is true.
Besides grounding peace expectations in reality – west Jerusalem has been Israel’s capital since 1949 and is not occupied territory – Morrison’s announcement was no free kick for Israel. Rather, for the first time and in a measured way, Australia gave an explicit endorsement to the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in east Jerusalem should the Palestinians agree to peace with Israel.
This represented a clear incentive for Palestinian leaders to return to negotiations with Israel with the assurance that Palestinian national aspirations would have the backing of Australia – provided, naturally, they agree to live alongside Israel in peace.
Read the article by Ahron Shapiro, senior policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council in The Sydney Morning Herald.