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Avram Hein is a graduate student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a
former research assistant at the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise and he
sits on the board of directors of MERCAZ USA: The Zionist Organization of the
Conservative Movement.
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By Avram Hein
November 23, 2004
Recently, President George W. Bush met with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair to discuss revitalizing the Middle East peace process. However, unlike the rest of the Europeans and the Clinton-era Middle East policy, Bush and Blair are engaging in the region with a realistic view of what is needed to create a Palestinian state -- which most international observers have regarded as something that will be achieved in the next few years. Concurrent to the Bush-Blair meeting, the White House released a joint statement which stated that:
"There will be no lasting solution without a Palestinian state that is democratic and free, including free press, free speech, an open political process, and religious tolerance. Such a state will need a credible and unified security structure capable of providing security for the Palestinians and fighting terrorism. There must also be effective economic development and transparent financial structures which provide for the economic and social needs of the Palestinian people."
Bush and Blair got it right! Peace can not be achieved until there is democratization in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and a renunciation of violence as a political tool. The ability to have a Palestinian state in the Palestinian Authority is in the hand of the Palestinian people and their governance. However, held back by corruption, a population not educated towards peace, and lack of respect for democratic institutions, the prospect of a Palestinian state that is at peace with Israel looks bleak without serious reform. The Palestinian Authority is essentially a fully-functioning government and so the decision to give their people an independent state is in their hands, not a decision that the international community can take lightly. If the Palestinians are going to be at peace with Israel, first they need to be respectful to their own people.
A call for democratic reform in Palestinian governance is not American hegemony. The call for serious political reform is something the Palestinian people want. According to a September 2004 poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 93% of Palestinians support calls for political reforms in the PA.
In order to advance a blueprint for freedom for the Palestinian people, one must be aware of what the central components require. Bush seems to think that elections are the sole determinant of freedom, but the course of history shows him wrong. According to one pundit, Stanley A. Weiss: "From Hitler to Milosevic to Aristide, history is littered with examples of democratically elected leaders undermining democracy itself." If Bush views elections as the sole determinant of democracy, the most optimistic reform in Palestinian governance will lead to the same and he will not have a response when the Palestinian people vote to attack Israel, a reasonable expectation, given that a June 2004 Jerusalem Media & Communications Center poll shows that 70% of Palestinians support continuing attacks on Israel (and, as previous polls show, most of those who do not support continuing the intifada do so out of strategic considerations).
In order to advance freedom in the Palestinian Authority, there is a need for free expression and a free and honest press. The Palestinian press is full of lies and distortions, spreading blood libels about Israel. The Palestinian Media Watch and MEMRI have documented continued distortions and lies despite being prohibited in all treaty agreements with Israel. Democracy entails freedom of association. Democracy entails equality before the law and due process under law. Yet, while 20% of the Israeli population is ethnically Arab, the new Palestinian state would require the evacuation of Jewish communities, making it Judenrein. While Israel has long recognized the inability of transferring the Arab population from Israel, the same can not be said about transferring the Jewish population out of what would become Palestine, land that has been part of the Jewish nation since biblical times. In 2002, Michael Kleiner, leader of the far-right Herut party, denounced transfer as an impossibility today and an unrealistic solution. Democracy also requires Jews to be allowed to live under PA sovereignty just as Arabs are allowed to live under Israeli sovereignty. Democracy requires educated and informed citizens to exercise it, yet, while Arafat stashed away millions of dollars and prevented the growth of democratic institutions and social services, the Palestinian school system taught incitement against Israel instead of math and science. There is a long way to go but it can be done with the help of the international community.
America and Americans need to engage in this project of democratization. A reformed State Department (which hopefully Condoleezza Rice can bring as new Secretary of State), coupled with international NGOs (that have a history of being balanced) such as Freedom House and International IDEA need to train the Palestinians about the building blocks of democracy. However, international engagement can not serve as a platform for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, to engage in painful concessions only to receive violence and terror in return.
Israel must support a truly democratic Palestine. Most Israelis know that -- realistically -- that is the only solution that will demographic security and, like it or not, an independent Palestinian state is due to emerge within the next few years, democratic or not. Israelis know that a democratic Palestine is essential to their security. However, they also know that forcing a Palestinian state on their borders will not bring peace or security. To truly build a democracy will take generations. Our hopes can not be set too high ? yet. The current buzzword in international relations is not conflict resolution but rather conflict management. However, perhaps with responsible conflict management (which requires democracy as a prerequisite) could lead to resolution of this essentially modern conflict.
Of course, engaging in conflict management requires commitment by a world that recognizes, as terrorism expert Walter Lacquer noted, peace, while positive, between Israel and her Arab neighbors will not automatically bring peace in the rest of the world. Lacquer noted that, "there should be no illusions with regard to the wider effect of a peaceful solution of one conflict or another." According to Lacquer, "the assumption that a solution of a local conflict (even one of great symbolic importance) would have a dramatic effect in other parts of the world is unfounded. Osama bin Laden did not go to war because of Gaza and Nablus; he did not send his warriors to fight in Palestine. Even the disappearance of the "Zionist entity" would not have a significant impact on his supporters, except perhaps to provide encouragement for further action."
As analyst Robert Satloff notes, "in the immediate aftermath of Arafat's death, promoting an early resumption of high-level Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy is the wrong approach." Instead, an internationally-backed drive, with the United States at the head, towards Palestinian democratization and reform is a must.
With the death of Yasser Arafat, the fate of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people hang in the balance. Democratization is in the interest of the Arab world. However, the process of democratization has begun in the free world, lead by President Bush and Prime Minster Blair, and their accurate and courageous words.
Bush and Blair believe in advancing freedom around the world. Their recent statements, in conjunction with Bush's June 24, 2002 speech, provide an effective blueprint to advancing freedom in the Middle East. Now, it's up to the international community to take heed.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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