Greg Olson shares an Israeli point of view

The UN vote on the Palestinian State has been delayed after it appeared the Palestinians couldn't get enough support. With the US looking to veto and Britain and France looking to abstain, Mahmoud Abbas now needs to decide whether to push for a vote anyway or wait and go to the general assembly.

Having spoken with Nabeel Hamouz, a Palestinian journalist from Bethlehem, about his desires for a Palestinian State, Paul Calvert spent some time with Greg Olson from Focus on Israel. Greg is from a Jewish background and he talked with Paul about his perspective on the vote for a Palestinian State.

Paul: What would a Palestinian State mean to Israel?

Greg: The Oslo Peace Accords started all this process, with the premise of land for peace. I really do believe the motive for both parties is peace, but the outcome of this vote will be difficult. The concern is the question 'is this going to ruin the Oslo Accords and the whole negotiation process'? The Oslo Accords say that in the end we will have a viable two State solution; a State within a State. With this vote going around the Oslo Accords what will that do to the Oslo process that everyone has been hoping for and working with for the last few years?

I'm not sure how the vote will affect it, but what I do know for sure is that Israel wants security and the Palestinians want their own State; that's really important to them.

Greg Olson

Paul: What will be the effect of the Palestinians skipping the peace process?

Greg: You can read some people saying it will have no effect; some people say it will cause rioting in the West Bank and Gaza. I don't know exactly what the end result is going to be, but no matter what happens it is going to be complicated because Hamas in Gaza says we are not going to be a part of this. They don't want anything to do with this and they are supposed to be in a Unity Government right now with Mahmoud Abbas. There is one part of the Unity Government going around and making a direct run to the UN - it will affect the whole process for sure.

Paul: How can they have a Palestinian State if Mahmoud Abbas' party is going for a Palestinian State but Hamas isn't in agreement?

Greg: I don't think it will be successful. I think this is a strategy move by Mahmoud Abbas and his Government, the Palestinian Authority, to try and push the whole process. They are trying to bring it up to the whole world agenda to elevate the whole process, which it's doing; but it is a risky move. The Oslo Peace Accords say that eventually the Palestinian people must recognise the Jewish people's right to live here in the land, but Hamas says they don't recognise that right. They have never accepted the Oslo Accords. They are definitely saying that they can go and do this, but we are not going to have anything to do with it. It will be a problem.

Paul: Why are they going for it now? At the moment in America Barack Obama is saying he doesn't agree with this; of course he has an election coming up and there's the Jewish vote he needs to get on-side, so isn't it a crazy time to go for a Palestinian State now?

Greg: I think this goes back to a year ago when Obama gave a speech in the United Nations. He gave a lot of pre-conditions in the speech, which many people are overlooking, when he said, 'In a years time we will be standing in this assembly and there will be a sovereign Palestinian State', he also said, 'I hope'. If you go back and read the whole speech a lot of the press has taken that headline saying that Obama is supporting it, but if you go back and read the full context he is saying, 'if this happens'.

He does have to worry about the Jewish vote; in America it's very organised. His bigger problem is not the Jewish vote though, but the Evangelical Christian vote and their position of being pro-Israel. That represents millions, if not tens of millions in America, so that's the bigger problem. I think Mahmoud Abbas is trying to hold Obama to what he said about 'a year's time'. He's trying to push this whole thing and also it's a good time from his point of view; you've got all the uprising going on in all these Arab nations and everything has become a little unstable; the world's getting a bit nervous; the EU is having its financial troubles; Turkey is going through all kinds of gyrations. I think Mahmoud Abbas is thinking this is the time to push it forward because of all the coverage he will get for it. I don't think he believes he is actually going to get the State, but he will definitely bring it to the forefront and we will see what the ramifications will be.

Paul: Do you think this is a false hope for the Palestinian people?

Greg: I'm not sure. I thought this morning, does Mahmoud Abbas as he lays there in New York sleeping at night, does he really believe he has the best interests of the Palestinian people at heart? Is he really representing their desires? You know the Palestinians you've done the interviews, they want a State, they've never had a State. The problem is if this is just a political move by him to push the negotiations, will it create a false hope and can there be ramifications?

The Prime Minister and the President of the Palestinian Authority said they do not desire any violent outcome from this. They've made that clear to everybody in the world. They don't want to see rioting in the streets. The concern is if the people feel so let down and Obama has to let them down politically and the EU now say that they do not support the timing of all this, will it create such a huge disappointment and in the West Bank and Gaza will there be rioting?

Paul: Where does it leave Israel if a State is recognised?

Greg: I don't really think Israel would change much in the day to day; you would still go and do your work in the West Bank; you would go through the check point. If there is no rioting I don't think it will change very much, it will be ok they've made a State. Obviously there is going to be a lot of diplomatic activity, but at this point with the US being a part of the permanent council, always having a veto and the EU saying we don't support the timing, I'm not sure they have enough support. There are certain EU nations that are saying we support it now, for example Norway, Turkey and the third world nations and the Muslim and Arab nations, but does it have the backing of the whole world?

One of the ramifications if they do this is the consideration of what will happen to the Israeli/US relationship. That's why Obama has to veto it. Politically he has to veto it. There could be a bad issue because America gives half a billion dollars to the PA directly every year to fund them and there could be a real issue with that.

Paul: Do you think it is right to shout for a Palestinian State?

Greg: I don't know. It depends on your culture. If I am a Palestinian and I say I want a Palestinian State what's wrong with that? If you go to Tel Aviv, the liberal side of Israel is saying we want a Palestinian State; we just want security; we just want peace; that's all we want. There are many Israelis who do want to just give them their State and let us be in peace and let us have a border. There are people on both sides that want a State and there are people on both sides who say we don't want a State. We would call it the radical side who would say they want all the land.

Paul: Now do you think a Palestinian State could be a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Greg: This is one of Israel's main concerns. If you go back to the Oslo Accords the Palestinian State that was to be a State within a State was always to be de-militarised. It was never to be a military State; one that could raise its own army or air force. From the very beginning what Israel agreed to was security. Israel even gave the Palestinian Authority their guns for their security forces to control the situation, because Israel has always known they've had issues with security because of the radical elements within; the people that would want to win through violence. Israel doesn't want a military State, but they do want to have two States. There are a lot of things if you go back and look at the Oslo Accords that makes it look like it could be a workable process, but in the end I don't know if it will be.

Paul: What's your prayer for the Jewish nation and the Palestinian people?

Greg: It's funny because Israelis claim we just want security. You've seen the buses blown up and you've seen terrorism first hand Paul. That's their cry, security, security and then the Palestinian Authority, the young people that you know and work with, their cry is, we want a State, we want a State. I don't know what the outcome will be.

I think from a Biblical point of view, from my point of view being an Evangelical believer, I do believe Israel has been re-established by God in the last days, but I also believe as I have a relationship with non-believing Israelis, religious and secular, I don't think any of them for the most part want to see the Palestinians kicked out of the land.

The refugee problem is a problem; 720,000 Palestinians who were here in 1948 were told by their leadership to vacate because you will be back in two weeks because we are going to end this Zionist entity now; but then after that there was a shock, what do we do because Israel actually won the war of Independence. Then there is the return of 600,000 Israeli or Jewish people from other nations who were brought back, so here we have this refugee thing and the only reason I bring it up as part of my prayer is hopefully everyone will understand this is a complicated process that's been going on for a long time, but we do pray for the Palestinians; we do want them to have peace.

The Israelis want to have peace. The Israelis are just saying it must be with security and we hope the Palestinian people will see that there is a chance with peace, with a liberal or democratic government; there is a real chance for peace. I do believe that.

I don't know what the Lord's going to do in the end, but I'm saying if you talk to Israelis, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The Bible tells us to do that in the Psalms. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. This is a holy city, we know how special this city is, this is why all the conflict is here and I hope your readers will pray for this situation and pray over this land for all people in this land.