Updates from AIJAC

A Free Palestinian State

Today's Update concentrates on the prospects for democratisation of Palestinian politics.

First up is Natan Sharansky, the former Soviet dissident, now Israeli cabinet minister, and the most consistent long term advocate of the position that democracy is essential to peace. Here, writing in the Wall Street Journal, he sets out a specific plan, involving an international coordinating body, which he says will create Palestinian democracy in three years.

Next Omar Karsou, head of the Democracy in Palestine movement, makes the case that many Palestinians welcome calls for them to be liberated from Arafat's corrupt and authoritarian rule, and argues that democracy is needed for lasting peace.

Finally, I include an example of the incitement problem created by Arafat's authoritarianism, a description by Michael Widlanski of a new film clip airing on Palestinian television which clearly urges Palestinians to become "martyrs" and implies they will be rewarded in the afterlife if they do so.

Free Palestine Can Become a Reality

A plan for peace and democracy

BY NATAN SHARANSKY

The Wall Street Journal July 3, 2002

JERUSALEM--For many years, a psychological Rubicon had blocked any hope for achieving a genuine peace between Israelis and Palestinians. With his speech last week, President Bush has led American diplomacy across that Rubicon, and hope for a genuine peace has finally emerged.

For nearly a decade, the peace process was held hostage to an idea that has a long pedigree of failure: that strong leaders can make a strong peace. Far from seeing a Palestinian regime unfettered by the constraints imposed by democratic rule as endangering the peace process, some even considered such a regime essential for safeguarding it. As former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin so succinctly put it, the Palestinian Authority would fight terror unhindered by a Supreme Court, human rights organizations and all sorts of bleeding-heart liberals.

That things did not work out as planned is now clear to everyone. Arafat1s Palestinian Authority used the power and resources given to it not to build a better future for Palestinians, but to construct an infrastructure of terror and indoctrinate an entire generation of Palestinians into a culture of death.

Unfortunately, it is still widely believed that all that is necessary to get the peace process back on track is to convince him or some other Palestinian interlocutor that nothing will be gained through the use of terror. But with his speech last week, President Bush made clear that the source of the problem is the nature of the Palestinian regime, not this or that Palestinian leader.

The president1s words point to a truth that many seem to have forgotten: that there is a fundamental difference between democratic leaders and dictators. Because democratic leaders are dependent on the will of the people, they strive to promote peace and prosperity, opting for war only as a last resort. By contrast, in dictatorships, external enemies become the dictator1s lifeblood, enabling him to divert discontent with his own repressive rule.

Reared in the Soviet Union, I came to understand that international security and democracy are inextricably linked. President Bush1s speech suggests he shares a similar vision. The question now facing policy makers, both in Israel and around the world, is how to translate this vision into a workable peace plan. Two months ago, I presented just such a plan to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The first step would be the establishment of an international coordinating body. This organization, headed by the United States, and including those Arab states that recognize Israel, will be responsible for establishing a Palestinian Administrative Authority (PAA) to administer the areas under Palestinian control during a three-year transition period. Israel involvement in this process will be limited to a right to veto candidates to the PAA who have been connected to terrorist activities against Israel.

The PAA will be responsible for administering the day-to-day lives of the Palestinians in matters such as the economy, law enforcement and education. Israel will be responsible for security and freedom of passage in all of the West Bank, and will retain the right to set up transition zones and buffer zones to prevent the resurgence of terror activities.

The PAA will be expected to develop the infrastructure for Palestinian democratic life. This must include formulating new educational programs that inculcate values of peace rather than terror, securing freedom of political, social and religious association, and guaranteeing freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The distribution of international aid and assistance will be dependent on ensuring these freedoms.

The coordinating body will dismantle all Palestinian refugee camps, and a normal existence will be offered for those evacuated from the camps. Arab countries, with assistance from the United Nations, will finance this effort. An international fund will be established to create and finance industrial zones, infrastructure projects, and other economic activities in the PAA.

After a three-year transition period, free elections will be held in the areas administered by the PAA. Israel will then negotiate the terms of a permanent peace with the elected representatives of the Palestinian people.

The plan outlined above recognizes that in the climate of fear, hatred and death that Arafat has created, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to find leaders who dare to work openly for peace. In order to enable such leaders to emerge and allow Palestinians to freely express their views in a democratic climate, a transition period is absolutely necessary. During this period, Palestinians can lay the foundations of democratic life and combat the effects of years of propaganda and incitement.

Just as Germany and Japan had to undergo a process of rehabilitation in order to rejoin the international community following World War II, so today Palestinian society must undergo a transformation.

I hope that we will not be sidetracked once again by accepting Arafat1s phoney promises of reform or legitimating his call for snap elections. This will only serve to perpetuate dictatorial rule that will preclude the possibility of peace. Everyone who genuinely wants peace in our region should now heed the president1s call and work toward reforming Palestinian society. For only if the Palestinians are truly free can we hope to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.

Mr. Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident, is deputy prime minister of Israel.

Arafat's despotism has caused us Palestinians enough harm

By Omar Karsou

Daily Telegraph (London) - Filed: 03/07/2002

These days, the tightly controlled Palestinian media are trying to suppress the fact that many ordinary Palestinians are heartened by the calls for democracy for Palestinians from around the world. In the West Bank and Gaza, people are whispering that there might be an end to the repression and corruption that have characterised the past five years under the Palestinian Authority.

As if the Israeli occupation and daily hardship at the hands of Israeli soldiers were not enough, we Palestinians had to witness the ostentatious corruption of our elected or appointed officials and the denial of our basic rights of freedom. Under the tight network of internal security apparatchiks established after Oslo, the Palestinian Authority suppressed dissenting voices and denied basic freedom of expression. Writers and independent voices were harassed for criticising the regime.

Still, exasperated after years of suffering and exhilarated at the idea of having our own state, I and many Palestinians were willing to tolerate the autocratic ways of the Palestinian Authority for the ultimate goal of freedom. But that did not happen. Our legitimate cause was eventually hijacked by the despotic rule of the Palestinian Authority and by those who want to speak through violence.

Palestinians have been manipulated for too long now. Our cause has been used by numerous Arab leaders to rally their own people, distract attention from the suffering in their own societies, postpone democratic reform and to avoid being accountable for their actions. As a result, Israelis have claimed for years that Palestinians were an "Arab responsibility" and that Arabs were not ready to make peace. When the peace process finally came, we thought we had a chance to shape our future and claim independence. The return of the Palestinian leadership from exile was a symbol of that.

Unfortunately, we were mistaken. The returning leaders brought with them an alien system of governance. They had lived most of their lives as refugees or freedom fighters in other Arab countries and they felt that Palestinians should remain the cannon fodder in the battle between pan-Arabism and Zionism.

Ordinary Palestinians came to understand that their cause has been transferred to benefit the new ruling class. We are supposed to know our duty in glorifying those leaders so they may bestow some of their blessings on us.

It is curious how we Palestinians - so rich in culture, education and intellectual wealth - have become synonymous with suicide bombings and violence. Ask why and you will receive two contradictory answers. One camp will tell you it is because of years of systematic incitement and embedded hatred. Others will say the violence is a result of years of humiliation, deprivation and poverty. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

It is precisely because so many Palestinians live in squalor - owing to the Israeli-enforced economic stagnation, coupled with local leadership corruption - that many Palestinian political opportunists blame the "external enemy" for our troubles and divert attention from our own failures and corruption. We are permitted to seek only the outside enemy, never the one within.

Middle Easterners love to dwell on the past - it is part of our "victimhood game": it seems always to be somebody else's fault. But to forge ahead, we need to go beyond the past. If we are to hope for a better future for the next generation, we need accountability and new strategies. We have to place power into the hands of the true representatives of the majority, while giving the minority an equal platform.

It is only through a democratic system that we can ensure a lasting peace and prolonged prosperity. This is the only way that we can be sure that a meritocracy distinguishes one Palestinian from another. It is only then that we can be sure our elected leaders have the people's interests at heart; otherwise they know they will be voted out.

Suddenly, there is a good deal of talk about reform and elections in Palestine. That is all very well. But democracy is not just a simple practice of electing a leader. After all, the Soviet Union held elections regularly, and Cubans go to the polls every five years. Before elections are held in Palestine, we must ensure that all other elements of a free society are in place: freedom of the press; freedom to hold political rallies; equal time on state-run media.

More important, we must change our electoral system. The present one was adopted to produce a strong man in power - a dictatorial government was the inevitable result. To fall for the same trap would be a national disaster.

Israel has a major duty to ensure free elections in Palestine, since, in practical terms, it is still the occupying power. It has to allow for freedom of movement for Palestinians by withdrawing to the pre-September 2000 position. It should relinquish designs to impose, directly or indirectly, a Palestinian leader.

It may sound as if I am absolving Israel of years of wrongdoing. I am not. Israel continues to cause the Palestinians a great deal of suffering and humiliation. There is a lack of sincerity in its political dealings with Palestinians. Building more settlements is not what an honest peace partner would do. Many Israeli leaders are trying to avoid a peace agreement at any price. There cannot be a just and final end to the conflict without Palestinian rights and grievances being addressed.

But Palestinians cannot achieve their aspirations until they reclaim the moral high ground. Only then will Israeli extremists be marginalised and our own moderate and peace-loving silent majority be empowered to speak out. In order for us Palestinians to attain our dreams of freedom and statehood, we have to put our house in order first. Only then will we be strong enough to counter our adversary's designs.

We need a leadership that is worthy of our struggle, one that can address years of suffering and injustice, not one that has narrow, self-centred concerns.

* Omar Karsou is a Palestinian businessman who recently launched the movement Democracy in Palestine.

Michael Widlanski/Media Line:

VIRGIN VIDEO ON ARAFAT'S TV PROMISES SEXY AFTER-LIFE FOR 'MARTYRS'

By Michael Widlanski

The Media Line- June 27, 2002

When Palestinian terrorists who blow themselves up in order to murder as many Israelis as possible, are they acting out of despair or out of hope?

A new Palestinian movie video, which aired today (June 27) on Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation gives an inside view into Palestinian thinking that may supply the answers.

A dark-haired and good-looking 35-year-old Arab man is seen walking with an attractive woman of about the same age.

It is clear that she is his wife or his girl-friend and that he loves her, but the movie has no dialogue or written on-screen text, only background music and some very clear and heavy suggestions.

The movie clip, which preceded and introduced the 3PM afternoon news, is about Palestinian "martyrdom"-its causes and its rewards.

The man and his wife see Israeli army (IDF) soldiers, and frowns darken their features, and the music is very morose.

The young man clearly starts thinking about how to strike out at the Israeli soldiers.

Almost immediately, the music changes to a more optimistic tone as, out of a kind of mist, stunningly beautiful young women-between 18 and 22 years of age-begin to beckon to him.

The gorgeous women, who are younger than his wife, are all clad in billowy white robes. They are all smiling fetchingly as they call to him, making motions with their hands as if to say "come-here" and "join us."

We next see the man after he is captured by the IDF following an apparent attack on them.

But, as the music takes on another sinister twist, the Israelis deliberately release the Palestinian man.

Their plan is clear: they are going to kill the handsome Arab man "while trying to escape."

He appears as a target in the cross-hairs of an Israeli automatic rifle.

His wife cries, her face screwed up in agony, but the end is not sad.

The camera moves quickly from the bereaved widow to the new Palestinian martyr who is smiling in paradise.

One of the gorgeous women in white greets him and pulls him into the mist where she and seven or eight beautiful women begin to surround him and gently caress him.

The video ends on a happy note without a word having been said, but the message is clear: here is the Islamic tradition of a martyr being welcomed into paradise where he will be ministered by 72 beautiful virgins.

But is this movie clip a message of hope or despair?

Israeli intelligence and psychological experts-inside the IDF as well as Israeli universities-- have been forming their conclusions, without the benefit of this latest video, but the movie clip seems to reinforce their general conclusion.

The suicide bombers act out of a combination of despair and hope. Israeli experts and outside observers have seen the despair which is clear, the product of war, economic deprivation and daily frictions and frustrations.

In addition, several of the human bombers who have attacked Israeli troops and Israeli civilians (as well as some who were captured before they could attack) fit a clear psychological pattern:

Wafa Idris, who blew herself up on Jaffa Road several months ago, was a woman divorced and thrown out by her husband after she had a miscarriage and was told by doctors she could never give birth.

Other women bombers have had similar desperate personal problems, while many of the male suicide bombers were men who were infected with hepatitis, cancer and AIDS.

Their actions obviously had a strong background of personal desperation and despair, but those who gave them bombs and strapped the explosives to their bodies gave them something else: hope, hope for a better life in the world to come.

The new Palestinian television video - aired in the afternoon for maximum viewing by Palestinian children - underscores the message of hope.

It is a hope for a better world, but not in this world, not in this lifetime.

© 2002 Michael Widlanski

Michael Widlanski is senior analyst at The Media Line and lecturer at The Rothberg School of the Hebrew University. Fuller versions of his articles are available at www.themedialine.org