Sharon Retreats
Last week, the
Israeli presence in Gaza came to a complete end
as the last soldiers departed, and the Gazans awoke
to their first day without checkpoints and Israeli
flags since 1967. It was a day of celebration and
a day to travel into Egypt without hindrance. For
many younger Palestinians it was a day to see the
beach for the first time in their lives, as Israel
had greedily grabbed the best beachfront land for
its settlers, whose presence had created an immense
hardship for the Palestinians.
The Israelis dismantled the settlements, but chose
to leave the synagogues intact when they pulled
out. The Palestinians warned them that this was
a recipe for disorder, and of course the mob torched
some and damaged others. The Israelis likely did
this deliberately, instead of dismantling the synagogues
themselves, so that they could make the Palestinians
look unruly and mean-spirited. But the synagogues
had no further place there, and even in the calmest
circumstances they would have been torn down fairly
quickly.
For Gaza, the future is now very uncertain. Foremost
is defining the actual status of Gaza. It is not
an independent country, but what exactly is it?
Can it issue passports? Who is in charge? The PA
and Hamas both claim credit for the Israeli withdrawal,
but who will run Gaza, or will they dance around
each other in a weird status quo? And how is Gaza
to be linked to the West Bank? How will Palestinians
travel freely back and forth?
The PA has two major issues to resolve. The first
is the legislative elections that were delayed from
last spring. They are now scheduled for next January.
If the PA under Abbas can win a convincing majority
of the Palestinians, then Abbas can deal with the
second issue, which is the disarming of Hamas. Disarming
the militant groups is a Roadmap commitment of the
Palestinians, and as long as Hamas is actively fighting
with Israel, it is unlikely that Israel will enter
into final status talks to end the conflict. How
Abbas handles this question, especially given Hamas’
claims that they will never disarm until they are
victorious, will define whether he can succeed.
For Israel, the withdrawal is the final proof that
the dominant part of the Israeli right wing has
accepted that Zionism has failed to take over all
of Palestine. For right-wing Zionists, the goal
has always been to expand the borders of Israel
to include all of Palestine, and to push the Palestinians
out of the land. During the first Camp David negotiations
between Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin, Sadat raised
the issue of the Palestinians and the fate of the
West Bank. Sharon told him that within 20 years,
two million Jews will have settled on the West Bank
and the land would be part of Israel. Sharon did
more to push the settlement movement than any Israeli
politician.
But it was Sharon of all people who withdrew the
entire settler apparatus from Gaza in just a few
days, and pulled out of four settlements in the
West Bank on top of that. While this still leaves
370,000 Israeli settlers on the West Bank, it has
broken the taboo about withdrawing settlers. Not
only was it done, but it was done rather easily.
By demonstrating this fact, it makes further settler
withdrawal feasible in the context of a peace agreement.
Israel has won every battle it has fought with the
Palestinians and with the Arab states around it.
Despite that, in many ways, it is losing the war.
Ariel Sharon’s retreat from Gaza is ample
evidence of that. The Palestinians must take advantage
of this opportunity. They need to get their house
in order, establish a single state authority that
is clean and representative, and then demand what
is rightfully theirs. A full and complete Israeli
withdrawal out of the entire West Bank, just like
Gaza, and the creation of a viable Palestinian state
with its capital in East Jerusalem.
For Israelis, those that are not part of the settler
movement can see the logic of doing just that. Israelis,
despite their military strength, have deep feelings
of insecurity. However, if it is clear that Israel
can be accepted as part of the Middle East in exchange
for dealing justly with the Palestinians, then even
right-wing Israelis can be brought around. The recent
contacts between Pakistan and Israel are useful
because they send this exact message. Musharraf
is right to offer recognition to Israel, but to
make that contingent on a settlement with the Palestinians.
Comments can reach me at Nali@socal.rr.com
