Millenium in the Middle East

The millenium is really upon us. Like most things that people imagine, the real millenium will be both greater and more magnificent and yet much more mundane than the imaginary one. What will happen depends in part on us, the inhabitants of the Middle East.

The herald of the millenium will not enter Jerusalem on a white donkey, Jewish tradition to the contrary notwithstanding. For us in the Middle East, there may be three or four “heralds,” all of them very unlikely candidates for the post. A slightly paunchy and not very photogenic Israeli PM, a somewhat tarnished U.S. President and two aging Arab leaders whose regimes leave quite a bit to be desired in the way of good government. These four can bring peace to the Middle East. Not a perfect millennial peace that will redress the injustice of 2,000 years to the Jews or the injustice of 50 years to the Palestinians, make all men embrace as brothers and turn the oceans into pink lemonade. Just a plain ordinary mediocre kind of peace that will allow us all to get on with our lives without killing each other, allow us to devote our efforts to eking out a living with the meager resources of the Middle East rather than to kill each other, and give new hope and dignity to the millions of Palestinian refugees. Nothing special. Peace is boring in any case, and this peace is not the sort of thing that generates enthusiasm, and the leaders who will bring it are all too human. It is important to realize that this “millenium” will not happen at all without our support and effort, and it is equally important to realize what are the alternatives.

The deficiencies of our “messiahs” are manifest. Prof. Edward Said, along with the Israeli right and others, has suddenly discovered that Haffez Assad, President of Syria is not a great democratic leader. Actually, that is not really news. But Assad was the same Assad two years ago and ten years ago when he refused to recognize Israel under any circumstances. No Arabs thought to deny Assad the right to represent the Arab cause then.

The enemies of peace are not lacking, and they have already been hard at work all around us. Voices on the Israeli left tell us we should not make peace with Syria before we make peace with the Palestinians. The Israeli right tells us that neither the Syrians nor the Palestinians are sincere about peace, and they have proof in the form of vitriolic sermons and editorials in government controlled newspapers. They also tell us that the Golan Heights are a great strategic asset. It is hard to argue with strategic assets. Especially when they are such nice green strategic assets and there are people living there, in nice green settlements, and they will want lots of nice green dollars to evacuate those settlements.

The Palestinians and the Israeli left tell us that Ehud Barak’s government, which has been confiscating land and building settlements in the West Bank and Gaza is not sincere about peace. The Palestinian extremists inveigh against the corruption of the leaders who are giving up “everything” and “betraying” the cause. Right-wing Israelis gather at intersections and give out Golan Heights stickers, and the Israeli left is too busy protesting house demolitions to support the government’s peace policy.

It is not that they are wrong. From their point of view, they are all absolutely correct. Life is no bowl of cherries. We are not offered any glittering solutions. However, consider the alternatives.

For Palestinians, the alternative to peace with Israel now is not a “secular democratic state” in all of Palestine with its capital in Jerusalem. The alternative to peace with Israel now is probably national suicide. The current bad arrangements are only transitional. Without a peace settlement including further Israeli territorial concessions, Palestinian sovereignty and some solution for the refugees, they will become finalized in a way that is in no way advantageous to the Palestinians, who will be crammed into a tiny area (Area “A” represents only a very few percent of the land area of Palestine) without any of the advantages and rights of citizens of a sovereign state. There will be nothing at all to stop the Israeli bulldozers in Area C, and probably nothing will stop them in Area B as well. The terrorist organizations will throw more bombs, and the reaction to that will be, as in the past, more Israeli settlements.

For Israelis, the alternative to trying to make peace with Assad and Arafat is not making peace with Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln, but making war with Assad or his successors, and fighting a bitter guerilla war with the Palestinians until the next Millenium perhaps. The alternative to giving up the Golan Heights now in return for a peace treaty, may not be keeping them forever, but giving them back under much worse circumstances ten or twenty years hence, when there are many more settlers to move.

Israeli leftists should understand that the alternative to Ehud Barak’s government is not a government under Tamar Gozhansky or Yossi Sarid or even Shimon Peres or another leftist leader. The alternative is not even a government under Bibi Nethanyahu, which was bad enough. The alternative is a government under Ariel Sharon. If there is a referendum on returning the Golan Heights for peace and the government loses, the government will almost certainly fall, and we shall almost certainly get Ariel Sharon in place of Ehud Barak. The battle over this referendum will not be won by demonstrating against house demolitions, and if the battle is lost, there will certainly be more house demolitions and land confiscations. Does anyone on the left prefer Arik’s settlement policy to Barak's?

In 1995 peace was so close we thought we could touch it. It was murdered by the bombs of the Hamas and the terror of Baruch Goldstein and the lunacy of Yigal Amir, the dedication of armies of extremists on either side, and above all - by the apathy of those who should have spoken out. What is happening now is not much different from what happened in 1995, and the result may be the same. If we lose the battle once again, there will be a great wailing and a great “mea culpa” concerning what should have been done and was left undone no doubt, but it will be too late. We will not get a third chance.

The millenium is here. The Prince of Peace will not descend from heaven to sit on the right hand of Justice and judge all mankind. It is up to us to make do with what we have.

The millenium is here. It is an imperfect millenium, no different than life before. As before, only history will judge us. We can make it a better millenium, or a living hell, the choice is ours. If we do not weigh realistic alternatives as intelligent people, those who believe that nothing could be worse than then the twentieth century may be in for a cruel surprise. If we miss this chance, we will not get a messiah on a white donkey. It is we who shall be the donkeys.

Happy New Year 2000, Ramadan Kareem, Seasons Greetings.

Ami Isseroff

Rehovoth,

Israel

MidEast Web has the latest news at http://www.mideastweb.org/mewNews.htm

Views at   http://www.mideastweb.org/mewzine.htm

Dialog Resources at: http://www.mideastweb.org/dialog.htm

Visits to Gaza

http://www.mideastweb.org/hagit/hagigaz1.htm

Peace Education at: http://www.mideastweb.org/education.htm

Turkish Relief Efforts- http://www.mideastweb.org/turkey1.htm

Also: Maps, Documents and more...

Going somewhere? Click here for Airline Reservations, Bed and Breakfast, Car Rentals and much more at discount prices.

PEACE is a Mid - East Dialog Group commited to peace and neighborly relations.We have no official political opinions. PEACE was started by Ameen Hannoun, a Jordanian/Palestinian and Ami Isseroff, an Israeli. You are welcome to join, and to contribute ariticles and ideas for promoting peace and dialog.  More about PEACE.

Politics are no Panacea  [June 6] - a different attitude will be needed to bring peace to the Middle East. More

An outsider looks at the Palestinian - Israeli Conflict - Anyone interested in creative solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must read this essay by Matthew Hogan PEACEMAKING VIA NON-IDEOLOGY or CONFESSIONS OF A PRO-ISRAEL ANTI-ZIONIST.

Hebrew: Arafat