Paul Kozakiewicz: Israel Support Should Have Strings Attached
The United States should re-consider its unqualified support for the nation of Israel, which uses its military might to suppress the rights of some 3.5 million Palestinian people living in the West Bank, Golan Heights and Gaza.
The Israeli government's policy of assassinating suspects and its continuing obstructions to peace in the Middle East could have grave consequences for the United States, which is seen by more than a billion Muslim and other peoples around the world as an Israeli partner that is willing to back the government, despite its serious flaws.
In light of the Sept. 11 attacks on our country, I decided to take a look at the situation in the Middle East and the relationship that has been cultivated between the U.S. and Israel. What I've learned about the Israeli government's actions is disturbing.
Palestinian People Oppressed by Collective Punishment Policies
The official policy of the Israeli government is to punish the entire Palestinian population for the actions of a few terrorists. Some of the actions undertaken by the Israeli government include:
· Checkpoints - The creation of a massive system of road checkpoints that have effectively stopped transportation in the occupied territories. Waits of up to three hours at each checkpoint are not uncommon. The Palestinian people feel the roadblocks are not necessary for Israel's security and only serve to harass Palestinians;
· Curfews - The enforcement of curfews over entire cities, backed up with the might of the Israeli military;
· Blockades - When a member of the Israeli government, Tourist Minister Rehavam Zeevi, was killed Oct. 17, 2001 by a terrorist, the Israeli government responded by blockading Palestinian towns, including Ramallah, where Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat lives. Arafat has been restricted to Ramallah since then and the blockades are still in place;
· Olive Tree Destruction - The Israeli government has overseen the destruction of more than 150,000 olive trees in the occupied territories, undercutting the Palestinian's ability to provide sustenance for their families and undercutting an already fragile Palestinian economy. More than half the population lives below the poverty line and it takes more than 50 years for an olive tree to reach maturity;
· Farmland Destruction - Some 220,000 acres of Palestinian farmland has been plowed under by Israeli bulldozers, rendering it unusable.
Government policies mandating collective punishment on the entire Palestinian population are wrong and should be stopped immediately.
Actions Taken by the Israeli Government Thwart Peace
Since the territories where the Palestinians live were seized in 1967, successive governments have supported policies that are not conducive to peace, including the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Some 60 percent of the 20,000 new housing units built in the West Bank since 1993 have been financed by the government, which also gives free and reduced rent to "settlers" and offers them a tax break (10 percent on income taxes and seven percent on Social Security taxes) to live in the occupied territories.
While deaths on either side of the struggle are unacceptable, four times as many Palestinians have been killed as have Israelis since the second Intifada began after Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited one of Islam's holiest sites, the Dome of the Rock. From Sept. 29, 2000 until July 5, 2001, there were 560 Palestinians killed (174 children) compared to 130 Israelis killed (25 children). Most Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army and most Israelis were killed by suicide bombers.
The Palestinian people are oppressed because the Israeli government clearly has the upper hand - it holds all the cards. Although I do not condone their actions, the Palestinians who blow themselves up in a suicide bombing are acting out of utter frustration.
In news reports, we see children throwing rocks against a modern army equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry - weaponry attained with assistance from the United States government. And, in my opinion, several Israeli governments have arrogantly approached the peace process by laying down impediments to the process or making unreasonable demands of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Arafat is a good scapegoat in this process. Israel blames him for the actions of every terrorist living in the occupied territories and holds him responsible for upholding ridiculous demands.
Recently the government of Israel gave Arafat a list of suspects to arrest and then blamed him for thwarting peace when all of the suspects were not arrested and put in jail. And Arafat is expected to do this while being confined to Ramallah and while his police force and infrastructure are under attack by the Israeli military.
Because of the actions of the Israeli government, numerous Jewish peace groups in Israel and the United States have been created, including and Gush Shalom and the Foundation for Middle East Peace (www.fmep.org). Israeli peace activist Netta Golan has been chaining herself to olive trees to keep them from being destroyed.
As well, some 25 percent to 45 percent of the Jewish population in the United States think the Palestinians are being treated unfairly by the Israeli government, according to an article in the SF Chronicle.
You can't fool all the people all the time.
Barak Peace Proposal a Sham
In the most recent peace proposal proffered by Israel, the so-called "Barak Proposal," Israel would have kept control of about 25 percent of the occupied territories for "security" purposes and it would have retained control of all border crossings and air space over the Palestinian state. It would also have controlled the flow of water - a requisite to life itself - to the Palestinian state.
"If I do what you want," Arafat said of the proposal, "Hamas will be in power tomorrow."
The Barak offer was, to say the least, an extremely bad-faith effort to reach a peaceful settlement. Beside putting impossible demands or unreasonable peace proposals on the table, the Israeli government needs to make a serious effort to make peace with the Palestinians.
The United Nations has passed resolutions calling for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories and to stop building settlements, which are an impediment to peace. But the Israeli government arrogantly rejects all resolutions passed by the United Nations and refuses to let international mediation troops in the area because the U.N. is "biased" against Israel.
This is the same world court that recognized Israel's right to exist in 1947.
After Great Britain took control of the area now occupied by the state of Israel and the Palestinian territories in 1917, a plan was devised that would have created two separate nations, each about the same size and with roughly equal resources. That plan was reiterated in 1947 when the United Nations voted to create two separate nations, but that offer was rejected by neighboring Arab states, which attacked Israel in 1948.
When the war ended in 1949, the Israelis kept territory captured in the war, causing the exodus of some 700,000 Arabs into neighboring Arab states, including Jordan, which controlled the West Bank - an area that was originally slated to become part of Palestine.
In a subsequent war, fought in 1967 when Israel staged a pre-emptive strike, the Israelis captured the West Bank, Golan Heights and Gaza Strip, the territories that are disputed today.
In 1974, the United Nations reaffirmed the Palestinians' right to self-determination and national sovereignty.
Assassinations are Immoral
The United States is currently debating whether a ban on assassinations should be lifted in our war on terrorism.
President Gerald Ford signed an executive order banning assassinations in 1975 and that ban has been followed by every president since.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan said we should retaliate against terrorists and bring them to justice, but that we should never do it if it killed innocent civilians in the process. I agree with that policy choice and I wish the Israeli government would get behind it as well.
The U.S. government should not make life and death decisions concerning suspects in the dark, without assurances that they are in fact guilty of their crimes. To kill someone without due process (trial by a jury of one's peers) is immoral because the government is acting in the dark as the judge, jury and executioner. And innocent civilians are inevitably killed in these operations, such as the five Palestinian children who were killed in the West Bank when they discovered an Israeli booby trap that was planted to assassinate a terrorist suspect.
In November, a former Israeli minister of defense was featured on "60 Minutes II" touting the Israeli assassination plan as the "only way" to rid the world of terrorism. He claimed that the killing of terrorist suspects was a defensive measure. I disagree.
It is better to remove the terrorists' reasons for fighting perceived injustices perpetuated upon the Palestinian people, rather than continue the current cycle of violence. An "eye for an eye" governmental policy only breeds more contempt and retaliation and motivates the Palestinian people to respond in the only way a powerless people can - by blowing themselves up in an effort to inflict damage on their oppressors. There must be a just peace for the Palestinian people.
Israeli Government's Actions Do Not Promote Peace
The actions taken by successive governments in Israel have shown that Israel is not serious about reaching a peaceful settlement with the Palestinians. Israel has a right to exist and be secure within its borders and the Palestinians have a right to security and self determination.
Taking action to oppress the Palestinians, making unreasonable demands of the Palestinian Authority and floating bogus peace proposals are not the way to a lasting peace.
Israeli officials give lip service to the cause of peace while actively working to keep the Palestinian people in poverty and under the thumb of a government that uses its military to suppress the rights of the Palestinians.
It is in the United States' best interest to have peace in the Middle East, lest we become the target for escalating terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists because of our close relationship with Israel. If Israel is not willing to act in the best interests of its ally, we should seriously reconsider the nature of our current relationship and whether or not we want to supply money and armaments to Israel.
I'm sick of Israeli officials who say one thing and do another, especially when the United States gives Israel some $3 billion a year in foreign aid and some of our most sophisticated military hardware.
What a government does is more important than what it says.
Paul Kozakiewicz is editor of the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon newspapers.