[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: For twenty years Yossi Beilin has been driven by
his secular messianic vision that if Israel would retreat to the '67 lines
that it would miraculously herald utopian peace. The efficacy of the piles
of documents that he prepared over the course of the years was never really
an issue since they functioned as devices for the unwashed masses and more
importantly - shallow politicians - to cite to justify their support for his
march to Paradise on earth.

It may be hard for an outsider to believe this, but as Beilin himself noted,
the Israeli leader that he manipulated to support Oslo, Rabin and Peres,
never actually thought through where this process was taking them.

Consider this:

Yossi Beilin - Interview by Ari Shavit "Yossi removes his glasses" Haaretz
Magazine, March 7, 1997
[Translation by IMRA]
...
Shavit: When you entered the Oslo process, Rabin Peres and you, was it clear
to you that this was going to a Palestinian state?

Beilin: No. It is very interesting to note that the talks of the soul
regarding "where will this process lead" took place only between the sides,
not within them.within the Labor party and within the government and within
the negotiating team I don't recall any real and serious discussion of the
final solution.

Shavit: I don't understand. In 1992 you were elected to the government. In
1993 you created the Oslo process. At no stage did you ask yourselves where
this all was leading to?

Beilin: No.

Shavit: You never spoke with Rabin about the significance of Oslo in the
long run?

Beilin: Never.

Shavit: And with Peres?

Beilin: I also never spoke with Peres about it.

---

Beilin knew that he was selling snake oil. He allowed reporters to claim
that the "Beilin-Abu Mazen Agreement" proved a deal could be made. This
when those who went to the trouble to ask him point blank (including yours
truly) about this got the honest answer that it left many of the hardest
issues open by passing them off to committees to resolve.

So now what's going on?

Why the call to Abu Mazen?

In a way this is encouraging.

If this is the only trick left up his sleeve then this may indicate that the
fantasy known as Oslo is truly running out of steam.]
==============

Dear Abu Mazen: End This Farce

An open letter to the Palestinian leader.

BY YOSSI BEILIN - Foreign Policy Magazine |APRIL 4, 2012
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/04/dear_abu_mazen_end_this_farce?page=full

To:
Mahmoud Abbas
President, Palestinian Authority
Muqata, Ramallah

I admit that I never believed the moment would come when I would have to
write these words. I am doing so because U.S. President Barack Obama has
convinced you not to announce, at this point in time, the dismantling of the
Palestinian Authority's institutions and the "return of the keys" of
authority for the Palestinian territories to Israel. Because there have
never been serious negotiations with the government of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu over the last three years, and because you did not want
to perpetuate the myth that a meaningful dialogue existed, you have been
sorely tempted to declare the death of the "peace process" -- but the
American president urged you to maintain the status quo. It is a mistake to
agree to Obama's request, and you can rectify this.

The Oslo Accords were a tremendous victory for the peace camps on both
sides. And this agreement did not fail. It was thwarted. The assassination
of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Palestinian terrorism, and the political
victories of the opponents of the agreement -- both on the Palestinian side
and on the Israeli side -- have turned the agreement into a device that has
allowed the parties to block a two-state solution.

Oslo's opponents, on both sides, were initially startled by a process that
promised to lead to a partition of the land in a few years. They later
turned Oslo into a tool to prevent partition by prolonging the interim
agreement, claiming that, as long as it is not replaced by a permanent
agreement, it must continue and be binding to both sides. Oslo's adversaries
have turned the interim agreement, which was supposed to last not more than
six years and serve only as a pathway to a final solution, into an arena
where they can continue to build settlements or spin their dreams of an
Islamic empire, without the world putting serious pressure on them to put an
end to the conflict.

The extremists' gutting of the Oslo agreement has been complete. They have
uprooted the permanent-status negotiations -- where the two sides pledged to
tackle core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian
refugees, and the future of Israeli settlements -- from the peace process.
They have succeeded in preventing the creation of a Palestinian state based
on the 1967 lines with land swaps, the establishment of two capitals in the
current area of Jerusalem, the formulation of appropriate security
arrangements, and a fitting symbolic and economic resolution to the problem
of the Palestinian refugees -- as was proposed in the Geneva Accord, in
which you were involved in all of the details. Their aim is to perpetuate
the interim process indefinitely, and every single day that passes plays
into their hands.

One simply cannot continue with an interim arrangement for almost 20 years.
This was not the intention when we spearheaded the Oslo process in late
1992 -- you from Tunis and I from Jerusalem -- or when we assiduously worked
on what subsequently became known as the "Beilin-Abu Mazen Agreement"
between 1993 and 1995.

You and I both understand that the current situation is a ticking time bomb.
From my point of view, what is at stake is the loss of Israel as a Jewish
and democratic state. From yours, it is the loss of the chance for an
independent Palestinian state. And from both of our points of view, the
failure of the two-state solution risks a renewal of terrible violence.

Anyone who believes these things must take action. You can do it, and for
this step you do not need a partner. A declaration of the end of the Oslo
process -- justified by the fact that the path to a permanent-status
agreement is blocked -- is the most reasonable, nonviolent option for
putting the subject back on the world's agenda, with the aim of renewing
genuine efforts to reach a conclusive solution.

Dissolving the Palestinian Authority and returning daily control to Israel
would be an action nobody could ignore. It is not at all similar to a
demonstration in front of the Municipality of Ramallah, nor is it similar to
appealing to the United Nations for member-state status. This is a step that
only you can take, and a step that will demand a response.

I know how difficult it is. I know how many tens of thousands of people
depend on the Palestinian Authority for their livelihoods. I am able to
appreciate all that you and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad have accomplished --
establishing Palestinian institutions, growing an economy in impossible
conditions, and fostering security in the West Bank.

After all these endeavors, however, you still need to beg the government of
Israel to release your money from customs, you still need to beg the
Republicans in the U.S. Congress to transfer funds to the Palestinian
Authority, and you still need to stand, day after day, before your
Palestinian critics and explain why your political efforts are failing.
Please don't let this be the way you end your political mission -- a mission
that seeks to achieve Palestinian independence without the use of violence.

Do not hesitate for a moment! Do not accept the request of President Obama,
who merely wants to be left undisturbed before election day. Do not let
Prime Minister Netanyahu hide behind the fig leaf of the Palestinian
Authority -- impose upon him, once again, the responsibility for the fate of
4 million Palestinians. Remain as the head of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, which will give you the authority to lead the political
negotiations if and when they resume.

But for the sake of your own people, and for the sake of peace, you cannot
let this farce continue.

It is possible, of course, that Oslo's demise will not be followed by the
birth of more substantive peace talks. But if that occurs, then at least it
will not be you -- the man who stood beside the cradle of the Oslo
process -- who is responsible for failing to prevent the complete and utter
distortion of that process by its Palestinian and Israeli opponents.