We won't relinquish the enemy
Israel refuses to recognize that the Arab world has offered an end to the conflict through the Saudi peace initiative.
By Akiva Eldar Tags: Israel news Middle East peaceThe Americans are once again disturbing our peace with their "peace process," and are already talking about continuing the settlement construction freeze. Everything was so simple with the three "no"s of Khartoum from September 1967: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization's armed conflict did cost us lives, but there's no need to talk peace with terrorists. When the Arabs refused to recognize us it was 10 times more convenient to settle, to annex and to assassinate. When the Arab world refused to negotiate with us, the Western world was a lot more friendly.
And then, one day in late March 2002, without any warning, the Arab League summit proved once again that you just can't trust the Arabs; the 22 members of the Arab League cruelly erased the three "no"s.
And they didn't make do with turning them into a yes to peace, yes to recognition and yes to negotiations. The Arab League (and subsequently, the 57 member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference ) suggested replacing its hostile relations with Israel with normalized relations. Every March since then, the umbrella organization of Arab states ratifies the formula: an end to the conflict in exchange for an end to the occupation.
As if that weren't enough, the Arab peace initiative skips over the settlement issue, leaving an opening for compromises like swapping territory. Similarly, it doesn't mention Jerusalem's Holy Basin. But there's no need to despair. The Jewish brain finds a cure for every peace disease: in this case, UN General Assembly Resolution 194.
Israel Harel argued in this space last week, in a piece called "The Saudi bluff," that certain Israelis tried to whitewash the clause that demanded a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, in accordance with Resolution 194. He accused them of attempting "to blur a clear demand for a Palestinian right of return," which he said stems from the same UN resolution (which also appears in the Clinton peace plan from December 2000 ). Harel has certainly studied the Arab initiative, so it's hard to believe that he was unable to find in the plan the statement that the refugee problem must be both just and agreed upon.
Harel also wrote that yours truly "featured prominently" at a conference on the initiative held last week at Ben-Gurion University's Chaim Herzog Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy. Could it be that he forgot that he (and others who don't support the initiative ) spoke at the conference as well? The difference in our relative prominence was that I didn't come just to hear myself talk and take the opportunity to vilify academia, which Harel says is speaking in a uniform voice.
Had Harel bothered to attend Prof. Eyal Benvenisti's lecture, he would have heard a renowned expert in international law stating that Resolution 194 actually rejected the refugees' right to return to their homes. Benvenisti explained that the resolution left it up to Israel to decide whether, when and how many refugees it would accept - details that would be determined in a peace deal between the parties to the conflict.
But Harel and his comrades on the right (much like Muammar Gadhafi ) won't give in to the Arabs over the right of return. They have learned that even sworn opponents of the settlements remain silent in the face of that terrifying phrase. Harel complains that the king of Saudi Arabia hasn't come to Jerusalem to sell the Israelis on the Arab peace initiative.
And really, why not? The mayor will welcome him by demolishing homes in Silwan and if he's really lucky, the interior minister will honor him with the dedication of a new complex in Ramat Shlomo.
Al Jazeera will be able to report on the visit while showing images of the residents of Ofra pounding one more stake into the ground at the Migron outpost.
The Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers were sent to Jerusalem to present the peace plan to the Israeli public. The Palestinian Authority expressed its support in the form of ads in the Hebrew-language press, and has made its reconciliation with Hamas dependent on Hamas' acceptance of the plan, in its entirety.
But we won't relinquish the Arabs' "no"s. Or, as the poet Constantine Cavafy wrote in "Waiting for the Barbarians" (as translated into English by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard ): "And now, what's going to happen to us without barbarians? / They were, those people, a kind of solution."
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the writer FORGOT to mention this "plan" calls for the palestinians to go live in israel so that israel will no longer be hewish
Israel sells its soul to the United States when it looks for $3,000,000,000 plus year after year. Until Israel stands on its own legs, it must expect others to tell what to do and not do. Israel is once again proof that socialism doesn't work
It seems that the leaders of the Arab world are much more cunning than Israel's. Is it naivety or self deception that causes some Israelis to support them?
No of course. They kill innocent people as well . So our government getting strenghten when there is a war . If war will end , our government believes that they will loose their votes. If you have something to frightened , then you will be gathered & follow the leaders , who will mention we will protect Israel , all the arabs are potential terrorists .
Arab peace initiative includes the very important clause regarding the right ofreturn for the Palestinian refugees to Israel proper.This of course is a suicide for the stae of Israel and a non starter.So the Arab initiative is nothing more than a publicity stunt.
The Arabs have been making overtures, but Israel does not want to free Palestine. It is a tragedy that the settler and religious zealots have captured the Israeli leadership. Their focus on their own greed to the exclusion of greater Israel is destroying Israel and any potential for reconciliation with the Arabs.
We know you would like things to be different Akiva. Same with us. Why not? However man likes to blame others for their own problems. The Arabs need their Jews to blame. Even if peace does break out, it will be temporary. Knowing this, you should know this, please don't put our heads on the block. If you want to put your own head there.
Why no reference to your paper which says exactly the contrary : http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-saudi-bluff-1.297987 24.06.10 The Saudi bluff By Israel Harel To anyone with eyes in his head 'the Saudi initiative' was clearly a public relations exercise.
First, right about now, an excellent face-saving formula would be to let all Palestinians who were actually born in what is now Israel return. The number of the 62+ willing to pull up stakes and move back on their own would have to be minuscule. I'd guess about ten thousand, max. Second, even if a more unqualified solution is assumed, sociologists have suggested that while of course most Palestinians want to return in principle, the number who would actually wish to do so would be radically smaller. To some extent, it would be analogous to American Jews not actually emigrating to Israel. They like that they COULD -- but they generally don't.
Saudi "proposal" is an ultimatum: agree to this or we will continue to attack you. Did they invite us to negotiate? No? Because in their minds there is nothing to negotiate about: it's my way or the highway.
Yes you should seek to end occupation (of the people, not of the land), if it no longer serves your security needs. But don't fool yourself for a second that Arabs will kill every last one of you if they ever get a chance.
Israel is strong enough to steal it all. Israel will wait until the next war, or the next terrorist event, to justify stealing more. The tricky part is how to get rid of the Native population..."transfer" will have to be justified with a terrible, maybe nuclear, or chemical, or biological attack on Israel. Then when the land goal is reached, when Israel's border is at the Jordan River, that will be the right time to make peace. No one can stop Israel, that is the calculation.
There is an Islamic Jihadist movement around the world that is a network that wants to destroy Israel and the high standard of living and human rights reach of the US and replace it with the bloated poverty stricken dictatorships of the arab world based on man made Sharia law and nuclear blackmail. Aren't you reading the news around the world that every Arab nation wants war with Israel! Did you not read the Pal charters of the PLO, PA and Hamas? Are you living in an alternate reality? THE ARABS AND THE ISLAMISTS WANT TO DESTROY ISRAEL AND THE WEST FREEDOMS AT ALL COSTS! please do some research and stop writing self serving ridiculous articles
... that's the deal isn't it? Not that complex after. Is it really so hard to imagine that Palestinians would agree to that ? And judging from polls a majority of Israelis might do as well. So why not adjust our (read: Israeli) voting habbits towards that end? Simple anwer: Much more blood still needs to be spilled. Maybe then extremists like Bibi will be put in their places. We have shown the world that we can fight - can we prove our ability to make peace ? The cost: Some xy billion $ and a few hits on our Misrachi senses of honour and pride. The prize: Long-term benefits extending far beyond our region and possibly even world Peace. It is hard not to believe in the Messiah if so much glory is on offer. Any volunteers ?
Why do you ignore Olmert's incredibly generous offer? He offered virtually 100% of the land the Palestinians claim. Half of Jerusalem. A corridor connecting Gaza with the west Bank. The return of thousands of Arabs to Israel. It was rejected because it did not allow millions of Arabs to "return" to Israel and the end of israel as a Jewish State.
But would it not be far too humiliating to accept a peace initiative from an Arab?
It is a good analysis although it is unilateral. The arab league proposal is a first kick in the peace play however all players should attend the game. Arab League represents Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, and Yemen. It seems to me some other players are absent and others, not so reliable.
The Saudi plan essentially says that Israel will grant all the Arab League's demands - and it has always been their demands, not the Palestinians - then they will negotiate, when there is nothing left to negotiate. And by the way, the Arab League has never relinquished the three No's.
Anyone who wants to understand the peace process need only watch Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The parallels are striking. Sometimes a state of war becomes so normal that peace is too frightening to contemplate.
We know which came first, it was not the 3 no's.
Just adhere to the law. Too much?
The Arab Yes's are clearly dependent on the Palestinians interpretation of the "right" of return. And it forbids it's member states to give citizenship to Arabs who claim to be "palestinians", a continuation of a cruel policy toward the palestinians that have been ongoing since 1948.
NOT the Palestinians OR Israelis
Not a Cruel policy. The reason is for them to stay Palestinians to claim right to return.
Arab peace initiative is commendable, it's retreat from previous intransigence. However, it's obvious, that it cannot be accepted as is: the peace must be negotiated. But the declaration has already been negotiated: between 22 Arab nations. Every change in it requires agreement of these nations and it's technically impossible to simply change it. Therefore, Israel should acknoledge the positive sides of this declaration (and Israel has acknoledged them) and negotiate with the Palestinians the actual peace arrangements (which Israel does).
I wish that Harel's diatribe on supposed Arab dissimulation was instead replaced by something other than the usual white washing of Israel's own responsibility in making peace: why doesn't the Israeli leadership present its own vision on what peace will look like, instead of standing in firm opposition to anything that appears to move in a meritable direction? The longer they wait the more apparent it becomes that maybe they just aren't interested in peace at all, preferring instead to forever be in ideological servitude to right wing extremists who hide behind the veil of "democracy". You don't have to lob a rocket to be a terrorist, very often, a bulldozer will do just fine...
Israel can not release a "vision" of how it wants this conflict ended, because it understands that its unbridled greed and selfishness Must Not Be Revealed To The World. Too many useful idiots really do believe that Israel wants peace, and Israel has no interest in showing them its true face.
and the goal of a greater Israel. Just look at the Likud Charter--no where does it allow for a Palestinian State. This policy is in keeping with that of all previous Israeli leaders.
However this Hasbara nonsense doesn't work on anybody but the already believers in constant eternal confrontation. Peace is a four letter world among the Israeli right.
i truly feel sorry for the radical right in isreal,they want to create a history for a state that was historyless except in the past but they going the wrong way about it. they want wars they want destructions yet the proper way to make a new history is to look at jews and how greatly contributed to civilization do read history correctly
So far, there hasn't been any sign of ending hostilities towards Israel. They should stop inciting, funding, condoning, and enabling the actions of the enemies of Israel.
"So far, there hasn't been any sign of ending hostilities towards Israel." Why post your foolish comments without first reading the article? It's about the Arab League Plan, which is a blueprint for ending the hostilities.
Tom, why is it that everyone OTHER than Israel has obligations? Why should Israel never be obligated to take some sort of initiative?
No. Of course not. It would spoil your silly fairy tale.
They should stop inciting, funding, condoning and enabling the actions of the real enemies of Israel, the Kahanists who move into houses that were built by the UN for Palestinian refugees and manage to get Israeli courts to sanction such criminality.
their real aim is to colonize the west bank, why bother with peace when you have the 4th most powerful military in the world...and the palestinians don't even have a functioning unity government, let alone a developed economy or even a basic military
Why didn't the Arabs accept a State for themselves before '67?? Instead, they attacked Israel, and LOST. Who is the real obstacle to peace, genius??
And as far as I am concerned the westbank is Israel. Silly people its like we are to just buy into what we are told. There is no Palistine or palitinian people.. They are Arabs plan and simple. replacement history at its best.
we have not even had a discussion on the saudi initiative, talked about pros and cons, discussed what is in our interest and what is not. Yet it has been 8 years of silence on the initiatve. We don't have to accept it but we owe it to ourselves to hear, discuss and debate it.
The Saudi plan is as wholesome as the oil spill in the gulf and as black.