A Generation Calling For Peace I belong to the independence generation, called the generation of 1948 (The year Israel achieved its independence).

A generation whose parents fought to establish the state and who participated in the Sinai campaign.

A generation that enlisted in the military under the command of the then Chief of Staff, the late General Itzhak Rabin, on the eve of the Six Day War.

A generation whose childhood and youth were spent within the Green Line.

A generation who fought in the Six Day War from a country, compact and threatened, but strong.

A generation that over a brief period of six days was transformed into a generation serving in a conquering army.

After the bliss of victory came the digestion and comprehension of the far-reaching implications of the new situation. Over the thirty year period which has since passed, our generation has been called to arms for wars imposed on us by the incompetence of our statesmen. Wars which have demanded a heavy toll measured in blood.

The signing of the peace agreement with Egypt symbolized a new era - an era in which bold state leaders decided to move from battle fields to negotiating tables. An era of peace which began in the Sinai desert. The path was clear, as were the obstacles required to overcome in following it. But the dream of peace and the end of war evolved, taking on body and soul.

The stage at which it entered our consciousness that a solution to the Palestinian problem was critical and necessary for purposes of advancing the peace process constituted a most significant leap. A leap which, in history, will be credited to Itzhak Rabin. Itzhak Rabin, behind whom, and under whose command we went into battle three decades ago, and behind whose heritage we choose today to advance in the way of peace. During the period in which we occupied the territories captured during the Six Day war, much blood has been spilled on both sides. Against the Palestinian struggle for self-recognition, our generation found itself in an unacceptable situation. A defense army was transformed into an army of occupation. This was a disastrous process mainly with regard to the social implications, primarily to the value we place on human life.

The task of securing and maintaining life during the occupation was complicated by other factors, especially the behavior and actions of extremist groups from both sides. Since the assassination of Rabin, other factors have been added, such as the incompetence of the top statesmen, who have lacked direction and vision, and whose own struggle for political survival, and for the survival of their leader returns us to the pre-war days, endangering both the accomplishments of peace achieved to date, and the future of peace, on which depend our own well-being as well as the well being of our children.

Our generation is a generation that after nearly 50 years saw the light at the end of the tunnel, a generation that saw within its grasp a handshake of peace with those who would recognize our right to exist as a sovereign state after years of war, a generation that desires for its children military duty without war. Yet now we find ourselves sending our children to the military and sacrificing victims for values which lead to further wars. And all this is happening as we stand and watch the clear disaster of bad sands sweep over us, sand which throughout history has drifted among conquering nations and have brought about their demise. Dangerous values that endanger the already fragile social fabric of the nation.

Our generation finds itself fighting on two fronts: a fight for advancing the peace process and a fight to maintain the democratic character of the country. A defeat in any one of the fronts might lead us to the end of an episode - an independent state of Israel. The simultaneous struggle on both fronts leaves us divided. Divided from those for whom democracy and peace mean little. Divided from those who see peace as we do, but who see democracy as a value which contradicts their social concepts, and divided from those who see, as we see, the value of democracy, but who disagree on the issue of peace. If it were possible to fight each of the struggles separately, and reach an end where we would not face the failure of both, there would be a clear majority for the attainment of each goal separately. We face a difficult dilemma - give up peace for democracy, or give up democracy for peace. The sad reality is that we cannot separate the two struggles and thus we must initiate an operation for the simultaneous capture of hearts for peace and democracy. From both will be formed our future and the image in which our children will live. This assumption is for me, and for many others, the heritage of Itzhak Rabin.

Danni Kinrot

PeaceWatch