Dr. Ahmed Jamil Azm: Ideas that are not new are being put forward to move the wheel of negotiations, but their value is limited until they are adopted by official bodies.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti: The entire project is wrong, its ideas are wrong, its timing is wrong, and the seizure of lands from the West Bank is rejected in its entirety.

Nihad Abu Ghosh: A project that is not based on a Palestinian or Israeli mass movement, and Olmert is a criminally convicted person with no weight

A political document signed by former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Qudwa and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was recently revealed, which includes a plan for a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, similar to the initiatives of Yasser Abed Rabbo-Yossi Beilin, Sari Nusseibeh-Ami Ayalon, and the Abu Mazen-Beilin initiative, all of which remained marginal and did not impose themselves on the course of political life or leave an impact on the course of the conflict.

Political and diplomatic vacuum

Dr. Ahmad Jamil Azm, a professor of political science at Birzeit and Qatar Universities, said in a statement to Al-Quds: “The ideas put forward by Al-Qudwa and Olmert can be viewed from two perspectives: the first is the idea that Al-Qudwa and Olmert put them forward, and the second is the content of these ideas.”

He added: "I believe that Al-Qudwa is known as someone who has ambitions to play a political and leadership role, and to be accepted by the Palestinians, the region and the world. Olmert may be different from this. It is unlikely that he is looking for a political role, but he is looking to perpetuate a legacy that was in the past, and perhaps also as a protest against the current Israeli leadership."

He continued: "In terms of the two sides presenting the plan, this means saying that there is a political and diplomatic vacuum that can be filled, whether in terms of people or ideas, especially in light of the talk that there is a horizon for a peace process, as well as to remind people of the peace process. As for the content of these ideas, most of them, as is clear from the text, are not new, and the only new thing is what relates to the forces, the guardianship in the Gaza Strip, and some definition of Old Jerusalem."

Azm explained that these ideas remain, so far, within the framework of political training, such that they are merely ideas put forward to try to move the wheel of negotiations, and to try to create momentum towards these ideas, but their official value will remain very limited, until they are adopted by certain official bodies.

test balloons

The political science professor did not rule out the possibility that there are regional parties seeking to adopt and propose such plans, adding: “It is known that some ideas are sometimes put forward by some figures and some journalists as a kind of trial balloon, or as a kind of mere presentation of an idea, without revealing its true owner. This does not necessarily mean that there is another party that has adopted these ideas, but it is possible that regional parties will adopt them, and this could be a goal for the two parties that launched these ideas, in an attempt to create regional movement around these points.”

Azm concluded by saying: “However, these points, as I said, are not new for the most part, even though they place Gaza in a broader framework. I believe that these ideas, in essence, are acceptable to the Palestinian leadership, and perhaps in terms of coming through Nasser al-Qudwa, they are not so. However, in essence, they are acceptable to the Palestinian leadership, but they are not acceptable to the Israeli government at all.”

A project that contradicts international law

As for the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, he commented in a special interview with Al-Quds on the idea of the document, saying: “The entire project is wrong, all its ideas are wrong, and its timing is wrong.”

Barghouti stressed that the content of the document is bad and full of errors. He added: "The idea of cutting off lands from the West Bank, as stated in the document, is rejected in its entirety, and the issue of Jerusalem raised in the project is unacceptable, and Arab Jerusalem must be the capital of Palestine, without any right for Israel to be present in it," stressing that it is a project that contradicts international law.

Barghouti stressed that the most dangerous thing in the Qudwa-Olmert project is the idea of establishing guardianship in the Gaza Strip, and this is the basic idea in the project, and this is unacceptable.

At the end of his speech, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative said: “What is required is a national consensus government that preserves the unity of Gaza and the West Bank.”

A fleeting agreement between two former figures in charge

In turn, Nihad Abu Ghosh, an expert in Israeli affairs, told Al-Quds: “The impact of the project is very limited. First, it is not based on a mass movement, neither Palestinian nor Israeli, but rather a passing agreement between two former figures in charge. The problem is that Olmert is a person who has been convicted of a crime and does not represent any weight in Israel. If he had peaceful tendencies, why did we not see them when he was prime minister, and why did he not show at that time that he had tendencies that contradicted the Zionist consensus?!”

Abu Ghosh added: “I believe that this is a futile effort, and the main thing that Palestinian politicians should focus on is to reunite the Palestinian position to enable the Palestinian people to confront the dangers surrounding their national destiny and existence on their land.”

Dismantling settlements is easier than destroying the Gaza Strip

Abu Ghosh pointed to the ongoing bloody conflict in the Palestinian territories, the campaign of extermination that our people in Gaza are facing, the forced displacement, the daily crimes, and the attempts to liquidate their cause and national rights, adding: “The priority is to enable our people to stand firm on their land, unify their political forces, gather their scattered forces, treat their wounded, save Gaza from the fate that Netanyahu wants, and save the West Bank as well.”

Abu Ghosh continued: "Regarding the clause of Israeli control over the settlements in Jerusalem, as stated in the proposal, this means that the Jewish neighborhoods will be added to the Hebrew state, and that there will be an exchange of lands in certain proportions, and all of this has no legal or legitimate basis."

He pointed out that "the Israeli occupation destroyed the ancient city of Gaza, which is 5,000 years old, and therefore if the international community has the will, it would be very easy to dismantle the settlement, or dismantle the settlement of "Ma'ale Adumim", and this is easier than destroying Gaza. Why do we pass the destruction of the Gaza Strip, while we consider dismantling the settlement an impossible matter, and therefore we acknowledge it?"

He added: "If local, regional and international conditions are available, and if Israel realizes that its interest is in peace, it will dismantle the settlements."

Abu Ghosh concluded by saying: “The International Court of Justice in The Hague, which is the highest judicial body in the world, considered all settlements illegal, and all Israeli measures illegal, and then someone comes along who accepts settlements and considers that the Palestinian state must be demilitarized. Why do we make concessions of this kind, as if the Palestinian people are less qualified for sovereignty than others, and they are the historical and real owners of the land? The whole idea confuses the national consciousness, and disperses it instead of uniting it in confronting the occupation and its projects.”

The Qudwa-Olmert Document

The Times of Israel newspaper revealed in a report on Friday evening (30-8-2024) a proposed document reached by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former member of the Fatah Central Committee Nasser al-Qudwa, which stipulates a comprehensive solution to the conflict, based on rebuilding the Gaza Strip and deploying a temporary Arab security force in conjunction with an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.

According to the newspaper, Olmert and Qudwa agreed to “work together to bring about a rapid end to the war in the Gaza Strip, achieve a ceasefire, release all Israeli detainees in Gaza, the agreed number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the establishment of a Palestinian entity to administer and rebuild the Gaza Strip, in the form of a Board of Commissioners, consisting of professional technocrats and not political representatives. This Board should be organically linked to the Palestinian Authority, and should work with the Cabinet to prepare both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for general elections within 24 to 36 months.”

The document stipulates the necessity of deploying a temporary Arab security force in coordination with the withdrawal of Israeli forces to stabilize the situation, in cooperation with the Palestinian security force that should be established by the Board of Commissioners. The temporary Arab security force will be authorized to prevent attacks against Israel from Gaza.

Olmert and Qudwa expressed their hope that all of this would be acceptable to the concerned Arab parties, and they "agreed on the necessity of holding a donors' conference to rebuild the Gaza Strip with serious participation from wealthy countries."

The two parties agreed to "work together to promote the achievement of peace between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and peace in the Middle East in general through an agreement that provides for the establishment of the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel on the basis of the 1967 borders, living in peace and security on the basis of mutual recognition." They also agreed to "the regional solution presented by Olmert during his term, including the annexation of 4.4% of the total territory of the West Bank to Israel in areas to be agreed upon, taking into account security and practical issues, in exchange for territories of equal size from within the State of Israel. The exchange will include a corridor connecting the Gaza Strip to the West Bank as part of the exchange of the 4.4% that will be annexed to the State of Palestine."

It is noteworthy that Olmert had presented this proposal during his term to President Mahmoud Abbas, who did not respond to him at the time.

According to the newspaper, "Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel, will include all parts of Jerusalem that were in Israel before June 5, 1967, in addition to the Jewish neighborhoods that were built after June 1967 in Jerusalem. The Jewish neighborhoods that were built after June 1967 will be included in 4.4% of the area of Jerusalem."

The Old City of Jerusalem will be under the guardianship of five states (of which Israel and Palestine will be part), and the guardianship will have authority in all areas according to the rules established by the United Nations Security Council. In this regard, the two parties recognize the special historical role of the Jordanian guardianship, and there will be no restrictions on worship or movement in the “Holy Basin” - Al-Aqsa Mosque - and Jews, Muslims and Christians will have free access to their holy places respectively, and no state will have exclusive political sovereignty in the “Holy Basin” - Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Palestinian state will be demilitarized except for the needs of a police force and internal security. Additional important elements of the final agreement are also being negotiated, such as the status of settlements, settlers, refugees, and additional security arrangements, including the possible deployment of an international force along the Jordan River. These issues should be taken up by the official representatives of the parties towards a comprehensive agreement.