I was saddened to read Tsvika Klein's article "Defending Israel," because it shows just how much further we need to go to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East. One of my undergraduate professors told us that if you read an article where only one side of the story comes out, only one set of facts is presented, and the author's country is defended without pointing out any of its wrongdoings, then that reflects a bias on the part of the author. Klein, in a very one-sided article, has done a great disservice to the Tufts community.
I would like to challenge three ridiculous, almost laughable, mistruths: 1) the Palestinians use their children as shields, 2) Palestinians are stealing water from Israel, and 3) Israel has somehow been "generous" to the Palestinians. I do not know if Klein made these statements out of ignorance or out of a deliberate attempt to hide the truth, but either way, it is inexcusable.
By claiming that Palestinians use their children as shields, Klein promotes stereotypes similar to the ones used in South Africa during the period of apartheid. Klein sees Palestinians as somehow inferior types of people, not worthy of the same dignity and freedom that is bestowed on everyone in the world. We are somehow expected to believe that Palestinians do not love their children like every parent in the world does. I strongly encourage Klein and other Tufts students who share similar views to visit the Palestinian territories and talk to Palestinian families and see what the reality is like.
A second myth that Klein promotes is that Palestinians are stealing water from Israel. According to Le Monde Diplomatique, the opposite is true. Since 1967, water in the occupied territories has been placed under military control and Arab residents have been forbidden to dig new wells, whereas Jewish settlements may drill for water without restriction. World Bank statistics reveal that 90 percent of the water in the West Bank is used for Israel's benefit and the Palestinians have to make do with the remaining ten percent. In 1996, a World Bank report described the water shortage in Gaza as the most serious in the world.
Sarah Hershey, a Jewish activist, spent part of the summer in the Palestinian territories and it changed her whole outlook. In a recent article, she wrote, "In a region where water is scarce, settlers use five times more water than Palestinians per capita, and twice as much as residents of Tel Aviv. Images of the large swimming pool, flourishing gardens, and green grass that I saw at the largest settlement, Ma'ale Adumim, against the backdrop of the drought-like conditions that plague neighboring Palestinian villages and refugee camps are still vivid in my mind." Klein should feel ashamed for saying that "every person in Israel is responsible for saving water." It is simply not true.
Finally, Klein argues that the Israelis have been "generous" to the Palestinians. If digging trenches in the roads to make travel difficult, demolishing homes, and generally making life miserable for the Palestinians is "generous," then yes, the Israeli government has been very generous. If assassinating people merely on the basis of suspicion rather than putting them on trial is "generous," then yes, the Israeli government has been very accommodating. If ignoring the issue of refugees for fifty years is "generous," then yes, the Israeli government has been unusually gracious.
These are dangerous myths that will resonate for people who are angry and want to direct their anger at someone and want to make sense of the senseless killings. But I implore all those who are serious about ending the conflict to dig deeper, to look at the root causes, and to look at the grievances of both sides. There, one will find a people that has suffered tremendously for over 50 years and another people that lives in fear of suicide attacks.
On the issue of Israeli security, I absolutely feel that it is a legitimate concern. I empathize very deeply with Israeli families who have lost victims. Every Israeli has the right to live in peace. But what has been absent from the discussion for so many years is the equally legitimate need for Palestinian security. What protects Palestinians from tanks and helicopter gunships? What protects Palestinians from live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets? In my mind, Israel's policy of collective punishment has been a lousy failure because it creates the conditions that breed more anger and increases the potential for more suicide attacks.
I would like to remind Klein that it is not just the Arab world that criticizes Israel but virtually the entire international community, except for Israel and the US. In the past year, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both denounced Israel's "excessive" and "illegal" use of force. It is true that many neighboring Arab countries have turned their backs on the Palestinians and it would also be true to say that Arafat is a corrupt politician. The heart of the matter, however, is the Israeli occupation and expanding settlements that will soon enter its 35th year.
Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon's Trumpet and a New York Times columnist, wrote poignantly, "That Jews should be indifferent to the mistreatment of another people - that they should invent justifications for inhumanity - seems to me the bitterest of ironies. When all the invention and pettifogging arguments are finished, the inescapable fact is that Israel has been colonizing the occupied territories. And still is."
As a direct result of Israel's year-long border closure, 55 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and 80 percent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip now live below the poverty line. Nearly one-fifth of Palestinian households have lost their only source of income during the intifada. Israel's collective punishment, its policy of assassinations and heavy-handed tactics only serve to make an already desperate population even more desperate.
It is time for moderate Jewish-Americans, moderate Israelis, and people of conscience everywhere, to speak out against these injustices. I will end with a quote from Nigel Parry, a British journalist. "Isn't it time that we, the international community, deal with Israel in the same way that we dealt with Apartheid South Africa? That we ask our governments to cease international aid and arms to Israel? That we impose economic sanctions on Israel?"
Faris Khader is a student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is focusing on Conflict Resolution and Development Economics.
