Christian Science News
May 05, 1980
After West Bank violence
Page: The Monitor's View; Editorial; Pg. 28
Events in Iran and Afghanistan have tended to obscure the tensions gathering
in the occupied West Bank. But the bold Palestinian terrorist raid in Hebron in
which five Jews were killed -- the worst Arab attack on Israelis since the West
Bank was captured in 1967 -- is a sharp reminder that the United States can no
long afford to keep the Palestinian question on the diplomatic back burner.
Some feel that the West Bank is in a state of latent revolt and that more
violence can be expected. The need now, therefore, is for level heads to cool
the situation. These steps would be helpful:
* President Carter, putting national interest above politics, should make
clear he has not weakened in his determination to negotiate a homeland for the
dispossessed Palestinians. He must see to it that the West Bank autonomy talks
continue and, more important, show more than cosmetic progress if the entire
peace process is not to break down.
* Israel, if it is truly interested in peace, ought to declare a moratorium
on further settlement of the West Bank. The US should use every diplomatic
means to see this is done.
* The palestine Liberation Organization should respond to such developments
with restraint and a pledge to strive for a settlement of the problem by
diplomatic means rather than resort to terrorism.
The brutal attack on the Jewish religious students in Hebron can only be
condemned. We do not believe that such use of force will soften the Israeli
mood (which is already swinging against Mr. Begins' policies) or win sympathy
for the Palestinian cause. It is all the more repugnant when a diplomatic
negotiation is in train and efforts are being made to keep it going.
At the same time it is plain that such acts of terrorism are born of
frustration and anger over Israel's defiant colonization of the West Bank. The
Hebron raid and other violent incidents are a response to this unlawful policy.
As long as the Begin government insists on planting Jewish settlements on seized
Arab territory, it feeds the cycle of violence and counterviolence. It had
already announced plans to set up a religious academy and a field school in
Hebron, the most nationalistic Arab community in the West Bank. And last week
there were reports it was preparing to expropriate 30,000 acres of West Bank
land, much of it privately owned, for new settlements. If these and other plans
are not rescinded, it is hard to see how further violence can be avoided.
Israel's deportation of two West Bank mayors and a Muslim judge to Lebanon in
retaliation for the terrorist attack is also bound to inflame Palestinian
feelings. What good does their expulsion do? Mayor Fahad Kawasme of Hebron and
Mohammed Milhem, mayor of neighboring Halhoul, have been among the most
compromising Arab leaders in the West Bank. If such voices are gradually
removed, what moderately inclined leaders will be left to deal with? It can_
only be hoped that other Palestinian mayors do not resign in protest,
encouraging the Israeli authorities to crack down. At this writing Israeli is
commendably trying to calm the situation by warning it will not tolerate private
vengeance by Jewish settlers.
The conventional wisdom is that little progress can be expected on the West
Bank autonomy issue until after elections in the US and Israel. That is many
months away, however, and the question is how much patience the Palestinians
will have. They already feel betrayed by the Camp David agreements. Israel's
militant policy since then, a policy wrapped in Prime Minister Begin's
ideological fervor, confirms their misgivings. It cannot give new impetus to
negotiation, the problem will be taken out of his hands.
The still-unresolved crisis in Iran, the growing opportunities for Soviet
adventurism in the Gulf region, the rising impatience with the US on the part of
even the moderate Muslim states, and America's continuing energy emergency --
these point to the crucial need for fresh thinking and initiative. Mr. Carter
may not have the luxury of a postponement.
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Christian Science Monitor Article May 1980
Christian Science Monitor Commentary May 1980
Letter from reader of Washington Report of Middle East affairs September 1997
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