Hashem Hamdy is a fifth-year political science student and the city-wide president of the Israel Awareness Committee (IAC). The views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the IAC.
The vote before the United Nations regarding Palestinian statehood will do nothing to further the cause of peace in the Middle East or, realistically, the cause of the Palestinian people.
This might seem like an odd statement, as this seems so clean-cut: the international community will give statehood to the Palestinians who have been stateless for over 60 years. Let’s face present reality — 126 United Nations member states already recognize Palestine as a legitimate state.
The Palestinians last unilaterally declared independence in 1988, under the leadership of Yasser Arafat. Like in 1988, this vote, in reality, accomplished absolutely nothing. This is because many of the unresolved issues, namely the future borders and structure of government of a new Palestinian state, were pushed to the side without any real resolution.
The term “pre-67 borders” is often used in discourse on Israel and Palestine, whereas it really is a misnomer. It’s a ceasefire line between belligerents that ceased to exist nearly 45 years ago.
It doesn’t represent the future border of a Palestinian state because of what is considered “Palestinian” versus “Israeli” on the ground. Is it unfortunate that half a million Israelis now live in the West Bank? Absolutely. But a Gaza-style unilateral disengagement is not only politically impossible for Israel, but also physically impossible.
Any future border drawn through the West Bank should be reflective of demographic realities at the time.
Something that has been taken for granted in the run-up to the vote is the so-called “unity” government of Fatah and Hamas. Who is the prime minister of Palestine? If the internationally accepted elections are considered valid, it is Ismael Haniyeh, leader of Hamas, a widely recognized terrorist organization.
As much as Israel and its allies want to play ball with Mahmoud Abbas, he is not the democratically elected leader of the Palestinian people. Hamas must renounce violence and the Palestinians must hold elections, which are now overdue, before a politically legitimate government can claim it is ready for statehood.
Most importantly, the unilateral declaration of independence does nothing to further peace. A Palestine with statehood one day will be as unstable, as political tenuous and as populated with Israelis as a stateless one was on the day before. Lasting peace in the Middle East will be brought about by recognition of and negotiations with Israel, who as recently as 2008 effectively offered the entirety of the West Bank to the Palestinians. But, just as they had done five times before, the Palestinians rejected peace with Israel.
Peace is not easy to achieve in a land that has only known war for millennia.
Palestine’s “independence” won’t change this history. What will change it is the Palestinians returning to the table with Israel, their partner for peace.