Barak's Mythical Concessions

Sarah F. Waheed

Lately, American journalists repeat accolades of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak as the only Israeli leader to have offered the Palestinians so much. We hear in countless opinion columns and editorials of how Barak has no choice but to "retaliate" against Palestinian-instigated violence. They portray Palestinians as ungrateful, resentful, and a stubborn lot who reject Barak's every offer, and pointlessly battle on.

The harsh reality is that Barak is offering the Palestinians what is not for him to give away in the first place. The Occupied Territories, including East Jerusalem, already belong to the Palestinians as stated in numerous UN Resolutions, most prominently 242, 194, and 338.

On December 1, 2000, the UN Security Council passed a resolution stating Israel's decision to impose "its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem is illegal and therefore null and void and has no validity". It deplored the transfer by "some states" (i.e., the United States) of their diplomatic missions from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move the assembly said was contrary to a UN Security Council resolution on the undecided status of Jerusalem. The U.S. was one of 5 countries (in addition to Nauru, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Angola) that abstained from the UN resolution, which passed 145-1. Israel being the only country that opposed it.

Yet only a few, if any, American newspaper reported this UN resolution. This blatant omission served to eradicate the entire international community's voice and reinforce the idea that the American administration's opinion on the Middle East is the only one worth having. When we hear of Barak, we hear of his clever politicking, and his desire to achieve further peace talks--but never his senseless use of violence or the fact that he has grossly violated the human rights of an indigenous population. Furthermore, journalists rarely quote Palestinian opinion on Barak's policies and election drama.

We are never reminded that the most recent unofficial figures demonstrate the budget for illegal settlement construction has not been cut. In fact, since Barak replaced his hard-line predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, construction has begun on 3,000 new homes in just 18 months; despite the fact international law forbids the building of settlements on occupied territory.

Peace Now, a leading Israeli human rights organization, which has called for a halt to the settlements, reports that illegal building of settlements has increased by at least 40 percent since the Oslo Accords were signed, and settlement construction has been at a peak under Barak's leadership. The residents of many of these settlements are often considered to be ultra-orthodox nationalists, even by Israeli standards. These right-wing extremists often terrorize Palestinians in their own homes. Furthermore, they are protected under ethnocentric laws, which allow them to bear arms and at the same time fail to adequately punish them for their aggression.

This encroachment on Palestinian land, of course, is in addition to the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people--illegal detention, systematic torture, police harassment, extended curfews, economic sanctions, raids, and discriminatory laws all perpetrated by the Israeli government. In fact, when the Israeli army attacked Palestinian neighborhoods in early November, they were passed off as "retaliation" for random acts of violence. No media outlet questioned these attacks.

Instead we mostly hear about Palestinians making calls to jihad, or holy war. Repeatedly, we are called attention to Arafat's violent past, but nowhere is Barak's career of killing Arabs called into question. To make matters worse, the conflict is reduced to a religious one, monolithically pitting Arabs against Jews. Rarely are we informed about the complexity of the Palestinian identity, and facts about an active Christian Palestinian presence in the intifadah.

We repeatedly hear of "uncontrollable Arab rage"; rarely do we hear that Amnesty International's report in recent weeks said that Israel's actions "constituted war crimes".

If Barak is truly interested in a just and lasting solution to Israel's conflict to the Palestinians, he must start by obeying international law. He must review his government's ethnocentric policies and evaluate his military's gross violation of human rights. If Barak truly cares about his own Israeli citizens, then he will end occupation before Palestinian attacks against Israelis increase.
Only then will he have offered the Palestinians enough.