News, articles and documents from
the Holy Land
Issue No. 134 - Tuesday, 5 March 2002
Dear
Friends, Brothers and Sisters,
You know very well that we are passing through a continuous
escalation of violence and events every day, hour and minute. I don’t want to
repeat to you all the stories that you hear in the news because it is
impossible to write it all, you might need thousand of pages... Everything is
written with blood, destruction, bombardment, hatred and an endless cycle of
violence. In one word: madness. I will only cry to both sides, in front of the
silent world: Enough is enough.. Please stop it soon… Save the blood of your
children, because we know in advance the end of this bloody story: Justice will
prevail, Peace will triumph and Reconciliation should be done. The Palestinian
people will win this battle even if we have to pay a heavy price, because never
an occupation, even with it’s military might, never won such battle, since
injustice will never the last word according the lesson of history.
You might ask an opinion about the subject of the
mosque of Nazareth after the decision of the ministerial committee and the approbation
of the government (you will find the news and the official statement of the Vatican).
I would like just to say that I hope that our brothers the Moslems of Nazareth
will accept this decision because it gives them many other possibilities to
built a bigger and more beautiful mosque in on of seven localities in the city
suggested by the committee, which means that we are not against building
mosques, at the contrary, we are ready to help in building a mosque if it helps
to strengthen the brotherhood of Christians and Moslems in Nazareth as it was
always before.
I would like also to inform you that next Monday, March 11th 2002, the
Christian Congress in Jordan will be held in Amman under the patronage of King
Abdallah II. Around 500 personalities from Jordan, Palestine and Galilee will
gather in order to discuss the Christian identity and presence in the Arab
world and study the phenomena of the immigration and try to find solution to
keep Christians in the their homeland. Religious leaders, both Moslems and
Christians, lay people also will be there and will take part in this congress. Our
Patriarch, will be one of the main speakers at the opening secession. We will
send you more details about this unique event, hoping that the second congress
will be held in Jerusalem next year.
You will
find in today’s Olive Branch several documents and articles:
1) The news about the mosque of Nazareth and the reaction of
the Vatican.
2) Jerusalem Journal # 49 of Sister Mary tells us her
experience at the checkpoint.
3)
Happened Yesterday: Students of Rosary Sisters School aged
4-7 started their trip to school at 6:00 am and arrived at 1:00 pm.
4)
Appeal from the YWCA of Palestine.
5) Still Wishing in the Holy Land, by Dr. Maria C. Khoury.
6) We can never lose, By Samah Jabr.
7) God Meets Caesar in the Holy Land!, by Dr Harry Hagopian.
I am sure that you will have an interesting time reading some of these materials, and I tell you that we still need your help and efforts to put an end to this tragic situation and bloody occupation.
Best wishes from Jerusalem the City of Eternal Hope. Fr.
Raed Abusahlia
Mosque Construction Halted
Israel announced a permanent halt Sunday on construction of a large mosque next
to the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, drawing strong condemnation
from Muslims in the biblical town. The Islamic Movement in Nazareth, the
group that wants to build the mosque, accused Christian leaders abroad of
meddling in a local affair and said it would not abandon its plans. ``We
totally reject this decision, we are going to stay in our holy land until we
finish building the mosque,'' said Salman Abu Ahmed, the group's leader. The
issue has raised tensions in Israel's largest Arab city since 1998, when Muslims
received government permission to build a mosque on a lot adjacent to the
basilica where they say a sheikh was buried. Christian leaders have said
that building a mosque so close to the Basilica - the largest in the Middle
East and the site where tradition says the Angel Gabriel foretold Jesus' birth
- would be disrespectful. Pope John Paul II threatened to cancel a visit
in 2000 over the issue, and President Bush raised the subject with Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during a meeting last year. The foundation of
the mosque has been set, but the building permits have never been issued.
Israel has proposed alternate sites, which Muslims in Nazareth have rejected.
``Whatever decision we make, there will be somebody (who is) unhappy,'' Sharansky
said. ``But it was very important to us to make a real decision which
takes into account the real needs of the local population and the feelings and
sensitivities of the faithful people all over the world.''
Nazareth-Mosque Decision Pleases Vatican
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 4, 2002 (Zenit.org).- The
Vatican expressed its satisfaction today with the Israeli government's decision
to halt the construction of the controversial Nazareth mosque.
Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls published a press statement explaining
that with this measure, the executive re-establishes "the legality,
respect for Holy Places, and consideration of the respective communities of
believers."
He said the Vatican hopes that "the traditional harmonious coexistence
between Muslims and Christians in Nazareth, endangered by a provocative
initiative, will be restored with the contribution of the authorities and the
whole population."
It "is easy to understand that this is not a decision against the Muslims,
the majority of whose religious and political authorities -- in the region and
the world -- expressed their opposition to the project, which wounded the
sensibility of the Christian world and pilgrims," Navarro-Valls said.
Yasser Arafat himself publicly opposed the plan.
On Sunday, the Israeli government accepted the conclusions of an
interministerial commission, which voted 5-1 to halt the construction work
completely and proposed seven alternative sites for the mosque.
Jerusalem
Journal # 49
Sister Mary
2/3/2002
Last Friday I
thought I would take a friend to the Israeli military checkpoint in Bethlehem,
but kept hearing a remark that was made to me earlier in the week,
"International observers are needed in the north." On the spur
of the moment I asked my friend if she would like to go north to Kalandia
where during the week there had been a massive military build-up and the
Israeli Occupation Forces had invaded two refugee camps. She was
agreeable to go north of Jerusalem.
We took the shared van and when we arrived at the Kalandia, the Palestinian van driver told us to be careful. The checkpoint was closed to all traffic. Soon a Belgian journalist and photographer arrived, and they had been told by their taxi driver about a footpath a kilometer east of the checkpoint that would lead to the Kalandia refugee camp. We agreed to try to walk along with many of the local people, climbing over steep mounds of dirt and then through a dump site. Once at Kalandia we decided to share a ride with the Belgians on into Al-Birah and then my friend and I decided to go farther north to Ramallah.
In Ramallah we just happened to meet up with a group of Internationals who were
there in solidarity with the Palestinians. An "End the
Occupation" march was planned and we joined the Internationals in a
peaceful walk through the city past President Arafat's compound. On one
side of me was Gochi, a Jewish man from Switzerland who comes to the West Bank
as often as he can. He humbly told me that he represents his synagogue in
their solidarity with the Palestinians and their protest against the Israeli
Occupation. On the other side of me was Yvonne, representing the Trade
Unions of the EU. Yvonne brings teachers over here to visit the West Bank
and Gazan schools, manufacturers to visit the small factories in Palestine so
they can understand what is happening to industry here due to the
occupation. She brings merchants here so they can see what has happened
to the commerce in the West Bank and Gaza. Yvonne does a good job of
net-working people and I was also deeply touched by Gochi's sincere concern for
the plight of the Palestinians.
When we arrived at the city limits of Ramallah we saw Isreali Occupation Force
jeeps and most of the Internationals stopped. Some people, mostly
Palestinian youths kept slowly walking forward. About five tear gas
cannisters were sent into their midst. Then while they were still
overcome by the tear gas, the soldiers opened fire into the crowd. People
scattered and some fell. All the ambulances, which had accompanied us as
they do at all demonstrations, now were loading the injured and turning back
with the wounded. Suddenly, four young men were running and carrying
someone who was wounded past me to an ambulance which had remained at the
back of the marchers.
Later as I reflected on the events of the afternoon, I realized there must have
been intense fear or something else in the minds or emotions of the Israeli
Occupation Force to make them shoot into the crowd. When I returned to
Jerusalem I saw that Friday's Israeli newspaper, "Ha'Aretz" had
a large front page notice which read: "GET OUT OF THE TERRITORIES --
Get back to ourselves -- STOP THE KILLING! The imperative of the
hour is to get out of the territories and return to negotiations."
This notice referred to an Israeli demonstration that was planned for
Jerusalem at the end of Shabat. Both Israelis and Internationals who
are here, are trying to get a message through...if only the "powers that
be" would listen.
Happened Yesterday:
Students of Rosary Sisters School aged 4-7 started their trip
to school at 6:00 am and arrived at 1:00 pm
Jerusalem - By
Al-Quds special correspondent - In accordance with the routine in place since
several months, students of the Rosary Sisters School who reside in Ramallah
gathered at 6:00 am to be
transported by the school bus to Beit Hanina. Usually the students
arrive at the school yards around 7:30 am, but yesterday they could not arrive
until 1:00 pm after making a long and rough trip and delays at checkpoints and
under the threat of weapons and tear gas, and the result was losing a
school day since little time was left for study.
School Principal Sister Ortance Nakhleh who usually accompanies the students
says that the [Israeli] soldiers stopped the bus at the Qalandia
checkpoint for four hours and did not allow it to leave except after
exhausting negotiations with the officer in charge, despite her possession
of a permit which allows the students to cross checkpoints.
She said the soldiers were not reluctant to direct weapons toward her face and
threaten to shoot, and forbade her to come close to the checkpoint, all in
front of the students who are 4-7 years of age.
She added that after crossing Qalandia checkpoint they were stopped
at two other checkpoints (Al-Dahiya and Neve Ya'kov) for two hours.
The same thing occurred during the trip back home; vehicles were delayed at
checkpoints which forced the school administration to contact the
students' parents and relatives to accompany their children. The last
student left the school at 5:00 pm.
Appeal from the YWCA
of Palestine
Dear friends and partners
In this
difficult time of great suffering we want to share our thoughts and feelings
with you. Left with hopelessness we feel that telling the stories about our
daily life is one of the most important things we can do. Since last week there
has been a dramatic escalation of violence in the West Bank and Gaza: extensive
closures, senseless killings and severe torments of the civil
population. We are living in constant fear with the uncertainty of what is
going to happen tomorrow or even tonight.
Of course
everybody is affected by this situation and in the YWCA we struggle to keep our
programs running.
Jericho is under
closure again. This is a severe blow to the YWCA food production project, which
was really flourishing. But now, how will we get the products out of Jericho?
For how long can we keep the staff?
Ramallah is also
under closure. This affects the work in Jerusalem as our staff members living
there find it almost impossible to pass the checkpoints. They are at risk
because of the uncontrolled shooting by soldiers. In Qalandiyah the soldiers shot at the car of our general
secretary. Another member of our staff was refused to enter her hometown
yesterday, and had to stay overnight at the YWCA in Jerusalem. Some of our
students are not able to reach the school in Jerusalem.
Last week it happened
three times that the soldiers didn’t allow pregnant women in labor to pass the
checkpoints. One baby died, one father-to-be was shot and killed and two of the
women were seriously injured.
Right now, Thursday
afternoon, we learned that there has been an incursion in Balata Refugee Camp
(northern West Bank), 10 people killed so far and 100 injured.
These are just a few
of all the stories from the last days, but this should be enough! We ask
ourselves for how long can this go on? How many more lives will it take?
We are at great
risk and constantly feel endangered by this brutal military occupation.
Therefore we,
the YWCA of Palestine, appeal to friends and partners to support us in this
difficult situation by:
-approaching
your politicians and key decision-makers to take an active role against the
illegal occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East-Jerusalem, and to condemn
Israel’s excessive use of force.
-raising
awareness and engaging your constituencies to work for a just peace between
Israel and Palestine
-contacting your
local media in order to counteract stereotypes and false images of Palestinians
Jerusalem, 28th
of February,
YWCA
of Palestine
P.O.
Box 20044 JERUSALEM Tel
+972 2 628 2593
E-mail: ywca@ywca-palestine.org Fax
+972 2 6284654
Still
Wishing in the Holy Land
By Dr. Maria C. Khoury
As we watch new tragedies unfold at the checkpoints as more soldiers shoot at innocent people that try to get to the hospital, work or school, we are still keeping the faith that one day we might see peace in the land of Christ’s birth. I always thought priests and nuns had special privileges at the checkpoints and could easily pass these miserable spots thus I was completely shocked to see the Rosary Sisters School Bus from Beit Hanina parked for the evening on the grounds of the Latin Patriarchate Church in Ramallah. Usually the Director of the Rosary School, Sister Ortans escorts the students to return home to Ramallah daily after their school day in Beit Hanina. On Tuesday afternoon the school bus which is registered inside Israel and has a special permit to travel and a huge sign in front of it stating “Rosary Sisters School Bus” could not return back to school after dropping the girls in Ramallah. Fr. Ibrahim Hijazin was hospitable to the bus drivers and Sister Ortans while they spent the night in the Ramallah convent. The next day they spent over six hours at checkpoints getting to school.
One of the
worst experiences for children these days is when a checkpoint exists between
their house and school because they must deal with the same humiliation every
day. Some children are not so lucky to drive through the checkpoint and must
walk a great distance down mountainsides and dirty roads to get to school. What
is the purpose behind these checkpoints other than total harassment,
humiliation, aggravation, and long delays that influence a generation to hate
the other side. No matter what discrimination Palestinian students’ experience
their wishes reflect their hopes and desire for freedom and peace:
My wish is to
see the Palestinian people free, safe and independent. I want all the Israelis
to get out of my country and give the refugees their right of return to their
homeland. Israel seized this land by force. We are staying on our land
Palestine to learn and struggle against the occupation until we get our freedom
and independence. Everyday they kill children, men, and women, arrest people
and put them in prison. But we are very determined to liberate our country… (Bnan
Khalaf, 7th grade Aboud).
Since l948, the
Palestinians have been living under occupation…the Palestinian children don’t
live the same life as other children in other free countries. The Israeli army
doesn’t allow them to continue their life in peace. Their guns, tanks and
helicopters are distributing death everywhere in the West Bank and
Gaza…Finally, I want to say that my wish is to stop acting in this way, and to
stop the discrimination.
(Mohammand Silawi, 6th grade, Nablus)
I’m like all
the Palestinian children who wish to see my country free. Every child in the
world has lots of wishes…I wish to have a free country to see it well, lot of
people will come and visit my country…(Jeries Kort, 7th grade,
Tabyeh).
I hope to free
Palestine and Jerusalem the capital of Palestine with her leader and president
Yaser Arafat. (Sundos Shakeeb
Abu-zant, 6th grade Nablus)
My wish is
about Palestine to liberate Palestine and to stop the violence...stop the
shooting…stop the martyrs… (Muna Sameer, 6th grade, Ein Arik)
…my country is
the most beautiful place all over the world and it has very generous and kind
people and I think we have the right to get our freedom and we must fight for
it. (Majd Ammar, 7th grade Taybeh)
It must be
remembered that we are brave and our determination will be forever. We will never give up or yield … let’s
go and fight to be free, to be great, to be honorable nation that history will
bear our name everywhere. (Saleh
Ghannam, 7th grade, Nablus)
The People of
the Holy Land have become victims of the absence of peace. If I had a wish, my
wish would be to live in peace forever. (Maha Jarrar, 7th grade,
Zababdeh).
I don’t feel
that I’m safe. I always feel that I live in fear and I’m disappointed because
there’s no stability...so I wish peace would be coming one day. (Mary Sayez, 6th
grade, Birzeit)
I wish our life
could be better as well as I hope to live peace fully and freely. (Wala Bassim,
6th grade, Zababdeh).
If
I had a wish my wish would be the liberation of Palestine…I ask God to give us
peace to live peacefully in this life and each one enjoys his life without
occupation (Manawel Salameh, 6th grade, Jifna)
We
can never lose
By Samah Jabr*
March/2002. The Palestine
Times/ London
“For generations, her people lived a life of unparalleled freedom on endless lands. But that was all to change. Deprived of their freedom, deprived of their lands, their future now was filled with uncertainty. Such a future demanded prayers. Hung where the winds could blow them at will, her prayer flags became a silent offering to the Great Spirit. The soaring eagle reminded her of the Great Spirit’s continual presence on Earth, and she knew that he would always be there to help them preserve.”
That is the caption to a beautiful painting of a Native American woman—my personal memento from America.
My first encounter with the history of the Native Americans was through a text written by a Scandinavian historian, who later became a “new American man.” In his text, the writer explains that the natives could not speak the language of the civilized man, that they worshipped fire and dirt, and when their villages were entered by the “pilgrims,” they would run away, leaving their children behind while their camps and villages burned so that the pilgrims would not benefit from them. The writer added that “even animals don’t run away and leave their kids behind.” Seven years later when I went to Iowa State University and traversed the nice pathways of its campus, I was amazed at the gorgeous architecture of its buildings and gardens. The thing I loved the most was a fountain in front of the Memorial Union building that was surrounded by several statues of Native American women nursing their babies. These statues raised significant doubts about that writer’s implication that the natives cared even less for
I never encountered a Native American and I’m not an expert on their history. Except for their famous alcoholic problem, which I read about in my medical books, and their famous casino businesses that are prevalent in American movies, I knew very little about that “semi-eradicated” nation. I was surprised when my friend pointed at a woman entering the spaghetti restaurant we were in and said—because she knew I was interested—“She is a native; she works on campus.” I did not gain much from the experience as I passed by the woman quite quickly, but throughout my stay in America, I was very observant of their artwork, their paintings and statues that maintained their culture and their human face. What I saw of the natives’ artwork struck me as physical evidence of their survival. I perceived it as a silent victory, and it gave me hope.
Dehumanizing one’s enemy is nothing new to our world; it seems to be a universal human fault. It is a self-engineered ploy and an immature defense mechanism that helps people to feel less guilty about the crimes they commit against others. It is also an ominous sign, predictive of one nation’s desire to eradicate another.
For many Palestinians, life is a pendulum, swinging between hope and despair: the hope in God’s justice and human goodness, and the despair of the reality of our terrible moment in history. Our land has been occupied, our lives are within the grasp of Israeli snipers, and our future is constantly being crushed by an iron fist. Our complaints to the world fall on deaf ears, and when we react to our unbearable living circumstances, we’re rejected, condemned and dehumanized as “violent terrorists.”
Why should we expect life to meet our expectations and voluntarily give us what we want? Is there any Palestinian who does not really know that if a wolf kills a bluebird, then that is just life? And whether we like it or not, in our earthy life, might makes right?
In the Palestinian psyche, defeat and loss have left many intractable scars and complexes. In reaction to our history and to our present, some of us have evolved into unbeatable, hardworking people. Others have realized that rights are exacted, not begged for. Few doubt that the bluebird will ever sue the wolf or that life will ever pay the price for its crimes; those think to themselves, “It is better to play the dirty game of the wolf than to be subjected to it.”
It is natural to develop our own defense mechanisms in the face of the risk of any pending loss. My parents have devoted their lives to making sure that all under their care were highly educated, independent and able to stand on their own at anytime. Our neighbours have established a family business to secure the life of their family for the next five generations. These are two average examples of highly achieving Palestinians who have done it not only because of the practical necessity to survive in Occupied Palestine, but also as a psychological demand to constructively liberate all the anger and frustration imprisoned in their souls.
Khader—a discouraged friend—told me, “When I think of all that we’re going through and ponder about all that is yet to come, I wish I was not born Palestinian. I don’t think it is fair to bring children into this miserable reality.” I asked my friend, “If you were an Israeli, would you bring children into this reality?” He declined to answer, but I added, “It is even more difficult for an Israeli. It is cruel to raise your children on lies and ploys in an attempt to justify their unjustified presence on this land and to convince them that all the atrocities against another people are being committed in their names. Being occupied may not guarantee a free, let alone a privileged life for your kids, but it will not prevent you from raising proud generations, brought up with decency and honourable moral values, the things that an occupier will endlessly fail to offer his children without fooling them.”
Maha, another angry colleague from the nursing staff told me about what had happened to her elderly father on his way to the Makkased Hospital in Jerusalem. An Israeli soldier at the Bethlehem checkpoint dragged him out of the shared taxi by his shirt and literally kicked his butt. When the soldier saw his medical reports, the old man was told to “go and die in Bethlehem.” “Neither my father’s age nor the medical reports in his hand made any sense to that black Ethiopian scum”, added my colleague. Her attitude in expressing her anger was not far less racist or cruel than the soldier’s attitude.
While Khader chooses not to fight his battle, Maha has decided to play it with the moral standards that her enemy had set for her. I, on the other hand, am still trying to transform my anger into some constructive energy and my fears into strength and empowerment. I keep identifying my individual “battles”. I fight them, and even while I am winning, I have to wonder how many more I will have to go through before our overwhelming national loss heals in my heart.
We will win the cultural battle only if we don’t fail to see the human in our enemy, and if we preserve the moral aspect of our cause. When we rise above the atrocities we have been exposed to, and never subject others to them, we’ll never get psychologically defeated. Like every community, the Palestinians have their racists, oppressors, minorities, marginalized people and underdogs. If something good has to come out of the dark years of occupation, it should be our great sense of justice, our commitment and affiliation to the nation that has suffered decades of oppression and discrimination. Resistance has multiple faces, and maybe the most attractive of all is working to enhance the Palestinian grass-roots/popular level. By empowering our people and being kind, forgiving and caring about one another, we can undermine the occupation. We are a nation of unarmed civilians and although a nuclear power like Israel can surely win the military battle, and kill most of us, no military power can destroy our lo
We might lose a hundred battles, but as long as we maintain the morality of our struggle, we are the genuine winners of this war. The Israeli occupiers might assassinate thousands of our people, and imprison the rest of us in the hope that we will give up our “Palestinian-ness”, but their strategies will backfire, and more importantly, they will reinforce our determination to survive and to teach our children not to sell their rights or settle for less.
One possible future for the Palestinians lies in their ability to challenge all the death and destruction around them and to start living, while actively keeping their traditions and their heritage alive in their hearts. The future of Palestine lies in what the Palestinians sustain of their rich culture. Just sustaining our culture is not enough, however. We have to live to give the rest of the world the best of ourselves: our arts, poetry, kindness and loyalty, our Holy Land goodness, our intelligence and ability to regenerate ourselves after each blow, because of the strength that lies in our passion for our homeland. The Palestinians should not live in isolation. We have to communicate with the outside to show the world who we really are. Maybe, we will not manage to bring Palestine back to the world’s atlas in my lifetime, but Palestine will live in our songs, our blue pottery and red embroidery, and that will prove to those who deny us that we truly are a living nation.
* Samah Jabr is a physician and a life-long resident of Jerusalem.
God Meets Caesar in the Holy Land!
Dr Harry Hagopian, KSL – KOG
First keep peace within yourself, and
then you can also bring peace to others
Thomas a Kempis
Where do Israelis and Palestinians find themselves in the high-stakes political initiatives that are being played out in the Holy Land today? Indeed, what is the ‘deal’ that has been elusive for so long? After almost eighteen months of unending confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians, the violence still exacts a heavy toll on both peoples. The fierce clashes, as much as the fatalities, mayhem and destruction have become such a frighteningly routine and recurrent event that the television channels in Europe and the USA hardly give them more than a ten-second span of attention. Sad as it may seem, excess gloom loses its appeal with the media after a while too!
So
has all been lost then? Have both sides crossed the Rubicon and can no longer
reverse into an agreement? As an
Armenian Christian from Jerusalem, and as a hardcore optimist, I beg to differ!
I still maintain that there are some signs of hope in the midst of all the
hatred and violence that is spewing out from the land of prophets. In fact, the
recent flurry of initiatives and findings sustain my belief in the good faith
and good will of many Israeli, Palestinian, Arab or international mediators
alike.
In
terms of initiatives, the buzzword this week has been the Saudi Arabian plan
that offers Israel full relations with the Arab world in return for its
withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In fact, the Saudi proposals were
floated some two weeks ago in an interview given by Crown Prince Abdullah to
Thomas Friedman of the New York Times. One major importance of this plan is
that it sends a signal to the Israeli public that peace with the broader Arab
world is possible should they make peace with their neighbours first. In fact,
if this plan were ever to secure a consensus at the Arab League Summit Meeting
in Beirut later this month, it would be a major breakthrough.
Another
plan - a non-paper in many ways - was tailored by France and launched earlier
last month by the European Union. Described as one of the most radical plans
presented by any EU country for almost two years, it envisaged fresh
Palestinian legislative elections, a long-overdue Israeli pullback from the
West Bank, an Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state and its admission into
the United Nations.
And
on the ecumenical wavelength, the World Council of Churches agreed last month
on an Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. The
participants in this programme will come from different churches and
church-related organisations worldwide and are meant to expose the violence of
the occupation and help create a viable Palestinian state. In so doing, they
will engage in human rights’ monitoring, advocacy and supporting non-violent
resistance by local Palestinian and Israeli peace groups.
However,
local movements have also matching those international initiatives in the
region. Utilising the Churchillian theme of blood, sweat and tears, Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon recently addressed the Israeli people and admitted that
Israelis ‘were having a difficult time’. He encouraged them to be steadfast in
the face of adversity. Although he
spoke of a vaguely formulated plan for ‘buffer zones’ that will achieve
‘security separation between Palestinian areas and Israel’, he offered no
vision, direction or incentive to his people that peace was a realisable
strategy. See-sawing between right-wing exhortations for a tougher Israeli
‘crackdown’ on Palestinians and left-wing insistence that a pullback from the
occupied territories is the sole answer, his speech was long on words and short
on ideas.
In
fact, his address coincided with an unprecedented declaration {now totalling
300 signatures} by reservist soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces stating
their refusal to serve in the occupied territories. At the same time, a peace
rally was held in Tel Aviv against the government and drew a modest 15,000
activists - perhaps a faint echo of the mass demonstrations during the Lebanese
war some twenty years ago.
Those
initiatives, overtures and interventions also reflected a whole spate of
statistical findings within Israel.
According to one poll conducted by the Steinmetz Centre for Peace
Research in Tel Aviv, only 36% of Israelis believe that the ongoing siege of
Chairman Yasser Arafat in Ramallah will help end Palestinian terrorism, and 40%
believe that the policy of security clampdown is doomed to fail in the end. However, 73% continue their support for
targeted assassinations, whilst 63% support the peace negotiations and 65%
believe it is important to ease restrictions against Palestinians - though not
on Chairman Yasser Arafat himself.
According to Tamar Hermann, Director of the Centre, Israelis are
beginning to focus more sharply on socio-economic concerns. She also believes
that the Israeli governmental accent on security masks increasing unemployment
and economic slowdown across the whole country.
Another
poll conducted by the Ma’ariv Hebrew daily newspaper in Israel showed that 53%
of Israelis are dissatisfied with PM Sharon versus only 42% who are satisfied
with him. 73% believe he has not
fulfilled his electoral promises, whilst a meagre 20% believe he has done
so. Furthermore, 68% believe that
the situation has become worse over the past year, whilst only 7% believe that
it has become better. Finally, 42% of Israelis accept the Saudi plan.
Finally,
a Gallup poll published last week that surveyed 10,000 people in nine Islamic
countries showed the picture of a population deeply at odds with the USA.
Interviewees saw the USA as ‘ruthless, aggressive, conceited, arrogant, easily
provoked and biased in its foreign policy’. Although there were variations
across different countries - ranging from Indonesia to Turkey - respondents
displayed a ‘belief that western nations do not respect Arab or Islamic values,
do not support Arab causes, and do not exhibit fairness towards Arabs’. This
unsettling poll showed that the American attempts at explaining its policies
toward Muslim and Arab countries had not yet borne fruit.
But
can those initiatives and findings generate a momentum toward peace? And what
are the dynamics of peace?
Let
me start off by saying that the ‘deal’ being sought as elusively as the Holy
Grail is not the ‘amazingly generous’ settlement that former Prime Minister
Ehud Barak ostensibly offered to Chairman Arafat at the Camp David talks in
July 2000. As Robert Malley, President Clinton’s special assistant for
Arab-Israeli affairs has repeatedly stressed out, there never was a formal
Israeli offer at Camp David. Nothing was written down, and Israel’s final
position was never clear. The story that Arafat refused an offer that any
Palestinian interested in peace would have snapped up is a myth conjured up by
Israeli spin-doctors.
The
real ‘deal’ was put on the table almost six months later, when the ‘Second
Intifadah’ was already well underway. It is the settlement proposed by Bill
Clinton on 23 December 2000 - described by Robert Malley and Palestinian
negotiator Hussein Agha in the New York Review last August, and recently
confirmed by the former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami in an interview
with the Ha’aretz Hebrew daily newspaper. The ‘Clinton parameters’ outlined
roughly a Palestinian state including 94 to 96 per cent of the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. Most of the Jewish settlements would have to go, and Palestine
would be compensated for the rest with an equivalent slice of Israeli territory
elsewhere. Jerusalem would be the capital of two states, and the holy sites
within the old city would be divided so that Palestinians would exercise
sovereignty over the Haram al Sharif / Temple Mount complex, and Israel over
the Western Wall just below it. Palestinian refugees everywhere could move to
the state of Palestine, but they could only return to their ancestral homes
within Israel proper with the agreement of the Israeli government (which would
not be forthcoming in most cases).
For all the Palestinian refugees who could not go home, and all the
Jewish settlers who had to move, there would be generous compensation. And everybody would live grumpily ever
after!
That
sort of deal seems utterly beyond reach at the moment, but the two sides will
probably be back at the negotiating table within a year or so anyway. In the
words of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, ‘Israel cannot keep three and a
half million Palestinians under siege, without income, oppressed, poor, densely
populated, near starvation’. And the talks will be based on the ‘Clinton
parameters’ since there is no alternative that is viable and defensible. Or as the Israeli peace activist Uri
Avnery writes in his article ‘Politicus Interruptus’, the ‘deal’ that must be
struck ought to be faithful to the Taba discussions that followed Camp David II
but ran out of time when former Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered his men to
break off the negotiations and return home.
The Palestinian state that is now waiting to be born will be almost identical to the one that would have come into existence fifty four years ago if the bits of Palestine remaining in Arab hands at the end of Israel’s war of independence had become a state. Arab states, and the majority of Palestinians, do not believe that Israel can be driven back from its present borders. In fact, Israel can still seize and colonise lands in the occupied territories, but the Palestinians can impose a price that only a dwindling number of Israelis are willing to pay. I know that peace will take a little longer, and will require men and women of courage and vision to fight for their just and lofty principles. A lot of people may die in the meantime. The global ethics of idealism and realism will fight it out a little longer.
However,
regardless of the principal political players on the scene, the game is almost
over. All that remains is to acknowledge that it is over! If Israelis and Palestinians wish it,
peace could actually be at hand!
Idealism increases in direct proportion
to one’s distance from the problem!
John Galsworthy
© harry-bvH @ 2 March 2002
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