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Longing for an Arab-Israeli spring

Longing for an Arab-Israeli spring

Can't the Israeli-Palestinian people co-exist under a two-state solution? The youth can and the elders need to start.

Faheem Younus November 23, 2012

Plato may have inadvertently summed up the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 2,500 years ago when he is thought to have declared:

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

The cyclical bloodshed in the Arab-Israeli conflict is a direct consequence of the rigid postures of the jaded and faded leaders on both sides. On one end, we have the Palestinian codgers – with thick accents and thin visions – vowing for the annihilation of the Zionists. They know it’s impossible. And on the other are the Israeli sly foxes – with slick strategies and silly logic – vouching to “flatten all of Gaza”. They, too, know it’s impossible.

From my standpoint, all the six key players on both sides - Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas; chief Palestine Liberation Organisation negotiator Saeb Erekat; Hamas’ leader in exile Khaled Mashal; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Israeli President Shimon Peres and Defence Minister Ehud Barak – should be retired.

These grouchy old men with a mean age of 68 are incapable of seeing the light of the future without inserting the darkness of the past into the equation. Every compromise to them is a sell out.

That’s why I long for an Arab-Israeli Spring. I long to see the streets of Gaza and Tel Aviv pouring with Palestinian and Israeli youth leaders, who value the safety of their grandchildren more than the legacy of their grandfathers.

If my dream came true, such a leadership would have to hit the ground running. I would suggest they make the following four unpopular decisions – decisions the current leaders are incapable of:

1) The Palestinians should immediately accept Israel’s sovereignty.

Guys, do you really believe denying Israel her right to exist has any meaning left to it? And please, invest in brand development. I mean, who would negotiate a peace deal with an organisational name like Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)? Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigade? And lest I forget: Stop shooting those medieval rockets at your own future, please.

2) The Israelis should stop building new settlements.

Friends, they generate an enormous amount of resentment and the international community overwhelmingly considers them illegal. Even President Obama remarked in his 2009 Cairo speech,

“The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.”

3) The Muslim Palestinians should never use the word ‘jihad’ to justify attacking or killing Israeli civilians.

That Google churns out 11 million matches for the term ‘Palestinian jihad’ in 0.16 second should be embarrassing to a true Muslim. Calling such savagery ‘jihad’ mars the true Palestinian jihad; the struggle of existing without sanitation, crawling around barriers and facing daily humiliation ─ disseminate this jihad through social media. Throw a rock and it only goes a few dozen feet; but publish a heartfelt op-ed in the New York Times and it rocks the highest echelons of the US policymakers.

4) The Israelis should embrace Mitt Romney’s credo of,

“We cannot kill our way out of this mess.”

Disproportionate use of force against innocent civilians has gained Israel nothing but violent resurgence. Fewer people buy into the argument of terrorists using civilians as human shields. Put yourself in their shoes. How can turning these stateless and homeless people into hopeless people ever benefit Israel?

Taking these four steps will build trust, allowing for a peaceful two-state solution to sprout in this wishful Arab-Israeli Spring of mine.

It’s not that wishful though. Such young leaders exist on both sides of the check posts. One Voice Movement boasts over 300,000 grassroots voices, each from Israel and Palestine, supporting the two-state solution. And Global Giving mobilises over 4500 youth leaders to teach them leadership skills in non-violent activism.

Children are not as afraid of the dark as we think.

On the Israeli side, they have made playgrounds out of the concrete pipes used as bunker shelters. And on the Palestinian side, they don’t stop kicking the ball as F-15 jets fly over them. It’s the older generation of the Arab-Israeli leaders who are afraid of the light.

And that’s the real tragedy.

This post originally appeared here.

Read more by Faheem here or follow him on Twitter @Faheem

WRITTEN BY:
Faheem Younus The writer is clinical associate professor at University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA. The author can be followed @Faheem http://twitter.com/#!/FaheemYounus

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

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COMMENTS (9)

dr dang | 12 years ago | Reply @Parvez: This fight began even before anyone alive was born.. Its their fight Pakistan, stay out of it. You have your own battles to fight.

Virkaul | 12 years ago | Reply @atiqa: in today's world disputes are settled through negotiations and not through battles. In order to have a dialogues a minimum of two parties are required which means that both Palestine and Israel must accept and recognize each other as legal entities. Otherwise no dialogue is possible. Then, is Palestine of today a single entity as envisaged in Oslo accord? Gaza and West Bank are like two separate states with no common boundary like East & West Pakistan. Hamas controls Gaza and Fatah controls West Bank. Both are so different and both must be engaged in negotiations. While both fight each other, Israel enjoys it. The problem is that the issue has become so old that many lives are linked with negotiations and a solution be found some day, those jobs would be gone. The vested interests salaries come from tax layers of West. In such a situation, a statesman with tall political status with true intention of finding a solution is required or else, this drama would continue. As regards Pakistan is concerned, it needs to correct it's own record in Balochistan, FATA, KPK and Karachi before commenting on international matters. Palestinians also remember Pakistani troops massacring them in the sixties under Zia.

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atiqa | 12 years ago | Reply Dr. Younis, I have always been a fan of your writings but this time, I must say that I am depressed. What do you mean by Israel sovereignty? It's about Palestine's sovereignty not Israel's and Israel should accept Palestine's sovereignty. If you think that way, than you must be the kind of person who would say that Pakistan should accept drone attacks by USA as it is about USA's sovereignty???? I hope that's not the case for you.. Secondly, Palestine is fighting for it's freedom and that is Jihad which is very different from the misleading jihad perception created by Talibaan. Palestine is in a state of Jihaad as are Kashmiri's and as were Bosnians. So, if Jihad-a try for the protection of their land and nation is a shame for you then. Alaas! what can I say.. Obviously, the western countries, having more access to internet, are able to post more stuff against Muslims in whatever way they want and therefore, typing Palestine jihaad in google would lead to an embarrassment. Unfortunately, you having access to internet were unable to add a positive perception to Jihaad. Someone with an inferiority complex, based on their religion, could be saved if you added something positive about Islam. and btw Mitt Romney is not someone whom you should quote when writing in a Pakistani newspaper:)

Humble Muslim | 12 years ago | Reply The only way out is to accept and follow the peaceful teachings of the Messiah promised by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and sent by Allah in 1889.

Abdul Lateef | 12 years ago | Reply Nicely written by Dr. Faheem

Genius | 12 years ago | Reply The Europeans i.e. the Romans came to this part of Asia (Palestine) 2000 years ago. With them came the Godless Roman culture which is supremacy of the Romans and slavery, death and destruction for the non Romans. When the local Asian people, eventually became powerful enough, they threw out the European occupiers of their land after nearly 200 years of Roman occupation and torture. About 1000 years ago the local Asian people endured the onslaught and occupation of their land by the new Romans once again. The new Romans brought with them their Roman culture of death and destruction for the local Asian people once again. We are told that those Romans were in the following of the Asian holy man Jesus (pboh). How could the people displaying the ungodly and violent Roman culture and habits, be in the following of a man who preached, professed and practiced the words of the Lord and led and showed people to lead virtuous and peaceful life? Those Europeans did not display any character of being in the following of Jesus as such were not Christians. Similarly no one whose deeds do not prove their claim, can be what his/her claim is. When after enduring nearly 2000 years of Roman culture, the local Asian people became strong, they threw out the Godless Europeans once again. Today we are seeing once again, the local Asian people and owners of this land, enduring exactly the same situation as did their forefathers about 1900 and 900 years ago. This Godless Roman regime of the day being a replica of previous Roman regimes, is very much a passing misery for the local Asian people. In other words this Roman outpost in Asia is a very temporary tragedy, and just like the previous Roman regimes, bound to disappear. This is the history of this Asian land belonging to the Asian people, and history is known to repeat itself. To make history repeat itself the people also need to play their part i.e. to unite to become strong to be able to throw out the mighty Romans. This land is neither Jewish, Christian nor Muslim. This land belongs to Palestinian Jews, Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims, no one else. There is no chance of any "Spring" springing up under the Godless Roman culture.

Pessimist | 12 years ago | Reply Forgive me in saying this but there wont be a solution to this mess in my lifetime. The Israelis will not recognise Hamas and vice versa. The real losers are the innocent civillians on both sides whose daily lives are being tarnished by religious right wing loonies, hell bent upon pursuing their political agendas. This is a war between the Arab states and Israel and I have no idea why most Pakistanis feel like this is their war. My facebook home page is flooded with images denouncing Israel, about a million posts about that Noman Chowsky (sp) quote and recently poor old Cristiano Ronaldo has been dragged in to the debate. Please focus on Pakistan first.

Parvez | 12 years ago | Reply Its a ' sweet ' piece of writing considering where it's coming from. In your first suggestions don't you think it should be ' Israel should immediately accept Palestine's sovereignty '......and not the other way around ? Don't you think, the elephant in the room - America, the champion of democracy, should practice with the rest of the world, what it preaches and practices at home ?

Muhammad Asad | 12 years ago | Reply It's a battle between muslim and jewish fanatics.The root cause of this conflict is religion.Religion has caused many wars over the centuries.This is just another one.

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