The Palestinian-Israeli conflict cannot be resolved while the parties to it are polarized and also radicalized by internal factions and by some of the policies and practices of their respective governments. If there is to be hope for peace, a common ground between Palestinians and Israelis must be found.
Politicians and diplomats are only the means by which official agreements can be reached. But peace is between people and among people. At present, radical elements and policies and practices on both sides feed on each other’s rhetoric and misdeeds to fuel fear, suspicion, anger and hatred. The events they unleash and the perceptions they generate escalate the vehemence of the discourse, heighten the level of antagonism and harden positions on both sides. All of this only works to the detriment of peace efforts.
The radicals on both sides have the same dogma: the inevitability of conflict and the exclusive righteousness of one side over the other. That dogma derives from a variety of bits and pieces of religious beliefs, politics, revisionist history, socio-economic factors and psychological dimensions which are conveniently blended together. Consequently, it is difficult to unravel, let alone to deal with in rational terms.
The greater danger is that this dogma can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and for some that is the desired outcome. The consequences, however, are likely to be devastating for both Israelis and Palestinians, and also for the entire region and beyond.
In the last two years this process of polarization and radicalization has been both more evident and more pronounced. The reservoir of goodwill, high expectations and good faith that had been painstakingly filled over the years by people of goodwill on both sides and by others who were not parties to the conflict has now all but dried up. Instead, the reservoir of recriminations, suspicions, anger and hate is overflowing. And that is why this dangerous process must be stopped and reversed.
A new center based on common ground must be developed among and between Palestinians and Israelis.
The common ground proposed is not a new idea. Many have been working on it for years, however, now it is more urgent than ever to spur it to action.
Commonly shared humanistic values should be advocated by people of goodwill on both sides, and become a new rallying point for joint efforts to oppose violence, and to work constructively at programs and activities that evidence this commonality and emphasize a culture of peace.
One of its basic premises is that the yardstick for judging conduct must be the same for one and all. And in that respect, Judaism, Christianity and Islam share the divine commandment of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
The practical application of what is proposed is simple: The life of an Israeli and that of a Palestinian are equally valuable.
When people on both sides will come to recognize each other as equal human beings deserving of equal dignity and entitled to equal rights, irrespective of politics, and act accordingly, then there can be a new center in which Israelis and Palestinians can join. In time that center, based on these transcending humanistic values, can grow and oppose the politics of polarization and radicalization. We will know that this day has come when Israelis and Palestinians join each other in the mourning of their dead, jointly oppose that which they believe to be counterproductive policies and practices of their respective authorities, and when they will jointly rejoice in their respective religious holy day and other occasions of significance to
each group.
At this juncture it is important to highlight certain factors which are seldom expressed in
the media.
Israelis and Palestinians must treat each other as equals and treat their respective claims with the same legitimacy that they accord their own. The life, well-being, property and rightful expectations of Palestinians must be accorded the same level of dignity and worth as that of Israelis and vice versa.
The Israelis assert that terrorist violence is the true obstacle to peace, ignoring so much more of the other relevant conditions for peace. Palestinians have a list of grievances, which includes territorial expropriation, denial of statehood rights and widespread human rights violations. But they do not address the Israeli security concerns. Each side looks to its own grievances, failing to see the legitimacy of the other’s. Each side assesses its grievances in terms of its own needs, concerns, and interests without comparing them to the other’s. Each side raises its grievances to the utmost and then turns them into an intractable issue of principle. All of that makes the resolution of these grievances far less likely. The consequences of this mind-set feeds into the dogma of impossibility of peace and inevitability of conflict.
A basis for a new activist common-ground center among Israelis and Palestinians already exists. Polls in Israel show that more than 60 percent of the population is ready to accept a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza with a capital on some extension of Jerusalem. Most Palestinians are eager to live in peace with Israel within their own state. Left to themselves most Palestinians and Israelis would live together in peace, and share a commonly linked future. This needs to be reinforced.
There is no basis for the inevitability of conflict other than the inability or unwillingness of those in power to reverse the present course of violence, suspicion, fear, anger and hatred. We must appeal to the best in both peoples, and have confidence, faith and hope that the best will prevail. Repression of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government is not the way, and neither is the terrorist violence committed by some Palestinians against innocent Israeli citizens. The cycle of violence must be stopped before it becomes all-engulfing.
As a first step, I would like to see Israelis and Palestinians call for a joint popular rally in Jerusalem, with one platform; justice and dignity for all in a land that can accommodate all.
