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April 21, 2002
Michelle Campos
Suckered Again in Israel
Mike Leon
200,000
in DC Protest Say:
"We Are All Palestinians Today"
C.G. Estabrook
Sex and Power in Catholicism
Kathy
Kelly
Gimme
Some Truth Now
A Walk Through Jenin
April 20, 2002
Philip Farruggio
Drowning in a Sea of Apathy
Kristen
Schurr
Leaving
Nablus
Bernard Weiner
Israel and the Intifada
for Dummies
Jean-Guy
Allard
A
Coup Signed by Otto Reich
Chris Floyd
The "Grandeur" That Was Rome:
A Letter from the Front
April 19, 2002
Eric Flint
Free
the Books!
David Krieger
A Peace Proposal:
Bring in the Children
Jeff Paterson
Advice
to Recruits from
a Gulf War Vet
Jeffrey St. Clair
From Sen. "Lunkhead" to
Bush Energy Czar: A Year in the Life of Spencer Abraham
April 18, 2002
Tom Turnipseed
Latin
America's Dilemma:
The Propaganda of Otto Reich
Sam Bahour
Bush is Playing Russian
Roulette with Palestinians
M. Shahid
Alam
A
Colonizing Project
Built on Lies
Alexander Cockburn
Austin Cultural Limits:
Willie Nelson, Film and BBQ
April 17, 2002
Norman
Finkelstein
Behind
the Carnage in Palestine
Kristen Schurr
With the Wounded
and the Homeless in Nablus
Norman
Madarasz
Undoing
Chavez:
The View from South America
Brian Wood
Combing The Ruins of Jenin
George
Monbiot
Chemical
Coup: The CIA's Attempt to Undermine the UN's Weapon Inspector
for Iraq
Robert Fisk
Fear and Learning in America
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April 22, 2002
Is There a Way Out?
Occupation,
Terror and Understanding
By Daniel Bar-Tal
This is very tragic period in the history of the
region and on the personal level I feel that my world collapsed.
Almost all my life, I was deeply committed
to the cause of peace in the Middle East. Already in the late
sixties, as an undergraduate student, I joined a very small group
at Tel Aviv University, called Siyah (Dialogue) which believed
even at the height of the intractable conflict that it is possible
to open a dialogue with Arab neighbors. This was the beginning
of political activism which has continued through the years until
today: through an active participation in the Secretariat of
Peace Now movement in the late seventies and early eighties until
today, as recently I took the role of coeditor of the Palestine
Israel Journal with Ziad Abu Zyyad (a Minister at the Palestinian
Authority), as the Palestinian partner, to spread the idea that
the dialogue between the Palestinians and the Israelis is possible
even in these difficult times.
In addition, I have devoted the last
twenty years of my academic career to try to understand the roots
and the dynamics of the psychological foundations of the Arab-Israeli
conflict.
My world collapsed because at present
not only I do not see a light at the end of the tunnel, I even
do not see the tunnel. I think that the psychological basis for
any possible positive relations collapsed and it will take years
and years to reconstruct it. The events of the recent years caused
to the evolvement of deep mistrust, hostility, hatred and fear
among those Palestinians and Israelis, who believed that it is
possible to carry a dialogue between the two nations, that it
is possible to negotiate peaceful solution to the conflict and
that both nations can live in peace in two states with good neighboring
relations. I say years, because the collapse on the Palestinian
side began earlier than on the Israeli side, already in the late
nineties. I exclude from this evaluation all those Israelis and
Palestinians who never believed in peace making and some even
did all they could to stop it. As result of this collapsing process,
I feel somewhat defeated. What was built through many years with
great efforts and devotion was destroyed in a relatively very
short period.
The present situation is very tragic
because there is no basis for any direct negotiation, and both
nations are condemned to further bloodshed and vicious cycles
of violence. Only external intervention that will impose and
supervise a cease fire, together with political advancement,
can bring a new spirit to the region. But as I see the situation,
the Israeli government objects fiercely to such developments
and the US, which has the ability to carry such a mission, will
not do it, because of various internal considerations and also
because of the particular geopolitical views and politics that
holds the present administration.
Unfortunately, neither Europe nor the
UN has the power to assist the rival sides.
Extremists on both sides give the tone
to the nature of the relations. On the one side, Palestinians
are united with all its fractions behind the struggle against
the occupation and behind the agreement to carry terror against
Israel and on the other side, the great majority of the Israelis
support the brutal actions carried by the Israeli army as government's
policy. About 30% of the Israeli public who supported the peace
process changed their opinion in favor of distrust and harsh
measures against the Palestinians. The peace camp in Israel continues
to live as a small minority of about 20-30% of the Jewish population.
But it does not have a potential leader that could unite it and
lead to possible comeback. It is highly probable that the next
Prime Minister of Israel will be one of the extremists of the
Likud party.
I belong to all the Israelis that are
appalled by the use of terror which turns life in Israel into
a nightmare. It penetrated to every family. Not only hundreds
of innocent lives were taken, but the fear dominates the Israeli
life to an extent that it disturbs a normality and sanity. People
are afraid to ride buses, to go to public places, worry about
their dearest persons, and live in constant uncertainty and anxiety.
We do not allow our 18 year daughter to spend her time, as youngster
around the world do-She was asked not to go to discotheques,
coffee houses or malls. She was asked not to take buses and we
drive her to places that she needs to go. She just began her
army service and it causes to continuous worry about her safety.
At the same time I belong to the minority
of the Israelis who understand that Israeli government misuses
the phenomenon of terror to its political- psychological campaign.
It labels every act of the Palestinians as a terror act- including
demonstrations of Palestinians against occupation, throwing stones
against Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, or arm attacks on
Israeli soldiers in the occupied territories. It generalizes
the label terrorist to almost every Palestinian, trying to delegitimize
the whole nation and its leaders. Also, it tries to present the
acts of terror as random, sporadic, irrational, as a cause and
generally anti Jewish. At the same time it does not consider
violent and brutal acts done by the army against civilians and
innocent Palestinian population as a terror.
I realize that terror is a symptom and
has deep causes. It is defined in very specific way to differentiate
it from other types of violence. But the Israeli government refuses
to look at its causes and jumps on the American war against terrorism,
trying to present the situation in the Middle East as being similar
to the situation of September 11 and the war in Afghanistan.
In my opinion it is not similar and in fact very different in
its context, causality, and history.
I personally am greatly disturbed with
the policy carried by the government of Sharon. This government
includes the most extreme nationalist- fundamentalist forces,
which give the tone most of the time. I believe that Sharon is
part of these forces and it is very sad that the Labor party
is providing the cover to this government by its participation.
Settlers have great influence on the
decisions taken by the government and pushed it to take the harsh
and violent measures that eventually it took.
I believe that Sharon's policy is partially
responsible for the present situation. Israel holds all the political
cards, while the Palestinians hold only one card - the card of
Israeli security. Sharon blocked any political progress, outlined
unreasonable conditions for any negotiation and political process,
decided to carry assassinations in very delicate moments, when
cease-fire was possible, and most of all decided on brutal policies
against the Palestinians population. Eventually these policies
and acts pushed more Palestinians to the extreme behaviors of
terror that we witness today. At the same time, terror acts pushed
many Israelis to support the harsh measures against the Palestinians.
A number of times Sharon revealed his
political views and it is clear that he does not have anything
to offer to the Palestinians. His personal history is a history
of blood from Kibya, where he led an army unit to massacre 69
Jordanian villagers through Lebanon war to the present incursions
into the Palestinian towns and villages, which cause to death
and destruction and reinforce the hatred and animosity, building
cadres of new suicide bombers.
This is the same line of logic to break
the will of the Palestinian people and to impose on them an agreement.
It is sad to see how Israelis forget his past and support his
policy. The same man was a vicious opposition to Rabin, trying
to delegitimize Rabins' peace policies and Rabin himself. Rabin
was murdered and he leads the Israeli people.
What a paradoxical reality.
But, as it is possible to understand
intellectually the causes of terror, so it is possible to understand
the support of the Israeli public of Sharon's policies. We, the
Israelis are chronically insecure people after the Holocaust
and perceive every violent act against us as endangering our
basic existence. The recent wave of terror was so severe and
symbolic that about 70% of us are ready to accept almost every
act of violence to stop this bloodbath. People in such moments
loose their human perspective and turn into fearful and vengeful
warriors.
Arafat is far from being Mandela. He
could lead alternative polices that would save Palestinian suffering.
It is hard to know whether he leads the terror or follows the
acts with support, not being able, at the present conditions,
to lead with alternative policies. Terror has been always the
weapon of the weak and past terrorists were later accepted as
respected leaders in the world, including two Israeli Prime Ministers.
But this is an appalling way of struggle, even when the struggle
is justified and the world should deplore its use as a weapon.
The world is changing and the use of terror should be condemned.
Still, Arafat is the national leader
of the Palestinians and there is need to negotiate with him.
The grave fact is that Palestinians are under occupation. This
is a brutal occupation which makes the life of the Palestinian
unbearable, full of humiliation, and hardship. The settlements
continue. Just in the last year 38 new settlements were established
and last week, during the Powell visit in Israel, announced building
a new Jewish neighborhood in Eastern Jerusalem.
Intellectually, I know that people die
to defend their land and so do almost all the nations on this
earth: Most of the nations struggled violently for their independence
including USA, Hungary, Venezuela, Kenya, Algiers, etc and all
the nations are proud for this struggle while during the struggle
they were presented as terroristic and aggressive by the opponent.
I also know that in many cases the violent struggle was unavoidable
as no nation relinquishes voluntarily the grip of power, territory,
authority or resources. Jews in Palestine also had to fight the
British and had violent underground and used ways of terror.
Israelis refuse to understand this reality.
Few write about it and most of the media focuses on the Israeli
victimhood ignoring the suffering of the Palestinians. Israelis
ignore the needs and goals of the Palestinians and do not take
their perspective. I think that the turning point was in 1967
when the great majority of the Israelis were convinced that the
West Bank and Gaza Strip were liberated and are parts of the
Greater Israel. This view imprinted the whole approach to the
Arab-Israel conflict and since then the Israelis believe that
they give land and not return. Israel began to settle the occupied
territories and today there are about 140 settlements with 230,000
thousands of settlers, not counting the annexation of Jerusalem.
Think that in Gaza Strip (with million Palestinians) about 6000
Jewish settlers have 20% of the land and control 30% of the water.
This is outraging! Israelis refuse to understand these facts
as well as the fact that Palestinians believe that they compromise
for the 22% of their land by agreeing to have their state in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the lines of the 1967 borders.
Here lies one of the relevant fallacies
propagated by many Israelis and Americans-In Camp David, Israeli
Prime Minister Barak "gave the Palestinians everything".
Indeed the offers were more generous than any previous offers
(about 91% of the occupied territory and part of Eastern Jerusalem)
but fell far short of the minimum that Palestinians needed. Also,
the violence that began in September 2000 was a very tragic process.
Most of the Israelis believe that the second Intifada was well
prepared by the Palestinians as a way to achieve political goals.
It is possible. But few Israelis remember that the provocative
visit of Sharon began the cycles of violence and that during
the first day after his visit 7 Palestinians were killed and
dozens were wounded and during the first month about 230 Palestinians
and 15 Israelis were killed. Many of these Palestinians were
children and adolescents. Israeli army was so well prepared for
the Intifada that it exercised a massive violent reprisal that
was at least one factor that led to the continuing bloodshed.
This is part of the problem--the ignorance,
the distortion, the bias. Palestinians and Israelis are indoctrinated
and have limited access to information. Sharon called the media
to be patriotic and the Israeli military censor said that it
is patriotic to lie or present biased information. As a result,
the Israeli radio and TV news and also some major newspapers
present basically uncritically the view of the army and the government.
It is hard to hold these views as most
of the social environment has a different perception. Still you
have to know that there are hundreds thousands of Israelis who
oppose the present policies, continue to believe that Israel
must stop the occupation and that the Palestinian state in its
1967 line has to be established. It is sad that although the
contours of the permanent solution were already drawn in Taba
in February 2001, we will have to suffer much before it will
be implemented.
I try not loose my sanity in these difficult
days and try to look at the situation sober as a human being.
I believe that it extremely important as one that loves Israel
to keep the sober eye, because this is the only way that eventually
will be needed in order to resume the hopeful feelings that may
lead to the peaceful resolution of the conflict. I personally
focus mainly on the Israeli misdeeds, as there are so many Israelis
ready to describe and analyze all the mistakes, mal-intentions,
misdeeds and atrocities done by the Palestinians, ignoring and
overlooking our own contributions to the bloodsheds and the continuation
of the conflict.
My sharing came longer than I planned.
It is important for me that you will know that in spite of the
present rallying under the banner of war, there are many Israelis,
though a minority, who think differently than the present government,
do not accept blind patriotism, do not allow their fears to overcome
their reasons. And many among them are even ashamed of what the
present government is doing. The war of Lebanon began when also
70% of the Israelis supported it and ended partially in 1984
with mere 30% of its support. Although I do not see the tunnel,
I still keep the hope that more and more people will join forces
to struggle for peaceful resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict that will bring peace, security and prosperity to both
nations. We so badly need them.
Daniel Bar-Tal
is a social psychologist, whose research focuses on altruism,
helping and peace education. He teaches at the University of
Tel-Aviv.
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