Last update - 01:59 04/06/2003
Time for the Palestinians to choose life
By Bassem Eid
Today, Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and U.S. President George Bush. The meeting comes very late, but it's better late than never.
If the meeting had come earlier, it may have saved the lives of hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis. But it can still save the lives of hundreds of human beings.
In the past two-and-a-half years, we, the Palestinians and the Israelis, have turned our hands to killing and destruction, the same hands we once used to preserve life and peace. We, the Palestinians and the Israelis, practice terror against each other. We have inflamed the region with violence and torn down our future. We have created a huge wall of hatred.
Such a summit, of course, will not put an end to these violations, but there are still expectations among the Palestinians that life can be better.
Recently, while I was in Abu Dis, I was pleased to meet Palestinians who came from Jenin to exchange products. When I spoke with them, they seemed happy to at least be able to get out of Jenin. They explained how daily life had become not only hard, but impossible, for them. They said they had no energy to continue with such a terrible life. Not one of them wanted to be a shaheed (martyr). Not one said he wanted to commit a suicide bombing. This is what I have usually heard from Palestinians in the past two-and-a-half years. It seems there is goodwill from the Palestinians for peace and life. It seems the Palestinians today have a love of life, rather than a desire to be shaheeds.
Meanwhile, I was shocked to see the images on television of Palestinian children going to the Muqata on the Day of the Child to support Arafat.
The Palestinian president is still talking about shaheeds and he encouraged children to become martyrs by telling them that one shaheed on earth is considered by God as great as 40 shaheeds in heaven. (This statement has not yet been condemned by any organizations for the protection of children.)
It seems Arafat is still encouraging Palestinians to victimize themselves, an attitude that is without logic or ethics. Instead of talking about peace and life, instead of supporting coexistence, instead of fulfilling the consciousness of human beings, Arafat is calling for death. It appears the nearly 2,500 Palestinians and more than 700 Israelis who were killed during this intifada are not enough to fulfill Arafat's political interests. I hope - and am rather sure - that Abu Mazen will not behave in this manner. I also hope that Abu Mazen, with his government, will do his best to put an end to the terror and the violence.
As Sharon himself said in his election campaign, "Only Sharon can do it." It seems that it really is only Sharon who can do everything. Sharon can stop the home demolitions. Sharon can stop the assassinations. Sharon can repeal the closures. Sharon can evacuate settlements. Sharon can create a Palestinian state. If Sharon will do these things, then Abu Mazen will be considered a success. Abu Mazen will be regarded as the "Palestinian Sadat." Sharon has pledged to aid Abu Mazen with his government. Taking steps to end these oppressive practices would be a tremendous aid to the new Palestinian government.
We hope Bush will be fair and unbiased, even at the cost of angering the powerful American-Jewish lobby.
After the summit, I want to hear from the two leaders the same words that Sadat said in the Israeli Knesset in 1977 - "No more war." This is the only statement that can save lives on both sides. It is the time for the Palestinians to choose life over death; only while you are alive can you achieve anything.
Contrary to general opinion, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not so complicated. It just takes strong, brave decisions and a commitment to enforce them.
Bassem Eid is the founder and director of the East Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG).