| An authoritarian
Palestinian regime (whether the present one or a more
efficient but equally undemocratic "reformed" one) cannot
retain the trust of its own people. Neither, in the end,
can it gain the trust of Israelis, a major prerequisite
for peace. Such a regime is powerless to mobilize Palestinians
and build a consensus for peace and it is powerless to
influence Israelis to relinquish the disproportionate
share of land and other resources they now control to
reach an equitable Israeli-Palestinian agreement.
Friends and
other concerned citizens can encourage constructive change
first by informing themselves and then others about the
activities of Israeli and Palestinian groups that are
working for an equitable peace and democratic reform.
The Israeli voices calling for an end to the settlements
and the Palestinian voices demanding genuine reform deserve
a much wider hearing in the U.S. than they have received.
Most importantly,
U.S. policymakers in Congress and the Administration need
to be urged to take action to halt Israel's continuing
settlement activities and to support fundamental reform
of the Palestinian authority. Friends should call to
the attention of policy-makers such documents as the B'Tselem
settlement report or the Council on Foreign Relations
report on Palestinian reform.
Policymakers
should be asked to ensure that U.S. aid to Israel and
the Palestinians be used to promote peace, not exacerbate
conflict. Aid to Israel should be conditioned on Israel's
enforcing a freeze on its settlements. Aid to the Palestinians
should be crafted to create strong incentives for thoroughgoing
reforms of the Palestinian Authority, strengthening of
its civil society organizations, and enhancing Palestinian
capacities to meet urgent humanitarian needs created by
the occupation closures and curfews. U.S. resources and
influence should be used to help reduce the lethality
of the conflict and to return Israel and Palestine to
a problem solving process at the negotiating table. To
that end, U.S. military assistance should not be used
to arm one party to this conflict against the other.
On the contrary, U.S. military assistance should be withheld
from Israel until, at least, Israel agrees to end its
occupation of Palestinian territory by a date certain.
|
