The need for a collective Israeli-Palestinian voice

This viewpoint is in response to the viewpoint "Reassessing the Palestinian voice" by Reem Assil that was printed in the Sept. 30 issue of the Daily, and viewpoints by Ilan Behm in previous weeks.

Wow... "Genocide, ethnic cleansing, displacement and assassinations..." Those are pretty strong accusations against a country that was built by Holocaust survivors, a country that sent aid to Kosovars, and a country that assisted the Tutsis in Rwanda while the world stood by. To be honest, I don't know what ends Ms. Assil seeks to achieve by making claims which I find offensive in the name of being pro- Palestinian. Comments such as these do nothing to further peace and understanding; rather they alienate, inflame, and bring us farther away from our mutual objective of peaceful coexistence.

With some 600 Israelis and 1500 Palestinians killed, I'm really not sure at what point we on the Zionist side of things get to employ the politically profitable claims of genocide and ethnic cleansing. Ms. Assil rightfully takes offense at the comments espoused by Ilan Behm in previous viewpoints. Mr. Behm's viewpoints express a belligerent point of view. I know that some of the Tufts community is offended and angered by the accusations in Behm's viewpoints, and I am writing this viewpoint in large part to publicly condemn such notions of "not trusting Arabs to maintain holy sites."

As happens with most viewpoints, this one misses the opportunity to improve the plight of the Israelis and Palestinians. Just as Hanan Ashrawi emerged from a leadership vacuum as a visible spokeswoman who eloquently explained the Palestinian situation to the rest of the world, it is time for us at Tufts who represent the new generation of leaders to come out with new, progressive ideas.

Many Israeli academics, politicians, and common citizens are vociferously condemning the occupation and policies of Sharon's government. So too it's time for new Palestinian and Arab voices to emerge. For example, in addition to debate on policy I would be charmed to hear new Arab voices condemning the broadcast of sermons like this on official Palestinian Authority (PA) television:

"The Jews are Jews, whether Labor or Likud... They do not have any moderates or any advocates of peace. They are all liars... Oh brother believers, the criminals, the terrorists are the Jews, who have butchered our children, orphaned them, widowed our women and desecrated our holy places and sacred sites. They are the terrorists. They are the ones who must be butchered and killed, as Allah the Almighty said: 'Fight them: Allah will torture them at your hands, and will humiliate them and will help you to overcome them, and will relieve the minds of the believers'... The cost and the dowry of this bride, the dowry of this paradise, is that we fight in the path of Allah, and kill and be killed."

Time and time again we hear that this conflict will not be solved without concessions on both sides. Now is the time for Arab leaders on our campus to denounce unproductive PA policies, acknowledge Arafat's corruption and disregard for Palestinian interests, and finally stop referring to suicide bombers as "terrorists" in quotation marks. I've shown the chutzpah to get up and publicly admonish Palestinians and Israelis who make unproductive accusations. Where's your chutzpah?

Aaron Markowitz-Shulman is a sophomore majoring in International Relations.