THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, March 9, 1984 25
For Annexation: History of Broken Commitments, Non-Recognition
(Continued from Page 1)
responsibility for the be-
havior of irregular forces
operating from their ter-
ritories. Israel's claim that
these governments not only
tolerated hostile operations
by forces acting within their
jurisdiction but actually as-
sisted them and often even
organized them has been re-
jected repeatedly by the UN
Security Council.
The question of whether
these governments will
have authority over irregu-
lar forces and, particularly,
over the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization once a
peace treaty is signed looms
large in Israeli doubts and
anxieties. It is a gnawing
worry based on experience,
as well as the knowledge
that the PLO is diversified
enough to produce splinter
groups for all purposes,
ready to disavow any
agreement and undermine
it by the use of terror.
An additional factor
tends to make peace efforts
risky. In the West a con-
tinuous binding commit-
ment to international
treaties and obligations is
more or less taken for
granted, even after drama-
tic changes of governments
and policies. The Arab
countries take a different
view. Political upheavals in
the Middle East are fre-
quent and violent. In most
Arab countries they are the
only practical way of chang-
ing governments and depos-
ing leaders, since free elec-
tions are nonexistent.
When a more radical
regime takes over, it
often denounces or inac-
tivates treaties signed by
its predecessors, particu-
larly when a change in
foreign policy and big-
power orientation is in-
volved.
It is easy to imagine the
fate of an American-made
Arab-Israeli peace if power
on the Arab side shifted to
pro-Soviet radicals, and the
countries most often men-
tioned as possibilities, as far
as peace with Israel is con-
cerned, happen to be pro-
Western monarchies
threatened by radical sub-
version.
Finally, it should be re-
membered that armed con-
flicts having a religious
background and motivation
are sometimes irreconcila-
ble.
* * *
Israel Recognition
the Stumbling Block
The conclusions are obvi-
ous. The basic conditions for
a genuine, durable peace
are popular recognition of
Israel as a fact of life and
universal Arab acceptance
of the necessity of maintain-
ing normal relations with it.
Official willingness to con-
clude peace would be most
welcome, of course, but it
would constitute a rather
shaky foundation for peace
as long as popular intransi-
gence remained.
In any case, Israel
would have to insist that,
even after the signing of a
peace treaty, it remain as
strong militarily as it is
today. Any weakening of
its military posture
would encourage the
Arab extremists to try to
reverse the process.
Two generally accepted
assumptions would seem to
be fraught with danger: one
is that after making peace
Israel would not have to
spend the huge amounts of
money it now earmarks for
the acquisition of modern
military equipment; the
other is that it would be able
to give up the territories it
now occupies as a protection
against sudden attack.
Peace is not a magic for-
mula making war impossi-
ble. It must be backed up by
measures making war a
risky and costly undertak-
ing.
This, then, is Israel's di-
lemma. If it withdraws to its
former borders in order to
allay Arab suspicions, it
may revive the old Arab
dream of driving the Jews
into the sea. If it sticks to its
present borders,it may lend
credibility to the Arab con-
tention that Israel wants
expansion, not peace. In the
eyes of many Israelis, the
second option entails the
lesser risk.
There is a growing
realization in Israel that
no enduring peace can be
achieved without a radi-
cal solution of the Pales-
tinian problem. Fur-
thermore, the Palestinian
problem concerns not
only the political future
of the areas commonly
designated the West
Bank (or, to Israelis, Ju-
daea and Samaria); and
the Gaza Strip but also
the fate of the Palestinian
diaspora. According to
claims put forward by the-
PLO (they may be some-
what exaggerated), there
are close to four million
Palestinians living today.
The idea of trying to ab-
sorb them in Judaea and
Samaria is absurd. Most
people do not realize how
small the disputed area is.
Israel within its pre-1967
borders comprises about
20,700 sq. km (8,000 sq.
mi.). The West Bank and
the Gaza Strip have an area
of a little over 5,100 sq. km
(2,000 sq. mi.). With a popu-
lation of 1.2 million, it is al-
ready one of the most de-
nsely populated areas of the
world.
its Jewish population
still survives. But sup-
pose the refugees could
be persuaded to relin-
quish their dream of re-
turning to Jaffa and
Haifa, where could they
go? Surely not to the tiny,
overpopulated area of
the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip, which can
hardly support the pre-
sent population.
This is the reasoning be-
hind Israel's almost unani-
mous refusal to consider the
establishment of a Palesti-
nian state.
To forestall such a possi-
bility, the Israeli Labor
Party conceived a plan that
has become known as the
Jordanian option. It pro-
vides for a substantial Is-
raeli withdrawal, with the
condition that the ceded
territory be returned to the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jor-
dan, which exercised con-
trol over the West Bank
prior to 1967. The returned
areas would be de-
militarized. The Israeli
Army would remain in its
present positions along the
Jordan Valley, where Labor
governments established a
string of Jewish settle-
ments.
The idea is that Jordan
would then be saddled with
the Palestinian problem.
U.S. President Ronald Rea-
gan endorsed the concept in
his speech of Sept. 1, 1982,
including it in his so-called
peace plan. Nevertheless,
its chances of ever being put
to the test are rather slim:
Hussein has yet to
agree to the continued
presence of Israeli troops
in the Jordan Valley. He
would also have to
undertake never to grant
the Palestinians the
complete sovereignty
they crave. He would
have to agree to crush
any attempt by Palesti-
nian terrorists to con-
tinue their war against
Israel from territory
under his control. In car-
rying out these pro-
visions, he would have to
withstand international
pressure, and he would
be drawn into conflict
with most of the Arab
states. What benefits
could he reap in return
for such a commitment?
The Israeli Labor Party
expects Jordan not only to
carry the burden of the
Palestinians but also to re-
* * *
linquish Jerusalem. Ever
Palestinian
since the city was reunited
Return to What?
in 1967, all major political
In their political pro- parties in Israel have op-
gram, the idea of the Return posed any thought of divid-
plays a very important part. ing it again or agreeing to
It is the dream of the refu- Arab participation in ruling
gees and the central motive it.
of Palestinian education.
Supporters of the Jorda-
When they speak of re- nian option avoid the issue,
turning, the refugees do not knowing quite well that Is-
have in mind the hills of raeli public opinion will re-
Judaea and Samaria. They ject any compromise on this
think of Jaffa, Haifa, highly emotional issue. But
Ramla, and the clusters of can Hussein really be ex-
villages they left in 1948, pected to waive a claim that
hoping that within days or has been foremost among
weeks they would be able to Arab demands? Would he
return with the victorious not be reviled by Arab mod-
Arab armies.
erates and extremists alike
The dream of destroy- and become an object of
ing Israel and scattering scorn to Muslims all over
the world?
There is only one country
that can satisfy the pressing
needs of the Palestinians,
and that country is Jordan.
Its area is nearly 95,000 sq.
km . (37,000 -sq. mi.). Its
Palestinian inhabitants —
refugees who were granted
Jordanian citizenship and
migrants who were at-
tracted by better economic
opportunities on the East
Bank — outnumber the in-
digenous population
Bringing the Palesti-
nian problem into true
focus, by concentrating
on a feasible solution of
the refugee problem
while simultaneously re-
sponding to the need for
full expression of the
Palestinian national
identity, will probably
ease the tension that has
built up around the West
Bank. Israel's security
needs will more easily be
reconciled with the aspi-
rations of the Arab
population if their
paramount needs have
been provided for
elsewhere.
One final point should be
made. Peace generally
presupposes the creation or
existence of a full range of
normal relations between
the parties, including the
free movement of citizens of
both countries across the
border dividing them. As
part of a durable peace, one
would expect a certain
amount of intermigration
between neighboring
states.
There are some 690,000
Arabs living in Israel. On
the other hand, there are
only 20,000 or 30,000 Jews
left in the Arab world. Is
peace credible and
trustworthy if its premise is
that the presence of Jews
amid the Arabs is unbeara-
ble to the latter?
What is it that the advo-
cates of barring Jews from
the scene of the ancient bi-
blical traditions are after —
peace and coexistence be-
tween Israel and its
neighbors, or the perpetua-
tion of the existing abyss of
prejudice and hatred?
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