Terrorism by Israelis is major roadblock to peace
By Edmund R. Hanauer
Special for The Republic
April 14, 2002 12:00:00
The tragic conflict in the Mideast will continue to escalate until the Bush administration does a U-turn and reconsiders its one-sided support for Israeli policies toward 3 million Palestinians living under occupation, especially its position on "terrorism."
Terrorism involves the threat or use of violence to intimidate civilians or governments, and that includes actions by governments; that is to say, "state terrorism." But President Bush defines "terrorism" selectively so as to include Palestinian, but not Israeli, violence, and has repeatedly criticized Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat for not doing enough to stop terror bombings.
But now with Israel's army rampaging through Palestinian towns and with Arafat, a virtual prisoner of Israel, reduced to clutching a cellphone, for Bush to expect Arafat to be able or willing to curb terrorism is a display of either cynicism or total ignorance of the situation.
Bush's approach strengthens hawks and undercuts moderates on both sides, giving Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a blank check to continue Israeli violence. This, in turn, makes it harder for Arafat to stop Palestinian extremists without looking like a collaborator, especially since Sharon is unwilling to offer concessions Arafat needs to curb violence without bringing on civil war among Palestinians.
Bush's double standard only makes it harder to end the cycle of violence that has taken more than 1,200 lives, 80 percent of them Palestinians.
The United States and Israel demand Arafat arrest, jail and punish Palestinian militants who commit terrorism against Israeli civilians. However, by holding Arafat under virtual house arrest and by killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians, destroying hundreds of homes and tens of thousands of olive trees as well as assassinating dozens of Palestinian militants, Israel has undercut his ability to curb violence.
Nor is Arafat helped by Israeli bombing, with U.S.-made fighter planes, of Palestinian Authority prisons and police offices. Israel should heed calls by the international community to withdraw from Palestinian towns and villages and lift draconian blockades that prevent Palestinians from reaching hospitals, schools and jobs and from getting adequate food, water and medicines. These acts of Israeli state terrorism violate international law; many qualify as war crimes.
For the U.S. criticism of Arafat to be effective and credible, Washington must equally condemn Israeli violence, condemn Israeli oppression of Palestinians, help Palestinians achieve their rights through nonviolent means, and use diplomatic and, if necessary, economic pressure on Israel to grant Palestinian rights.
In opposing Israeli state terrorism, the United States should insist that Sharon arrest, jail and prosecute Israeli soldiers who, according to human rights groups, have used excessive force against Palestinian civilians, resulting in hundreds of unnecessary deaths, including scores of children.
New York Times reporter Chris Hedges wrote in October's Harper's magazine that he has visited many war zones, but only in Gaza has he found soldiers killing children "for sport."
Sharon also must be urged to arrest and punish Jewish settlers who for decades have been harassing, attacking and often killing Palestinians as well as seizing their land and destroying their crops and orchards. All the Jewish settlements are in violation of international law.
Washington needs to heed the Israeli human rights and peace communities. More than 350 Israeli army reservists are now refusing to serve in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian lands, saying that they will "fight no more to rule, deport, destroy, blockade, exterminate, starve and humiliate" the Palestinian people.
Israel's leading human rights group, B'Tselem, reports that Israel has violated 29 of the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its treatment of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
Washington should also heed the more than 1,000 retired Israeli military and intelligence leaders who argue that Israeli security can best be protected by a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza and a near total withdrawal from the West Bank.
The settlements not only involve massive human rights violations, but they also are the root cause of much Palestinian violence and they block the viable Palestinian state called for both by President Bush and the U.N. Security Council. But since Sharon is pledged to greatly expand settlements, he, not Arafat, is the greatest roadblock to peace.
The United States should tie its massive foreign aid to Israel of $3 billion yearly and its much smaller aid to the Palestinian Authority of $100 million yearly to their adherence to human rights treaties and international law, a position taken in 1999 by 1,100 American religious leaders. Their declaration cited U.S. law that prohibits foreign aid to countries "engaging in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights."
Israel would be required to end the occupation by withdrawing troops and settlers from the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, and to recognize the rights of Palestinian refugees exiled from Israel. A viable, independent and demilitarized Palestinian state can then live at peace with a secure Israel. Israel will have 78 percent of British mandatory Palestine; the Palestinians, 22 percent. For Israel to colonize and deny Palestinians freedom in barely one-fifth of their historical homeland is illegal, immoral and disastrous for Israelis.
Washington should insist that the Palestinian Authority end violence and encourage those Palestinians who are engaged in nonviolent resistance. This effort, if invigorated, would gain support among Israelis and Americans, save Israeli and Palestinian lives and stand far more chance of achieving Palestinian rights than violence does.
In seeking an end to violence in Palestine/Israel, Bush should heed Pope Paul VI: "If you want peace, work for justice."
Edmund R. Hanauer is an American Jewish political scientist and director of Search for Justice and Equality in Palestine/Israel, a Boston-based human rights group. He can be reached at search25@aol.com via e-mail. |
