US Secretary of State John Kerry is rushing to restore relations between Turkey and Israel to what they were before the Mavi Marmara raid — an incident that resulted in the deaths of nine activists. It is as if Kerry assumes that a telephone call by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is sufficient impetus to restore relations to their previous level. It should be realized that Turkey’s acceptance of the apology does not at all change its firm commitment to Palestinian self-determination, recognition of a Palestinian state and the removal of the Gaza blockade. Furthermore, Erdogan’s plans to visit Gaza signals that Turkey is committed to Palestinian national and human rights and to the reality of Gaza being an integral part of the Palestinian state.

This means that while the apology might have been accepted, the means by which these relations must be restored are not confined to a simple apology. The policies of Israel toward the Palestinians remain unacceptable — not only to the Arabs, but also to Turkey and many in the international community, as the UN General Assembly resolution on Nov. 29 indicated by showing firm support for Palestinian statehood. I repeat that the only serious action that might initiate fruitful negotiations — not discussions — is for the United States to ensure that Israel acknowledges firmly and unequivocally that it is an occupying power under the terms of the fourth Geneva Convention.

In Kerry’s anxious efforts to restore “normal” relations between Israel and Turkey, he has neglected to acknowledge the right of the Palestinian people to have an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return for Palestinian refugees. For nearly twenty years, the absence of a credible outcome should be a cause for concern for Kerry and prompt him to re-examine the reasons for the futility of the so-called “negotiations” that have so far had no tangible outcome except deepening the divide through proliferation of settlements and the creeping annexation of east Jerusalem. Once again, as I mentioned in a previous post, an in-depth analysis of the legal question concerning Israel’s conquest — not occupation — has to be the prelude of any resumption of serious and consequential negotiations.

Clovis Maksoud is a former ambassador and permanent observer of the League of Arab States at the United Nations and its chief representative in the United States for more than 10 years.