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Coexistence Arab and Muslim rejectionism of Israel is nothing new, of course. But what's more interesting about the
By
wide margins, most Muslim populations doubt that a way can be found for
the state of Israel to exist so that the rights and needs of the
Palestinian people are met. Eight-in-ten residents of the Palestinian
Authority express this opinion. But Arabs in Israel, who voice the same
criticisms of U.S. policy in the Middle East as do other Muslims,
generally believe that a way can be found for the state of Israel to
exist so that Palestinian rights and needs are addressed. In fact,
Arabs in Israel are nearly as likely as Jews to hold that opinion (62%
of Arabs, 68% of Jews). The only Arab population in the
world that believes the state of Israel is not inherently a menace to
their well-being is the Arab population actually living in Israel.
The only Arabs who don't find it necessary to obliterate the Jewish
state are the ones with actual experience of it. Surely, this has
something to do with the economic opportunities and political freedoms
available to Arabs in Israel that don't exist in the rest of the Middle
East -- and the experience of economic cooperation with other Israelis.
Daniel Doron has emphasized the role economic development has played in fostering peaceful Palestinian-Israeli relations, such that:
[S]hortly
after Oslo but before PLO incitement had infected their minds and
provoked bloody clashes with Israel, the Palestinian inhabitants of
East Jerusalem were asked to choose to receive either Palestinian
Authority or Israeli identity papers. Over 95 percent chose Israeli.
They did so despite disliking Israeli occupation and loathing Israeli
bureaucracy (which drives even Israelis up the wall). They cared more
about feeding their families and advancing their personal interests
than grabbing for instant political gratification. Already they were
wary of Arafat's nascent Palestinian Authority. Real estate prices
plummeted in Arab sections rumored to be destined for transfer to the
Palestinian Authority...
During the quarter century of relative
peace [1967-1993], hundreds of thousands of Palestinians worked in
Israel. Crossing through border checkpoints was infuriatingly slow and
humiliating, but once inside Israel they had total freedom of movement.
Had they been committed to the PLO struggle against Israel, they could
have inflicted enormous damage. Yet only a very few of them, generally
PLO hirelings, engaged in acts of terrorism. Gaza, for
example, was historically more radicalized than the West Bank precisely
because it was more isolated from Israel proper; there is a fence
cutting it off from the rest of Israel. The more recent widespread
radicalization and increase in terrorist attacks has forced Israel to
construct a similar fence
along the perimeter of the West Bank. This is necessary for security
reasons, of course, but it's symbolic of a step backward in
Palestinian-Israeli relations. Arafat's regime successfully disrupted
the economic cooperation that had been slowly leading toward a peaceful
coexistence -- but he has no control over those Arabs living in Israel.
They live under a liberal democracy, with less exposure to a society
that educates its children like this
(note not only that this child is surrounded by machine guns and is
wearing a suicide-bomber vest, but also that his vest has a picture of
the whole of Israel) and a government intent on inciting its people to
murderous hatred of Jews.
The Bush administration's approach to
Iraq and its national security strategy were premised on the existence
of essential differences between authoritarian and liberal-democratic
regimes. The road to Jerusalem, we were told, runs through Baghdad --
because the example of a Western-style democratic state in the Arab
world would prompt social reform such that the Palestinian population
would demand its own free (and peaceful) society. Only with a new,
democratic regime and a tolerant culture in the Palestinian Authority
could peace be achieved, it was said. Now the American position seems
to be that the person of Arafat, and not the noxious
kakistocracy he established, represents the primary obstacle to a
peaceful resolution. But in the differences between Palestinians living
in Israel and those living under the PA, one can see the impact of
living under two different sorts of regimes. One can even see the way
peace will ultimately be attained: a gradual increase in economic
cooperation and trust between the two populations. Before there were
fences between Israel and what is now the PA, there were simply roads
connecting the two areas. Surely we need to reopen the roads before a
roadmap is useful.
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