The Charlotte Jewish News - December 2001 - Page 35
Opinion/Editorial
Unintended Consequences for Israel?
By Kenneth W. Stein
Unintended consequences are
part of history. When we look
back in five, ten, or twenty years,
what will have unexpectedly hap
pened because of the slaughter of
innocents on September 11, 2001?
History is on the side of unantici
pated outcome. For Jews in sup
port of a homeland or state of their
own, the aftermath of wars has
brought unexpected, costly, but
positive results.
Already many • coalition part
ners are using the common exter
nal terrorist threat to alter relations
with the U.S. and rework those
with each other. In 2020, will the
U.S. be importing more oil from
Russia, Uzbekistan, and other for
mer Soviet republics than from
Saudi Arabia? Will 2015 see the
tenth anniversary of the end of the
Indo-Pakistani struggle over
Kashmir?
What about Israel? Both Israel
and the Palestinians need a ladder
from which to descend from this
horrendous cycle of violence.
They have no choice except to
share the land west of the Jordan
River. The moment is ripe for
Israelis and Palestinians to reach a
non-belligerency agreement that
includes the establishment of a
contiguous Palestinian state which
does not threaten Israel’s Jewish
existence.
A Palestinian state, which
enshrines one-person/one-vote,
sees the creation of a Palestinian
constitution, and evolves into a
non-autocratic form of govern
ment, would certainly be an unin
tended consequence of September
11. This is no pipe dream: look at
polling data of Palestinians taken
since the mid-1990s and one finds
that this is precisely the kind of
state that the vast majority of
Palestinians are seeking. The
hijackers of their national move
ment need to retire. Why now?
First, it is the right thing to do.
Second, a majority of Palestinians
and Israelis support the notion.
Third, it begins to bring to an end
the notion that Palestinian
refugees will be able to return to
pre-1967 Israel. Sari Nusseibeh,
Palestinian Authority chairman
Yasir Arafat’s new representative
in Jerusalem, has recently said that
he would be willing to accept a
peace agreement with Israel with
out a Palestinian right of return.
Fourth, bolstering secular as
opposed to religiously motivated
Palestinian nationalism is in the
interest of the majority popula
tions in the region; they do not
believe that' Islam is only a reli
gion of violence or the only plat
form for political mobilization.
Fifth, the presence of moderately
successful Palestinian self-deter
mination will inevitably have nat
ural and long-term repercussions
upon surrounding autocratic Arab
states. It is unlikely that sudden
democracy or democratic . values
will break out like a plague in
Palestine, but the spores are there
for such values to germinate.
Likewise, I do not believe that
Syria, Libya, or Iraq will suddenly
declare that the “Federalist
Papers” or Voltaire become
mandatory reading in the public
schools. But if Miranda rights are
found in a Palestinian constitu
tion, it will certainly have a debil
itating influence upon most
regimes in the region where rights
of the individual are most often
left to the whim of state security
services.
Domestic political engineering
catalyzed from the outside only
works if individual self-interest
is promoted. Israelis and
Palestinians must receive iron
clad commitments about their
security. Palestinians must receive
a political as well as an economic
dividend — that means money to
the tune of $2 billion plus a year
for more than a decade that does
not find itself into the pockets of
corrupt politicians, but instead
onto the tables and bank accounts
of Palestinians. It is time for the
Arab world and European Union
to defray a significant portion of
this commitment.
Historical precedent may have
predictive value. Since World War
I, the months and years after con
flicts inadvertently catalyzed the
Jewish state’s creation and solidi
fication. Before WWI was over,
the Balfour Declaration was
issued. Two years after WWII
ended, the UN voted to create a
Jewish and Arab state in Palestine.
Five months after the June 1967
War ended, the framework for all
Arab-Israeli negotiations was
enshrined in United Nations
Security Council Resolution 242.
Days after the October 1973 War
ended, U.S. Secretary of State
Kissinger pushed Egyptian-Israeli
diplomacy to a point where
President Carter sealed a peace
deal in 1979. Nine months after
the 1991 Gulf War ended, the
Madrid Middle East peace confer
ence led to bilateral talks, the Oslo
Accords, and the Jordanian-Israeli
peace treaty. Without the assault
on America on September 11,
would either President George
Bush or Prime Minister Tony Blair
have publicly endorsed the estab
lishment of a Palestinian state that
did not jeopardize Israeli exis
tence?
What is similar in all these
instances is that prior to the out
break of each conflict there were
discussions, proposed outlines,
sometimes violence, and always
active diplomacy surrounding the
notion of a Jewish state in the
Middle East. History does not
have to repeat itself, but unintend
ed consequences, even similar
ones, are possible. ^
Professor Kenneth W. Stein
teaches Middle Eastern History
and Political Science at Emory
University in Atlanta, Georgia.
The View from Israel
The Other Israel
By Carl Alpert
Haifa - The world press, includ
ing papers in your own home
town, report on Israel at some
length these days, but they provide
only one dimension of the story.
There are other aspects of Israel
that seldom get reported. We seek,
here, to add those missing dimen
sions.
Eye for an Eye
In June an Arab suicide bomber
killed 21 Israeli teenagers at a Tel
Aviv night club. The family of one
of the Jewish girls killed offered
her body parts for transplant as
needed. The cornea of her eye
restored sight to an 11-year-old
Arab girl from a Galilee village.
Obligatory Palm Trees
The municipality of Kiryat
Bialik, a suburb of Haifa, has
decreed that for every apartment
in a newly-built dwelling house,
the builder must plant a palm tree
on the plot. The contractors are up
in arms.
Say It With Flowers from Israel
About 30% of all the flowers
imported by Europe last year
came from Israel, putting this
country in first place. Kenya was
second with 20%. Value of the bil
lions of flowers came to about
$200 million. The most popular
blooms were roses, with carna
tions in second place.
Even-Handed Reporting
Agence France-Presse, leading
French news agency, advertised
that it was looking for an experi
enced and dynamic reporter to be
based in Jerusalem and to write on
Palestine affairs. Applicants
should be native English speakers
with an excellent command of
Arabic. Nothing was said about
knowledge of Hebrew.
Was the Dog Ashamed?
Tel Aviv played host to a spe
cial animal show to publicize the
problems of the country’s pets in
the streets, in laboratories and in
industry. Animal welfare groups
that sponsored the event offered a
prize to find the dog which looked
most like its master. We looked
high and low but could not find a
picture of the winners.
Fathers Take Birth Leave
Israel has extended for an addi
tional three years a regulation
which permits fathers to share
extended maternity leave from
their places of employment, alter
natively with new mothers.
Most Respected Professions
A survey of Israeli public opin
ion indicated that physicians are
the most highly respected persons
in public life. They received
29.8% of the votes cast. In second
place, with 24.4% were university
academicians. Following, in
descending order of popularity
and much further down the list,
were engineers, high-tech person
nel and accountants. In last place,
with only 3%, were politicians and
members of the Knesset.
Still Time to Reconsider
On its humor page Yediot
Ahronot ran a headline: Sharon
rejects a proposal from Peres for a
joint celebration of their combined
150th birthday.
The Shoemaker Goes Barefooted
Fire broke out in a Tel Aviv
store not long ago, destroyed the
contents, and flared to upper sto
ries where two home cooldng gas
canisters exploded loudly, leading
to neighborhood fears of a terror
ist attack. The store specialized in
fire-fighting equipment.
Why the Kids Are So Smart
The school year in Israel, tak
ing into consideration summer
vacation and holiday closures, is
one of the longest in the world,
second only to Japan. In the pri
mary schools there are 216 class
days per year, compared to 175 in
the U.S., and a world average of
190.
A Fruitful Survey
The favorite fruit of Israelis,
gathering a 26% vote in a national
survey, is watermelon. Following
in order are apples, 23%; grapes,
22%; peaches, 21%; bananas,.
11%; and so on down through
oranges, strawberries, pears, cher
ries and apricots.
Have Name - Need Street
For some years a street in
downtown Haifa bore the name of
the Hatam Safer, a distinguished
Jewish scholar. But when a noisy
pub and a discotheque opened on
the street, religious elements in the
city felt this was not in the spirit of
the revered scholar, and so the
name of the street was changed.
Now they are looking for another
street in Haifa worthy enough to
bear the name of Hatam Sofer.
The Bar Has Many Tenders
A few months ago, 1,933 new
lawyers were accepted as mem
bers of the bar in Israel, joining
more than 25,000 lawyers already
practicing here. That gives Israel a
world record of one lawyer for
every 250. But cheer up. The law
schools in the country report a
total enrollment of 11,000 stu
dents; in the meantime, 2,018
lawyers are unemployed.
New UJC
Officers
(Continued from page 3)
founder, past president and Life
Trustee of the Agnon School, a
Jewish day school in Cleveland,
and he serves on the Board of
Governors of the Jewish Agency
for Israel. He is a graduate -of the
Ohio State University and holds a
law degree from Cleveland-
Marshall College of Law.
Plant is Director of the Harry
Weinberg Family Foundation, in
addition to his chairmanship of The
Associated: Jewish Community
Federation of Baltimore. He is a
Director of Mercantile bankshares
Corp. and is a graduate of the
Wharton School at the University
of Pennsylvania. O
LIGHTS on ICE
Charlotte’s First Public Menorah
Made Entirely of Ice!
Come and celebrate the community-wide
Chanukah Menorah Lighting. See the spectacu
lar giant ice menorah sculpted in front of your
very eyes. Sing the blessings of Chanukah as
the ice menorah is kindled.
At this festival of freedom, let’s light up the
Charlotte night with the bright lights of
Chanukah!
Sunday, December 9
5:00 P.M.
Phillips Place
In the courtyard between Coplon’s and the Modern Salon & Spa
Doughnuts and hot drinks will be served!
Sponsored by Lubavitch of North Carolina
For more information, please call 704-366-3984