T
OPINION
Who Is Stalling
The Peace Process?
Alk
blame on Israel for the problems in
ho is responsible for
the peace process. Some people seem
stalling the Middle East
to see a guilty Israeli under every bed.
peace process?
They say Israel should make more
Certainly not Israel.
concessions
to the Palestinians in
The current Israeli government, like
order
to
persuade
Arab regimes to
its predecessors, has consistently
oppose
Iraq
—
even
though Saddam
adhered to its signed agreements. In
Hussein
is
as
much
a
danger to his
accordance with its obligations in the
Arab neighbors as he is to
'7)
Oslo
accords,
Israel
has
7–
Israel. The Iraqi assault,
transferred to the Palestinian
annexation
and devastation
Authority those territories in
of
Kuwait
should
have
which 95 percent Qf the
demonstrated
that.
During
Palestinian Arabs reside.
the
most
recent
crisis,
Russia
Israel has withdrawn from
and
France
intervened
to
more than 80 percent of
pursue
their
own
agendas;
Hebron, even though it is
they would have done so
the second holiest city in
regardless of any Israeli
Judaism. Israel has released
actions regarding the
/–', hundreds of Arab prisoners,
Palestinians.
ELIA HU
including several Arab
There
are also those who
BEN-E LISSAR
women convicted of murder,
blame
Israel's land policies
Spec ial to
despite the security risks
for
the
refusal of many
The Jew ish News
involved.
Arab leaders to attend the
Israel has entered into
recent Doha economic
negotiations to give the Palestinian
conference.
But the success or failure
Authority an airport, a seaport, indus-
of
the
conference
did not depend
trial parks and safe passage between
upon
Israel.
Creating
new business
the territories — exactly as the
opportunities
should
be
as important
• Hebron accord requires. Israel has also
to
the
Arabs
as
it
is
to
the
Israelis.
' proposed a further withdrawal of
Economic prosperity, in a peaceful
Israeli soldiers from parts of Judea and
Middle East, should be of as
Sumaria, which Yassir Arafat has
much interest to the Arabs as it is
rejected apparently in the hope of
to the Israelis. Why should Israel
pressuring Israel to give up even more.
be expected to pay the bill for
Incredibly, despite Israel's strict
Saudi
Arabia, Egypt and other
compliance with the Oslo and Hebron
countries
to attend?
accords, there are those who heap
Some have even cited Israeli poli-
• Eliahu Ben-Elissar is the Israeli
cies as an excuse for Egypt's failure to
• ambassador to the United States.
finally normalize relations with Israel.
IV
EDITOR'S
NOTEBOOK
Farewell,
Good Friend
JULIE EDGAR
News Editor
/-
It's Monday morn-
ing, but that's only
part of my mood.
I look to my right
at Phil Jacobs'
office, its win-
dowsills stripped of
snapshots of family
and friends, a few
unwanted books
huddled together as if for warmth, a
leaden winter light pressing against
the bare walls.
Although I've mentally prepared
for Phil's departure to Baltimore
where, as of today, he becomes editor
at The Jewish Times, I'm still at odds
with it. He is only a phone call away,
but he's not next door anymore —
and that is a loss.
Anybody who knows Phil would
agree he is a mensch and a good Jew.
I would add that he is also righteous.
Phil recoils from the negative —
even the hint of it. And it seems to
genuinely hurt him if he feels he has
hurt someone else.
About a year ago, during a group
critique of the paper, I left tact at the
door and made a few unnecessarily
heavy-handed comments about a
story or two. Phil became angry that
others were stung, and he essentially
stormed out. A few days later he
called me in his office to ask my for-
It seems as if a crucial fact has been
forgotten: Egypt is obligated to imple-
ment normalization as part of the
peace treaty it signed with Israel 19
years ago.
In some quarters, it is suggested
that if Israel would give up more land
— or make some other concessions —
it would help soothe the fundamental-
ists in Egypt or perhaps even in
Algeria. Is it really reasonable to argue
that the extremists who are trying to
overthrow the Egyptian
and Algerian gov-
ernments, and who have been mas-
sacring defenseless tourists in Egypt
and women and children in Algeria,
giveness for reacting as he did. I
couldn't believe he had turned it on
himself. I urged him to acknowledge
that it was I, not him, who had
caused the ruckus and deserved to be
chastised.
This past year, Phil's been preoc-
cupied with the plurality debate rag-
ing among Jews here and in Israel. It
pains him deeply that Jews are con-
demning other Jews for the way they
choose to practice their Judaism. Yet,
his love of Judaism inspires others to
explore theirs because Phil makes it
seem the most natural spiritual path
in the world.
Phil isn't given to talking about
himself, but over the years I learned
details about his life that put to
shame my puny acts of goodness.
Phil was pretty much the sole
. caregiver for his parents, both of
whom suffered debilitating diseases.
He did the cooking, laundry and
would suddenly lay down their guns if
Israel gave more land to the
Palestinians?
Israel is not to blame for every crisis
in the Middle East. Israel giving up
more land is not the solution to every
problem in the region.
Those interested in resolving the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict should take
note of the Palestinians' consistent
failure to honor their peace obliga-
tions. The accords require the
Palestinians to take a number of
steps immediately, including com-
pleting the revision of the
Palestinian National Covenant,
fighting terror and preventing
violence and preventing incite-
ment and hostile propaganda
against Israel. Yet the covenant,
with its chilling calls for the
destruction of Israel, remains
unchanged. The Hamas terrorist
infrastructure — training facilities,
hideouts, weapon depots — remains
in place in the territory controlled
by the Palestinian Authority.
Israel's requests for the extradition
of terrorists have all been ignored;
some of the wanted terrorists have
been rewarded with jobs in the
Palestinian police force. Palestinian
terrorist groups have not been dis-
armed. The Palestinian media over-
flow with anti-Israel and even anti-
Jewish hostility. Palestinian school-
children learn from textbooks that do
not even acknowledge Israel's exis-
tence.
STALLING on page 26
cleaning — and he was in his teens.
His compassion for others, espe-
cially the elderly and the infirm, runs
deep. He traveled over the border to
Windsor every month to help run a
bingo game to raise money for
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah. He served on
the board of Kadima. He attended
funerals of the people who crossed
his path in even marginal ways.
As a staffer, he wrote stories about
hospice programs, self-help groups,
people battling grave illnesses, people
who are not rich or influential but
rarely get attention for their daily
toil.
But it's not what he wrote,
although most of his stories could
bring a tear to the eye. It's not even
his personal trials that define his
greatness. Rather, it's his humanity
and purity of intention that separates
Phil from so many others.
FAREWELL on page 28
-
1/2
1998
25