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Lowering the Sword Author(S): Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad) Source: Foreign Policy, No Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC Lowering the Sword Author(s): Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad) Source: Foreign Policy, No. 78 (Spring, 1990), pp. 92-112 Published by: Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1148631 Accessed: 14/04/2010 09:12 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=wpni. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Foreign Policy. http://www.jstor.org LOWERING THE SWORD bySalah Khalaf (Abu Iyad) The past year has seen tumultuous and unforeseen change in the world order as it has stood since the end of World War II. A new and as yet unpredictable global balance is in the making, with consequences that will be felt everywhere, including in the Middle East. Turbulent as these times are, the Palestinian people and their representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), see new pros- pects for peace in the Middle East. As the tide of change in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, South Africa, and elsewhere has swept away obsolete notions and structures, the Palestinian people are very much a part of this historical process, albeit with their own specific condi- tions and challenges to face. This process has brought to the fore the great issues of self-de- termination, freedom, and basic human rights; and the Palestinian struggle cannot remain iso- lated within a world environment where such rights are becoming universally acknowledged and recognized. In this context, the PLO regards its own current political program offering a two-state solution to the century-old conflict over the land of Palestine, together with the nonmilitary uprising of its people in the occupied terri- tories, as being entirely consonant with the spirit of the times. The PLOdecision to recog- nize Israel and to call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on only part of our ancient patrimony is rooted in pragmatism, openness, and the readiness to dissolve the long-standing presuppositions, attitudes, and antagonisms of the past. The PLObelieves that its peace initiative has breached the "Berlin Wall" that previously stood as an insurmount- SALAH KHALAF, known by the nom de guerre ABU IYAD, is a memberof theFatah Central Committee and headof national security affairsfor the Palestine Liberation Organzzation. 92. Abulyad able obstacle to a settlement. The task now facing all those who are truly striving for peace must be to enlarge this breach so that the re- maining barriers to a peaceful and free exis- tence for Arab and Jew in the Holy Land will be brought down. Never have the international and local con- ditions for a settlement been more opportune. Global rivalry between the superpowers has receded. The arms race and with it the dangers of a nuclear holocaust have been reduced to a minimum. Both superpowers appear ready to cooperate in dealing with regional conflicts, as seen in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, and elsewhere. From a Western point of view, the "Soviet threat" has all but been eliminated as the USSRundergoes profound internal changes and reassesses its commitments in the Third World. Communism, as an ideology, appears on the wane, as basic human values reassert themselves. Some have argued that the new era of de- tente, combined with such changes, will actu- ally decrease the pressures on Israel to reach a peaceful settlement. The PLOsees things in an entirely different light. For although it may be true that the chances of a global war arising from the situation in the Middle East have diminished, other local threats to Israel and to vital Western world interests may yet be gener- ated by a continuation of the conflict. These threats include a return to extreme nationalism (already apparent in some parts of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union), the rise of Islamic fundamentalism even among Pales- tinians, the threat of nuclear, chemical, or bio- logical warfare (especially in view of Israel's unrestricted efforts in these fields), and in- creasing internal instabilities among those countries in the Middle East considered to be close to the West. By itself, a solution to the Palestine problem may not necessarily eliminate all these threats. But such a solution will go far toward defusing their dangers. What is certain is that the ab- sence of an equitable solution will exacerbate existing and potential tensions, perhaps to a point where policies such as the PLO'scurrent pragmatic and open approach will become nei- ther possible nor relevant. 93. FOREIGN POLICY This places a unique burden on those in Israel who still oppose a settlement and points to the absolute necessity of the United States' maintaining a truly constructive engagement in the peace process. The policies of the present Israeli government represent a throwback to the old order and fly in the face of all the positive changes that are taking place in the world. The idea that colonial rule can be main- tained indefinitely over a people who are bent on attaining freedom and self-determination is surely no longer acceptable or sustainable in the closing decade of the twentieth century. And yet this is precisely what the Shamir plan, named for Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Sha- mir, is offering Palestinians in return for their readiness to negotiate an end to the conflict based on mutual recognition. AmericanReluctance What is most surprising and painful is not the position of Shamir or those of a similar bent in Israel, but rather that of the United States. While for its part the PLOhas spared no effort to show goodwill and flexibility toward the United States, the United States appears un- willing or unable to distance itself from the more extreme Israeli positions and policies. In- stead of responding positively to those voices of reason in Israel such as Abba Eban, Ezer Weiz- man, Yehoshafat Harkabi, and many others, the U.S. administration has adopted the Sha- mir plan in its entirety. The truth is that there has been little U.S. evenhandedness so far. Then President Ronald Reagan publicly promised a "substantive" dialogue with the PLOwhen the decision to hold U.S.-PLO talks was made in December 1988. Few issues have yet been discussed and the United States refuses to answer questions of substance in these talks at a time when the status of this dialogue appears to have been unilaterally downgraded by the Bush administration. As a result, the PLO still has no clear or serious understanding of why the United States itself---as distinct from Israel--does not support the two-state solution or on what its objections to such a solution are based. This is a matter of crucial importance and the PLO would dearly like to clarify the issues involved. 94. Abulyad The PLO feels that its good intentions have been amply demonstrated and that the United States could do more to show that it is not totally constrained by its special relationship with Israel. Reviving and strengthening the Tunis-based dialogue would be a useful and productive exercise in this context. More sig- nificantly and practically, the United States could emphasize its rejection of Israel's settle- ment policies in the occupied territories and take direct measures to ensure that all such policies come to a halt in line with Secretary of State James Baker's own position on this issue as he declared it in May 1989. Of vital interest as well is the question of Jewish immigration from the Soviet Union. For years, the central human rights issue as far as the United States was concerned was that of obtaining freedom of movement for Soviet Jews. And yet at the precise moment that unre- stricted emigration of Soviet Jews becomes possible, the United States, in concert with Israel, has closed its doors to these emigrants despite their "human rights" and individual preference. Shamir has seized upon the pros- pect of thousands of emigrants to justify his "Greater Israel"policy and as a decisive answer to the demographic concerns underlying the Labor party's support for "territorial compro- mise." Palestinians cannot believe that the United States with its vast territory and re- sources is incapable of absorbing tens of thou- sands of new immigrants every year. Nor can they believe that it does not see dangers inher- ent in channeling such numbers exclusively toward Israel, given the propensity of the cur- rent leadership in Israel to extend its colonial presence in the territories. Further, they do not see how the United States can support the "right" of Soviet Jews to go to Israel but not support the Palestinians' right to return to their own lands.
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