Yafa Jarrar is a graduate student in political science and member of Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA).
The views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of SAIA.

Any mediator will tell you: negotiations must be conducted in good faith. After 18 years of negotiations with Israel, Palestinians have witnessed a tripling of Israeli settlers illegally occupying their lands, [according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics,] and an ever-accumulating network of apartheid laws, walls and Israeli-only bypass roads.

Negotiations are meant to bring about solutions for parties involved, not used as a diversion for onlookers as the occupier creates facts on the ground at the expense of the occupied.

Through its “September initiative,” the Palestinian leadership is seeking a solution through a declaration of statehood by the United Nations (UN).

Palestinians do not have a monolithic stance on their leadership’s decision to seek state recognition at the UN. Uncertainty exists due to a genuine fear of the outcomes. Will Israel dismantle the illegal settlements and end the siege on the one and a half million living in Gaza?

Will Israel dismantle its hundreds of checkpoints and apartheid wall, which split our communities in two? Will Palestinian refugees be granted the right to return to their homes from which they were ethnically cleansed in 1948?

Israel and supporters of her apartheid policies wish us to believe that they oppose the recognition of a Palestinian state because it is a unilateral measure, and as such, Palestinians are “rejecting peaceful negotiations and dialogue.”

Yet considering the aggressive and unilateral actions Israel has taken over the entire course of the “peace process,” those who make such statements are either woefully ignorant or dangerously deceptive. In contrast to building new illegal settlements or a giant wall that illegally cuts through Palestinian communities, mobilizing the world to recognize a state in the world’s most multilateral institution is not a rejection of dialogue, but an assertion of fundamental rights.

Why is Israel afraid of a Palestinian state? Israel’s greatest fear is her loss of impunity. As a UN member state, Palestine will have standing to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. While legal channels are limited given that Israel is not a signatory to many international human rights agreements and does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, Palestine could take Israeli war criminals to the International Criminal Court.

Palestinians long for a recognized, free state. However, statehood must occur in parallel with the greater fundamental right to self-determination and life with dignity. As it is a right, we need not wait for Israel’s blessing. Regrettably, the means in which we are seeking our membership at the UN implies otherwise.

Indeed, a state does not assure our full menu of rights. Lebanon is a state and Israel occupied its south from 1982-2000. Similarly, Israel has occupied Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967. Palestine could be a state tomorrow and it would not guarantee the rights of refugees or assure that occupation and apartheid would end.

At best, Israel will admit that it occupies a recognized state of the UN. But, just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has eluded and as President Clinton has said: “When this is over the underlying reality won't change.”

This is why Palestine must mobilize the world beyond the diplomatic arena — just as South Africa did before it — to boycott, divest and sanction Israel until it fully complies with international law and respects Palestinian human rights.

Rights are non-negotiable, and that is why they are aptly referred to as inalienable. One needs to look no further than the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to know the rights Palestinians yearn for. As rights are universal, Palestinians similarly desire these rights for Israelis.

Not more, not less – just equal.