Gifts
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By LANDRUM BOLLING
[Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in The Palladium-Item of Richmond, Indianna]
JERUSALEM - Israeli leaders have long justified on security grounds the heavy-handed controls exercised by their military forces over the four million Palestinians within the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Arab suicide bombers, drive-by snipers and rock-throwing kids kept the Israeli Jews in a constant state of alert, anxiety and fear. Where, when and how would these unpredictable "terrorists" strike next?
Clearly, Yasser Arafat and his feeble, corrupt Palestine Authority could not or would not get this violence under control -- so the Israelis said. Accordingly, the Israeli military did what they had to do.
The results were not pretty. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were made virtual prisoners inside their villages, roads to the outside world blocked. Farmers couldn't get their products to market. Workers couldn't get to their jobs. The sick and dying often couldn't reach a hospital. Families couldn't gather for weddings and funerals.
Palestinian unemployment soared above 50 percent. Malnutrition became a serious threat to tens of thousands of children.
Assassination operations by Israeli tanks, automatic rifles and helicopter gun-ships eliminated a number of Palestinian terrorists, without a doubt -- often with unbelievable precision. Commonly they killed even more innocent women, children and unarmed men who happened to be nearby, in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yet it was the humiliating disruptions to daily life, not primarily the spectacular killings so widely publicized, that enraged the Palestinian people and built support for the Jihadist terrorists.
All that could change once Arafat was out of the way and the Palestinians moved toward a genuine democracy, or so it was often said by Israeli officials.
Now that Arafat is gone and a series of Palestinian elections are under way, how are things? In many ways, they are about the same. The infuriating roadblocks are still in place.
The Palestinian economy is still in ruins. Weariness, impatience, anger and resentment are still dominant attitudes among the Palestinians -- anxiety, suspicion and skepticism among the Israelis.
And yet. ... And yet. ... There is a new hope springing up. On both sides there is a growing determination to put the madness of the past years out of the way as quickly as possible. And practical, positive steps are being taken.
The Israelis have started releasing a few hundred of the many thousands of prisoners they have incarcerated and held for years, often without charge or trial. Israeli-Palestinian discussions and negotiations are taking place on a variety of common interests.
A freer, more democratic political process is under way among the Palestinians. Local elections have been held in Gaza. Other local elections are being scheduled. The election of a new Palestinian parliament (Legislative Council) will take place this summer.
One of the most important of these elections will be the one held to determine the leadership for Fatah, the dominant political faction within the PLO.
Already, Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen) has won the election to replace Arafat as President of the Palestine Authority, to the relief of the Israeli government and to the satisfaction of most Palestinians. However, that does not mean that he is an overwhelmingly popular figure. He will never match Arafat in charismatic popularity.
To reform-minded Palestinians, the most encouraging development has been the spontaneous outcry in the Legislative Council against the "new" cabinet originally proposed by Abu Ala, the Prime minister. There was very little that was new about it, merely a reshuffling of the same old group of cronies, many of whom were regarded as incompetent, corrupt, or both.
That protest quickly succeeded and a truly newer, fresher group of ministers was put together. That is seen as a sign of burgeoning democracy. Let us hope.
Bolling, who is currently visiting Israel, is president-emeritus of Earlham College and director-at-large of Mercy Corps based in Washington, D.C
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