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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Tough negotiator or man of vision?
By John Whitbeck*As the clock ticks down toward the 13 September deadline for achieving a permanent peace treaty between Israel and Palestine, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak appears still to revel in playing the role of tough negotiator. This is scarcely a great accomplishment. Given the enormous imbalance of power between Israel and Palestine, anyone of even borderline intelligence could successfully play the role of "tough negotiator" for the Israeli side.
Israel and the cause of peace do not need a tough negotiator willing to offer the Palestinians only crumbs he knows they can never accept. They need a man of vision capable of recognising that the achievement by the Palestinian people of their fundamental rights under international law is in no way contrary to the interests of Israelis and that the best possible security and quality of life for Israelis will be achieved if, and only if, their Palestinian neighbours have no further deeply felt grievances against them; if they believe that they have no outstanding claims which must still be pursued; and if they believe that, after so many years of injustice, they have finally achieved some measure of justice.
Men of vision appear in surprising places. Before it happened, who would have imagined that F W De Klerk, scion of a family of hard-line Afrikaner politicians, would conclude that it was in the interests of white South Africans to hand over control of their government to the indigenous South Africans and to be governed by them, that he would succeed in convincing white South Africans of the wisdom of this course, that they would overwhelmingly support it in a referendum and that, today, few of them would question the wisdom of the vision which produced the "South African miracle"?
Palestinians are not seeking anything so grand or revolutionary. They do not aspire to govern the Israelis. They are not demanding, as the indigenous South Africans were, "one man, one vote in a unitary state." Indeed, all they are seeking is what the South African apartheid regime, at the height of its power, sought to induce the indigenous people of South Africa to accept -- an independent state in a small portion of the land that once was theirs. The South African apartheid regime offered 15 per cent of the country to the indigenous people. The Palestinians are claiming only the 22 per cent of historic Palestine which was not conquered until 1967. The indigenous South Africans achieved vastly more than this. No one should imagine that the Palestinians will accept less.
Vision and wisdom have even manifested themselves in the Arab world. Several years ago, international arbitrators ruling on the long-running boundary dispute between Oman and Yemen rendered an award overwhelmingly in Oman's favour. Sultan Qabous promptly ceded to Yemen a portion of the territory which the arbitrators had just awarded to his country. He explained this extraordinary gesture to his people on the grounds that the arbitration was intended to produce a permanent peace and that a result perceived as imbalanced in favour of either side risked keeping grievances alive and thus not achieving the permanent peace which was more important for his country and people than more land. There was no nationalist outburst against his decision. From all evidence, the Omanis were grateful, yet again, to have such a wise ruler. And there was peace.
Ehud Barak has already progressed from skilled killer to successful politician. Admittedly, as Neil Armstrong said when he put the first foot on the moon, this was only a "small step for a man." The "giant leap for mankind" would come if he progressed from tough negotiator to man of vision.
Is Ehud Barak capable of making this giant leap? If so, would he be willing to make it? Israel, Palestine and all who sincerely wish for peace in the Middle East are waiting for the answer.
* The writer is an international lawyer who writes frequently on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
