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Dry Bones
Keep The Map In the Glove Box
he Bush Administration is wise to resist
the growing international pressure for it to
issue its "road map" for peace between
Israel, the Palestinians and the rest of the
Arab world.
With a military action against Iraq likely, the
White House must be tempted to think about
placating the Arab world by endorsing actions
that would pressure Israel to make premature con-
cessions toward recognizing a permanent
Palestinian state.
But no tolerable amount of bribery is going to
produce real Arab allies for an armed strike against
Saddam Hussein, and thrusting the "road map"
directly into the Israeli election mix is
likely to deepen that nation's divisions on
the most effective steps it can take to
assure its security.
The details of the "road map" that have been
leaked so far suggest it offers no particular exciting
break-through in thinking about the long-term
needs of Israel and the Palestinians. For all practi-
cal purposes, the two-state solution was adopted in
the Oslo peace accords a - decade ago. The world
has no great need for another Arab state, but
Jordan has never wanted to adopt the Palestinians
within their nation and the unremitting violence
and hatred of the last 27 months has made it plain
that Israel must never accept them as citizens of
the Jewish state.
Thus having the United States, the United
Nations, the European Union and Russia promul-
gate a plan for a Palestine does not chart a new
course so much as affirm the current thinking
about what each side must do to get there. And
what has been said about the plan suggests it does
nothing to compel Arab states to guarantee Israel's
right to exist.
The plan tasks the Palestinians with trying to -
shut down forces like Islamic Jihad, Hamas and
the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade of Fatah, but does not
T
seem to deny them statehood
when they fail to meet that chal-
lenge. Nor does it seem to
absolutely rule out a continuing
leadership role for Yasser Arafat,
saying only that the new state
should have a prime minister with
real executive authority.
It reasonably calls on Israel to
dismantle any settlements that have
gone up in the last two years, but
it also requires the Israel Defense
Forces to get out of the West Bank
and Gaza cities where they have
been operating to good
effect in recent weeks. If
the Quartet of world
powers were to push for
that before Israel's Jan. _28 elec-
tions, it could force Ariel Sharon
and Likud to disavow the whole
plan or risk being seen by the vot-
ers as too willing to sacrifice Israel's
clear interests in stopping the ter-
ror now
Labor, of course, has already
foolishly said it is prepared to
resume negotiations with the
Palestinians and would get the
troops out because they won't be
needed to protect settlements.
The "road map" already suffers
from credibility problems. Its
timetable for actions — an interim
Palestinian state next year, an end
to the terror, a permanent new
state in 2005 — rests on no known history of any
agreements in this part of the world having been
carried out on time. And its demands that Israel
accept Palestinian promises without real verification
reflect wishful thinking rather than clear-eyed his-
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torical understanding of the continuing Arab hatred
of "the Zionist entity."
So letting the "road map" restfor another month
seems the wise course. Let Israeli voters first deter-
mine what course they want to follow, then adapt
the road map to help get to that destination.
❑
A View From Above
omething special always happens when
one fulfills a mitzvah_— the doer of good
deeds comes away with more satisfaction
than the grateful recipient.
That lesson was learned again on Dec. 25, when
more than 900 Jewish Detroiters participated in
Mitzvah Day, visiting nursing homes,
hospitals and shut-ins, and working at
food banks, soup kitchens and other
facilities for the poor and the homeless.
The annual program began years ago at Temple
Beth El. The men's club of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek then began their own Dec. 25 project.
In recent years, with the organizational skills of
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, the
idea has grown into a community-wide event.
Gaining a few hours' sleep and a day of relax-
ation is enticing each Dec. 25 as the country shuts
down for the Christmas holiday. But after a while,
the day becomes boring for non-Christians — too
much television and too much inaction.
Mitzvah Day puts a spring in every vol-
unteer's step and a smile on every partici-
pant's face. It's a wonderful way to make
the world a tiny bit better place, and for individuals
to rediscover the joy of aiding another human being.
Let's remember the lesson next December when
Federation again puts out the call for Mitzvah
Day volunteers. In helping others, we are indeed
helping ourselves.
EDITORIAL
Related story: page 26
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EDITORIAL
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❑
n less than two weeks, the first Israeli astronaut,
Ilan Ramon, is scheduled to roar into space as a
member of the crew of the space shuttle
Columbia.
He plans to take with him a picture that was drawn
by a Holocaust victim, Peter Ginz, in which the 14-
year-old envisioned what the Earth
might look like as seen from the
moon. At that distance, all the hor-
rors that humanity has conjured up
to divide itself from itself, like the endless slaughter of
innocents, simply disappear.
It is a heartening vision for the secular new year that
has just begun. As Ramon looks down in wonder and
awe, we should be looking up, with equal excitement
and hope for a better year for everyone. ❑
I
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