Forgive me for digging back into what you may feel is old news. But, for the purposes of comparison, think back to how you felt this past November after leaving Colin Powell's address to the Tufts Community. Remember?
I, like many other Tufts students, was disappointed in a speech that I thought lacked substantive analysis of the significant issues affecting the Middle East peace process. I readily criticized General Powell's speech because, after all, wasn't I supposed to hear new ideas, rather than the same old hackneyed catch phrases? Mutual understanding, tolerance of alternative views, mutual respect - these are virtues that we all recognize as essential to peace in any society. Shouldn't Colin Powell, the secretary of state, a decorated general, and a venerated leader, have a little bit to say about potential United States strategy and policy rather than offering an easy pitch to encourage an attitude we all recognize as right and proper?
Like many other Tufts students, I left the lecture skeptical. General Powell offered me nothing new and little hope, and hope is always necessary to maintain faith in a peace process that leaves most people disappointed more often than not.
Unlike all but two other Tufts students, I had the unique opportunity to hear General Powell speak a second time, this past week. Four months later and two months into the Bush Administration, Secretary of State Powell addressed the nation's largest pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), at its annual policy conference in Washington, DC. And this time, Powell offered me exactly what I had been left craving his first time around: a convincing speech in which he proved he had a strategy and a new policy to offer.
Opening with an acknowledgement of the bond between the United States and Israel, in his words, "an unconditional bond that is both deep and wide; one based on history, on interest, on values, and on principle," Powell went on to outline the Bush Administration's five-part approach to the Middle East.
First, he stated firmly, "The violence must stop." The current wave of violence has claimed the lives of hundreds of Arabs and scores of Israelis.
Second, he reiterated the deteriorating effects of the status quo. A dialogue must begin and the situation cannot be left to perpetually slide as it has in recent months.
Third, Powell stated that, "the parties themselves hold the keys." Where he had blandly told the Tufts community that both sides must work to understand and tolerate each other, Powell chose this opportunity to take a great leap forward. He suggested that no unilateral actions, initiated by Israel or the Palestinian Authority, that are inherently provocative of the other side should be taken. It is time, Powell argued, for the leaders of the Middle East to have "the courage and vision to make difficult decisions and defend them to their own publics." Relying on outside parties to apply pressure for a settlement is not a wise approach. UN resolutions castigating Israel or the Palestinian Authority cannot help the process. The two sides must be willing to accept the call to act on their own and in a manner that they can justify to their people.
Fourth, Powell stressed the importance of both sides working to ensure the "restoration of normal economic life," a source of antagonism at the core of the current instability.
Lastly, in perhaps his most resonant words and piercing tone, Powell declared that "the United States stands ready to assist, not insist." The previous administration applied steady pressure and ultimately encouraged Prime Minister Barak to propose a deal, which, although rejected by the Palestinian Authority, conceded too much of the West Bank and Jerusalem to have served any positive end for the nation of Israel. The Bush Administration, according to Powell, will utilize a different approach. Israel and the Palestinian Authority must start fresh, this time from the ground up. Until the current violence stops, the US will not encourage (insist upon) further negotiations. The signal from Powell and the Bush Administration to the two sides is bold and crucial to any future advancement of the process: Only you, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, can stop the violence and calm your own people. Once you restore internal order, you can again look to the US for assistance in brokering a deal that will be mutually accepted and mutually beneficial.
If you remember being one of those students, who, like myself, decided to criticize Colin Powell and believes that a former general could not strongly articulate a policy for peace, I encourage you to think again. In his closing words of this past Monday's speech, Powell admitted, "I'm a former person of war, now I will pursue peace for all the peoples of the region."
The message from Secretary of State Powell in his speech to AIPAC was clear: The violence must stop. The new administration has a plan that begins where it should-from the ground up. Colin Powell, his second time around, proved to me that we still have reason to have hope and faith in the future of the peace process.
Joshua Pressman is a freshman who has not yet declared a major.
