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<http://www.jpost.com/> The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition
Encountering Peace: Palestinian nationalism is the mirror of Zionism
Jun. 30, 2008
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST
At the age of 14 my family moved from a very Jewish neighborhood in Long
Island, NY to a very non-Jewish neighborhood. The percentage of Jewish
students in my schools decreased from around 80% to around 5%. It was quite
a dramatic change.
As minorities do anywhere in the world, we seek each other out and cling to
each other in order to retain a sense of security and belonging. In my first
weeks in my new school I found a friend who had just returned from a visit
to Israel and whose family was preparing to make aliya. He informed me that
he was establishing a chapter of the Zionist Youth Movement Young Judaea in
our town, and he invited me to join. By the following year I was elected to
the regional executive board of the movement and in my last year in high
school I was president of the Long Island region.
I spent the following year in Israel on the Young Judaea Year Course. During
that year I firmed up my decision that Israel was my home and after
completing my BA in the States (at the urging of my parents) I returned to
Israel and became an Israeli citizen.
In Young Judaea, the Zionist education that I received and that I imparted
to many others after me, was that moving to Israel had to be a qualitative
shift in cognition and not just a change of address. In other words, moving
to Israel had to have a larger meaning and being an Israeli meant that I
would have to do something that would make a positive contribution to the
development of the State of Israel and to the Jewish people. Then, as today,
I understood that the most pressing and compelling challenge to the State of
Israel was/is to find a way to make peace with our Arab neighbors. It is in
that area that I have spent the past 30 years of my life.
IF THE ultimate goal of Zionism is to create a safe haven for the Jewish
people, a place where we could develop our own state and society, our
culture and our heritage, prosper and excel, then the primary limitation to
that is the continued conflict with the Arab world in general and with the
Palestinians in particular.
I believe that the struggle of Zionism was never meant to be about the
Israeli-Arab conflict. Our historic transformation as a people through
Zionism got distorted along the way because of the failure of the Arab world
to accept the Jewish state in the region. Our struggle for our national
identity in our own state became shaped by the continued Israeli-Arab wars,
and much of our identity today is tainted by our as yet unsuccessful
attempts to build a lasting peace with our neighbors.
The primary internal conflict within the State of Israel today is about the
nature of relations with our Palestinian neighbors. Even the second most
pressing conflict internally - between religious and non-religious Jews -
centers to a great extent on our relationship to the Land of Israel and its
implications on continuing to control the Palestinian territories. For many
Israelis the question of control over the territories centers on issues of
security. For many others it is primarily a question of religious
connections and the promise of God to the Jewish people. The second issue is
one of faith and cannot be argued about rationally.
On questions of security, the bottom line with the Palestinians is our
assessment on the extent to which they are truly interested and committed to
making peace with Israel. Alongside the issue of "will" is the question of
capability. The assessment question is one that looks at what we perceive to
be the Palestinian acceptance of Israel's right to exist. Palestinians still
find it very difficult to recognize Israel's right to exist, as we wish to
define Israel, as the State of the Jewish people. On the other hand, the
overwhelming majority of Palestinians, including almost the entire
leadership of the PLO, have come to full terms with the existence of Israel
as a fact that cannot be changed and are entirely ready to come to terms
with Israel in a negotiated peace agreement.
Regarding the capability of Palestinians to crush terrorism and attacks
against Israel, there is no doubt at all that there is a sharp incline in
their ability, determination and proven effectiveness in this regard. They
are not doing this out of their love of Israel, but because the Palestinian
Authority in the West Bank fully understands that in order to succeed in
their aspirations of building a Palestinian state, terrorism and attacks
against Israel are against their own national interests. The Palestinian
people want their state to be accepted as a full member of the international
community. They are demonstrating responsibility towards themselves and
towards the international community. That is why the international community
agreed to supply the Palestinian Authority with an additional $250 million
for Palestinian security services, the judicial system and for the building
of prisons in the West Bank. Beyond what the Palestinians are doing for
themselves, Israel's security will always be provided for and guaranteed by
Israel itself. Positive cooperation and coordination between the security
services of both sides will best ensure the long-term security for both
people.
RAISING THE security dimension of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship
forces us to comprehend the limitations and the fragility of the current
reality. To some extent it is the question of the "chicken or the egg."
Palestinians will work on preventing attacks against Israel as long as there
is a negotiated peace process that still provides hope for an agreement.
Palestinians will renew their struggle against Israel, including the armed
struggle, when they perceive that the occupation will not end and the
Palestinian state will not be established next to Israel. For those Israelis
who are ready to make concessions to the Palestinians on territorial issues
if they feel secure, it is important to understand the dynamic relationship
between security and territory. Continuing to hold onto territories
understood by Palestinians to be their future state will serve to lessen
Palestinian performance in the security domain. In this respect the Zionist
notion that building settlements enhances security is completely wrong. The
continued existence and expansion of settlements on Palestinian land
directly endangers the security of the State of Israel and Israelis.
Peacemaking is by definition taking risks. Those risks must be assessed on
the basis of interests and threat perceptions. The greatest risk to the
continuation of the Zionist enterprise today is the possibility that we may
not be able to separate ourselves from the occupation of the Palestinian
people. There is a timeline on the viability and the feasibility of creating
a Palestinian state next to Israel. The future of the Jewish people in the
Land of Israel has never before been so inextricably linked to the
aspirations of the Palestinian people. The fulfillment of Palestinian
national aspirations is what will enable the ultimate fulfillment of Jewish
national aspirations. Our security is their security, their security is
ours. Time is running out for both of us, but there is still sufficient time
to reach an agreement that will save both national movements from mutual
destruction.
The writer is co-CEO of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and
Information.
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Gershon Baskin - Co-CEO, IPCRI
Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information
P.O. Box 9321, Jerusalem 91092
Tel: +972-2-676-9460 Fax: +972-2-676-8011
Cellphone: +972-(0)52-238-1715
gers...@ipcri.org
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