Ask any number of Israelis if they want peace. Old and young, on all sides of the political spectrum, they will almost always respond with a resounding "yes." I know this is true because I have tried it. I have asked people here in Israel, and everybody wants peace. But people are not willing to merely sign a peace agreement that gives away both land and an assurance of security. In Tuesday's Daily, this is exactly what Dina Karam ("Who is to blame for this Israeli/Palestinian conflict?" 11/28) wants Israel to do.
"...It could have followed through with its promises to return Palestinian land, to satisfy the majority of Palestinians, to get closer to the security it has desired for so long, and to open more doors to peace with the Arabs, but lose a few Israeli lives in the process due to random Palestinian insurgents," she wrote. This suggestion would be repugnant to the entire Israeli community. Human life is sacred for the Israeli people, and it is the responsibility of the government to protect that life, the life of its citizens. It is not the Israeli Government's job to sacrifice lives simply to satisfy the surrounding countries or the world as a whole. However, even this is simplifying things tremendously. Things are not as simple as Karam would like us to believe.
Karam seems to believe that, had Israel simply given the lands within the territories to the Palestinians, very little, if anything, wrong would have happened. This couldn't be farther from the truth. We can see this by looking at the round of negotiations that came immediately before this most recent saddening outbreak of violence. In the Camp David accords in July, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered more than had ever been offered before. However, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, balked at this offer, and the conference ended without a resolution on any side.
Karam has stated that the Palestinians balked at this offer because they felt that the Israelis were going to back out or revise the proposal later. However, by saying this, Karam is ignoring two very important issues. The first is that Arafat specifically stated that what Israel was offering was nowhere near enough. Since the outbreak of this violence he has even gone as far as to say that unless Israel retreats to its pre-1967 borders, the violence will continue. The other issue that is being ignored is that the Israelis are not alone in their failure to implement aspects of treaties.
A key aspect of each treaty has been an agreement by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to rein in terrorism, and work with the Israelis to stop terrorism and assure security for Israel. However, since the negotiations began, the Israeli government could not give back the land to the Palestinians, because there were still sporadic attacks on the Jewish people in the seven years since the Oslo accords were signed.
Karam seems to dispense of this fact as if it were irrelevant, but that couldn't be further from the truth. These "sporadic" attacks on Israel are the exact manner in which the Palestinians have not fulfilled their part of the bargaining. In addition, the PA's recent release of many known terrorist leaders is a further example that a true peace based on the agreements of the past is not what they really want.
Karam tries to argue that the current round of conflicts is entirely the fault of the Israeli government. She claims that because Israel hasn't given up its land, the Palestinians are entitled to use violence to obtain it. However, perhaps what Karam doesn't realize is that the longer the Palestinians act violently in regards to the situation, and the longer stones are thrown and shots are fired on both sides, the more likely it is that Israel is not going to give up its land. Even Karam's statement that the majority of the world is blaming Israel for this conflict is incorrect. At the beginning of this latest round of violence, she would have been correct. However, as the conflict continues, with no end in sight, the world has been changing its opinion in general.
No longer is everyone blaming the Israeli government, nor are the majority of people even blaming Likud leader Ariel Sharon for the conflict. Sharon was certainly the catalyst for the current situation, but in no way is it his fault nor the fault of the Israeli government.
Karam also states, "Palestinians will continue ravaging the streets, throwing stones, setting off bombs, and shooting even though scores of them are being savagely and brutally maimed and killed by the Israeli military." However, even this claim is not truly the case. The Israeli military is not savagely and brutally maiming and killing people. In fact, compared to how any other country in the world would react to terrorism - citizens being shot at on the roads, riots on a daily basis - Israel is showing a great deal of restraint. However, this is not the point. The point is that, as long as the Palestinians are "ravaging the streets, throwing stones, setting off bombs, and shooting," the Israeli government and Israeli Army are responsible for protecting their citizens to whatever degree they deem necessary. As long as there is violence in the streets, there can be no semblance of peace.
The Israeli government has not, "[rotted] away... hope for security and peace for the Israeli people." Instead, the Israeli government realizes that it can't allow people to attack its citizens just because they aren't happy with the agreements. The Israeli government realizes that it can't allow people to threaten its inner security. As Karam stated at the beginning of her viewpoint, "Without security, Israel is not the paradise that the Jewish people expected for themselves or that they deserve." She is absolutely right on this count. And because security is the utmost desire, the Israeli government cannot give up its land when there is even a remote threat to that security remaining. As long as there is violence, there can be no peace. And there can be no peace without security.
Howard Wolke is a junior majoring in both comparative religions and history. He is currently studying abroad in Israel at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
