Beyond occupation

Israel's withdrawal from Gaza has injected hope into the peace process, writes Ibrahim Nafie

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On Monday, 12 September, the people of Gaza woke up to find their towns and cities free of Israeli soldiers for the first time in 38 years. The path to independence had not been easy. It is strewn with the blood Palestinians have shed and the enormous sacrifices made since Gaza first fell into the clutches of the Israeli occupation. But Gaza was also the invaders' graveyard, so much so that the leaders of the occupying power sometimes wished they could wake up one day to find Gaza "swallowed up by the Mediterranean", as the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is reputed to have said.

These were not the limited troop withdrawals, or "redeployments" as they were called, that occurred within the framework of the Oslo Accord. This time the departure was complete. Not a single Israeli soldier is left and every structure that had been built by the occupation has been dismantled. The Jewish temples are the sole exception, left standing owing to squabbles and power struggles within the Likud bloc. These temples, however, are also a potential landmine for the Palestinians. If, in the euphoria of the liberation of Gaza Palestinians vent their long pent-up rancor against occupation forces on these buildings the Israeli government will not hesitate to use this to tarnish the Palestinian image and Jewish extremists may exploit it as an excuse to unleash their venom on Muslim and Christian houses of worship. Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat was acutely aware of the potential danger, which is why he cautioned Palestinians saying, "we don't want to appear before the international media as destroyers of Jewish places of worship."

Egypt played a critical role in ensuring the total liberation of Gaza. It was our steadfastness on the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Salaheddin Axis that ultimately compelled the Israeli government to back down from its insistence on keeping forces in the area.

Although there remains a number of pending issues that will demand concerted Palestinian and Arab efforts, the complete Israeli evacuation of Gaza has generated a refreshing wave of optimism on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides. According to an opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian Policy and Research Centre, 64 per cent of respondents felt that the Israeli withdrawal would help improve economic conditions, 57 per cent believed that there would now be progress in the peace process and 56 per cent predicted that the withdrawal from Gaza will lead to the end of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. In addition, 77 per cent of those polled supported a continuation of the ceasefire with Israel after the disengagement, 62 per cent opposed the continuation of armed attacks against Israel from Gaza, and 60 per cent supported the disarmament of the Palestinian militias. In sum, the results of the survey tell us that the Palestinian people believe there is a chance to achieve their national aspirations through negotiations.

On the Israeli side a flood of commentaries in the press questioned the feasibility of Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian territory and urged a resumption of the peace process and the implementation of provisions that would lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state. In this regard, Ofer Shelah remarked in Yediot Aharanot that "Israel's control over the Gaza sector had no point and no future". Also in the same paper Eitan Haber, late prime minister Rabin's bureau chief, wrote that throughout their 38 years of controlling Gaza Israelis did not have a moment of happiness. Instead, hundreds of Israeli soldiers and settlers were killed in Gaza's streets while from its refugee camps arose the first and second Intifadas. "For 38 years Gaza refused to disappear."

In Haaretz Uzi Benziman expressed his hope that Israelis would remember the lessons learned from Gaza for generations to come. He said that although Israeli could continue its hold on the occupied territories, what happened in Gaza should teach them that there is nothing to be gained from a colonisation of Palestinian territories that is doomed to failure. He added that there was a new awareness in Israel that the grab for other people's land compromised aspirations to a normal life. Military swaggering has been replaced by guilt over the suffering of the Palestinian people.

The foregoing is just a sampling of opinion, reflecting the generally upbeat mood among Palestinians and Israelis in the immediate wake of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. But if these new found hopes are to be fulfilled, work must continue in earnest to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories occupied in June 1967 and establish an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem that can live side by side with Israel in peace. The challenges are formidable, but not insurmountable.