OTHER VIEWS
Lost Opportunities For Peace
r
ouad Ajami of Johns
Hopkins University states
that the Arab world has the
cc... condition of a culture yet
to take full responsibility for its self-
inflicted wounds."
Indeed, much of the Arab world,
infused with hatred toward Jews and
Americans, blames its problems on the
conflict between the Israelis and the
Palestinians. A solution to that conflict
could be found if the Palestinian peo-
ple had leadership that stopped the
teaching of hatred, promoted negotia-
tion and encouraged the acceptance of
a two-state solution without violence.
Imagine a Middle Fast in 1948 in
which the Arabs had accepted their part
of "Palestine" instead of starting a war
and involving themselves in many wars
that followed. Such a world is not impos-
sible to imagine. I saw what life is like for
Israelis who are not Jews or Arabs.
On a recent visit to Israel, a Druze
guide by the name of Yusif and his
wife, Saba, demonstrated Druze hospi-
tality for 24 hours as we spent that
time with them in a town in the
Galilee. The Druze is a minority reli-
Jeannie Weiner lives in Farmington
Hills. She is a past president of the
Jewish Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit.
gious group living in parts of the
Middle East and in the United States.
Yarqua is a "village of 10,000 inhab-
itants — all Druze," Yusif stated as he
drove us through town on our way to
Sultan's Restaurant. Sultan and his
wife were celebrating the first birthday
of their son and we were their "hon-
ored guests." The food was delicious;
the Arabic singing was joyful; the con-
versations were in Hebrew and Arabic.
Guests at the long dinner table
included a young social worker who
approached us and asked if she could
"speak with us." The opportunity to
speak English was intriguing to her and
she had much she wanted to tell us.
She was earnest in her message: "We
are Druze. We love Israel and we are
loyal Israelis. Israel has given us oppor-
tunities we would not have in other
countries. We are not terrorists and we
fight against terror to protect our
country and our families."
A handsome gentleman in a black
leather jacket who was a lieutenant
colonel in the Israel Defense Forces and
a Druze imparted the same message.
The next day, after touring the village
olive press as workers processed the crop
of fragrant, ripe olives, we returned to
Yusif's home for a visit with Saba and
his seven children. As Saba knelt and
made the delicious fresh pita filled with
the zatar (a spice), onions and
secret; but their basic beliefs
olive oil, Yusif's extended family
revolve around the loyalty to
arrived for a visit.
their religion, their country
Yusif's uncle, a handsome,
and their family. They are an
blue-eyed older man, joined us.
intensely hospitable people,
In Hebrew, he explained that
peace loving and friendly.
he had been a security guard
They claim their lineage
for David Ben-Gurion, Israel's
from Jethro, the father-in-
J EA NNIE
first prime minister. He talked
law of Moses.
WEI NER
about the days after the found-
The 24 hours in Yarqua
Com munity
ing of the state and his pride in
were fascinating. We could
vi ews
Israel, and its accomplishments
not help but compare the life
filled the morning air.
in this Israeli town, bustling
We visited the tomb of the famous
with businesses serving happy
Druze, Sheik Tarif. On the walls of the teenagers and their friends, to the life
museum adjoining the tomb were pic-
of the Palestinians in the disputed
tures of the sheik with President
territories.
Jimmy Carter, and former Prime
The Druze chose to help build the
Ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak,
country in which they lived. The
Shimon Peres and Menachem Begin.
Palestinians could have made a
After driving through Rabin Square
choice to build a country instead of
in the center of the village, past the
destroy one.
large, profitable shopping mall visited
Palestinians and Israelis could live
by many Israelis, we concluded our
peaceful, normal lives. But instead,
visit to Yarqua at the home of an 86-
Palestinian leaders continue to make
year-old sheik, a prominent Druze
bad choices. They have chosen death
religious leader. Our host offered every and war over life and peace.
sort of treat, from candies and tea to
The sheik in Yarqua left us with a
olives and figs, while speaking to us
prayer for peace. We wondered, "Are
about his people and their history.
there Palestinian and Arab leaders
courageous enough to accept Israel's
right to exist and to vigorously pur-
Loyal, Friendly
sue life and peace in 2003?" We can
The Druze practice their religion in
continue to hope. ❑
tal president who should never have
been elected and whose intellect is not
equal to the task of running the coun-
try. For them, anything he does is, by
definition, illegitimate.
We will never know just how the
Bush presidency would have played
out without being defined by the
challenge of international terrorism.
And that is why many Bush critics
feel the Sept. 11 attacks gave the pres-
ident an unfair advantage. These crit-
ics were slow to realize just how much
the war on terror had changed every-
thing. The midterm elections illustrat-
ed that they will continue to lose
ground until they own up to Bush's
formidable position.
This is a president whose stature,
policy skills and political acumen seem
to grow with every challenge. That's
why it appears as if it will get a lot
worse for Bush-haters before it gets
better. Politically motivated doomsay-
ers notwithstanding, Bush will proba-
bly soon add a success in Iraq to the
victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan.
But the question remains,
bloody-minded dictatorships
what will Bush do once the
in the world into a free coun-
guns go silent and the task of
try under the rule of law.
reconfiguring a new post-
Maybe they are right to be
Saddam Middle East is upon
skeptical, but the idealism
us? On that score, Bush's sup-
and the simple logic of the
porters and his critics are
Bush thesis are powerful. And
equally up in the air.
what alternative do the critics
The administration is still ask- JONATHAN have to offer in its place?
ing us to trust that regime
Allowing the maniacal
S. TOBIN
change in Baghdad will mean
Saddam to continue in
Special
more than a new set of dictators
Commentary power? Surely the time is long
running Iraq, albeit ones that
past for getting rid of that
are amenable to American
kind of cynicism.
strategic interests. The Bush White
House and the Pentagon have been sell-
Treacherous Road Map
ing a revolutionary vision of postwar
Iraq. They intend to use the overturning
But while Washington is dreaming of
of the apple cart in Iraq as an excuse to
democracy spreading over the Islamic
introduce something really different into
world, our friends in Europe have
the Middle East: democracy.
other ideas. They are still obsessed with
The idea here is that American mili-
appeasing the Arab ambition to cut the
tary victory is the lever by which we
one democracy in the region — the
can force at least a portion of the
State of Israel — down to size and to
heretofore solidly authoritarian Arab-
create a Palestinian state for leader
Islamic world to accept democracy.
Yasser Arafat, whether or not he agrees
Skeptics and Bush-bashers have
to stop his terror war against Israel.
consistently guffawed at the possibility
The current centerpiece of this effort
of Iraq being turned overnight from
is the so-called "road map" to peace
one of the most repressive and
TOBIN on page 32
Figuring Out Bush
Philadelphia
ccording to the White
House's political director,
Ken Mehlman, those wish-
ing to understand the politi-
cal motives behind the strategies pur-
sued by his boss should just remember
that "good policy is good politics."
Such platitudes make for boring
interviews and give little insight into
either the workings of the White
House or the man who stands at the
head of our nation. But the greater
the puzzlement over what exactly
President George W. Bush intends to
do, the better the political gurus who
work for him like it.
Just short of two years into his pres-
idency, Bush is still reaping the advan-
tages of being underestimated by both
friends and foes. For many Democrats
and liberals, Bush is still the acciden-
A
Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of
the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia.
E-mail: jtobin@jewishexponent.com
1/10
2003
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