A new year; a year of peace?

Michael Rader: Reflections on Israeli-Palestinian relations

Exactly four years ago, I wrote a column on these pages about the August 21, 1995 terrorist bombing of bus #26 in Ramat Eshkol, Jerusalem which claimed the life of my teacher Joan Davenny. I ended that article this way: "This Yom Kippur will indeed be a sad day. As we Jews confront the past year - its joyous times and its tragedies - we will undoubtedly pause to remember our martyrs, who died simply because of their Jewishness. We will confront our Creator and come to grips with suffering, as we have done before. But then we will resolve to emulate the best qualities of our teachers and our role models. We will strive to fulfill the dreams of people like Joan - to live and love as Jews, to be decent human beings, and to pursue peace. When the gates of heaven close at sunset on Yom Kippur, our final prayers will be for the strength to both remember what we have lost and to forge a new and vibrant future" ("Mourning Joan," September 15, 1995).

Those words still ring true to me, but four years later, I have a distinct sense of unease at the state of the peace process, and at mounting evidence that the extremist groups and views which led to Joan's death are becoming stronger rather than weaker.

According to the Committee for Monitoring the Impact of Peace (www.edume.org <\http://www.edume.org>), which recently completed a review of Palestinian Authority textbooks, Palestinian schoolchildren are uniformly being taught to hate Jews. For instance, the official ninth grade textbook on Islamic Education teaches that "treachery and disloyalty are character traits of the Jews and therefore one should beware of them" (p. 87).

Sixth graders read of a young boy growing up with "the love of Jihad flowing through his veins and filling every fiber of his being ... nothing gave him joy but the sight of the enemy lying dead on the battlefield, or defeated and running for their lives ..." ("The Conqueror of Africa," for Sixth Grade).

These textbooks are in clear violation of the peace accords, which require both the PA and Israel to "abstain from incitement, including hostile propaganda, against each other," and to "ensure that their respective educational systems contribute to the peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples" Chapter 4, Article XXII, Para. 1-2 of the September 28, 1995 Interim Agreement, signed in Washington, D.C.

Other violations of the peace accords by the Palestinian Authority, particularly with respect to security concerns, are legion.

According to a report which aired on PA radio Tuesday, Yasir Arafat's Palestinian Authority immediately recruited into its security forces all 199 terrorist prisoners released last week by Israel. This move is a direct and serious violation of the peace accords, which state that "The Palestinian side will notify Israel of any candidate for recruitment to the Palestinian Police. Should Israel object to the recruitment of any such candidate, that person shall not be recruited." Annex I, Article IV, Part 4, Para. (d) of the September 28, 1995 Interim Agreement.

On August 31, 1999, the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reported that the PA has established a naval commando unit. The existence of this unit came to light when two of the Palestinian frogmen were killed in a July training accident. The Oslo Accords do not permit the PA to operate offensive forces, let alone commando units.

In addition, the Palestinian Authority steadfastly refuses to comply with the requirement, reiterated under virtually every agreement it has signed since Oslo, that it extradite suspected terrorists to Israel for trial. The agreements require that both sides, "upon receipt of a request in accordance with this article, shall effect the arrest and transfer requested." Annex IV, Article II, Part 7, Para. (f) of the September 28, 1995 Interim Agreement. This requirement was reiterated in Article II, Part C, Para. 3 of the Wye Agreement, signed October 23, 1998.

Pursuant to the Interim Agreement, on March 31, 1997 Israel submitted a total of 31 requests to the PA for transfer of terror suspects, including 11 new requests and 20 requests which had previously been submitted. The PA has not only failed to act on these requests, but in numerous cases has actually rewarded the suspects with positions in its security forces. For instance, Bassam Khalil Abdel Rahman Aram, suspected in the murder of Zvi Fixler at Moshav Gan-Or on December 10, 1993, is currently active in the Palestinian security forces. Bassam Subhi Issa, suspected of involvement in the terror attack on Yoel Solomon street in Jerusalem on October 9, 1994 in which terrorists opened fire, killing two and wounding eight others, now serves in the Palestinian Preventative Security Service. So does Atef Hamadan, a suspect in the murder of several Palestinians thought by radical Palestinian groups to have "collaborated with Israel."

The Associated Press reported on Sept. 9, 1999 that Jamal Imtur, who was released pursuant to the recent Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum after serving 14 years of a life sentence for murder, "got a hero's welcome in Hebron, where Palestinian police outfitted him with a submachine gun and led a 50-car convoy to his village 20 minutes away."

Unfortunately, Jewish and Israeli pleas to the United States government regarding extradition have fallen on deaf ears. When contacted in early April by Joyce Boim, a U.S. citizen and mother of terror victim David Boim, to discuss the induction of terrorists who have killed Americans into the PA's security forces, the State Department told her that Secretary Albright would neither meet with her, nor speak with her for a few moments over the telephone.

In an effort to deflect criticism from its systematic violation of Oslo's security requirements, the PA is now attempting to institute an Arab boycott of any company which conducts business in a manner recognizing - even in the most innocent, non-political and non-controversial way - Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.

For instance, the PA is asking Arabs to boycott of a forthcoming exhibit at Disney's Epcot Center Millennium Village which refers to Jerusalem as Israel's capital. A recent posting on the PA's web site calls the exhibit a "forgery" and accuses Disney of entering into an alliance with "Israeli occupying power, dictating its military, socio-cultural, and demographic occupation over Arab Jerusalem." (www.pna.org/mininfo/statements/est_009.htm <\http://www.pna.org/mininfo/statements/est_009.htm>)

The Sprint Company was recently pressured into dropping its "Call Israel" ad campaign showing a western view from the Mount of Olives, looking past the Dome of the Rock.

Arafat, with help from various Arab American groups, recently convinced Burger King to close its restaurant in Ma'ale Adumim, a suburb of Jerusalem which the PA declares to be up-for-grabs in the final status negotiations. 26,000 people live in Ma'ale Adumim, a city which is considered non-negotiable and non-controversial by the vast majority of Israelis. Prime Minister Barak has promised its residents that the community will remain part of Israel after the final status talks.

By disputing Ma'ale Adumim, Arafat has sent a message to Barak: The Palestinian position is unabashedly maximalist. By carrying his campaign around the world, to Disney, Sprint, Burger King and others, Arafat has made clear that he will use any and all means at his disposal, including the dusty but apparently still potent weapon of Arab boycott, to accomplish his goals.

At a time when the Israeli government is busy making major concessions, Arafat appears unwilling to compromise on anything.

For its part, Israel has agreed to a "safe passage" arrangement between Gaza and the West Bank which will expose Israel to a significant terrorist threat (since there is no way to stop cars on the "safe passage" route from dropping off, or picking up, weapons or terrorists), as well as pullbacks of both military and civilian control from significant portions of the West Bank, and the release of hundreds of security prisoners who have participated in past terrorist acts.

All of these concessions come with the hope that at the end of the process awaits a final peace agreement with Arafat and the PA. However, that peace agreement can only be realized if Arafat is also willing to make some compromises. Many predict that Israel will find out the hard way that it simply is not in Arafat's best interest to sign a final agreement at all - because that would presumably require an official recognition that his legitimate claims do not cover the entirety of the West Bank.

In short, Arafat may not want to be remembered as the one who officially gave up the Palestinian dream for sovereignty over all of Palestine, or at least all of the West Bank. If that is the case, Israel is in for a rude awakening. When Arafat finally gathers enough land to declare his own state unilaterally, he will do so without the quid pro quo of recognizing Israel's rights to retain sovereignty over the remainder of the territories conquered in 1967 (e.g. the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem, Ma'ale Adumim, etc.). This would give Arafat the benefit of a state without the responsibilities of peace.

One can only hope that this nightmare scenario will not obtain. But how to align Arafat's interests with those of the peace camp in Israel? The most obvious way is through economics. This is the vision of former Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who travels the world raising money for Palestinian development. He believes that the best way to achieve peace is by making the alternative too costly for the Palestinian side.

Another way is through grass-roots efforts. I was touched to read recently about a young American woman named Molly Resnick who has gathered some 2,000 letters from Jewish children to Palestinian children that will be sewn into 20 "peace quilts." The quilts will be displayed in Washington, DC, after which they will be transported to the PA. According to Resnick, she began this ambitious project, under the banner of an organization called Mothers Against Teaching Children to Kill and Hate, in response to the shocking content of PA textbooks. She hopes that it will make at least a small difference in this enormously complex conflict.

Jews and Israelis must continue to extend our hands in peace to the Palestinians in the coming year. At the same time, we do not dare turn a blind eye to actions which undermine the very foundations of the peace process which we have undertaken at great personal and national risk.

This story appeared in The Herald: Monday, September 20, 1999