viewpoints » S end letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com essay Saudi Peace Plan Worth Revisiting D on’t read too much into Israel’s beleaguered prime minister and controversial new defense minis- ter spouting support for selected planks in the platform of the dusty 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. In recent weeks, both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, both leaders in Israel’s right-leaning Likud party, have cited elements of the Saudi peace plan as a means to Benjamin rekindling talks intended Netanyahu to resolve the seem- ingly intractable Israeli- Palestinian conflict. The two leaders imagine direct, bilateral negotiations yielding a Palestinian state. Of course, the right condi- tions would have to Avigdor bubble up for there to Liberman be hope amid electrified hurdles like borders, security, mutual rec- ognition, refugees, settlements, Jerusalem, water rights and holy sites. Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank is a defensive bulwark, necessitated in part by the Palestinian penchant for inflicting violence on Israel from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the West Bank, the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the Arab- dominated eastern sector of Jerusalem. Just last week in a terrorist attack, two 21-year- old Palestinian cousins from the West Bank guest column opened fire on an open-air shop- ping center in Tel Aviv, killing four Israelis and seriously wounding four others. THE FINE PRINT END AROUND? All along, the Arab world has main- Support for the Arab Peace tained the Arab Peace Initiative, Initiative and the two-state solution Robert Sklar brokered by the Arab League, by both Netanyahu and Liberman Contributing Editor would be the gateway to realizing could well be a bid to allay some of two states, one Jewish and one the diplomatic damage caused by Palestinian, living side by side, in the hard right turn the Netanyahu peace. The notion will remain fantastical government is taking, according to a June 1 until both sides accept the plan as a start editorial in the Washington Post. point toward constructive negotiating. The That belief resonates given the interna- plan proposes the division of Jerusalem tional community is tightening the diplomat- and a return to the borders before the 1967 ic vice on Israel — Israel’s pro-settler Jewish Six-Day War (with mutually approved land Home party’s opposition to a Palestinian swaps) — both white-hot issues in the con- state of any sort notwithstanding. text of Israel’s security and history. With Netanyahu seemingly open to the Specifically, the plan calls for Israel’s Arab Peace Initiative, is the time right for evacuation of land captured in the Six-Day revived peace talks? Perhaps. War, including the West Bank and the Golan In a surprising pronouncement to the Heights. Israel is prepared to negotiate a sov- Knesset on May 31, the Israeli prime minis- ereign Palestinian state that would include ter said: “We are willing to negotiate with the much of the West Bank outside the larger Arab states’ revisions to that initiative so that Jewish settlement blocs. But leaving the mili- it reflects the dramatic changes in the region tarily strategic Golan plateau would put Israel since 2002 but maintains the agreed goal of squarely in the crosshairs of the Lebanon– two states for two peoples.” based Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah, IT TAKES TWO an ally of Syria’s tyrannical and embattled Therein lies the grand challenge. leader, Bashar Assad. Anything’s possible in pursuit of real The plan also seeks a “just settlement” peace, but Palestinian intransigence toward of the Palestinian refugee matter. Does that mean overwhelming Israel with “refugees” as renewed talks and P.A. President Mahmoud defined by the Palestinian Authority and the Abbas’ dwindling popularity renders Netanyahu’s hope a pipedream. United Nations? That would end Israel as a Still, it’s a hope worth pursuing. Jewish state. The Saudi initiative, even if Netanyahu In exchange for a negotiated implementa- from SAFE’s effort to intimi- date. Leading up to the U-M student government vote on ate has infiltrated my beloved boycotting Israel in 2014, SAFE alma mater, University of verbally attacked Jewish stu- Michigan. Like my alumni dents. No serious action was friends, it’s hard for me to fathom that taken by the administration to Miriam Tylevich the hate on campus is directed toward stop their threats. Furthermore, people like me, a Jew and a supporter just months ago, Jesse Arm, a of Israel. We, the Jewish community, must sophomore from the Metro Detroit Jewish show the university that we care about each community, was stripped of his right to free other, our safety and our freedom. speech on campus. Pro-Palestinians and certain members of SAFE decided to stage a protest on the the Muslim community at the University same day that American student, Ezra of Michigan are united and organized Schwartz, was murdered by a Palestinian under the student group SAFE. They use terrorist while traveling to deliver snacks any reason to speak out against Jews and to Israel soldiers in the West Bank. Ezra Israel. Their voices are heard and the school had been one of Jesse’s friends, and Jesse, a administration listens, knowing the group is member of the Central Student Government powerfully united under their own agenda. (CSG), asked SAFE to change its message The Jewish community, on the other hand, and choose another day for its protest. remains relatively silent. Jesse’s peaceful exercise of his right of free The school administration effectively speech led to frivolous charges and a sub- promotes an anti-Semitic environment on sequent trial by the ethics committee. Jesse campus by neglecting to provide adequate was cleared of wrongdoing but faced the protection for Jewish and pro-Israel students trauma of having to defend himself as well Hate On Campus H 8 June 16 • 2016 tion of the plan, the Arab League’s 22 member states would normalize relations with Israel. Israel has never formally engaged the offer. as the potential dismissal from his position with the CSG right before final exams. Rina Steinberg, a freshman at U-M, wrote about the event in the Times of Israel, noting how uncomfortable and even how unsafe she feels as a Jew and Israel supporter on campus, specifically because of the singling out and unfair treatment of Jewish students by recognized groups under the university umbrella. History has indicated that when the Jewish community keeps silent, anti-Semi- tism will continue to grow. Jewish establish- ments must rethink the way they deal with anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism (which are really one and the same) on campus and speak up. Individuals in the Jewish community need to do the same. The Zionist Organization of America’s Center for Law and Justice, StandWithUs and the Jewish Bar Association of Michigan are ready and able to provide legal help to any student who feels threat- ened or concerned. If you have a connection with the University of Michigan, please take action by making your opinion known. In February of this year, a few individu- and Liberman aren’t sincere in their support, just might bring the Palestinians back to the table. The plan not only is on Jerusalem’s radar, but it’s also in the sight lines of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Arab leader most apt to broker a peace deal. As much as Abbas has prov- en incapable of inspiring Abdel Fattah a deal, Sisi has shown the el-Sisi swagger to help advance regional peace and secu- rity. He commands the respect of both the P.A. and Israel. Liberman, an ultranationalist who lives in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, weighed in by asserting the Saudi initia- tive contains “some very positive elements” that could bring “serious dialogue” in a new round of talks. MOVING AHEAD The Arab Peace Initiative alone isn’t the answer to a conflict of culture as much as politics. But nothing else has worked, includ- ing varying efforts by the U.S., France and Russia to coax a two-state solution. The long-ignored plan seems to have some traction now in both Israel and the Arab world — with Egypt, one of two Arab nations holding a functioning peace treaty with Israel, ready to try to help mediate something mutually acceptable. The plan might just well be a viable new start point — provided the Palestinians’ cul- ture of anti-Zionist hatred somehow can be fundamentally changed. * als spoke in front of the university’s Board of Regents, and I did so in March. The board indicated our concerns are not going unnoticed and that our actions do have an impact on the university. On the other hand, the university responded to letters from concerned individuals in the community by denying there was a problem. Yet, despite this contradiction, we must push forward. We must increase our advocacy and engagement on Michigan campuses. This is the only way that we can force universities like Michigan to take real action to protect Jews. If not, our children, grandchildren, siblings or friends at U-M will continue to be attacked and silenced, and this is something I can no longer stand. Please reach out to The Zionist Organization of America’s Center for Law and Justice, StandWithUs and the Jewish Bar Association of Michigan if you would like more information or assistance to support our Jewish and pro-Israel U-M students. * Miriam Tylevich graduated from University of Michigan School of Social Work in 2012, works as a psychotherapist and lives in Oak Park.