Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is warning that the latest Israeli transfer of territory to the Palestinians is “a conspiracy to destroy the peace.” Chief Palestinian negotiator Abu Mazen has quit the talks, protesting against the meagerness of Israel’s concession. Faisal Husseini, the PLO spokesman in Jerusalem, has warned that the Palestinian streets are about to erupt in violence over Israel’s latest move. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ominously warns that Arafat is on the verge of abandoning the peace process, due to Israel’s reckless policies.
Soon, talk of violence is followed by acts of violence, as an embittered Arab kills Israelis in a spectacular attack. Crisis seems to be overtaking the Middle East, and Israel seems to be the reason.
Yet, if the situation is so grave, if the peace negotiations have never been so threatened, and if the Palestinians have never been so desperate, why does it all sound so familiar?
The reason? It has happened before. It happened just as Israel and the Palestinians were about to sign the Interim Agreement in 1995, it happened during the negotiations on the Hebron Protocol in 1996, it happened many other times, and it is happening today. This apparently is part of the Middle East peace process.
How then does one truly judge progress in the peace talks? By sticking to the basic facts and examining whether the key elements of the process, as stated in the signed agreements, are being carried out. Israel’s actions in this regard speak for themselves. Today, almost 99 percent of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are under the civil control of an elected Palestinian Authority, and more than half are under PA security control as well.
In the last two months, Israel has redeployed its forces from the city of Hebron, as agreed. It has released Palestinian women prisoners, as agreed. It has resolved a long-standing taxation issue by transferring $35 million to the Palestinians, as agreed. It has eased Palestinian economic conditions by granting entry permits to more than 70,000 Arab laborers, as agreed. All of these steps, and many more, were carried out in full compliance with the letter and spirit of the Israeli-Palestinian accords.
Arab protests were also directed against other Israeli actions, which, although they are claimed to be violations, are clearly in keeping with the agreements signed. For example, Israel recently announced plans to build a new Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem and to comparably expand housing in the city’s Arab neighbor-hoods. This contradicts nothing in the accords.
According to established practice, Israel is castigated for not conceding enough when it fulfills its obligations and is threatened with violence when it does what is permitted under the agreements. It should be no surprise, then, that Israel is thoroughly condemned for trying to redress a true violation occurring in its own capital. But it doesn’t stop there. The murder of seven Israeli schoolgirls is now interpreted in the Arab world as the natural consequence of Arab anger against Israel.
It is unfortunate that this is the reality of making peace in the Middle East. Yet, threats and violence should not be accepted as a matter of course. If this is truly a path to peace, this reality must be changed, for the sake of Arabs and Israelis alike.
