Annapolis

So rejectionists like Benyamin Netanyahu and his right wing cheerleading bloggers have decided that the new conference is just another forum where Israel will offer one-sided concessions only to have them rejected by the warmongering Palestinians; that Israel offered the Palestinians 97% in Oslo and they rejected it, so why bother negotiating with them now? This is all just a narrative. There is no substance nor does it have any historical basis. I’m not going to sit here and simply say that the Palestinians got shafted by Israel and the US during the peace process, but I’m actually going to document how they were screwed:

“With Oslo II, the Gaza arrangement was extended to the West Bank in the form of Areas A, B, and C. Area A, which initially consisted of 7 major Palestinian towns, is under the total civilian and security control of the PA. Area B comprises the remaining Palestinian population centers (excluding some refugee camps) where civilian control resides with the PA and security control with Israel, which effectively places Area B under Israeli jurisdiction. Area C, which incorporates all Israeli settlements, “state lands,” and Israeli military bases, remains under the total control of Israel. By mid-2000, Area A comprised 17.2 percent and Area B 23.8 percent. In practical terms, therefore, by the time of the Camp David summit, Israel actually controlled almost 83 percent of the West Bank according to the terms of the Oslo agreement. Critically, all Palestinians in the West Bank presently live within six kilometers of Area C lands.

“Thus, while the absolute area under full or partial Palestinian control had increased, these areas were non-contiguous and remained isolated cantons separated by areas under the complete jurisdiction of Israel. Under this scenario, even if the Palestinians had been given authority over 90 to 95 percent of the West Bank – as allegedly proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak [and ignorant right-wing extremists] at Camp David II – they would have had five enclaves isolated from each other by several Israeli settlement blocs, along with highways, industrial infrastructure and army checkpoints. Additionally, many settlements are in the midst of these Palestinian enclaves themselves. Under Barak’s offer, therefore, the Palestinian state would consist of the northern, central, and southern West Bank enclaves, some isolated areas of East Jerusalem under autonomous or sovereign control by Palestinians, and at least two-thirds of the Gaza Strip.” (From Sara Roy’s Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, p. 239)
[In other words, Israel’s peace offer was nothing short of formalizing the occupation. Moreover, the offer was made while the illegal settler population had increased from 200,000 to 400,000 during Oslo. So you have to ask yourself, when extremists say that Israel offered 95% to the Palestinians and they rejected it, are they either ignorant or are they lying? The first is bad, but the latter is disgusting.]