The Arab Spring, or as some call it the Arab Awakening (although this term is too condescending) is in it's 5th month. Inflaming more and more Middle East countries - this remarkable social movement doesn't leave any "stone unturned"... None of the regional regimes is immune to this "freedom bug". Some Dictators fall almost too fast for the international community to react, others - especially those who collaborated with Russia for extended amount of time and never grew out of it, like Libya and Syria, put up a fight. Although I haven't written so far anything about Bahrain, Syria, Algeria, or Morocco, this article is dedicated to one of the longest struggles in the region - struggle of the Palestinian people. It's a struggle for their identity, place to live, and what all the people deserve in the same degree - Peace. I haven't written about this topic, because... I was afraid to touch this Pandora's Box.
April 27th, 2011 brought the events which single-handedly changed the equation, and spawned a completely new reality.
Two days ago the media announced that after days of the unofficial talks in Cairo, the representatives of HAMAS and FATAH came to a historic, conciliatory agreement, to create an Unity Interim Government, and organize the popular elections a year from now in both West Bank as well as Gaza Strip.
Right after I posted on Twitter a message referring to this remarkable event I received a response including a link to a short video: "Prager University: The Middle East Problem" (www.youtube.com/watch?v=63hTOaRu7h4). The video, which consists just of a concise statement by Dennis Prager, is on of the most agitating, inflammatory, 'rewriting history', and one-sidedly wrong, messages on that subject, which are available on the Internet. It spews venom and under a false scholarly pretense it denies the voice of reason.
After receiving this message, I had no other options, but to address this subject myself. I am not usurping myself a right to know the only truth. I am advocating asking questions and being open to any answers. We can not replace the Reason with Demagogy.
Unfortunately the "global village" which is the home to all of us, has an abundance of the "village idiots" who disregarding the proofs and common sense, and will deny things which are inconvenient to their agenda, like the President's US citizenship (D.Trump and other birthers), or the right of Palestinian people to have their own place to live, free and sovereign, located where they always lived (D. Prager and others sharing his views).
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The historic agreement between Hamas and Fatah was announced two days ago. The World's reaction was immediate. I do not deny that in a tinder box, like Middle East, a unification of the Palestinian authorities is an event to be watched very carefully. The reaction of the US Government was cautious, but hopeful. President Obama praised the political agreement but underlined the existing, axiomatic requirements, like the acceptance of the existing peace treaties, and acknowledgment of the right of the state of Israel to exist.
In the meantime the Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu squarely rejected the unification efforts giving the Palestinians the exclusive choice: either the peace with Israel OR the peace with Hamas. It's his first reaction to the new situation, but Netanyahu's negative remarks do not help the peace process.
The historic agreement between Hamas and Fatah was announced two days ago. It ended dated since 2006, harmful for the Palestinian cause, split between factions. Yes, this division was 'safer' for the US-Israeli interests, but it was an artificially maintained state of affairs. Since the death of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah 2004, there was no equally charismatic, and equally revered leader. The President Mahmoud Abbas, who was raising to the Position of the Premier, falling into oblivion, raising again as a President..., has been generally accused to be week and wavering. He has been governing the West Bank (with the Fatah), but the Gaza Strip was led by Hamas (meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement") who in 2007 won the majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament. Since the Hamas has been associated (and/or involved) with the armed militia and the attacks (both racket and suicide bombers) on the population of Israel - The European Union, the United States, Canada, Israel and Japan classified Hamas as a terrorist organization - while nations such as China, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Norway and Switzerland did not.
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It's already the second decade of the twenty first century. It's 2011-th year of our Era, according to the calendar associated with the Christian religion. According to the Chinese calendar it's already 4709-th year. Jews have already celebrated the 5771-st year. Arab calendar, however shows that this is only 1432-nd year of their timeline. Does it mean that all the people for whom now is the year 1432 of their calendar, didn't exist before, or came to the planet Earth from the outside at the beginning of their calendar? Or does it mean that the people with the highest year number in their calendar have always been in the territories in question. I guess, both of these statements are equally preposterous - an insult to the Reason. So, maybe all of them came to the territories of Palestine from some other place on Earth... Oh, well, some really did come from the places, located a bit more to the East, as others, (especially in recent years) came from all over the world (a huge number from the East European countries).
The majority of the current Palestinians are the descendants of the Canaanites living on the territories of modern day Palestine, more than 5 thousand years ago. In the 14th century BC came the Hebrews, a group of Semitic tribes from Mesopotamia, and the Philistines (after whom the country was later named). Even current name of Palestine in Arabic is spelled "Filastin" (فلسطي).
The conflict between Palestinians (backed morally by all the Arab states) and Israel (backed, not only morally, by the countries of the West) is probably THE BEST KNOWN CONFLICT in the World's history. Since it started, the new generations have been born. No matter what is the political leaning of any particular country, this conflict has been mentioned and discussed in the history courses in all the world's schools. And yet, at the same time, it is probably THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD, AND THE MOST MISINTERPRETED CONFLICT in the world. One can easily find on the Internet and in the libraries, referring to it list of facts and it's time-line. I am not going to try to recreate this time-line in detail in this article. Anyone can do it on his/her own. I will cite only some historical 'milestones' to create a background for the argument.
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The feud started in 1947 when the British decided to leave the Palestinian mandate and allowed to split the Palestine, creating Jewish state (Israel) along the Arab state with with Jerusalem as an international zone under UN jurisdiction. I am in no position to try to assign blame for the igniting of the conflict that followed. The fact is that in 1948 the first Arab-Israeli war was launched. When it ended the new country of Israel was established, and approved by the UN. Scattered all over the World Jews at last had a place they could call HOME. As a result of the war, the small Gaza Strip was left under Egyptian control, and the West Bank was controlled by Jordan. Of more than 800,000 Arabs who lived in Israeli-held territory before 1948, only about 170,000 remained. The rest became refugees in the neighboring Arab countries, ending the Arab majority in the Jewish state.
Throughout the years, the animosities between the surrounding Arab states and Israel resulted in a chain of skirmishes exploding in fully fledged wars in 1967, and in 1973. In 1974 The Arab Summit in Rabat recognized the PLO (established in 1965 and used in guerrilla war in 1967) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people with Yasser Arafat as it's head. In all the Arab Israeli conflicts the Palestinian issue was always a serious bargaining chip. After the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979 the PLO existence in Lebanon resulted in 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. When PLO withdrew from Beyrut, the Israeli occupying forces stayed in the Southern Lebanon for years. Starting in 1987 INTIFADAS (a series of uprisings of the Palestinians against occupying forces), and the Israeli's military response, put tremendous toll on the civilian population, and on the infrastructure of all Palestinian territories.
In 1991, the first comprehensive peace talks started, between Israel and delegations representing the Palestinians and neighboring Arab states. In 1994, after having signed the final version of the Declaration of Principles, Yasser Arafat along with his Israeli counterparts (Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin) received the Nobel Peace Price for their role in Peace process. In the following years a chain of bomb attacks caused fear in the Israeli population. Every explosion was followed by the army's, heavy handed response. In 1996 Prime Minister Netanyahu introduced his peace plan. At the same moment the plans for expanding the new settlements in the Arab East Jerusalem were unveiled. The signed in 1998 "peace-for-land" agreement gave Palestinians back parts of the West Bank making them responsible for enhancing the effectiveness of their anti-terrorism program. Shortly afterwards, on 03.29.2001 started Operation Defensive Shield, Israel's largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War with the goals stated as: "enter cities and villages which have become havens for terrorists; to catch and arrest terrorists and, primarily, their dispatchers and those who finance and support them; to confiscate weapons intended to be used against Israeli citizens; to expose and destroy terrorist facilities and explosives, laboratories, weapons production factories and secret installations. The orders are clear: target and paralyze anyone who takes up weapons and tries to oppose our troops, resists them or endanger them - and to avoid harming the civilian population." Palestinians participating in the resulting from it skirmishes were imprisoned, or exiled (to Cyprus).
The destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and resulting from it Islamo-Phobia in the countries of the West, followed by the Afghan War (10.2001), "added oil to the fire" and by the deepening the sentiments on both sides, the conflict escalated. In June 2002 the construction of the West Bank Wall has been initiated. It was argued that the Wall impeded the abilities of Palestinians to move freely as well crossing a border to work in Israel, thus creating an unnecessary hardship for the population. On March 13.2002 - U.N. passed the Resolution 1397 by the Security Council, demanding an "immediate cessation of all acts of violence" and "affirming a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders".
On March 20, 2003, based on the false pretenses, the Iraq War was initiated, galvanizing the Arab societies and forcing them even farther in disapproval of the West and all the associated with it policies.
On Feb 24, 2004, The International Court of Justice begins hearings on the legality of the Israeli security barrier, Israel and Palestinians use the hearings as a platform for demonstrations about terror and the occupation. In July of the same year The Court concludes that the Security Barrier violates the international law and it had to be dismantled - however, never implemented. In November of 2004 the PLO Leader, Yasser Arafat died during the siege of Ramallah Headquarters, in a very unclear circumstances... In the years following his death the escalated violence included hundreds of missiles fired into the Israeli territories.
After a series of violent clashes initiated by the Jewish settlers, In July 2005, Israel closed Gaza Strip to Israeli citizens other than residents. In August of that year the evacuation of Gaza settlements and four West Bank settlements was completed. In November 2006, after months of bombardments with Hamas missiles sent to Israel and Israeli targeted killings of the Hamas leaders, Israeli-Palestinian truce applying to the Gaza Strip was announced. The violence continued from both sides. After months of suicide attacks (Hamas) and helicopter gunship destroying the Palestinian cities, in July 2008 the Israeli-Hamas truce was proclaimed. At the same time the split between Fatah and Hamas intensified causing arrests of Hamas activists by the Fatah.
In December 2008 Israel launched Operation Oferet Yetzuka (Cast Lead) using air strikes and rocket attacks to destroy suspected Hamas infrastructure - rocket launching sites, factories, command centers. After causing 1300 Palestinian deaths and losing 13 own, the Operation was discontinued.
On June 1, 2009, the UN Human Rights Council investigative panel led by Judge Richard Goldstone entered the Gaza strip to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes, leaving June 4. Israel refused to cooperate.
On June 04, 2009, the World heard President Obama's speech in Cairo University trying to build a bridge between the West and the Arab countries, also calling for the freeze of the settlement program, and the Arab recognition of Israel.
The Gaza Strip has been isolated by Israel since 2007. The blockade was extended on both the land as well as nautical borders. Only the humanitarian goods were allowed in, while all building materials, stone, machines and the spare parts were completely banned. Egypt played a vital role in the Gaza blockade, operating (effectively closing), Gaza-Egypt border crossing. The Blockade was greatly condemned by the people of many countries including the countries of the West and some progressive activists in Israel itself. In May 2010 a flotilla of 7 ships with the humanitarian aid for the Gaza strip left Turkey to deliver the goods - against the strict blockade imposed by the Israelis. On May 31, 2010, their Flagship Mavi Mamara was stopped by the Israeli commandos boarding the ship from the helicopter under the cover of night. The ship's crew and activists' resistance resulted in 9 people killed by the Israeli forces. In July, the "Turkel" commission formed to investigate the incident didn't find any procedural failures.
In September 2010, the direct Israeli-Palestinian talks opened in Washington with the "blessing" of President Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan.
When the Arab Spring started in December 2010, ending the 30 years long rules of President Mubarak, in the February 2010, the balance of powers in the region has changed completely. It hasn't left the Israeli-Palestinian relationship without it's impact.
A few days ago, Turkey announced that another flotilla of the humanitarian aid, decisively bigger than the former one, would be breaching the Gaza Blockade soon. Prompted by the Tell Aviv government for the action to stop it, Turkey denied any direct influence over the flotilla plans. The ground for another confrontation with the Israeli Security Forces has been set already. But is the Blockade effective any longer? (beside the question of it's legal, and humane violations).
The New Egypt is not playing any more the Guard of the Western Gaza border. They have just announced plans to permanently open the border crossing to Gaza Strip allowing the unrestrained traffic between Egypt and Gaza..., deeming the Blockade useless.
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The whole history of that conflict is packed with facts, blending together in a hard to distinguish from each other - calamity. Both sides stubbornly use violence against one another. The Hamas militants keep firing the short range missiles, mortars, into the bordering cities and settlements on the Israeli side. Israel has a pretty advanced warning system in place, so after the initial strike all the inhabitants take shelter in the reinforced bunkers. They live in fear. Along both, West Bank and Gaza strip borders the Israelis do not have a normal life - they have to "sleep a rabbit sleep" - with the eyes open. And - sometimes they die. More dangerous for them are bombings in their cities. Yes, the statistical risk of any particular citizen is not huge, but the result is living in fear. Although the Palestinian extremists (I insist on calling the instigators of the violence - extremists, as oppose to peaceful Palestinians), do not have a sophisticated technology themselves, nor the sufficient amount of funds to purchase the more sophisticated weapons, their crude devices still can, and do kill the opponents.
The statistics do not lie, but do not tell the whole truth.
In retaliation for the attacks and for the danger they have to live in, the Israeli forces, not being able to tell a foe from a friend, deliver blows to the Palestinian Population in total. They conduct the "surgical", targeted strikes in which one or another Hamas leader is killed (being blown apart by multiple rockets launched from the helicopter gunships). Quite often (especially in the previous years) after a brief warning to the inhabitants, to vacate the area, the whole area suspected of being related to Hamas activities would be completely destroyed. Often in such situations the inhabitants of soon-to-be destroyed quarters refused to vacate the area.
When suspected tunnels between Egypt and Gaza were bombed, the "collateral damage" was unspeakable. Gaza strip is deliberately prevented from development. The policy, which has the name already, is called devolution. I understand the premise of such an action - but try to explain it to a family in one of the cities in Gaza, who's adults, having college degrees can't find any job. Try to explain it to people whose children do not know what the 'hot water faucet' is, since they are lucky if they have the running water at all. Try to explain it to the people who, during the winter do not fix their shattered windows, since another explosion near by would shatter them again, and again...
The extremist element among Palestinians is responsible for creating situation in which the Israelis have no choice but to retaliate. This is understood... But what the World can't understand, is a greatly disproportional response which is delivered every time and again, to the population of Palestinians. It is delivered indiscriminately. With every Hamas leader targeted and killed by a gunship strike, several bystanders perish.
I can't help but remember (not directly, but reading about it) the situation in Warsaw in 1942-44, when the resistance blew a bomb in a movie theater killing a few Nazis along with a few Poles who were in a wrong place at the wrong time. Every time, the following day a 100 or more, randomly caught on the street, not-involved people, were rounded, picked by the Nazis, and executed, very often on the spot - or transferred to the Nazi concentration camps, for a "slower" extermination...
One would think, that this argument should be rather "close to skin" for the decision-makers in Israel, and yet the disproportional revenge in a Palestinian-Israeli conflict is an every day reality.
Nothing is the same as once was... For centuries there was no country for the Jews. It was a subject of writing, it was a subject of prayers... In 1948 it became a reality. It is, right now one of the undeniable axioms. It's time to start thinking the same way about the Palestinian state.
Four years ago, while celebrating with my wife, one of my "round number birthdays" in a enchanting oasis of Siwa (Egypt, near Libyan border), where we took a short brake after while working on an archaeological preservation project, I met one of the prominent Israeli archaeologist on vacation. We talked about the situation in Egypt, and a wider context. We talked about the Palestinians in Gaza. He praised their education, common sense, good working attitude. He praised their ingenuity... and he couldn't understand why they had to endure such hardships...
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One of the axioms of the history is that, at any given point the "things" are NOT the same, as they used to be. It's one of the everlasting truths.
At one point Yasser Arafat was a head of a terrorist organization. He was undeniably responsible for many unthinkable acts of terror. And then, he evolved (to serve better his own people), abandoned violence, and received a Noble Peace Price for trying better...
As mentioned before, Hamas is considered by many countries a terrorist organization, by some others, not). Maybe they also can denounce violence, if it would serve their people better. I am sure they would... if they could rely on the other side to abandon their expansion agenda as well. It's only a speculation on my part...
There is a growing community of people in the world, for whom the end of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is more and more important. This open-minded community consists of the members of all faiths, all denomination, all political leanings... This community includes quite a number of Israeli, American and European Jews as well. I am not talking only about radicals like an American scholar, Norman Finkelstein (whom I admire tremendously, sometimes not agreeing with his points), but a moderate, democratic minds, like those who run MondeWeiss.net, among others.
Recently (April 15) one of the Italian pro-Palestinian activists, Vittorio Arrigoni was kidnapped and subsequently murdered in Gaza.
Maybe I am naive, but I convinced that the Peace Process in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is an achievable goal, once we realize the lesson transpiring from the Arab Spring 2011:
NOTHING IS, AS IT USED TO BE.
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