"The problem with Palestine today isn't the absence of land -- Singapore isn't much larger than Gaza, and is four times as populous -- but the poverty of expectations as to what it ought to be and might become. Israel has now done what it had to. It's time the Palestinians follow suit."
Wall Street Jounal International - August 18, 2005
Even for those who believe -- as we do -- that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is right to withdraw Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip, the past few days in Israel have been heart-rending to watch.
Settlers are abandoning homes, and farmers fields, that have been theirs for years, sometimes decades. Young Israeli soldiers are being asked to enforce the government's writ on their cousins, siblings and parents. Mr. Sharon has risked his job, and lost much of his political base, to move ahead with the withdrawal. The international community, including the U.S., which has long demanded sacrifices from "both sides" for the sake of peace, now has the satisfaction of seeing that sacrifice vividly offered, at least on the Israeli side.
The logic behind the withdrawal is clear. Prior to the weekend, there were only 8,500 Israeli settlers in an area that contained one million or more Palestinians. Contrary to received opinion, for most of Israel's occupation these settlers were an economic boon to Palestinians, providing them with agricultural and small-factory jobs that had never existed under the previous Egyptian military administration.
But that was before Yasser Arafat returned to Gaza to radicalize the population, and before the outbreak of the intifada, in which the settlers became the targets of incessant Palestinian terrorism. Protecting the settlers, some of them in isolated communities, turned out to be a huge drain on Israel's military and economic resources, resources that could be better deployed by putting the country behind clear defensible lines. The much-maligned Israeli security fence is part of the same strategy, and it has helped reduce Israel's terror fatalities by over 90% in two years. These are real benefits for Israel, even if the Gaza withdrawal has not been met by reciprocal Palestinian concessions.
At the same time, the risks of withdrawal are also clear, the main one being that the Palestinians will view it as a sign of weakness. There are indications this is happening, with Hamas declaring in a slogan that "resistance wins, so let's go on." Gaza may yet become a kind of "Hamastan" -- a regional terrorist enclave threatening not just Israel but also neighboring Egypt and perhaps Europe. Israel's main security against this possibility lies in its overwhelming conventional military deterrent, just as it does against "Hezbollahstan" on its northern border with Lebanon.
The man who could make the withdrawal work and stop Hamastan in its tracks is Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Abbas came to office democratically in January with a pledge to confiscate illegal weapons and "make the law the leader in this country." Less than a year later, however, the Palestinian territories are more lawless than ever.
Mr. Abbas has been unable to rein in the Aksa Martyrs' Brigades, which is the terrorist paramilitary wing of his ruling Fatah party. He has also failed, or perhaps refused, to enforce his will on Hamas, trying instead to coax them into the political process and getting them to agree to a ceasefire. Hamas has not abandoned its arms, but it has seen its political popularity soar in the face of Mr. Abbas's obvious weakness.
In the coming months, Mr. Abbas may seek to deflect attention from his government's shortcomings by demanding further Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank. (Israel already intends to remove four small settlements in the northern West Bank.) If history is any guide, his plea will find sympathetic ears in European capitals and probably some pockets of the U.S. foreign policy establishment.
But Israel cannot be expected to make further wrenching withdrawals if the message from the international community is that they are never enough. And Palestine will have no hope of becoming a functional and civilized state if no serious demands are made of it to reform its institutions and eliminate its culture of terrorism and hooliganism.
The problem with Palestine today isn't the absence of land -- Singapore isn't much larger than Gaza, and is four times as populous -- but the poverty of expectations as to what it ought to be and might become. Israel has now done what it had to. It's time the Palestinians follow suit.
The Palestinian part of the bargain is to disarm and disable the terrorists, but Abbas has yet to make a move. So far, he has been striking deals with Hamas to not interfere with Israeli withdrawal. But negotiating with terrorists has only backed the Palestinian Authority into a corner.
Hamas, the most organized and most popular terrorist group, will hold the Palestinian Authority hostage on every decision. Sami Abu Zouhri, a Hamas spokesman, clarified that “If the Palestinian Authority continues to manage the withdrawal alone, we will protest at all the mistakes it may make. In particular, if the land is stolen from the people, or devoted to private projects or given to people close to the Authority, then we will react.” Reaction means “resuming operations” (what the rest of us like to call terrorist attacks). The “mistakes” will be determined by Hamas.
If Abbas is planning a swift round up of all known terrorists, he is likely to lose all credibility with the Palestinians. This is because Abbas has been visibly aligning himself with the popular martyr theory. Last week, banners waved across Gaza proclaiming that “The blood of martyrs has led to liberation.” Then, Abbas attended Friday prayers at Caliph Mosque, where the imam announced, “Allah knows that when we offer up our children, it is much better than choosing the road of humiliation and negotiation.” Additionally, the PA’s official radio station - Ramallah Voice of Palestine - continues to broadcast messages that Israelis “want neither a solution nor peace.” These statements are synonymous with those of Hamas, and the Palestinians are listening.
Posted by: Kira Zalan | August 22, 2005 at 02:26 PM