10 years

The day Diana died was a sad day.  The day she died will forever be a sad day, a day that brings bad tidings. I did not know Diana and yet I was sad, very sad when she was killed. We were all sad that day. I had no idea that her death will remain forever with me as the prelude to more death.  Who knew that just a few days later that phone call would come from my mother.  That she would tell me there was an explosion in Jerusalem, even as I was watching the horror live on CNN.  That those words: “there was an explosion and we can’t find Smadari” will forever ring in my ears when the day of Diana’s death approaches.  That hours later it would be confirmed, that I would be on my way to Jerusalem, the plane stopping over in London on the day of Diana’s funeral, on my way to our funeral.

No one warned me that I would see those words in the morning paper in Jerusalem as I arrived from the airport: “The granddaughter of peace activist, ret. General Matti Peled…”  It was still dawn.  I still don’t know what to say on this day or what to think as September 4 approaches.  That day I would cry in my sisters arms like a baby, and would feel that way over and over again, each year, even now ten years later.

Who knew that we would hear Elton John’s song as we drove away from the grave site, that my sister would never forgive herself for leaving her baby girl alone buried in the dirt; that for seven days and six nights, the house where I was born, and where she lived would see so many faces. That the door of the Jerusalem apartment through which Generals and diplomats once entered and on which now the words FREE PALESTINE were written, would be open for people who sought to find light at the end of their darkened lives.

It has been ten years and I am still afraid to see the sun rise on the 4th of September.  This is a difficult time. 7000 others have died since from the same preventable cause – Israeli terrorism (also called the occupation). Last January Bassam’s little girl Abir was killed, she was 10, born the year Smadari was killed, how symbolic.  I met her father a year and a half or so earlier for the first time. And like everyone else I saw in him a brave man and a leader. Now he too has that unmistakable look in his eyes and an even more burning desire to see it all end.

Among those who came to pay respects were two who are now conducting this orchestra of mass killing. Ehud Olmert who was then the mayor of Jerusalem, and who I did not see, and Ehud Barak.  The General, decorated soldier and now Israel’s “defense” minister – personally responsible for the death of thousands of innocent Israelis and Palestinians, at the time he was the head of the Labor party.  Barak tried to sell his BS of how to make peace without making it look like he wants peace so that he does not loose votes for being a peacemaker. Hard to believe; I remember asking him why bother, why not tell the truth, that the occupation is to blame for it all and end the occupation. All I received was a cold look, and a cold shoulder when he made the rounds of hand shakes among those present.   I also received a lecture from one of his cronies for not understanding politics and being naïve.

Well, today Olmert is an impotent Prime Minister going through the motions of peace negotiations, and Barak is the all powerful “Defense” minister standing at the head of Israel’s unstoppable war machine – placing the full weight of the mammoth he leads so that death shall have dominion.

The new slogan for Diana is “let her die”.  Well each year I try and each year I fail, and it has nothing to to with Diana. It is just that the day she died always brings back September 4.

עשר שנים לסמדר

THEY LIKE TO CALL IT A WAR

By Miko Peled

48 hours after I landed the reality of this land, a land that people like to call holy, began taking its toll on me. The movie “Boy In Stripped Pajamas” came to mind as I played with my kids in the pool of Kibbutz Zikkim, a beautiful pastoral little kibbutz or agricultural commune, is on the Mediterranean coast just a stone’s throw from Gaza to the north. The narrative in the movie describes the innocent German boy by the name of Bruno growing up across the fence from concentration camp. The German boy whose father is the commander of the camp is completely oblivious to the reality beyond the fence and is forbidden by his mother from exploring the backyard. But while Bruno’s mother naïvely believes the “farm” to be an internment camp, her husband has sworn under oath never to reveal that it is in fact an extermination camp specifically designed to help the Nazis achieve their horrific “Final Solution.” Eventually defying his mother’s rules and venturing out beyond the backyard, Bruno arrives at a barbed wire fence to find a young boy just his age emptying rubble from a wheel barrel. That boy, obviously a prisoner at the camp was wears a stripped pajama.

For israelis this narrative is a frightening one, but sadly they have plunged themselves into a reality where this narrative is being re played but with a new cast. This time Israelis are living across the fence from Gaza, but unlike the German family in the movie they are not oblivious to what goes on in the camp. For the most part Israelis are not only aware of the horrors that take place in the concentration camp near them, they see it as justified.

It’s only been about six months since my last visit here, just as Israel was preparing to launch its latest sadistic terror attack on the civilian population of Gaza, a population whose average age is 15.5, a population of innocent children. I visited Zikkim then because after all, it is the home of my in-laws, the place where my wife was born and raised.

In this chauvinistic state created by my forefathers the terror attack on Gaza is called a war. It is much easier that way for the consciences to bear. After all, fighting an enemy that possess tanks and war planes, artillery and sophisticated weapons, smart bombs and air to air missiles, along with anti aircraft and anti tank weapons is a great deal more heroic than to massacre innocent children, women and men who are defenseless, have no means of escape and no means of fighting back. But of course the reality is that the Israeli army, that sadistic military force that has made a name for itself over the last sixty years as a force to be reckoned with, is in fact no more than a shameless army of cowards lead by a junta of brutal, sadistic racists.

Instead of the patronizing call we constantly hear for a “Palestinian Gandhi” one would hope to see the emergence of international support for a Palestinian Patrick Henry. The call “Give me liberty or give me death” awakens strong emotions even today, more than 320 yeas after Patrick Henry gave the speech that crystallized perhaps more than any the American colonies call for independence from the English crown.

There has never been, not is it likely that an occupying power will ever relinquish its domination willingly. Israel is not different. Not only is Israel not likely to end its iron rule over Palestine and its people, it is placing all of its effort to make Greater Israel a permanent and irreversible reality. So while Patrick Henry’s was a call for arms, in the case of the Palestinian struggle the call should be for a more sophisticated and more effective national struggle.

There is nothing Israel likes better than a military confrontation, and the Israeli “security” forces go out of their way to blame Palestinian for initiating violence so as to justify their own brutality. But a violent struggle only helps the oppressor and it is in fact a statement of despair.

Three clear goals struggle on which the struggle would do well to focus could be as follows:

1. Granting all Palestinians full equal rights with Israelis.
2. Granting Palestinians unrestricted freedom of movement within Israel/Palestine.
3. Reigning in the Israeli forces and withdrawing them of from population centers.

Until these conditions are met, Palestinians have no reason to negotiate or cooperate with the Israeli authorities. Until they are met there needs to be a concerted effort to isolate Israel, and to initiate a struggle that defies its laws and undermines it authority. Israel profits greatly from Palestinians who are forced to apply and pay for permits and licenses; Israel profits from Palestinians who are forced to buy Israeli products. Haaretz newspaper recently reported on the huge profits that Israeli farmers and government agents make as a result of the siege imposed on Gaza. An effort can focus on the idea, also made famous during the American Revolution that there can be “no taxation without representation” calling for defiance of the Israeli authorities and boycott of Israeli products and goods.

Those who still believe in a negotiated settlement with Israel on the basis of two states should read the following lines from Patrick Henry’s famous speech: “It is natural for men to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth…Are we disposed to be of the number of those who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not…”

In the long run, the best possible outcome for Israelis and Palestinians is a pluralistic democracy where people’s rights are protected by a constitution and the rule of law. Israelis and Palestinians, by virtue of their sharing a homeland are fellow countrymen. As such they are deserving of the same rights and share the same responsibilities. Their first responsibility is to engage in a struggle to bring an end to the apartheid regime that holds them both in a seemingly endless struggle, and to cooperate as equals for a better future.
Jerusalem, August, 2009.

Bil’in, The New Heroes of The Resistance.

I had visited Bil’in again this sumer, to participate in the weekly Friday protest.  After spending the night with a friend in Ramallah, we drove throught the beauttiful hilly roads that are typial of Palestine and arrived just in time for the march.

The people of Bil’in endure live ammunition, tear gas, arbitrary arrests, abuse of their children by Israeli forces. But their spirit is never broken. Mohammad Al Khatib was in jail when I was there, but his brother, dressed in waterproof overalls soiled by Israeli “stinky water” smiled at me and said: “It is only temporary”. With the support of the members of the Int’l Solidarity Movement, Israelis and others they go on, fighting for the peace and justice they and all of us deserve.

Here are some images from this place where giants dwell.

מותו של פתרון שתי המדינות מאת מיקו פלד

שליחו של הנשיא אובמה, הסנטור גורג מיטשל הודיע שוב שארה”ב עדייו רואה במפת הדרכים וברעיון שתי המדינות את הדרך לפטרון הסכסוך הישראלי-פלסטיני. הגיע העת לאמר לאמריקאים שאלו הם שני רעיונות שזמנם חלף וראוי שהממשל האמריקאי יכיר בכך ויתחיל לעסוק ברצינות ברעיון של החלת דמוקרטיה חילונית על כל שטחי ישראל-פלסטין.  זהו רעיון שאישים מתונים משני המחנות דגלו בו מתחילת דרכן של התנועות הלאומיות היהודית והפלסטינית, ואשר גורמים מיליטנטים הרואים במאבק בין שני העמים מלחמת אין קץ הורידו משולחן הדיונים.  ובכן, הגיע הזמן להשיב רעיון זה לשולחן הדיונים ויפה שעה אחת קודם.

על פי רעיון המדינה החילונית-דמוקרטית כל תושבי הארץ יהנו משויון זכויות וחובות מלאים ללא הבדלי דת או לאום. כל קבוצה תוכל לחיות ע”פ דתה ושפתה ומוסדות המדינה לא יהיו מזוהים עם קבוצה ספציפית אחת אך תפקידם יהיה להגן על זכויותיו של כל אזרח ואזרח.  ישום רעיון זה יאפשר לשני העמים לחיות סוף סוף בשלום ולהפסיק את שפיכות דמים.  זהו ללא ספק רעיון שאפתני שיעורר את זעמם של ציונים רבים ויקים התנגדות נחרצת אך בהתחשב במציאות הגאוגרפית והדמוגרפית אין פתרון אחר שיש בכוחו להביא לסיום משטר האפרטהייד השורר היום בישראל-פלסטין.

כהכנה ללחץ אמריקאי ממשלת נתניהו מתבצרת בעמדות מיליטנטיות קיצוניות ללא תקדים. יחד עם זאת, גודלה של ממשלת נתניהו וחוצפתה מבטיחות ששום מידה של לחץ אמריקאי לא יביא לשנוי בעמדת ישראל בנושא הפלסטיני.  שיכורים מדם לאחר שבצעו טבח המוני בעזה, כוחות ה”בטחון” של ישראל בניצוחו של רב המרצחים, הגנרל המעותר ביותר בתולדות ישראל – אהוד ברק, ממשיכים להרוג ילדים ואנשי שלום מובהקים, ממשיכים לאסור ולענות והעיקר לא מותרים על הזכות לרדות בעם הפלסטיני.  חשוב להזכיר שגם ההרג בעזה שהיה בקנה מידה אדיר, וגם החיסול הממוקד יותר של ילדים כעביר עראמין ז”ל ואנשי שלום כבסאם אבו רחמה ז”ל וטריסטן אנדרסון שעדיין נאבק על חייו, נעשים לאור יום ומתועדים היטב. בבוא היום לא תהיה שום בעיה להביא את האחראים בצבא ובממשלה לדין על חלקם בביצוע פשעים אלה.

הנשיא קרטר טוען שהאפרטהייד איננה קיימת בישראל כי אם בשטחים שנכבשו ב 1967.  אך כאן באה המציאות ומראה לנו תמונה שונה בתחלית: כמה שלא ננסה ונתעקש, אין מדינת ישראל מדינה דמוקרטית כי אם מדינת אפרטהייד.  ממשלת ישראל שולטת בחייהם של כעשרה מיליון בני אדם החיים בין הירדן לים התיכון – חצי מהם ישראלים וחצי פלסטינים.  בעוד שתושבי הארץ היהודים נהנים מחוקים דמוקרטיים התושבים המוסלמים והנוצרים, או במילים אחרות התושבים הפלסטינים חיים תחת חוקים שונים לחלוטין.  כמיליון וחצי פלסטינים בתוך ישראל  חיים כאזרחים עם זכויות מוגבלות המופלים לרעה וכשלושה מיליון וחצי פלסטינים בגדה ובעזה הם חסרי זכויות וחסרי הגנה לחלוטין.  את הגדה המערבית לא ניתן יותר להפריד משאר שטחי הארץ ואין שום אפשרות להקים בגדה או בשום אזור אחר, ישות מדינית עצמאית נוספת. כל הלחץ ותחנונים מצד אמריקה לא יוכלו לשנות מציאות זו המחייבת את שני העמים לחיות במדינה אחת.

כל הנסיונות להביא לסיום הסכסוך בישראל-פלסטין דרך הפרדה ובידוד נכשלו ומפת הדרכים ורעיון שתי המדינות אינם אלא שני כשלונות נוספים בשרשרת ארוכה של כשלונות כאובים.  כפי שמלמד הנסיון בארצות הברית, דרום אפריקה וארצות אחרות, רק שוויון זכויות מלא המעוגן בחוק (או בחוקה) יש בכוחו להביא לשקט ולשלום בין עמים אשר להם מולדת משותפת.  רעיון הדמוקרטיה החילונות איננו פשוט וההתנגדות לישומו תהיה קשה ותדרוש הקרבה.  יהיה צורך להמרות את חוקי הכיבוש ןלהיתמודד עם אלימות של חיילים וסוכני הכיבוש האחרים הפוחדים פחד מוות ממאבק צודק בלתי אלים.  כל זה נדון כעט בפורומים אקדמיים ופוליטים רבים, ויעשה טוב הממשל האמריקאי ויעשו טוב מנהיגים מקומיים, פלסטינים וישראלים כאחד אם יצטרפו לדיון ויקחו יוזמה.

השאלות השתנו

השאלות השתנו

מאת מיקו פלד

ישנו סיפור ידוע על אלברט איינשטיין שבו נותן הפרופסור המהולל מבחן לכיתה מסויימת למרות שכבר נתן את אותו המבחן לאותה הכיתה.  כשהבחין  בכך עוזרו של איינשטיין מיהר להזהירו שאותה הכיתה כבר ניבחנה על אותו החומר.  הפרופסור חייך ואמר: זה בסדר, התשובות השתנו. כך גם אצלנו, השאלות אותן השאלות אבל התשובות השתנו.

עד לפני כעשר שנים התשובה לשאלה כיצד ניתן להביא לשלום היתה ברורה: מדינה פלסטינאית עצמאית בגדה המערבית ובעזה בשכנות למדינת ישראל. אבל היום   התשובה של שתי מדינות לשני עמים שייכת למציאות שחלפה מן העולם. כיום לאחר למעלה מ- 40 שנות כיבוש, כאשר הגדה מחולקת ומבוטרת ומשוזרת בישובים ובכבישים המיועדים ליהודים בלבד, כאשר חומת הפרדה כולאת מליוני פלסטינאים בגטאות בגדה ובעזה, וכאשר ברור לכל שאין מנהיג בישראל שיש בכוחו להביא לחלוקת ארץ ישראל – התשובה שונה.

מה היא אם כן הֿתשובה לשאלה קשה זו? כיום חיים למעלה מ – 10 מיליון בני אדם בין הים והירדן, כ 5.5 מליון יהודים וקרוב ל- 4.5 מליון פלסטינים כשמדינת ישראל, מדינת היהודים שולטת בכל.  מצב הפלסטינים נע בין חיים כאזרחים דרגה ג בתוך ישראל לבין נתינים משוללי זכויות תחת משטר צבאי בשטחים הכבושים. ברור שמציאות זו לא תוכל להמשך לנצח.  במוקדם או במאוחר תדרש ישראל לתת זכויות שוות לפלסטינאים שחיים תחת שלטונה, השאלה היא אם זה יבוא כתוצאה משפיכות דמים או כתוצאה מתהליך מדיני.

שני ספרים חשובים המצביעים על תמורות חשובות ראויים לציון כאן.  הספר הראשון שזכה לתהודה רבה וכבר נמצא ברשימת רבי המכר של הניו יורק טיימז הוא ספרו של נשיא ארה”ב לשעבר וידיד ישראל גימי קרטר.  ספרו של הנשיא קרטר “Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid” פתח לראשונה בארה”ב את הדלת לדיון משמעותי בנושא הטרגדיה של העם הפלסטיני.  קרטר מתאר את המציאות בה חיים הפלסטינים תחת שלטון ישראל כאפרטייד.  שנשיא אמריקאי ישתמש במונח אפרטייד כדי לתאר את שלטון ישראל בשטחים – זוהי תמורה חשובה שאין דומה לה.  ואכן, מאז יצא הספר בארה”ב הדיון בו אינו פוסק ולא נראה שיפסק בזמן הקרוב.

הספר השני הוא ספרו של ההסטוריון הישראלי אילן פפה: “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine”.  חשוב לתת את הדעת על שמוש במושג ethnic cleansing או  טיהור אתני כדי לתאר את הטרגדיה שעבר העם הפלסטיני בין השנים 1947-1949.  ספרו של פפה, מזעזע ככל שיהיה, מהוה הזדמנות ללמוד בפרטי פרטים על ההרס שנגרם לעם הפלסטיני בידי ישראל בתקופת מלחמת השחרור, מלחמה אשר בסיומה על חורבות פלסטין הוקמה מדינת ישראל .

מה שמסתמן מקריאת שני הספרים זה שספרו של קרטר הוא המשך של מה שמתאר אילן פפה. במילים אחרות, מדיניות מדינת ישראל לגבי הפלסטינים עכשיו מהווה המשך לטיהור האתני של 1948. ניתן אולי להתוכח על פרט זה או אחר הן בספרו של קרטר והן בספרו של פפה, אבל לא ניתן להתוכח על העובדות.  במהלך מלחמת העצמאות גורשו כ – 800,000 פלסטינים ממולדתם, עריהם וכפריהם נהרסו ולמעשה היישות הפלסטינית בפלסטין הושמדה כמעט כליל. וכיום, ממשיכה ישראל להרוס כל סממן של זהות, שלא לדבר על עצמאות פלסטינית הן בתוך ישראל והן בשטחים.

תשובה אחת לשאלה כיצד ניתן להביא לסיום הסכסוך שהיא אולי התשובה הקשה מכולן, מתבססת על כך שישראל היא למעשה מדינה שבה חיים שני העמים תחת שלטון אחד, כלומר ישראל היא מדינה דו-לאומית. מה שמתבקש זה לשנות את המסגרת הפוליטית הנוכחית המאפשרת רק לישראלים יהודים להיות אזרחים בעלי זכויות מלאות, ולהחליפה במסגרת מדינית שבה יורשו בני שני העמים להיות אזרחים שווי זכויות ויוכלו לבטא את זהותם הלאומית, הדתית והתרבותית.  במילים אחרות ישראל תהיה למדינה דמוקרטית שבה ישראלים ופלסטינים חיים בשויון זכויות מלא במולדתם ההיסטורית המשותפת, ארץ ישראל-פלסטין.

כאמור, אפשרות זו היא ללא ספק קשה ביותר. העם היהודי, לאחר 2000 שנות גלות ולאחר ששרד את השואה, קם לתחיה כמו הפיניקס האגדי וזכה להקים מדינה עצמאית.  מבחינה אנושית ומבחינה הסטורית תקומת ישראל היא בעלת חשיבות ללא תקדים.  כדי להבטיח את שלומו של עם ישראל בארץ ישראל דרושים גם חזון מדיני וגם נכונות להתפשר.  כדי להביא לסיום המצב הקשה בו נמצאת מדינת ישראל דרושה נכונות להכיר במציאות שנוצרה בין  1947 להיום: מדינת ישראל קמה על חשבון עם אחר, ואין מנוס מליצור מסגרת מדינית משותפת שבה יוכלו שני העמים לחיות בשלום.

Articles in Arabic

Article 1

Moving Beyond The two State Solution

Moving Beyond Two States
By Miko Peled

United States envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, kicked off a visit to Israel restating the US commitment to the Road Map and the Two State Solution. However, both of these options have become irrelevant and it is time for the administration to seriously study the possibility of the two nations living together within a single democratic state. This is an option that moderate parties on both sides have discussed for decades, only to be silenced by more militant forces that see this as a zero sum game.

The one state option speaks of a single secular democracy between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea within which Israelis and Palestinians would live as equal citizens. This would elevate the rights of Palestinians to those of Israelis it will finally allow the two nations to stop bleeding and begin building. It is an ambitious proposition that Israel and its supporters will surely resist at first. However, judging by the facts on the ground, this may well be the only option available for the two nations.

In preparation for renewed US involvement in the Israeli Palestinian conflict, Israel’s newly elected Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu announced his opposition to establishing a Palestinian state. Israel’s newly appointed foreign minister went even further and announced that there will be no more peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Adopting a tactic clearly designed to give them room to negotiate, the two are positioning themselves as far to the right as possible in expectation of American demands for concessions to the Palestinians. Judging by the size and the political makeup of Israel’s new cabinet, it is safe to assume that no amount of American pressure will convince them to allow Palestinian independence or to halt settlement expansions in the West Bank.

When Jimmy Carter published his book “Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid” he insisted that the apartheid did not apply to Israel, only to the occupied territories. But now the West Bank is inseparable from Israel. Because of the large settlement blocks and highways that Israel built over the years, the West Bank can no longer be separated from the rest of the country. So regardless of what solution the US supports, the geography and the demographics no longer allow for the creation of a separate political entity in the West Bank, or anywhere else in historic Palestine/Israel.

Try as we may to pretend that Israel is a Western style democracy, it is simply not the case. The government of Israel controls the lives of five and a half million Jews who enjoy the freedoms of a democracy, 1.4 million Palestinians who live as second-class citizens within Israel but with severely limited civil rights and 3.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who are deprived of all civil and human rights.

Of the estimated ten million people living in historic Israel/Palestine today half are Israelis and half Palestinians. To bring a just and lasting end to the conflict the state must be divorced from religious or ethnic identity and provide all citizens equal rights. in other words, a secular, constitutional democracy that will protect the rights of all Palestinians and Israelis but will be the sole proprietorship of neither one. Equality, as history has shown us in this country, in South Africa and in other multi national, multi ethnic states, can only be guaranteed through laws that protect the rights of every citizen, regardless of race, religion or gender.

The Two State Solution and the Road Map are the latest in a series of failed attempts to solve the Israeli Palestinian conflict through partition and segregation. The best one can expect from pursuing these options is a dangerously volatile status quo. But the good news is that Israelis and Palestinians discuss the possibility of a single state openly at academic and political forums. Now that the President has announced that he will visit Israel this summer, it is time for the US to join this conversation.

Recognizing Israel By Miko Peled

The shooting of US citizen and peace activist Tristan Anderson by Israeli soldiers occurred just days after the 6th anniversary of the killing by Israeli forces of another American peace activist, Rachel Corey. In both cases the killing was unprovoked and intentional but no official condemnation of Israel has been made by the US. It is safe to assume that had Palestinians, Iranians or Syrians killed these Americans, the President would have made a statement by now condemning the shooting and possible scenarios for sanctions if not retaliation would have been contemplated.

What we do hear these days from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is that the US would not support a Palestinian government unless it recognizes the state of Israel and vows to end the violence. While the US promises millions of dollars to rebuild Gaza after the latest destruction inflicted by Israel, these dollars are contingent upon Palestinian recognition of Israel and a unilateral Palestinian commitment to end the violence. But who will guarantee to protect Palestinian civilians from Israeli attacks?

As Fatah and Hammas negotiate for Palestinian unity we are informed that they disagree on the issue of recognizing Israel. So let us explore what recognition of Israel means to Palestinians. Recognition means to forgive that in 1948 close to 500 Palestinian cities, towns and villages, were destroyed; to forgive that businesses and factories, mosques and schools were leveled and that Palestinians were forced into an exile that continues to this day. It means to forgive that in 1968, when Israel completed its conquest of Palestine it once again forced thousands of Palestinians into exile while taking over more land. It means to overlook the fact that for over 60 years Israel built towns and cities and farms for Jews only on Palestinian land and it continues to do so to this day in the West Bank.

Israel speaks of creating a Palestinian state but it enacts policies that make the establishment of such a state impossible. Palestinian sociologist Jamil Hilal puts it this way: “Israel’s policy has amounted to a systemic negation of the basic conditions necessary for a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.” Palestinians are pushed out of their homes and their land and into small, unlivable enclaves that can barely sustain themselves, much less be considered viable for statehood.

As we see in places like Na’alin, where Tristan Anderson was shot, Israeli response to Palestinian resistance is violent regardless of whether the resistance is violent or not. Israel holds an estimated ten thousand Palestinian political prisoners for belonging to the resistance, regardless of whether they actually participated in acts of violent resistance or not.

So it realistic to expect that Palestinian recognition of Israel will be forthcoming? Juxtaposing the reality in Gaza and the West Bank with US rhetoric one may conclude that the US wants the fate of Palestinian to be similar to that of Native Americans, i.e., complete surrender of their country and their rights. Palestinians are asked, or more accurately, it is demanded of Palestinians that they recognize the total domination of a country that has taken everything away from them and continues to attack them viciously and without discrimination. Again, one is forced to ask: Who is prepared to provide protection for the lives of innocent Palestinians? Sadly, on this issue one hears absolutely nothing from the US or Israel.

The first time srael took over Gaza was during the Eisenhower administration. In those days Israel was receiving very little money or weapons from the US, but when the American President gave the word, my father, Matti Peled, who was the Israeli military governor of Gaza had 2 weeks to get out. He did it in two days. Today, Israel receives an estimated ten million dollars per day from the US. One would expect that in return Israel would protect the lives of US citizens and respect the human and civil rights of Palestinian civilians.

The shooting of US citizen and peace activist Tristan Anderson by Israeli soldiers occurred just days after the 6th anniversary of the killing by Israeli forces of another American peace activist, Rachel Corey. In both cases the killing was unprovoked and intentional but no official condemnation of Israel has been made by the US. It is safe to assume that had Palestinians, Iranians or Syrians killed these Americans, the President would have made a statement by now condemning the shooting and possible scenarios for sanctions if not retaliation would have been contemplated.

What we do hear these days from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is that the US would not support a Palestinian government unless it recognizes the state of Israel and vows to end the violence. While the US promises millions of dollars to rebuild Gaza after the latest destruction inflicted by Israel, these dollars are contingent upon Palestinian recognition of Israel and a unilateral Palestinian commitment to end the violence. But who will guarantee to protect Palestinian civilians from Israeli attacks?

As Fatah and Hammas negotiate for Palestinian unity we are informed that they disagree on the issue of recognizing Israel. So let us explore what recognition of Israel means to Palestinians. Recognition means to forgive that in 1948 close to 500 Palestinian cities, towns and villages, were destroyed; to forgive that businesses and factories, mosques and schools were leveled and that Palestinians were forced into an exile that continues to this day. It means to forgive that in 1968, when Israel completed its conquest of Palestine it once again forced thousands of Palestinians into exile while taking over more land. It means to overlook the fact that for over 60 years Israel built towns and cities and farms for Jews only on Palestinian land and it continues to do so to this day in the West Bank.

Israel speaks of creating a Palestinian state but it enacts policies that make the establishment of such a state impossible. Palestinian sociologist Jamil Hilal puts it this way: “Israel’s policy has amounted to a systemic negation of the basic conditions necessary for a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.” Palestinians are pushed out of their homes and their land and into small, unlivable enclaves that can barely sustain themselves, much less be considered viable for statehood.

As we see in places like Na’alin, where Tristan Anderson was shot, Israeli response to Palestinian resistance is violent regardless of whether the resistance is violent or not. Israel holds an estimated ten thousand Palestinian political prisoners for belonging to the resistance, regardless of whether they actually participated in acts of violent resistance or not.

So it realistic to expect that Palestinian recognition of Israel will be forthcoming? Juxtaposing the reality in Gaza and the West Bank with US rhetoric one may conclude that the US wants the fate of Palestinian to be similar to that of Native Americans, i.e., complete surrender of their country and their rights. Palestinians are asked, or more accurately, it is demanded of Palestinians that they recognize the total domination of a country that has taken everything away from them and continues to attack them viciously and without discrimination. Again, one is forced to ask: Who is prepared to provide protection for the lives of innocent Palestinians? Sadly, on this issue one hears absolutely nothing from the US or Israel.

The first time Israel took over Gaza was during the Eisenhower administration. In those days Israel was receiving very little money or weapons from the US, but when the American President gave the word, my father, Matti Peled, who was the Israeli military governor of Gaza had 2 weeks to get out. He did it in two days. Today, Israel receives an estimated ten million dollars per day from the US. One would expect that in return Israel would protect the lives of US citizens and respect the human and civil rights of Palestinian civilians.