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DETROIT

17 ELUL 5753/SEPTEMBER 3, 1993

PEACE:

A Lifetime Of The Unthinkable
Mere Steps Away From Achievable F

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSISTANT EDITOR

rancine Rosemberg considers the announce-
ment some of the best news she has heard in
years.
Les Davis thinks it's a nightmare.
Early this week, Israel's Cabinet approved
by a vote of 16-0, with two abstentions, a plan
IR* that would grant self-rule to Palestinians in
the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank city of
Jericho near the Jordanian border.
The arrangement calls for Israeli troops to with-
draw from the areas — negotiators dif-
fer as to when and how — with Arabs
handling all aspects of daily life in Gaza
and Jericho, including internal securi-
ty. It does not address the establishment
of a Palestinian state or whether Israel
eventually will relinquish more terri-
tory in the West Bank.
Francine Rosemberg, co-chairman of
the Detroit chapter of New Jewish Agenda, calls the
move a notable first step.
"It's just the beginning of the process," she said. 'The
question is how far it will go. We know what the
Palestinians want. We know what the Israelis do not
want. Now it's time for the negotiations."
Israel has for years been in "an untenable situation
that would only continue — there have been too many
deaths on both sides," she said.

"What Israelis and Palestinians need to fo-
cus on now is common areas, like business and
trade," she added. "Peace will help Israel gain
strength and offer more security than ever be-
fore."
Don't believe it for a minute, says Les Davis
of Oak Park.
Mr. Davis is the local spokesman for the
Jewish Defense Organization, a militant Jewish
group that follows the teachings of Ze'ev
Jabotinksy. The day the Israeli
Cabinet approved this latest
peace proposal is "a day of
mourning for Israel," he said.
"This is no different than the
Munich appeasement" (when
Hitler told Britain's Neville
Chamberlain he would not wage
war), he said. "You offer your
enemy a false peace; then you strike later."
Mr. Davis — who, with other JDO members
will pull out his umbrella (Chamberlain was
never without his) when Mr. Rabin next visits
the United States — says "the only road to peace Israelis protest actions of their government as Prime Minister Rabin's Cabinet
is through strength, and you hold on to every votes in favor of moving forward for peace.
inch of land.
"Arafat and the PLO want all of Israel, and any-
"If there's really going to be peace, why isn't anyone sug-
one who thinks Arafat has changed those goals is a fool.
gesting we disband the Israel Defense Forces?' he asked.
If we're not willing to believe in a changed David Duke
(the former KKK leader and presidential candidate),
we shouldn't be willing to believe a cunning Jew-killer
like Arafat."
Michael Dallen is somewhat more restrained, but he
also has harsh words for the peace proposal, which he
calls "the dismemberment plan" and "criminally stupid
mishegas (craziness)."
Why, asks the director of the Michigan office of
Americans for a Safe Israel, is Israel bending over back-
ward "trying to make peace with those determined to
destroy it?"
Instead of resulting in a sound settlement, this plan
"will only exacerbate the problem by raising false hopes
among the Arabs and gentiles," he said. "It also will de-
moralize the Jews, particularly the Torah-observant
settlers who will lose faith in their own government."
In the Middle East, too, the proposal — the first ma-
jor breakthrough in the two-year-long peace talks —
has brought anything but a feeble response.
Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yassir
Arafat labeled it "a historic turning point," while 53 per-
cent of the Israeli public expressed approval.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine opt-
ed to "remind" Mr. Arafat of the fate of Anwar Sadat,
the Egyptian president murdered after making peace
with Israel. Israeli settlers have been demonstrating
and branding Prime Minister Rabin a traitor.
The Gaza Strip and the West Bank were both, ac-
cording to the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947,
to be under Arab control. Jerusalem, located in the
West Bank, was designated an international city.
The Arabs immediately rejected the proposal. The
moment the British withdrew, Arab forces attacked
lands the United Nations had appointed for Jewish con-
trol. Egyptian troops moved up through Gaza, while
Syrian and Iraqi troops advanced from the east.

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Page 73
Contents on page 3

AGREEMENT page 26