From Bloody Sunday to Sakhnin

The last speaker at the huge demonstration in Sakhnin on Friday was the spokesman for the bereaved families of October 2000. Hassan Asala, whose son Asil was killed when Israeli policemen opened fire on a protest near his community, Arabeh, is known for his tough attitude toward the Israeli establishment.

Aside from declarations of vengeance against those responsible for killing the 13 Arab demonstrators and a promise that Israel would disappear, he surprised many in the crowd when he said, "My beloved, allow me to turn to members of our family in Ireland. There they are still pursuing the murderers after 35 years ... We bow our heads in respect to them."

While the Israeli attorney general announced last week that there would be no indictments against those involved in the killing of Arab demonstrators in October 2000, in distant Northern Ireland they commemorated the 32nd anniversary of a similar historical event: Bloody Sunday, commemorated on Wednesday, January 30. As was the case here, not a single member of the security establishment, or anyone else, was arraigned for the killing of 14 Catholic demonstrators in one of that conflict's most significant events.

The bloody conflict in Northern Ireland is often compared to the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both draw energy from various historical narratives that go back hundreds of years. The Catholics want Northern Ireland to be united with the Irish Republic, earning them the name Republicans. The Protestants draw their strength from the United Kingdom, which controls the region, and are therefore called Unionists, or Loyalists, for their loyalty to the British crown. They demand that Northern Ireland stay part of the kingdom.

In recent years, the local conflict has been guided into political channels. The former political and military rivals have become partners in a government entrenched in a political minefield. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict fuels the rival parties, at least in its symbols. A short distance from the very deserted city center of Belfast, Israeli flags fly proudly - not due to an official Israeli institution, but because they mark Protestant territory, in defiance of the Palestinian flag and the Arabic graffiti in the Catholic areas.

There is a surprising similarity between what is happening there and certain aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, namely Jewish-Arab relations within Israel. There are many points of similarity, including the fight over territory and names, along with substantial differences. One is the minority groups' size: The Catholic minority in Northern Ireland constitutes more than 40 percent of the population, more than double the percentage of the Arab minority in Israel. Those who oppose the comparison also point out that Ireland is not threatening the survival of Great Britain.

In any case, the similarity between the events of October 2000 and Bloody Sunday is amazing. The Catholic Republicans set out on a march to protest the arrest of their friends by the British security forces. The march passed through the Catholic Bogside neighborhood in Derry (which the Protestants call Londonderry), which was surrounded by army roadblocks. A group of youths who wanted to break through the roadblocks began throwing stones at the soldiers. A rumor spread among the soldiers that snipers were attacking them, and they reacted with live fire. Thirteen demonstrators, including minors, were killed on the spot. Another demonstrator died of his wounds a few months later.

The incident was investigated by the authorities, but no one was arraigned. In the late 1990s, as part of the reconciliation process, an investigative committee that included international bodies was established. This committee is still deliberating. With an investment of millions, they built a virtual crime scene identical to the site of the confrontation, and anyone who wants can address the committee.

Irish lessons

The families of the October 2000 casualties and the Bloody Sunday dead have been in touch. But others say the State of Israel and its Arab minority should learn from the reconciliation process at its height in Northern Ireland.

Drew Haire, the head of the Community Relations Unit in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland, visited Israel last month. He repeated the entire, full name of the office at every meeting. This is entirely understandable, given that it embodies cooperation between two major adversaries - the hawkish Protestant clergyman Ian Paisley, and his deputy, Sinn Fein member Martin McGuinness. Haire came with the help of the British Council in Israel, in order to speak at the Herzliya Conference, at a session arranged by the Abraham Fund Initiatives on the Arab community in Israel.

The Abraham Fund hopes Israel will learn from the experience in Northern Ireland, as well as from majority-minority relations in other countries.

"We believe localized ideas and solutions can be adapted to Israel, even if we don't adopt an entire model to the Israeli situation. The main lesson from Northern Ireland is that the government assumed full responsibility for the matter," the fund's director in Israel, Amnon Beeri Suiltzeanu, told Haaretz.

Haire is proud of this governmental activity, but admits that its success depends on public support. In Northern Ireland, at least for the time being, this support exists. Haire says the government bodies established for this purpose, such as an Equality Commission, would not be able to progress without public support.

"You have to want it. Each of us as a person has to understand that it's for his own good and the good of the entire public," he says, adding: "It's very easy for things not to be understood properly, and for people to rescind their support."

A study conducted in Northern Ireland indicated that children develop sectoral awareness by age 3. Haire says this should make everyone sober. "At age 3, you absorb things only from the family. We can blame everyone, but the bottom line is everything stems from how people think," he says.

The government allocates some 23 million pounds (more than NIS 160 million) annually to promoting equality between the communities. The various bodies, including the Equality Commission, ensure that laws are fair, and that all the government ministries fulfill their duties. "A common future" is the name of the game.

Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland school system has registered a change. Mixed schools have become very popular, and are very hard to get into. At the same time, there has been a sharp decline in the percentage of children who register for sector-specific schools, especially in less populated, rural areas.

As opposed to Israel, where the project of bilingual schools is only beginning, there joint schools enjoy government and public support.

Haire, a member of the Protestant community who grew up in Northern Ireland, says he had no ties with Catholics until a very late age. He tried to send his daughter to a mixed school, but there was no room for her, so she enrolled at a Protestant school with Catholic students and the children of Asian immigrants.

"I hope we've chosen well. She knows members of all the communities," he says.

Haire refrains from making comparisons between what is happening in his country and our conflict. But every once in a while, another similarity comes up. For example, the social pressure on Arabs who want to volunteer for National Service is similar to that once felt by Catholics who joined the Ulster Police, the policing body that was under Protestant domination until it became the Northern Ireland Police Services, which is supervised by both Unionists and Republicans.