WILPF - on talks in Annapolis on peace in the Middle East

An Open Letter from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom to the negotiating parties, the Middle East Quartet and the host government concerning the talks in Annapolis on peace in the Middle East


Finally a date is set for the US-sponsored talks on peace in the Middle East, 27 November 2007. The venue will apparently be a naval base in Annapolis, Maryland, but what is the real agenda?
The roadmap to peace between Palestine and Israel is known; it was defined decades ago through UN brokered principles and resolutions. Another paper roadmap is not needed; what is needed is the road.
The road leads to an independent State of Palestine within the borders delineated by the armistice agreements prior to the 1967 war. The road leads to an end to the Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands. The road is one that refugees can walk on to exercise their right of return.
Instead of a concrete road to peace, there is an illegal concrete wall. Instead of a real pathway to peace, there is a daily grinding occupation, the demolition of homes, ever expanding settlements, and more than 650 checkpoints where Palestinians are brutalized and die. Women have suffered in terrible and specific ways. Instead of confidence building measures, there are extrajudicial assassinations, aerial bombardment, massive military aid to one party, while for the other party aid is frozen and tax funds withheld.
As long as the US government supports, excuses and mandates Israel to erect a wall, and to occupy and "change facts on the ground", Condoleezza Rice will be incapable of hosting a dialogue among equals or brokering real solutions to the questions of Jerusalem, refugees and right of return, borders, settlements, water and security.
Predictions of failure do not help to create a climate of hope, a necessary precondition for successful talks and action. However, if the Bush Administration raises hopes but is still not prepared to raise the pressure on Israel to end the occupation, it risks a dangerous setback for the people of Palestine and Israel, for the region and our world that is increasingly affected by actions taken to protest the injustices suffered by Palestinians.


The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom calls for:


Participation of both Fatah and Hamas in the Annapolis talks, cooperating with Mahmoud Abbas, the Head of the PLO and the elected president of Palestine;

Full Israeli withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied since 4 June 1967 including withdrawal from the Golan Heights and the Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon, in implementation of Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, reaffirmed by the Madrid Conference of 1991, and all other relevant UN resolutions;

The promised freeze on settlement construction to be immediately followed by dismantlement of all Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the environs of Jerusalem;

Israel's acceptance of an independent sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital;

A just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem in accordance with U.N. General Assembly resolution 194 adopted on 11 December 1949, which guarantees the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes, and for compensation to be paid for the property of those which, under the principles of international law should be compensated by Israel, the responsible government;

Lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip and open passage to enable all Palestinian citizens to move in and out, and between Gaza and the West Bank to enable access to commerce, work, medical treatment, and education;

Freedom of movement for the Palestinian people, by removing all the checkpoints and closures within the West Bank, and Jerusalem respecting the geographical and political integrity of Palestine;

The announced release of some 400 political prisoners prior to the conference to be immediately followed by the unconditional release of all Palestinian political prisoners of conscience, in particular child prisoners;

Removal of the Wall erected illegally on Palestinian land and all such further construction, which the ICJ Advisory Opinion states Israel is obliged to do and should make reparation for all damage caused by it;

Equitable sharing of the water sources among all countries in the region;

Negotiation of a zone free of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction in the region;

Discontinuation of the supply of weaponry to any state in the region, instead, human and economic resources should be used for construction of a just and viable peace and through the reconstruction of war-devastated areas;

Full participation of women in conflict prevention, resolution, negotiation and democracy building and a gender perspective in protection, repatriation and post-conflict reconstruction.