Israelis,
Palestinians must work together
Paul
A. Escajadillo
For
the past 56 years a war has existed in the
Middle East, with occasional intense military
actions, most notably in 1948, 1967 and
1973 — although, for the most part,
there has been an underlying current of
hostility brought to the forefront by terrorism.
The war has centered on the existence of
Israel and there is no foreseeable end to
the conflict.
To
begin understanding the issues, we must
know that the entire Middle East is a vastly
complex economical, social and political
region not easily labeled or comprehended.
There
is enough historical evidence to unequivocally
state that the region is still experiencing
the reverberations of European, especially
British, colonialism from nearly a century
ago.
The
Israelis and Palestinians lay claim to the
same territory as necessary for their national
narratives. However, the very concept of
nationalism only emerged in the aftermath
of the French Revolution and one claim does
not necessarily exclude the other.
Jews
and Arabs lived side by side in relative
autonomy under the Ottoman Empire’s
millet system, discrediting the notion they
have never and will never be able to live
in peace. The 1978 Camp David Accord further
proved that peace is the main goal of both
the Arabs and the Jews.
From
1939 to 1948, two grave injustices occurred,
directly affecting the Middle East. The
first was the Jewish Holocaust, which probably
tipped the feelings of the European Jewish
community into believing complete assimilation
would never be accepted.
The
second was the taking of Arab land required
in order to establish Israel and the subsequent,
and as yet unresolved, Palestinian refugee
issue.
After
nearly half a century of animosity, the
Palestinians and Israelis negotiated the
Oslo Accords, handing over a measure of
self-rule to the Palestinians over certain
zones of the occupied territories.
However,
the Palestinian Authority brought in horribly
corrupt leaders from Tunisia who had never
lived under the occupation and therefore
could not know how best to address the needs
of their people.
During
the 1990s, some of the worst violations
of human rights occurred under their rule,
severely demoralizing all Palestinians within
the West Bank and Gaza. Furthermore, this
widespread resentment laid the entire groundwork
for the 2000 al-Aqsa intifada to occur.
According
to www. einnews.com, “the overall
toll since the September 2000 start of the
Palestinian intifada, or uprising, (has
been brought) to 3,923, including 2,954
Palestinians and 899 Israelis.” How
many more deaths must occur before a viable
alternative leadership emerges for the Palestinians?
Yasser
Arafat has already proven himself incapable
of controlling or effectively leading any
semblance of a state, his past terrorist
ties aside.
However,
Israel should share the blame with the Palestianians.
On
April 17, the new Hamas leader, Abdel Aziz
Rantisi, was assassinated, less than a month
after Israel killed Hamas founder Sheik
Ahmed Yassin. The very image of a Hellfire
missile killing a quadriplegic, highly admired
leader was truly counterproductive as it
will inevitably foster further hatred and
resentment toward the Israeli state.
As
a spiritual leader, the amount of involvement
in planning terrorist actions was unknown
and places great strain on Israel’s
allies to continue supporting them, while
creating a rallying cry for disenchanted
Arabs.
Ariel
Sharon’s proposed withdrawal from
Gaza is historic and overdue. However, there
is also a need to withdraw from the West
Bank and negotiate with Palestinian authorities
(not necessarily the Palestinian Authority)
over possible land swaps based on the 1949
armistice borders.
The
construction of the wall separating Israel
from Palestine is a decision best left to
the Israelis as a security concern, so long
as it is built solely on Israeli territory.
Finally,
the best peace proposal in existence, although
not currently on the table, is the Geneva
Accords of 2003. Let us hope that some future
leaders will have sufficient motivation
to implement an all-encompassing peace accord
and finally bring relative peace to the
Middle East.
This
editorial originally appeared in the San
Diego State University Daily Aztec.
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