semitism.net

This happens to be my one hundredth post to this weblog, which I began on October 18 of 2004. I want to take the opportunity to say how deeply I appreciate everyone who takes the trouble to read it, those who’ve responded on the blog - making it a real forum for discussion - and those who have sent me comments and corrections. You have no idea how sustaining it is to hear from you.

I’m afraid my posts have been a little sparse lately. I’m going to Israel next week and I’ve been very busy with travel details. I don’t want to say much more now about this trip, but I should have a lot to write about when I return.

Here’s a brief survey of some of the interesting items in the news.

President Bush said in Belgium on Monday:

America and Europe have made a moral commitment: We will not stand by as another generation in the Holy Land grows up in an atmosphere of violence and hopelessness. America and Europe also share a strategic interest: By helping to build a lasting peace, we will remove an unsettled grievance that is used to stir hatred and violence across the Middle East…

Israel must freeze settlement activity, help Palestinians build a thriving economy, and ensure that a new Palestinian state is truly viable, with contiguous territory on the West Bank. A state of scattered territories will not work. (Applause.) As Palestinian leaders assume responsibility for Gaza and increasingly larger territory, we will help them build the economic and political and security institutions needed to govern effectively.

Next month in London, Prime Minister Blair will host a conference to help the Palestinian people build the democratic institutions of their state… I have asked Secretary Rice to attend the conference, and to convey America’s strong support for the Palestinian people as they build a democratic state.

Admittedly, there’s nothing really new here - except maybe the President himself addressing the issue of contiguous territory - but the remarks had pride of place in a major foreign policy speech outside the Mideast and were couched in the sort of Churchillian rhetoric he usually saves for war-on-terror initiatives. I take this to mean that the president will make Israeli-Palestinian peace a priority in the next four years. The emphasis given to Palestinian statehood, and the renewed call for a freeze on settlements, may be a signal that future U.S. policy will go beyond rubber-stamping Sharon’s policies.

Bush got to give the speech, but it seems clear that the impetus came from the Europeans. It’s no coincidence that he offered these statements in Brussels. I would guess that the Europeans have made it clear that American support for a peace initiative is the price for their assistance in getting us out of the Iraq quagmire.

Europe has a carrot to offer Israel as well. I was very interested to find Uzi Arad - Benjamin Netanyahu’s former foreign policy advisor and currently head of the Institute for Policy and Strategy at Herzlia (a conservative Israeli think-tank) - writing in The Daily Star about Israel as a potential member of the “Euro-Atlantic Community”. He was referring first-off to membership in NATO, and he understands the trade-off that would be required:

The option of Israel’s admission to NATO as a full member is…viable in the future… If the Euro-Atlantic community wants to be an effective player in bringing about peace, it will have to encourage Israel to make territorial and other concessions. But if Europe chooses not to offer these guarantees to Israel as part of the final phase of the “road map” it will forfeit the political and moral right to demand such concessions from Israel. Bringing Israel into the Euro-Atlantic community would be the community’s contribution to the peace process.

I can’t help but wonder if he’s also talking about European Union membership when he writes:

Geographically, Israel is located in the broader Middle East, but culturally, politically and economically it is an advanced Western democratic nation… The Euro-Atlantic community is Israel’s natural habitat.

At any rate, the NATO option was reinforced by a visit to Israel from the Alliance’s charming secretary-general, Jap de Hoop Scheffer. Haaretz notes:

He is a successful and friendly combination of politician and diplomat. An aficionado of open-air sports, he runs, rides a mountain bike and plays golf. He also enjoys spectator sports. He and his wife Jeannine, a French teacher, have another shared hobby, French cinema.

It’s fun to be part of the international community!

His message?

I believe that should one day the two parties in conflict come to an agreement and should they request some sort of NATO assistance to help them achieve the objectives of that agreement, with a UN mandate, then NATO would certainly need to discuss such a request

This is of increasing importance to Israel, as threats from the “periphery” (Iran) begin to outweigh threats from its immediate neighbors.

Abbas seems to have read the script: end the intifada, bring together a moderate government that looks more like a Western democracy, and Europe will put some leverage behind Palestinian demands in negotiatons with Israel. Hence this week’s flap over Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie’s cabinet. Abbas apparently stepped in to stop Qurie from stocking it with Arafat-loyalists and Fatah party hacks. The new slate is said to be heavy on “technocrats”. What could be more European?

Finally, back to the Daily Star for a piece that serves as a reminder of the terrible ways that the occupation has warped both Israeli and Palestinian life. The article sketches out the scene in Hebron, where an area designated “H-2″ is home to some of the most radical and violent of the Israeli settlers. M.J. Rosenberg writes:

Last month, I visited H-2 despite being told by an Israeli friend that it is “the worst place in the West Bank.” How so? “The settlers there are religious fanatics and dedicate their lives to terrorizing the Palestinians with the goal of driving them all out. The Palestinians can’t fight back because the army won’t let them. On top of all that, the settlers hate the soldiers almost as much as they hate the Palestinians because the soldiers try to curb their activities. These soldiers are in a situation where they have to defend fanatics who routinely refer to them as Nazis.”

Rosenberg describes what he saw:

The most striking thing is the steel mesh screens that the Arabs have installed just above the heads of pedestrians to protect them from the garbage and excrement routinely dumped by the settlers from their second floor windows. The screens catch all sorts of disgusting stuff and lethal objects like cinder blocks, although liquid debris does make its way to the ground or on the heads of anyone below.

He also quotes from a soldier, whose account was published as part of the “Breaking the Silence” project:

The thing that … affected me emotionally … was when we had just arrived in Hebron. I was on guard duty, when suddenly, from one of the small streets, a settler girl shows up and shouts at me very urgently: ‘Soldier, soldier, come quickly, there’s an Arab here who’s attacking a girl.’ I got very alarmed and advanced with my weapon cocked. The scene that unfolded was of an Arab with his two children. He’s trying to protect them from another settler girl who’s throwing stones at them. I blow my fuse and start screaming at her … She’s screaming back that they are Arabs and should be killed … and the father, poor guy, says, with helpless eyes, ‘We’re used to it, we’ve been here a long time now, it’s alright.

The thing that suprised me most was the article’s author. M. J. Rosenberg is a former AIPAC staffer, and the article cited above was initially published in AIPAC’s Near East Report.

Now it can be told?