ME Statements

 

 

SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL

Urgent Appeal for Peace in the Middle East

The Socialist International, which has been deeply involved and steadfast in  the search for peace in the Middle East for decades, was holding meetings for  that purpose only two weeks ago in Ramallah and in Tel Aviv, with the  participation of the leaders of its three members parties in the region,  President Yasser Arafat, leader of Fatah; Israeli Minister of Defence,  Benjamin Ben Eliezer, leader of the Israel Labour Party; and leader of the  Israeli opposition, Yossi Sarid, Chair of Meretz.

 The Socialist International believes that today the situation has become  untenable, and that there is no alternative but for all sides to bring an  immediate end to what has become the worst outbreak of violence in the region  for many years. The Socialist International therefore:

  •    Repeats its condemnation of all acts of violence committed by either side,  violence which is terrorising and taking its greatest toll on civilians;

  

  •  Reiterates its deeply held conviction, based on the work and experience of  the International throughout the world, that only a political and not a  military solution is viable, and that a complete and sustained ceasefire and  a simultaneous entering into negotiations by both sides, to restore a  fundamental political dynamic for peace, are absolutely necessary;

  

  • Underlines the utmost priority of dialogue and negotiations with the aim  of achieving both peace and security, neither of which can exist without the  other;

  

  •  Considers the normal functioning of the Palestinian Authority to be  essential and calls for an end to the threats against it and for the full  respect for the personal integrity of its president, Yasser Arafat, and for  the immediate withdrawal of Israeli Defence Forces from the occupied  Palestinian cities;

  

  •  Calls on the Israel Labour Party to ensure that the actions of the Israeli  government, of which they are today part, are consistent with the values of  the Socialist International, and also calls upon the Palestinian Authority,  led by Fatah, to act decisively for an end to the suicide bombings and other  terrorist acts in conformity with the principles of the International;

  

  •  Restates its profound belief that the future of the two peoples can be  based only on their peaceful coexistence, side by side, which makes it  imperative for them both to take every step to end the conflict now, before  more Israeli and Palestinian lives are needlessly lost.

Viewpoints/PeaceWatch March 30, 2002

Arab Peace Now! A Courageous Egyptian Intellectual Speaks Out for Peace

Mohamed Mosaad

The violence in Israel and Palestine has reached an unprecedented high level. This is the everyday morning news! The vicious circle of violence has, as everyone knows, no end. The question is, what or whom are we waiting for? Are we waiting for the politically stupid Israeli Government, the strategically blind Palestinian Authority, the very indifferent United States, the perpetually begging/condemning Europe, the yawning Arab countries, or what? For one and a half years all of these parties have been proving, in every way, how helpless they are.

In fact, through all this year and a half the winds of hope have come only from the Israeli peace movements. Not only the recently awakened Peace Now, but also many Israeli peace organizations and many peace activists have been demonstrating, campaigning and struggling for a better future. A lazy Arab, stretching his or her legs, would say, "So what…… peace did not come! Have not you watched the TV today?"

That leg-stretching Arab is, indeed, the very reason why peace became so difficult to achieve. Waiting for Israeli peace movements is certainly not enough; a single hand does not clap as the Egyptian idiom goes! What makes those movements impotent, is that exactly while Peace Now activists were making a long line to donate blood in Al Maqased Hospital for the Palestinian victims of refugee camps, the smoke of a bomb, exploded by a suicide bomber terrorist, was rising all around! Until the Arab response to such terrorism is another long queue donating blood for Israeli civilian victims, those movements, unfortunately, will be insignificant.

For a quarter of a century Egypt is maintaining peace with Israel. Except for the bizarre plan of hitting Aswan Dam rambled by Israeli minister Avigdor Lieberman, no one on either side speaks of war. Egypt regained every millimeter of her land and her borders with Israel are very quiet indeed. Nonetheless, it is not uncommon to hear writers, intellectuals and academic researchers on TV emphasizing that a one-day-old Israeli baby is a Zionist, who could/should be killed. What message are those stupid intellectuals sending, and what promise can Peace Now therefore carry to the Israeli society?

What is missing, certainly, is an Arab peace movement that should come into being, right here and right now. It is the only way to reach peace and guarantee it, in the present as well as in the future. A coalition of Israeli and Arab peace movements is needed to assure Arab and Israeli masses that peace is possible and fruitful. An Arab-

Israeli peace coalition is needed to pressure both the negotiating politicians, and the lurking Israeli settlers and Palestinian militias, and it is essential to back an upcoming peace agreement. Moreover, this coalition, and only they, could move the peace process from the political, security and economic spheres, dominated by politicians,

Women Living Under Muslim Laws  statement on the current situation in Palestine/Israel

4 April 2002

The international solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws  (WLUML)  is well placed to identify extreme Right political projects hidden  under  religious/ethnic agendas and their devastating effects on progressive  forces at large and on women in particular.

The present escalation in Palestine/Israel is not due to a conflict  between  religious and ethnic communities. Clearly, it is the result of the  coming  to power in Israel of extreme Right forces mercilessly bent on  implementing  a colonial project.

Unfortunately, its brutality sparked off the hijacking of the  legitimate  protest and struggle of the Palestinians by extreme right  fundamentalist  forces within them. We know from experience that the rise of such  forces  will inevitably work against the interests of people, especially  minorities  and women in Palestine.

We here pay tribute to the progressive people in Israel who have for  decades now struggled against the colonial project of their  successive  governments and today continue to do so under such violent and  dangerous  circumstances. We pay tribute to Israeli women and men who have  refused to  participate as soldiers in the war against the Palestinian people. We  pay  tribute to those who demonstrate daily against occupation of  Palestinian  land, be it by creating new settlements, by evictions, by destruction  of  properties or by military occupation. We pay tribute to those who  physically joined, as human shields, the Palestinian villages  attacked by  the Israeli army, the Palestinian plantations of orange trees and  olive  trees that were pinpointed for destruction by the Israeli army.
 

We especially pay tribute to the Women in Black anti war movement and  to  all the women organizations that have consciously and stubbornly  attempted  and succeeded in bridging the divide between Jews and Arabs. We fully  support their struggle and share their analysis of the fascist nature  of  the present government of Israel.

  We also pay tribute to all those from Arab countries who have  struggled for  a just peace in the region without falling into the arms of fascist  fundamentalists, without adopting hatred and racism as rallying  elements of  their struggle. We pay tribute to all those who fight fundamentalist  fascism from within their own contexts. We pay tribute to all those  who  have recently met with their fellows in peace making within Israel,  confronting the accusation of betrayal for doing so and bearing with  the  following threats they suffer.

We pay tribute to all those Palestinians women and men who, under  such a  deluge of fire from the Israeli government and army, maintain their  human  and political links with Israeli progressive and anti war forces in  the  hope of building a durable and just political settlement.

We pay tribute to all those who, in Europe and especially in France  these  days, confront the rise of anti-Semitic racism - i.e. racism  against "Jews"  as well as racism against "Arabs" or "Muslims"- and the terrorist  acts of  destruction that are now taking place against synagogues or shops  owned by  French Jews. We pay tribute to the Muslim religious authorities and  ordinary immigrants from North Africa who have arrived at the scene  of  these barbarities to show their solidarity and speak up against  racism.

We call on international media to - at last - give visibility to  progressive forces within Israel and within Palestine who offer the only  viable alternative to the war in the region.   In order to immediately stop the bloodshed, we call upon the UN  Security  Council to take extraordinary but necessary measures, including steps  to  enforce an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal from Palestinian cities  and  send UN peacekeeping troops to Palestine/Israel. We call on the  Security  Council to force the Israeli government to immediately implement past  UN  resolutions that it has systematically disregarded. By failing to act  decisively, the UN Security Council becomes an ally in the massacre  of
Palestinians by the Israeli government.

We demand that the women and men from Israel and from Palestine who  have  actually worked hand in hand towards a just peace during the past  decades  of conflict be the ones to be called to the negotiation table. No  other  group can bring peace to the region.

Two Middle East Wars by Amos Oz Arad, Israel 

Two Palestinian-Israeli wars have erupted in this region. One is the Palestinian nation's war for its freedom from occupation and for its right to independent statehood. Any decent person ought to support this cause. The second war is waged by fanatical Islam, from Iran to Gaza and from Lebanon to Ramallah, to destroy Israel and drive the Jews out of their land. Any decent person ought to abhor this cause. 

Yasir Arafat and his men are running both wars simultaneously, pretending they are one. The suicide killers evidently make no distinction. Much of the worldwide bafflement about the Middle East, much of the confusion among the Israelis themselves, stems from the overlap between these two wars. Decent peace seekers, in Israel and elsewhere, are often drawn into simplistic positions. They either defend Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza by claiming that Israel has been targeted by Muslim holy war ever since its foundation in 1948, or else they vilify Israel on the grounds that nothing but the occupation prevents a just and lasting peace. One simplistic argument allows Palestinians to kill all Israelis on the basis of their natural right to resist occupation. An equally simplistic counterargument allows Israelis to oppress all Palestinians because an all-out Islamic jihad has been launched against them. 

Two wars are being fought in this region. One is a just war, and the other is both unjust and futile. 

Israel must step down from the war on the Palestinian territories. It must begin to end occupation and evacuate the Jewish settlements that were deliberately thrust into the depths of Palestinian lands. Its borders must be drawn, unilaterally if need be, upon the logic of demography and the moral imperative to withdraw from governing a hostile population. 

But would an end to occupation terminate the Muslim holy war against Israel? This is hard to predict. If jihad comes to an end, both sides would be able to sit down and negotiate peace. If it does not, we would have to seal and fortify Israel's logical border, the demographic border, and keep fighting for our lives against fanatical Islam. 

If, despite simplistic visions, the end of occupation will not result in peace, at least we will have one war to fight rather than two. Not a war for our full occupancy of the holy land, but a war for our right to live in a free and sovereign Jewish state in part of that land. A just war, a no-alternative war. A war we will win. Like any people who were ever forced to fight for their very homes and freedom and lives. 

Translated by Fania Oz-Salzberger.

 

 

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