-Caveat Lector-
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/f4b4683dd2fb43bac1256c4e0044dce4?OpenDocument
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Date: 10 Oct 2002
Stop ethnic cleansing in the Mideast before it starts
By Helena Cobban
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - "No deportations of Palestinians!" "Get back to
the negotiating table!" Should these things even need saying to Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon when he visits Washington Oct. 16? One would
think not. But given President Bush's long record of negligence in
Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, they probably need restating to Mr.
Sharon very loudly - and by the president - right now.
Most of the attention regarding how Israel might behave in the event
of an American war against Iraq has thus far focused on whether Sharon's
government would launch a military response against Iraq if Iraq should
start aiming at Israel during the war. But there's another possibility,
even more feared by members of the peace camps in Israel and Palestine.
That's the prospect that - with or without receiving a prior hit from
Iraq - Sharon might use the cover of a "big war" in the region to
undertake new and serious escalations in his campaign against the
Palestinians.
Forced deportation of Palestinians from the occupied territories -
"transfer," as it is widely described inside Israeli society - is the
most horrifying possibility being discussed. It is also the option that,
unless vigorously and consistently opposed by Washington, would do the
most harm to America's broader interests in the Middle East - and that
includes America's ability to bring the campaign against Saddam Hussein
to a successful conclusion.
How real is the prospect of an Israeli attempt at transfer - or
ethnic cleansing, as this same policy is called in the rest of
international discourse? Well, Israel's recently appointed minister of
infrastructure is a retired general called Effi Eitam, who made his
political career precisely by advocating transfer. And earlier this
month, Education Minister Limor Livnat directed schools throughout the
country to devote an hour of study to the teachings of former Tourism
Minister Rehavam Zeevi. Mr. Zeevi was assassinated by a Palestinian
gunman a year ago. But the idea he was most closely associated with
during a long political career was transfer.
The idea of transfer is dressed up in a number of guises by various
right-wing Israelis. Sometimes they suggest that Palestinians can be
persuaded to emigrate "voluntarily" from the occupied territories. Many
in Israel's peace camp say that the tight squeeze the Sharon government
has imposed on the Palestinian areas since last March is designed to
push Palestinians toward this "choice." If that is the case, it is an
immoral and unconscionable use of state power. So would be any attempt
at forced deportations.
When Mr. Bush meets Sharon, he should express the total opposition
of all Americans to any Israeli attempt at ethnic cleansing. But more is
needed. Whether there's a war against Iraq on the horizon or not, the
president needs to tell Sharon that the violence in the Holy Land has
gone on far too long, and that Washington will now take active steps to
help the two traumatized parties escape from it.
Ever since he came into office, Bush has been damagingly passive in
Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. The situation on the ground has become
far worse since January 2001. Palestinian and Israeli civilians have
continued to die in totally unacceptable numbers. Last June, Bush made
one major speech on the issue - but then, he immediately returned to his
earlier passivity. Even during a six-week lull in Israeli casualties
from August through early September, Bush did nothing to press Sharon to
hotfoot it back to the negotiating table.
How do the Israeli trend toward escalation and Washington's apparent
passivity toward it serve America's broader interests throughout the
Middle East and the Muslim world? Clearly, they don't. Whether the
president wants to build a strong coalition against Saddam Hussein, or
to maintain the cooperation that's still needed in the fight against Al
Qaeda, the perception and reality of American permissiveness toward
Sharon's actions are certainly harmful to American interests.
That needs to end. The US is deeply implicated in everything
Israel's government does. At least $3 billion of our tax money has gone
to Israel each year since the mid-1980s. Washington gives the Sharon
government massive military and diplomatic support. But that support
cannot be unconditional, so long as Sharon and his government pursue
policies that are clearly escalatory.
Constructive American reengagement with Palestinian-Israeli
peacemaking is simply the right thing to do. Leaders in Israel's
reemerging peace camp call for a lot more than just renewed diplomacy.
They want Washington to lead a new interposition force, stationed in the
occupied territories, that can help Israelis and Palestinians to
disengage, while providing protection that the much-beleaguered
Palestinian communities urgently need.
Bush is likely wary of any such plan. But he certainly needs to act
now to reposition America as an engaged and credible peacemaker in the
Holy Land.
And if he's not willing to do that? Then he should hand
Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking back to the United Nations, and promise
the UN our country's full cooperation as it works where he chooses not
to: for a speedy resolution of this tragic but still escapable cycle of
violence.
Helena Cobban is the author of five books on international issues.
Copyright © The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.
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