Lovely Europeans - Jan. 7, 2003 Analysis: Terrorism most intense when peace is in the air, by Douglas Davis
By DOUGLAS DAVIS
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LONDON The Greek government's expression of concern that Palestinian terrorism retards the cause of Palestinian statehood is somewhat disingeous.
The Greeks do not enjoy an international reputation for diplomatic sagacity, but their voice must be heard in Jerusalem because they currently occupy the rotating presidency of the European Union. And the EU represents Israel's largest single trading partner.
Over the decades, support for the Palestinian cause has become an article of almost religious faith in Europe. And European officials have been unstinting in their expressions of commitment to "Palestinian justice."
Moreover, they have put their collective mouth where their collective money is by plundering the coffers of the EU to pour millions of euros into Palestinian pockets each month.
What can be said with absolute certainty about the EU's approach is that, in diplomatic parlance, its best efforts have been "nugatory." In plain language, it has utterly failed to persuade the Palestinian leadership to halt its campaign of violence (let alone develop transparent and accountable structures of governance).
The question the EU has omitted to ask itself is why, despite decades of public declarations, private pleadings, and cash incentives, it has failed to persuade the Palestinians to clean up their act and stop killing Israelis, especially when, as the Europeans believe, such action is harmful to the Palestinian self-interest.
Unless, heaven forefend, European perceptions of Palestinian self-interest, like those of Israel's Labor Party, have been entirely misplaced all these years. For the harsh reality is that Palestinian terrorism is not, as conventional wisdom has it, a sign of "frustration and rage" at the slow pace of diplomatic progress. The opposite is true: Palestinian terrorism is never more intense than when peace is in the air.
It was, after all, a horrifying spate of bus bombings that persuaded Shimon Peres to halt the transfer of West Bank towns and cities to Palestinian control in 1996 (and ultimately caused his demise at the polls despite the Nobel Peace Prize that crowned his Oslo "achievements").
It was Ehud Barak's offer of 97 percent of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the removal of the settlements, the return of a large bunch of refugees, and a share in Jerusalem virtually everything, in fact, that the Palestinians had been demanding which catalyzed and accelerated the current violence (and ultimately caused his demise at the polls).
And, perhaps, it is not coincidental that the cycle of mass murder has resumed in the run-up to the January 28 election, a campaign that is surely not designed to enhance the credibility or the prospects of Amram Mitzna and his peace-at-any-cost pledge (he, too, will pay the electoral price).
The political blindness that prevents the Europeans from being willing or able to recognize the self-evident link between diplomatic progress and Palestinian terrorism is quite simply breathtaking.
So the question is why are the Palestinians so ruthlessly determined to miss every opportunity at diplomatic progress, despite the best advice and best efforts of their friends and supporters.
Because, quite simply, the conflict is a vital Palestinian interest.
It is the conflict itself that gives the Palestinians importance and sustains their support. Their continued relevance is measured in direct proportion to their capacity for inflicting violence on Israelis and their potential for generating instability in the region.
The mere prospect of peace would retarding all this at a stroke, for without the conflict, how much international attention could they seriously expect to command.
Not for Yasser Arafat and his cronies the mundane business of nation-building, of organizing drainage for Jenin, garbage collection for Ramallah, street lighting for Kalkilya, and sewage facilities for Gaza. Not when the glittering state occasions beckon in European capitals.
The end-game for the Palestinian leaders is not peace, but rather whatever political, diplomatic, and economic gains they can achieve without having to pay what for them is the ultimate price: declaring an end to the conflict.
It must be clear to the Palestinian leaders it should by now be clear to the Europeans, even to the Greeks that Palestine without conflict would be a much-diminished thing. It would retreat from its place at the center of the international agenda to become just another corrupt, despotic, Third World dump that must wait in line for the world's attention.
No amount of pleading and cajoling is likely to persuade the Palestinian leaders to give up what they already have.
Not unless the Europeans understand that their grandstanding on behalf of the Palestinians is actually feeding the violence; not unless the European understand the game and demonstrate convincingly that they are no longer prepared to play. |
