Figuring Out What Peace Means
The Only Feasible
Alternative To Conflict
A Gun, A CB Radio;
And A Skeptical Peace
RAVIV SCHWARTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
JOAN LEVI SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
0
nce again we were witness
last week to a surreal in-
ternational drama which
only two years ago would
have been inconceivable — Jor-
dan's King Hussein, President
Mubarak of Egypt, Yassir Arafat
of the PLO and Prime Minister
Rabin of Israel sharing a stage
under the auspices of President
Clinton and a host of other heads
of state and dignitaries. Al-
though the format has perhaps
become somewhat hackneyed,
the political reality underlying
the most recent ceremony in the
White House is of supreme sig-
nificance.
It underscores the notion that
with all of its shortcomings, the
process of reconciliation between
Israel and the Palestinians, ini-
tiated two years ago at Oslo, is
not only virtually irreversible,
but moreover, reflects the strate-
gic decision on the part of both
the Palestinian and Israeli lead-
ership that it is the only feasible
alternative to the conflict.
During the past two years, Is-
rael has reaped the benefits of
choosing the path of compromise
and reconciliation. Economic and
diplomatic ties with countries in
the Arab world as well as the Far
East and the nonaligned bloc
have expanded geometrically,
contributing to the already im-
pressive growth of Israel's econ-
omy. Its effect upon the lives of
Israeli citizens has also been felt,
resulting in the gradual reduc-
tion of reserve duty patrolling
the Gaza Strip.
Having spent my last two
stints of reserve duty, prior to ar-
riving in Michigan, guarding the
prison on Gaza's coast, I can cer-
tainly appreciate this peace
process "dividend." That many
Israelis like myself welcome the
elimination (or at least reduc-
tion) of this sort of reserve duty
does not necessarily signal a de-
cline in the "national morale,"
the motivation to defend the
country or a swing toward he-
donism.
Rather, it underscores the re-
alization on the part of many
that ruling militarily over an-
other people is not necessarily
consistent with the imperatives
of national security, nor is it a
legacy we wish to bequeath to fu-
ture generations of Israelis. In
agreeing to redeploy out of the
areas in question, Israel has stat-
ed its unequivocal preference for
"demography over geography,"
or in other words, has reaffirmed
the Jewish and democratic char-
acter of the state, rather than as-
serting its "biblical" territorial
destiny. This is by no means an
easy or ideal choice, but it's the
very dilemma that has vexed the
Israeli body politic since 1967.
As for the recent escalation of
Palestinian terrorist activity di-
rected against innocent Israelis,
it is unreasonable to suggest that
the policy of Israel's government
is in any way culpable. Terrorist
activity has tragically reared its
ugly head throughout the last
100 years of Zionist presence in
Israel and must be combatted in-
dependent of the peace process.
Nonetheless, as the past two
years have demonstrated, the
best antidote to terror is the de-
velopment of a viable political
and economic framework with-
in which the approximately 2
million Palestinians living along-
side Israel can exist. Oslo II,
while not a panacea for the many
complex issues dividing the two
sides, does appear to represent
a substantive attempt to extract
both Israel and the Palestinians
from the morass of conflict with-
out adversely affecting Israel's
overall security predicament.
One need only study the emp-
ty protestations of the Knesset
opposition to appreciate just how
paltry and limited any alterna-
tive courses to Oslo II actually
were. They condemn agreements
with the PLO and extol the peace
with Jordan as if the relationship
between the two is anything but
causal. Further, they announce
their commitment to "Palestin-
ian autonomy" as if that was any-
thing but a ploy to forestall
meaningful negotiations and si-
multaneously bolster Jewish set-
tlement in Judea and Samaria.
The best antidote to
terror is a viable
political and
economic
framework.
What's much more curious is
the palpably lukewarm reaction
to Oslo II exhibited by American
Jews. To be sure, there are those
in the American Jewish commu-
nity who oppose the current peace
process on ideological and/or re-
ligious grounds. They purport to
know better than the Labor gov-
ernment what is necessary to en-
sure Israel's security.
Increasingly, one hears of at-
tempts to express this protest in
the form of advocating the with-
holding of contributions to the
traditional American Jewish
philanthropic conduits to Israel
(i.e. UJA, Bonds, etc.), proposing
instead to reroute those funds to
the Jewish settlement enter-
prise. Interestingly, the newest
public- relations scheme of this
anti-government camp is to ap-
peal to the "civil rights sensibil-
ities" of the American public, Jew
and non-Jew alike, by drawing
a comparison between the plight
of the embattled Jewish settlers
in Judea, Samaria & Gaza and
the struggle of American blacks
for civil rights during the 1960s.
However, the stinging criti-
cism of a vocal minority notwith-
standing, all opinion surveys
conducted among American
Jews point to a solid support for
the policies of Israel's govern-
ment. (A recent American Jew-
ish Committee poll, for example,
found that 68 percent support
the Rabin government's policies.)
Why then, is there a sense
that many American Jews are
nevertheless ambivalent with re-
spect to recent developments? I
submit that this lukewarm re-
action stems not from ideologi-
cal or political predilections, but
from the suspicion that Oslo II
events are fundamentally alter-
ing the Israel-Diaspora dynam-
ic and threaten to undermine the
heretofore accepted mode of re-
lating to Israel. Perhaps Israel
of today can be likened to a youth
coming of age whose increasing
independence from his/her par-
ents creates uneasiness, uncer-
tainty and even resentment. As
Israel becomes more integrated
into the Middle East, thereby re-
alizing a central tenet of modern
Zionism, its link with world Jew-
ry will necessarily undergo
change. In reorienting the Dias-
pora-Israel connection from a
mode of "rescue" to one of "reci-
procity," certain tenaciously held
precepts will inevitably be called
into question.
So, to return to the question,
"Is Oslo II good for the Jews?"
my answer would be a qualified
"yes." Oslo II will be one of many
difficult, and at times painful,
steps toward a radical reorder-
ing of Israel's national priorities.
It is part of a process which,
among other things, presuppos-
es a different relationship with
the world Jewish community.
Recent reports seem to indicate
that the Rabin government is
now redoubling its efforts to cul-
tivate support among American
Jews for its current policies. As
elections in both countries draw
nearer, a definitive American
Jewish predisposition vis a vis
the peace process assumes in-
creasing significance. It is my
hope, as an American Jew and
Israeli, that American Jews will,
in large part, rise to this chal-
lenge, and in so doing, accompa-
ny Israel into a new era.111
Raviv Schwartz, an Israeli
citizen, is living temporarily
with his family in metro
Detroit pursuing doctoral
studies in sociology and
community organization. He
plans to return to Israel next
summer.
W
hen we heard about
the Oslo accords being
signed in September
1993, we hurried out
to buy our daughter and son-in-
law presents. We bought my
daughter a gun and our son-in-
law a CB radio. I'm sure you are
asking what kind of Jews buy
such presents for a daughter
and her husband.
My husband and I were both
born and raised in Detroit; our
four children were born in De-
troit. We made aliyah, our chil-
dren married sabras, and now
we are blessed with 19 sabra
grandchildren.
The daughter whom I just
spoke of lives in Beit El (where
Jacob ascended the ladder to
Heaven). Beit El is 20 minutes
from Jerusalem, 10 minutes
from Ramallah. It adjoins the
main Israeli army base in Yehu-
dah and Shomron. It is a short-
er drive from Beit El to the
entrance of Jerusalem than our
other daughter's home in the
Talpiot Hamizrach neighbor-
hood of Jerusalem. So, why a
gun? Why a CB?
Beit El is just one of the ar-
eas both holy to the Jewish peo-
ple and a physical necessity for
their military protection that
are slated to be turned over to
the PLO. Our son-in-law drives
into Jerusalem every day to go
to work.
It is dangerous for a Jewish
driver to be stranded alone
without a CB radio even now.
It lets him know in advance
where there is a rock throwing,
a shooting or blocked roads —
so that he will not be a marker
by the side of the road showing
where various Israelis have
been killed by the PLO while
fixing a flat tire, or just driving
to and from their homes.
The gun is for my daughter
to have as a means of protect-
ing herself and her children,
and the children who attend her
day-care program, while my
son-in-law is away.
The daily stories of the atroc-
ities that are going on in Israel
are not being reported. Israel,
which always prided itself on be-
ing a democracy, is becoming a
police state. Videos of police
charging peaceful demonstra-
tions on horseback and vicious-
ly beating demonstrators after
removing their badges are an on-
going occurrence that has caused
Russian refusenik Ida Nudel to
compare Israeli government tac-
tics to the worst of the KGB.
My daughter, who lives in
Jerusalem, goes to visit an 80-
year-old man from her syna-
gogue in the hospital. He lies
there with a broken hip inflict-
ed by a policeman.
Israeli TV recently reported
a policeman being brought into
the hospital emergency room
needing attention after one such
demonstration. The emergency
room doctor asked him, "How
many Jews did you beat up to-
day?" The policeman answered,
"I was only following orders."
The above is a very brief pic-
ture of some of the agonizing
events that are happening in Is-
rael.
These events include:
Police brutality.
Infringement of civil rights.
Media censorship.
PLO infringements of the
Oslo I accord with regard to:
1. Failure to renounce parts
of a Palestinian covenant that
refers to the elimination of the
State of Israel.
2. Arafat's continued state-
ments inciting intifada.
3. PLO's taking released ter-
rorists and putting uniforms of
the newly formed Palestinian
Police Force on them and equip-
ping them with weapons either
supplied by Israel or paid for
with Israeli funds.
4. PLO have stolen approxi-
mately 20,000 Israeli cars, tak-
en them into the autonomous
zone and painted them white to
outfit the PLO police force.
5. PLO refusal to pursue or
prosecute terrorists who flee
into the autonomous areas.
6. PLO refusal to account for
funds already received (pri-
marily from Israel).
7. PLO hiding behind the
skirts of Hamas when any ac-
tion takes place.
8. The PLO desire is to make
all of Israel Judenrein. Their
Koran instructs them to get rid
of the infidel wherever he may
be, using whichever means or
length of time necessary.
I'd like to close with a story told
to us by a patient of my husband's
who is a professor at Hebrew Uni-
versity. He said, 'The Jewish peo-
ple have been wandering so long
that they do not know how to de-
fend what is theirs.
'Watch a dog, watch the tini-
est insect possible; they will de-
fine their territory, mark it out,
and defend it with their lives.
We as a people have lost our
ability to mark our territory, our
beloved Israel; to define what is
ours; and defend it with our
lives."
I greatly fear that unless this
demarcation, this prideful stand
is taken now, that more and
more Jewish lives will be lost
along with our beloved home-
land."
❑
Joan Levi and her husband, Dr.
Charles Levi, are native
Detroiters. They were founders
of Akiva Day School and the
Medical Division of Israel
Bonds.