Peace Process: Palestinians Need Security Too

By Jawad Ali

Craig Newmark, the genius behind the enormously useful Craigslist has started his own blog. This week he contributed some money to a worthy Middle East cause and wanted feedback on two other projects:

• West Bank microfinance via jozoor.org
  
• A possible mass peace movement: One Voice
  

I will share my feedback with him and with MWU! readers.

I think that both those projects are on the right track, and their hearts are in the right places. I hope that the readers will not forget that I support these efforts in spirit when they read my concerns.

Jozoor
Economic progress brings peace, and Microfinance performs small miracles in places like Bangladesh. But Palestine and the occupied territories are very different from Bangladesh. In Bangladesh prosperity is held in check by the complexities of mismanagement and lack of economic stimulation. In Palestine the economy is purposefully and systematically being destroyed as an act of war.

I have heard Professor Joel Benin talk about his experiences as a young person at an Israeli kibbutz. The destruction of the Palestinian economy was central to an otherwise left wing utopia. He talks about how the settlers would pour gasoline on the tomatoes that small Arab family farmers were trying to bring to the market. Things have only become much worse since then.

I think that this is an apt analogy for the entire Palestinian economy. Efforts to loan money to that Palestinian farmer to grow his next futile crop of tomatoes seem well intentioned, but they may be completely off the mark in addressing his economic needs.

I don’t know if Jozoor loans require collateral, or if the loans need to be repaid even if the business was destroyed by hostile action. At worst, the loans would push the farmer further into debt, and might force him to sell his last bit of land to European settlers. At best, they draw attention away from the economic realities of Palestine.

West Bank and particularly Gaza are giant concentration camps. Destruction of economic activity is a central goal of the occupation. The location of the “Apartheid” wall, for example, is carefully selected to cause maximum economic destruction. Any economic plan that does not address this willful destruction is merely rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic -- with money that needs to be paid back.

Helpful suggestions for Jozoor

• Make sure that you are not creating additional debt burden in ravaged economies. Be prepared to write off you loans.
  
• Focus part of your energy on trying to stop the economic war against Palestinians, even if it is just a few words. It takes weeks to grow tomatoes, and minutes to smash them.
  

One Voice
This is a project that is particularly close to my heart. Right after 9-11 I joined a very similar local group. We were not exactly like One Voice yet. We were more like a brainstorming session that tried to think up of movements like this. In the end we realized that we did not have the right mix to pull off something like this. We were motivated by the same belief in each other’s essential goodness. The best part of the group was just hanging out and breaking bread once a month among Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Israelis and regular Americans. In a sense One Voice seeks to succeed where our group failed: in building a tangible grass roots movement.

Here is how I think the One Voice idea is supposed to work. People start by signing a proclamation, and then a “Council of Experts” will present proposals for people to vote upon. What do they plan to do with Jerusalem? The FAQ answers that question: it is up to the people to decide what to do with Jerusalem. That is the best approach.

I have trouble getting past the “Proclamation of Principles for Reconciliation.” Presumably these are the things that will not be discussed and voted upon. Some are obvious, such as recognizing the humanity of each side. Some are unacceptable, such as a belief in the two-state solution as the only option.

I envision a single state where Arabs and Jews will live side-by-side as equals, and each man and woman will have one and only one vote. This is how the much of the civilized world has solved its tribal problems. Many sensible progressive people are starting to come to this conclusion.

The two-state solution smells too much like the “separate but equal” solution that was offered to the black people of America, or the Bantustan solution that was offered to South African blacks. If American and South African whites and blacks can share a country then Arabs and Jews can too.

I think that the two-state solution will be impractical and unjust, but I would still be willing to discuss this in a dialog/brainstorming group. The folks at One Voice seem to have taken the most obvious solution entirely off the table, by forcing all participants to sign their loyalty to their solution before any discussion ever takes place.

Some of the other points of the Proclamation are also troublesome. “I understand that for the Palestinians ending the occupation and achieving freedom is critical, while for the Israelis ending terrorism and ensuring security is critical. I support these goals,” we are expected to declare. The lack of symmetry in this statement is one of the most tragic clichés of the so-called peace process. This is just an indication that there may not be much equal in separate-but-equal. There never is.

Palestinians too have a need to security. They too will be giving up or sharing land for peace. This lack of symmetry (explicit concern for Israeli but not Arab security, for example) is designed to ensure a nuclear-armed Israel ends up next to a mandatory unarmed Palestine. Palestine will have no way to prevent a massively armed Israel from bullying its way back to the current situation.

The statement above also leaves out the millions of Arab refugees that were cleansed out of Israel. The Palestinians consider their fate to be critical. I doubt that it was by accident that this was left off the list.

One Voice has a very Israeli-liberal feel to it. This is a big improvement on the right wing Israeli ethic that is currently dominant. One voice just does not sound like it came from the hearts of many moderate Palestinians.

Helpful hints for One Voice

• Reach beyond the usual small elite--learn the concerns of ordinary Palestinians


• Know that the return of the refugees is a central concern for them


• Learn why they view the "peace process" as a cruel fraud, and avoid its methods and vocabulary


• Don’t assume that two-state solution is the only, or even best solution


• Don’t become one-sided this early in the process. Talk about both sides as victims of terrorism. Talk about the need for both sides to give up land and expect equal security.