When Peace Breaks Out

We appear to be on the cusp of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Years ago, a moment like this would have seemed pregnant with hope and excitement. Today, responses to the news coverage vary between gray and blasé. At this moment it may be worthwhile to recall something of the spirit of those early Oslo years, when so many in Israel thought that a Palestinian State was on the horizon.

When peace breaks out, we believed, the new State of Palestine will enjoy a great spurt of development. Its burgeoning economy will continue to be supported in the short term by massive contributions from the international community. It will absorb hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees from across the Palestinian Diaspora and house them in carefully planned and constructed cities and towns, with newly established industries and educational institutions.

The Palestinian state will not need to expend much money on defense costs. Indeed, like Costa Rica, it will probably not need an army. Rather, it will rely on the strong commitment of the international community to its independence. It will enjoy strong trade relations with its neighbor, Israel, the region’s most dynamic economy, while at the same time maintaining close, profitable economic ties with Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the EU, the North African nations and those of the Eastern Mediterranean littoral.

When peace breaks out the Palestinians will maintain democracy and the rule of law. The Palestinian State will guaranty free speech and freedom of association. Peaceful transfer of power will be the norm, following fair and free elections. It will guaranty equal rights for minorities regardless of origin, gender or religion. It will recognize its unique responsibility as sovereign over major portions of the Holy Land and preserve the sites sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews, guarantying access to all. 

With a view toward preserving the peace that was realized after so much pain and sacrifice, it will educate its children toward coexistence, teaching them of the multicultural riches of the region.
Is this dream achievable today?

The question cannot be answered without asking another. What are the dreams of Palestinians about the country next to them, Israel? Is there empathy for the people of that nation of refugees, Holocaust survivors and victims of ethnic cleansing?

In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolchildren who are marooned on a desert island descend into chaos and violence, expressing Golding’s dystopic view that humans are inherently evil. As one character, Simon, puts it: “… I’m the reason why it’s no go. Why things are the way they are.” The only thing holding society together is the fragile network of a moral code that is, in reality, a thin patina of courtesies that fall away when restraints are removed. 

Golding’s haunting line “the reason why it’s no go” can also apply to the condition of the Palestinians. Perhaps we are approaching a moment of truth when they will have to give answers beyond the homeostasis of their thinking to date. It will not be easy. Surrendering their claim to a right of return for the great-grandchildren of refugees, a sustaining passion in so many quarters of their Diaspora, in return for an end of the conflict, economic prosperity and an independent future will only be possible if they develop that capacity to dream empathically of what peace might mean for their neighbors. 

As AJC’s representative in Israel I have raised this with numerous Palestinian interlocutors. Very few of them perceive any justice in the Zionist movement or appreciate the historic predicaments of the Jewish people. It is not the Israelis who need such affirmations, but the Palestinians themselves. For without recognizing that there is some justice on the other side that commands moral respect, peace negotiations become shallow exercises, essentially nothing more than ceasefire arrangements.

We may reasonably fear that when peace breaks out, it will be arrested in Palestine and carried off in irons. If that happens we will know the reason why it is “no go.”