Peace Now and its 'other'

By Yehudith Harel
In an article published in The Guardian on 5 January, novelist and founder of Israel's Peace Now movement, Amos Oz, reiterated the view that Palestinians were rejecting "the most far-reaching offer Israel can make" by insisting on the right of return for millions of refugees to their homeland. Oz claimed that Israel was offering Palestinians a peace agreement based on the 1967 border, "with minor mutual amendments" -- removal of scattered settlements, recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and placing the disputed sites under Muslim (not Palestinian) custody.
"The Palestinian nation is rejecting this peace. Its leaders now openly claim the 'right of return' for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled and were driven out of their homes in the 1948 war, whilst cynically ignoring the fate of hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews who fled and were driven out of their homes in Arab countries," Oz said.
Oz's argument pushes several questions to the fore. Are the Palestinians actually demanding the literal implementation of the right of return to Israel for their refugees? Could it be that what they rightfully demand is a straightforward recognition of the injustice done to them -- the recognition of their historical rights as the basis for negotiating a limited implementation of the right of return that would not jeopardise Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people?
Further, given the extremely violent and brutal retaliation of the Israeli forces in oppressing the Palestinian struggle for independence, the high death and injury toll (over 320 dead and thousands severely wounded in three months), the obstruction of many people's livelihood, the misery, the hunger and continuous daily suffering of hundreds of thousands of people, could it be that the Palestinian leadership has been weakened to such an extent that, at the moment, they are incapable of accepting any compromise regarding the refugee issue?
The Israeli government has, in the past three months, been undertaking procedures that can be termed as "war crimes," such as the "termination" policy of Palestinian activists. This policy culminated last week in the execution without trial of Thabet Thabet, a political Fatah leader and a long-time peace advocate and partner of Peace Now. Is it possible that these policies have created so much despair and anger as to induce a significant change in the positions of the Palestinian intelligentsia regarding the historical compromise?
Furthermore, Oz accuses the Palestinian leadership of ignoring the fate of the Jews who were driven out of their homes in Arab countries, thereby deliberately distorting well-documented historical facts about the way most of the Jews from the Arab world were "convinced" to leave their homes to be brought to Israel by the Zionist leadership. Besides, why should the Palestinians "pay damages" for former Iraqi, Egyptian or other Arab-Jewish citizens?
The attitudes reflected in Oz's article, even more than the political positions expressed, are the epitome of the intellectual corruption and the emotional handicap of the Israeli mainstream peace camp intelligentsia. This has generated within Israeli circles a deep-rooted, patronising, self-righteous discourse, a lack of empathy for other people's suffering, a lack of understanding of their perspective and needs and, above all, an almost chronic conviction that the "other" has to act in the best of Israeli interests.
It seems that Oz expects the Palestinian leadership to mobilise themselves for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's re-election campaign, perhaps to fill the void left by Barak's former allies who rightfully deserted him. As tragic and unfortunate as it may be, it appears that the "time for peace" has not yet arrived.
Related stories:
Normalisation group fractures 19 - 25 October 2000
Misconstrued and misinterpreted 2 - 8 July 1998
The bureaucrats behind the people 25 June - 1 July 1998
'Patriots' who disagree 18 - 24 June 1998
'Peace offensive' hits Cairo 11 - 17 June 1998
Cairo's answer to 'Peace Now' 30 April - 6 May, 1998
See Intifada in focus
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Send a letter to the Editor