LOOKING AROUND: Holding the line
By Barbara Sofer
February, 14 2002
Army Spokesman Ron Kitri prefers that journalists avoid the term "intifada" when describing "the military conflict of the past 18 months." The Arabic word brings to mind a popular revolt with street demonstrations and teens throwing stones. It's the term used for a dog shaking off fleas.
For lack of a one-word replacement, the name intifada has stuck and expanded to include the suicide bombings, shooting massacres and stabbings that are Yasser Arafat's answer to the peace plan presented at Camp David.
Personally, the word I have trouble with isn't intifada, it's "occupation." I can't understand why we're recycling those old "End the Occupation" signs when we've signed the Oslo Agreements. Didn't we indeed turn over governance of nearly all major Palestinian centers to the Palestinians under those accords? Isn't Area A (talk about a term that needs replacement!) controlled by Arafat's dictatorship, not by us?
The Oslo Accords were always a source of debate within Israel. Some of us worked hard to bring them about. Others of us used all our efforts to protest them. No matter on which side we stood, we witnessed our governments, both Likud and Labor-led, taking practical steps to implement them. The agreement was based on land for peace, and we gave land. The Palestinians cheered our departure, and we felt good getting out of Gaza City, too. For better or worse, most days, Israeli troops aren't patroling downtown Nablus. Ariel Sharon's photo isn't hanging over the door of Hebron's city hall. The only Israeli flags in Ramallah are ready, along with US flags, for burning.
The ease with which the Palestinians have developed their own arms factories is one unhappy effect of our giving up control of Palestinian centers. Do most foreigners realize this? I don't think so. Some days, I don't think we realize it either. Anyone listening to the rhetoric around our current conflict would think that the Oslo Accords never took place.
That our enemies repeat the word "occupation" like a mantra is no surprise. But that mainstream spokespersons for Israel don't bother to remind the public and the press that the Palestinians are ruled by their own corrupt politicians puzzles me.
ONE REASON we still feel uncomfortable about denying the unfavorable description of ourselves is that the Palestinians live in such wretched conditions. They are indeed poorer, have higher unemployment, worse health care and fewer social services than we do. I'm sorry about the poverty. The only solution to these Third World problems is massive (supervised) investment by the world community. But peace is a prerequisite for economic growth.
The notorious roadblocks which prohibit free movement are indeed odious. Everyone who has been stopped for a real or imagined traffic violation recognizes what an unpleasant experience being questioned by the law is. The negative experience is multiplied many times when the armed force in power is that of an unsympathetic army. Ubiquitous stories of hardships on the sick and needy who have trouble getting through barriers for medical care make us all wince, even though we didn't invent the need for these security checks.
Although we never got to vote on an orderly, point-by-point referendum on the Barak-Clinton proposals at Camp David, surely the elimination of roadblocks and realigning of areas under each people's control was part of the deal. How many nations can say, as we can, that we've voluntarily resettled our own population in the quest for peace? The notion that we might sadistically enjoy the drama at the checkpoints is preposterous and galling.
This month, marking the first anniversary of Sharon's landslide victory, is a natural time for us to take stock. On the plus side, we see the growing recognition by the US, if not in Europe, of the terrorist character of the Palestinian Authority and its dictator. On the negative side, the 337% rise in terrorism, plus the police prediction that terrorism will increase this year, are sources of alarm.
We are no closer to peace than we were last year, and more than 200 Israelis are dead. Although most of us still feel favorably toward the prime minister, the hope that he would find a creative solution to the conflict is fading. No wonder we often wake up feeling boxed in and frustrated.
Reacting to the impasse, a variety of groups are trying to move us in one direction or another. A group of IDF reserve officers are refusing to serve at the roadblocks and in night raids into Area A, in the hope of pushing the government into making concessions. Peace Now is starting a campaign, "Get Out of the Territories, Return to Ourselves," to make it clear to Palestinians that we were serious about the territorial changes offered at Camp David. A group in Judea and Samaria is trying to reach Palestinians with billboards in Arabic, urging them to shake off their immoderate leadership. The nationalist camp advocates the use of much stronger force in the Palestinian centers.
Proliferation of opinions is a strength of democracy, of course. The Palestinians shouldn't be confused by it, and neither should we. The intifada began, says a senior military figure, partly because the Palestinians assumed we were incapable of "holding a line in hard rock" against attrition. They misunderstood the movement to leave Lebanon. Holding that line hasn't been easy, but we should feel some satisfaction that those of us privileged to live in the State of Israel are doing it.
To face the future, we need to invest in enlarged security and emergency services. We need more and regular visitors from abroad so that we do not suffer from a dearth of tourism in addition to the plague of terrorism.
We need to be careful and unabashed about the message we're sending others and ourselves. We have only one country, and we plan to dwell here forever.
