The Palestinian narrative: The missing link in the “peace process.” By Eric R. Mandel. Jerusalem Post, March 10, 2014.
Bashing Netanyahu Won’t Bring Peace Any Closer. By Jeff Jacoby. NJBR, March 8, 2014.
Why Can’t the Palestinians Recognize the Jewish State? By Ahmad Samih Khalidi. Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Summer 2011).
Mandel:
Is a lasting Israel-Palestinian peace
achievable if only one side accepts the legitimacy of the other’s
narrative?
“When you say ‘accept Israel as a Jewish
state,’ you are asking me to change my narrative.” –
Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat.
“Every state has created narratives which
help its citizen to identify with national culture. These narratives are the
foundation on which the state is built.” – Erica Mukherjee,
Perspectives on Global Issues.
Secretary
of State Kerry’s well-meaning attempt to forge a framework agreement between
the Israeli and Palestinian governments is based on the conventional Western
perspective of conflict resolution. Western democratic nations that sign
treaties overwhelmingly respect the words on the paper they sign.
But
what happens when western democracies ask a democratic nation to sign a
western- style treaty with an adversary that values tribe and clan over the
nation-state? What happens when one party’s narrative is almost totally based
on the negation of the other? While the media look through conventional glasses
at the prospects for an Israeli- Palestinian framework agreement and pose
certain questions, the view for those truly interested in a lasting peace
should be through a more nuanced lens. Such an analysis raises questions that
are more difficult.
Is a
lasting Israel-Palestinian peace achievable if only one side accepts the
legitimacy of the other’s narrative? To begin to resolve the conflict, American
and Israeli negotiators should consider a western-style treaty only with
concurrent recognition of the narratives of both parties. Diplomatic
maneuvering, no matter how well meaning, can not lead to a lasting peace in
this region without addressing the fundamental narratives of the adversaries.
For the
sake of peace, would Israel be willing to express compassion and remorse
publicly for the suffering of Palestinians without accepting primary
responsibility? Would they acknowledge that there is merit to the Arab world’s
disillusionment with the West because of the broken promises made to them by
the British and French 100 years ago? Can Israelis, for the possibility of a
genuine peace, acknowledge understanding and compassion for the descendants of
Palestinian Arab refugees who have been used as pawns by autocratic Arab
regimes? Convincing the Israelis would be the easy part. Most of the heavy
lifting must come from the Arab side, which considers itself the victim of an
illegitimate Zionist movement.
It is
essential to understand how Palestinian Arabs think and what they believe. The
Palestinian Arab national identity is almost exclusively defined by negating
the Israeli narrative, including Israel’s legitimate right to exist as a Jewish
state, with precious few positive Palestinian nationalistic qualities.
Palestinian
Arabs mark their historical time by memorializing what others perpetrated upon
them. The quintessential narrative marked in time is the “Nakba,” the
catastrophe of the creation of the State of Israel.
Delegitimizing
Jewish historical connections to the land extends from mosques to school
textbooks, from the PA press to the PA leadership.
They
view the Jewish historical narrative as at best exaggerated, but more likely
fabricated.
On a
recent trip to the Middle East, I interviewed members of the PA, PLO, Hamas,
the Jordanian Parliament, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
They
all shared the same talking points about the Jews living in Israel. Uniformly,
Israel is considered a colonialist enterprise – illegally imposed, and
populated by foreigners with no legitimate right to the land. Almost all
believe that Israel continually commits “war crimes,” targets Arab civilians,
and oppresses defenseless native Palestinians.
Violence
committed against Jewish civilians is rationalized as the only legitimate
avenue available to an oppressed people.
This
troubling narrative is not confined to Hamas, but is part of the DNA of
Palestinian Arabs whether they reside in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Judea, or
Samaria.
Compounding
the problem is the western belief that all peoples of the world share its
universalistic perspective. It is certainly true that Palestinians want to feed
their families and prosper, but the West simply cannot comprehend that any
people in the 21st century would choose self-defeating options over economic
opportunity.
If
choosing a better life means giving up on the goal of erasing Israel from the
map, then unfortunately too many would choose ideology over prosperity.
Israel
may be a reality, but to most Palestinians, it is not one that can be accepted
for the long-term. That is why the United States and Israel must insist on an
acknowledgment of the rights of the Jewish people to a homeland in whatever
dimension are agreed to by the parties themselves. This would be one of three
game-changing events, if published in Arabic and articulated publicly by their
leaders.
The
second game-changer would be if the international community could acknowledge
that Israel has legitimate rights beyond the Green Line.
It must
be acknowledged that Israel has been willing to relinquish almost all of its
legal territorial rights in Judea and Samaria over the past 65 years for a
lasting peace. Without this acknowledgment, Israel will continue to be branded
a “thief,” forced to return stolen land. If not acknowledged, anything Israel
retains in a future land swap will be viewed throughout the Arab and Muslim
world as illegitimately gained territory. Occupation of disputed territory from
a defensive war is not an outdated theory; it is an essential ingredient for a
sustainable peace.
The
third game-changer is the preparation of the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab
world for compromise. America must insist on clear and unambiguous public
statements in Arabic on all of the lighting-rod issues.
If
Palestinian Arabs and their supporters are unwilling or unable to accept these
three public pronouncements, then the negotiation should transition to how best
to improve the lives of Palestinians without endangering Israeli security.
Israel
and the West need to reset their clocks to Islamic time and think in decades
and centuries. Americans and Israelis cannot succumb to the false narrative
that this is the last best time for Israel to negotiate with its adversaries.
Imposing
artificial timelines tilts the negotiation playing field toward an Arab
advantage.
We will
know when the Palestinians and Arab worlds are ready to embark upon a path to
true peace when Arab leaders prepare their people for compromise and end the
incitement to delegitimize the Israeli narrative. Until then, negotiate not
only on territory, but also on accepting the other’s narrative.
Strategist Ralph Peters: Islamic World a “Failed Civilization.” Interviewed by Steve Malzberg. Video. Newsmax, March 10, 2014.
Middle East Genocide. By Ralph Peters. NJBR, June 3, 2013. With related articles and video.
Newsmax:
The
perplexing disappearance of a packed Malaysian Airlines jet has all the
earmarks of terrorism, Fox News strategic analyst Ralph Peters says.
“The
indicators are sure there. It looks like a terrorist act. We may find out it
wasn't, but there is plenty of motivation,” Peters told The Steve Malzberg Show on Newsmax TV.
“The
Chinese have been just savage in their repression of the Uyghur Muslim minority
in northwestern China . . . So, that is one possibility, the Uyghur Muslim
activists,” Peters said Monday.
The
jet, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Bejing, suddenly vanished Saturday as it flew
over the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam. Investigators have so far found no
traces of it in the water.
While
various theories abound — including the possibility of an electrical problem or
a suicide dive by the pilot — terrorism remains the top possibility, said
Peters, author of the acclaimed Civil War novel Hell or Richmond.
“China
is not immune to Islamic terrorism,” he said.
“This
problem is not going to go away in our lifetimes, primarily because the Islamic
world is so utterly broken, such a failed civilization that is going to
continue to generate terrorists.”
Caroline Glick on The Israeli Solution. Interviewed by Mark Levin. Audio. WesternFreePress, March 8, 2014. YouTube.
The Israeli Solution. By Janet Tassel. American Thinker, March 2, 2014.
One State for Two Peoples? By Yonoson Rosenblum. Mishpacha, February 26, 2014. Also here.
