Road Map to Where?

By Katharine Salem

How many days until the next election? (Does it matter anyway?)

Truth, justice, honesty, and international law have become dirty words to the leaders of the US and Israel. These days no one is allowed to disagree with the leaders, and no one is allowed to admit the truth of what they see and have seen. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the two countries try to hide themselves from any watchful eyes and scrutiny. They have grabbed the fig leaf of deceptive rhetoric to hide the otherwise obvious shamefulness.

The current road map for a Palestinian State is a negotiating plan created by the US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, a.k.a., the “Quartet”. Many of us who have followed and studied the issue know that this new road map is really just a circle.

In his final days in office, former President Bill Clinton had worked diligently against the clock to try to squeeze out a peace plan that would work. However, Yassir Arafat and Ehud Barak were still unable to agree on the details, particularly in regard to Jerusalem. Two years ago, in early 2001 (after the 2000 “election”), President George W. Bush refused to get involved in efforts towards peace between Israel and Palestine. At almost the same time, Israel elected Ariel Sharon as the new Prime Minister. Sharon and Bush both understood very clearly the conflicting interests of peace and economics. Thus, Bush turned a blind eye to the problems, and Clinton’s efforts seemed to be forgotten.

Apparently some resourceful staff member at the White House found copies of various unsuccessful peace plans drafted throughout modern history, such as those from the Clinton-era. With little effort, the words have been cut and pasted to form a new road map, submitted to the “Quartet” for review, and released in a timely fashion to coincide with the brutality the US has illegally unleashed on yet another country.

In true Bush fashion, he is yet again seeking to gag, bind, and beat his opponents into submission, and to thereafter proclaim that American justice has been served. His actions and schemes reveal his mentality – that truth, justice, and humanity have little or nothing to do with peace. Instead, his notion of peace is the peace and silence of the enslaved and the dead.

The recent events in the Middle East are eerily familiar. Palestinians rise up in an Intifada. After some time, a man named “Bush” declares war on the weakened country of Iraq. Subsequently, he declares a victory. Soon thereafter, Palestinians and Israelis are in the midst of “peace accords” that are supported more from exhaustion than from a desire for real peace. We could be talking about the Oslo Accords or the current road map.

The first stage of the road map is not unlike previous agreements, including the Oslo Peace Accords. First, the Palestinians were called on to appoint a new prime minister, which has been accomplished with the new Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (“Abu Mazen”). Furthermore, the Palestinians are supposed to end the Intifada, establish a new government accepted by the US, draft a constitution subject to the Quartet's approval, and (…all together now…) to recognize Israel's right to exist. The second stage reiterates the Tenet Plan, calling for Israel to withdraw its troops from the areas it illegally reoccupied in September 2002 and to stop adding new settlements on Palestinian territory. The third stage mentions that a provisional Palestinian state with temporary borders “might” be created. The issues of borders, refugees, Jerusalem and settlements are left open for the final stage.

Essentially, the new road map is a recycled version of past documents of the “peace process”, and will be equally incapable of producing lasting peace. The one overriding characteristic of all past peace proposals and agreements in the history of the Palestine-Israel Conflict has been that they all lack these three necessities to actual peace among the people: 1) Recognition of the reality of history, which includes accountability for damages; 2) Reimbursement and/or restitution for past and present damages; and, 3) Recourse for current grievances and disputes, that is effective and available through an international court and body of law. Without these, it is not likely that there will be a lasting peace.

There is a young woman living in Israel that I befriended on the Internet. She is from a well-known and politically active family in Israel. Many of her stories are terrible -- stories of what she has suffered from her family and other Israelis because of her understanding and sympathy for Palestinians. Her humanity and openness is generally seen as being traitorous to Israel, and she has suffered unjustly and cruelly for any showing or hint of her perspectives and beliefs.

Other peaceful Israelis share her feelings of ostracism and helplessness. Conscientious objectors to Israel’s mandatory military service, who refuse to serve in the Occupied Territories, are seen by many Israelis as a disgrace or as traitors. True peace-seeking Israelis as well as Jews that are against Zionism are often the targets of chastisement by other Zionists who believe that the State of Israel is always beyond reproach. And the latter are the ones with the political power and influence in Israel (and the US) -- the ones that Bush claims will honestly work on a road map for a Palestinian State.

The “Christian Right” has also hopped on board with the movement to protect the State of Israel from all criticism, despite the fact that there are many Christians included in those who have suffered, have been driven from their homes, and have died. Senators Santorum and Brownback have recently proposed a bill to cut funding to individuals and universities that allow speech that criticizes the State of Israel, deeming all criticism to be anti-Semitic. Look out Noam Chomsky and other American Jews that criticize Israel. Look out any Jews working with the International Solidarity Movement and Israeli conscientious objectors that have toured the US. Are we supposed to believe that these US leaders are serious about a road map to a Palestinian State?

If it was not clear enough for me from my research and reviews of historical events, then it became crystal clear from talking to my online friend in Israel that even the “moderate” Israelis would never ever accept any part of the lands conquered by Israel to be given to Palestinians. When I asked her what the point was of all of the past efforts of the peace process, she answered, “Nothing.” And other Israelis have confirmed this -- that indeed, there has never been a real intention on the part of Israel to truly move towards fulfilling the stipulations of peace accords. The excuse is always so easy to sell: Palestinians have not done enough to show that they are committed to ending the terrorism and violence.

I once watched a television program about the rapper Ice-T. At one point in the program he talked about the issue of violence within certain predominantly Black communities. He said something during the interview that caused me to grab a pen and paper to jot down his words. The quote goes something like this: “Violence is caused by a lack of hope.” These words struck a chord with me as I could see the relationship between what he was saying with the violence in Palestine.

Without a system or plan for justice in place, the new road map will be a failure. It doesn’t matter if the leaders shake hands, win peace prizes, and mesmerize the unwitting viewers. Without hope of justice being served, effective laws, and a forum for fair dispute resolution between parties, the violence and uprisings will inevitably persist.

The other part of the problem is not that brilliant ideas to end the Palestine-Israel Conflict have not been created in the past. The problem is that these plans have always called for “confidence-building” measures designed as a series of steps that would supposedly lead to other greater steps towards peace. So instead of real successes, the story has always been one of squabbling over who moves first, and who gave up something and what they will get in return.

The entire idea of “confidence-building” measures is likely a purposefully designed failure. It has never produced peace, so why should anyone conclude that it will lead to peace this time? Doesn’t it make more sense instead to say that the designers of “road maps” with “confidence-building” measures have actually designed a brilliant road map indeed, but one with a more lucrative destination than peace?

The Real Way to Peace

A real attempt at peace between Israel and Palestine would look quite a bit different from the road map du jour. A better plan might include an empowered international body of monitors and peacekeepers to be present within Jerusalem, and throughout the region. There should be a special international court set up to specifically deal with past, present, and future disputes between people in Israel and Palestine. The international court should have actual power to enforce judgments and sentences.

Furthermore, if the US were truly in support of a peace plan that would work, it would have to act in a manner consistent with justice. It would have to stop ignoring its own laws that are allowed to be broken. For example, US economic aid to Israel is around $3 billion per year (in addition to other agreements for aid). This has been given, despite its violation of §116 of the Foreign Assistance Act. The US also sends arms as aid to Israel, which includes all of the tanks, bombs, and fighter planes used by Israel against the Palestinians. This aid is in violation of §4 of the Arms Export Control Act, which stipulates that the arms are to be used only for defense, not to illegally invade territories and kill civilians.

If the US taxpayers’ money is going to go to countries for weapons and assistance, then the US should be just and consistent in who gets the support and how much they get. There can’t be real peace if the US is handing billions over to Israel while Israel breaks its own agreements as well as US stipulations, while Palestine is disadvantaged even while upholding its agreements. With grossly skewed opportunities for growth and security, what is the point of compliance with any agreements? If the US is inconsistent with enforcing foreign compliance of its own laws, then why should any country trust proposals set forth by the US?

A real peace proposal would not only call for a “halt” to Israeli settlement construction activity, but would once and for all eliminate the illegal Israeli ownership of settlements. In the past, Israel has disputed over what exactly is meant by settlement “activity” -- whether it means stopping all future projects that are not currently underway, or actually stopping current projects in their tracks. The point is that all of the Israeli settlements are illegal, and have been the way for Israel to confiscate more land. The persistent building of settlements has also been the definite mark of Israel refusing to comply with any peace plan, and has fueled the conflict. The illegal settlements do not offer any security to Israel, but instead worsen the problem.

Q: What do Palestinians with a new road map and a racehorse have in common?
A: They are both ridden in circles, until they are exhausted and wind up in the same place they started.

Ariel Sharon -- the man whose life’s work has caused the death of thousands of civilians and who was the impetus for the start of the second Palestinian Intifada -- recently made the statement that, “It is not possible to continue holding 3.5 million people under occupation. You may not like the word, but what’s happening is occupation. This is a terrible thing for Israel, for the Palestinians and for the Israeli economy.” Lo and behold, Sharon has revealed that he is, just as George W. Bush said, “a man of peace”.

Yes, Ariel Sharon has extended his kind and generous hand to the weary and oppressed as a sign of good faith, just as George W. Bush has acted with such valor in a war to free the Iraqis.

What honorable men.

What a sham.

Meanwhile, fences are still being erected to cut off Palestinian towns from each other, settlements are still under construction, and IDF bulldozers are still demolishing Palestinian homes.

In the month of May, 67 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. According to PHRMG, 16 of those killed were children, with 12 children under the age of 15, and 4 children between ages 15-17.

On the day of June 4th, 2003 in Nablus: one killed and 48 injured.

Since September 29, 2000 in the West Bank and Gaza, the current total of Palestinian conflict-related injuries is 22,904 and deaths is 2,346.