April/May 1994, Page 11

Seven Views: Reassessing Declaration of Principles of Peace in Light of the Hebron Massacre

Accord Obligates PLO to Protect Israelis But No One to Protect Palestinians

By Nuha Marchi

The fabulous Israeli-PLO peace accord ceremony on the White House lawn on Sept. 13, 1993 held all the assurances of an agreement publicly celebrated and signed by two equal partners. Indeed, it was this element of obvious equality between the two former enemies, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, the oppressor and the oppressed, that captured the American and international imagination. It awakened hope that it was, perhaps, high time for the Israelis and the Palestinians to settle their differences and create a normal and healthy existence based on peace and freedom for all. However, the equality accorded the participants was not reflected in the documents they signed. These provided a five-year interim, or probation, period in which Israel will continue to exercise both direct and indirect power over the frustrated Palestinians in Jericho, Gaza and the West Bank. Ironically, the most basic and important details of ending the occupation and human bondage in these areas were never discussed. They were left blowing in the wind for future negotiations!The most gripping inequality in this accord concerns the PLO's pledge to stop all violence against Israel. But there is no similar Israeli pledge either to stop its IDF soldiers from shooting Palestinian teenagers, or to stop its death squads from hunting suspected freedom fighters, butchering them instantly and without any explanation. On the contrary, Rabin made it clear that his IDF soldiers will maintain "law and order" until the (partial and deceptive) withdrawal. Nor did Rabin stop the frightful, fanatic and trigger-happy armed settlers from killing innocent Palestinians, burning their greenhouses, smashing their cars and destroying their livelihoods—as we have seen lately on TV. Rabin still encourages them to stay armed in their protected enclaves. But, luckily, there still are some Jewish settlers who would settle for some fairness.

An "opinion poll conducted among some 500 settlers found that 33 percent of them are willing to evacuate immediately in return for compensation (Yediot Ahronot, Dec. 3, 1993).Unfortunately, support among American Jews for the settlers and "Greater Israel" is greater than among Jews in Israel! I am not joking. Far too seldom do we see, here in the United States, Jewish peace activists holding signs like those displayed by Israeli "Peace Now" members on Oct. 30, 1993, proclaiming that "New Settlements Kill Peace" and that "Jerusalem is the Capital of Two States." Do we ever hear, here, anybody calling for disarming of the settlers or transferring them to Israeli territories? On Dec. 8, 1993, "Gush Shalom" (Peace Block) demonstrators faced Rabin with signs and chants of "Disarm the Settlers Now ... .. Stop the Shooting Now," "Dismantle the Special Units" and "The Shooting in Gaza is Killing Peace."Sadly enough, those compassionate Israeli peace activists and demonstrators are losing their momentum, as opponents of the peace accord from both sides escalate their terrorist activities. As of Jan. 14, 1994, 56 Palestinians and 20 Israelis had been killed since the accords were signed. The Ibrahimi mosque massacre and its aftermath doubled the toll of Palestinian dead.What is missing here is the wisdom, fairness and honesty of F.W. de Klerk, and the extra courage and perseverance of Nelson Mandela, accompanied by authentic pressure from the world's superpower and throbbing conscience—our own U.S.A. All of this reminds me of a song we used to sing when we were children in Lebanon: "The wise man built his house upon the rocks (repeat 3 times)

And the rain came tumbling down

The rain came down and the floods came up (repeat 3 times)And the house stood firm and strong. The foolish man built his house upon the sand (repeat 3 times)

And the rain came tumbling down.

The rain came down and the floods came up (repeat 3 times)

And the house fell with a CRASH!"

That's how I find this peace accord foolish, weak, deceptive, insincerely constructed and full of loopholes and bluffing. And that's why I believe it will never work—unless it is rebuilt again on solid rock of mutual respect, integrity and equality. From American history I submit for PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat's consideration the advice of Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. "For Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin I suggest the words of Abraham Lincoln in 1859: "They who deny freedom to others, deserve it not to themselves, and, under a just God, cannot long retain it."

Nuha Marchi, a Lebanese-American free-lance writer, lives in Orlando, FL, where she serves on the board of directors of the Arab-American Community Center.