Are They Real Advocates of Peace?

by Dr. Abdul Qader Tash

The advocates of "normalization" with the Zionist enemy and the ardent supporters of "peace" with the Jewish state now present us some glittering new slogans. These so-called advocates insist on holding a dialogue with the supporters of "peace" within the Jewish entity and also forming an alliance with them.

Anees Mansour, an Arab writer and journalist and one of the champions of this proposal, says there are Jews in Israel, America, France and Britain who back Arabs against Israel. There is a "Peace Now" group inside Israel who are "against war, bias, extremism and terrorism" and they "support Arabs," Mansour says.

According to him, we, the Arabs, have failed in effecting close relations with "these supporters who back our cause without showing any greed for our wealth and honor." We don't pay due attention to these "supporters" and don't think of holding any ceremony to honor them as a token of encouragement and appreciation. Because of this sheer negligence on our part, "we lose all such friends of Arabs and peace."

If what Mr. Anees Mansour says is correct, I would like to ask whether anybody would hesitate to enjoy justice from his enemies and see the intellectuals among them trying to stop the enemy's aggression. But the picture is not so bright and shiny as the writer portrays it. It is both exaggerated and unrealistic to label "Peace Now" members as supporters of the Arabs.

Following the slogan of "dialogue with the supporters of peace" and being swayed by emotions only harms the Arab interest and obstructs efforts to reach a comprehensive and acceptable peace settlement between Arabs and Jews.

The Zionist Israelis, who are experts in political maneuvers and tactics, are aiming at some sections of our educated people to break the Arab wall which has stood firm against normalization, and thus open a crack which would be difficult to heal. And by playing into the hands of the Zionists, these people further weaken the Arab position in the negotiations.

It is quite saddening to see the Zionists making significant gains through their political maneuvers.

As Oslo witnessed Israel's success in holding political talks directly with the Palestinians, to the exclusion of other Arabs, Copenhagen saw the Jewish state's victory in breaking into the ranks of Arab intellectuals. The one-on-one PLO-Israeli talks led to the collapse of Arab political unity against the enemy, while the political influence on the intellectuals has damaged the strong Arab stand, which stood against normalization.

PLO-Israeli talks led to the collapse of Arab political unity.

If you study the Israeli personalities who participated in the "Copenhagen Convention," you can easily perceive that many of them share similar views in their political opinions and programs to those of the rightist and extremist Israeli leaders and parties, but may differ in tactical details.

In such a scenario how can we believe the words of Arab participants who argue that such Israeli counterparts are supporters of peace and Arabs and that we should ally with them and work together for our common objectives?

Let us take one example. Yossi Beilin, who is considered one of the Israeli doves and who has been lauded in the Copenhagen talks by Arab participants, actually does not differ much from Netanyahu in his main stances, although they differ in the ways of presenting them. Beilin is against withdrawing to the borders of 1967, against removing settlements and against setting up a Palestinian state. He favors just a Palestinian entity free from weapons.

Beilin was very clear in presenting his views during a television debate aired on March 17 of this year when he said: "I'm one of the supporters of settlements in all parts of Jerusalem, even in Abu Ghneim, because this is our right. But it's a question of time and tactics. We [the government of the late Yitzhak Rabin] have expanded the settlements by 50 percent and constructed housing units in Judea and Samaria.

"But we did it quietly and wisely. But you [the Netanyahu government] announce your intentions every morning and frighten the Palestinians and you have made Jerusalem, the united capital of Israel a matter which is agreed upon by all Israelis into a controversial international issue. The main thing is to make the Palestinians agree that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and that there will not be any agreement unless they accept it!"

Can we consider such people the champions of peace and supporters of Arabs? Yet the advocates of normalization and the Arab intellectuals from the Copenhagen convention demand that we ally with them and hold special functions to honor them and express our appreciation of their efforts in favor of the Arabs and peace!