Any lessons here for Kony and Museveni?
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The Two Cowards
August 19, 2003
By AMOS OZ
ARAD, Israel
In the Middle East, it is no longer a war between Israel
and Palestine. Since the cease-fire began more than seven
weeks ago, public opinion surveys both in Israel and
Palestine consistently show that a clear majority on both
sides endorses the cease-fire, supports the road map to
peace and favors the idea of a two-state solution, Israel
next to Palestine.
Yes, everybody is unhappy about those solutions, everybody
is full of suspicions and mistrust, everybody who says
"yes" says so with clenched teeth. Nevertheless, some 70
percent of the people on both sides are ready for peace.
The enemies of peace are the fanatics on both sides: those
who reject any compromise, those who claim that the other
side has the right only to die or to disappear. How can it
be that these fanatic Arabs and extremist Jews manage to
block the road for peace and to push us all again and again
into the infernal cycle of violence and vengeance?
The answer is simple: the leaders on both sides are
cowards. Both Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, and
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, realize that
there can be no progress before the extremists are
contained and overruled. Yet each of these leaders wants
the other to launch an internal civil war while he just
sits and watches. Each of these leaders wants the internal
battle to take place inside the other's family.
This is not going to work. If the Israelis and Palestinians
have to negotiate under fire, let them do so - but it will
have to be under fire from both sides. If we have to break
the back of the enemies of peace, it will have to be done
simultaneously on both sides.
Simultaneity is the key word. Palestine has to disarm the
rejectionists' terror organizations at the same time Israel
removes - by force if necessary - all the unauthorized
settlements. Everybody knows it, but where is the courage
of the leaders?
Amos Oz is author, most recently, of "The Same Sea."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/19/opinion/19OZ.html?ex=1062320766&ei=1&en=34e96ac4c3198f45
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