Paradox in Paradise Print E-mail
Written by Beth Herz   

Naomi Chazan on the Key to Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Left-wing and Zionist: for many, the phrase is all but an oxymoron. On many campuses, aspiring activists have two options: to be a hard-line Israel advocate or to be left-wing – and reject Israel altogether. To many, anyone who claims to stand somewhere in between is ambivalent at best – and at worst, living a contradiction.

But not to Naomi Chazan. Chazan, who served for over a decade in the Israeli Knesset as a representative of the progressive Meretz party, challenged this duality in a recent speech at Wesleyan University. Chazan spoke emphatically of a paradox that currently exists in Israel.
Now more than ever, Chazan said, both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are in agreement on the major issues. There is no question that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians alike are in favor of peace. Likewise, most of them see a two-state solution as a desirable and attainable goal.

The surprising reality, in Chazan’s view, is that there has been so little progress toward these mutual goals. Chazan spoke soon after Sukkot, recalling two recent violent attacks on Israelis, the reports of which were still fresh in the minds of her audience. References to continuing home demolition in Gaza also demonstrated that peace is by no means prevailing.

As a subscriber to the beliefs held by Meretz, what she considers a “progressive, human rights, social justice and peace party,” Chazan called the terrorism that continues to be directed at Israel “a crime against humanity” and tactics such as checkpoints, which target civilians, “a gross violation of human rights.” She described the instability of internal politics within both camps and what she saw as the overall lack of productive international support.

Another obstacle to peace, Chazan said, is that extremists have been able to take control of the national agendas of their respective groups. Among Palestinians, the extremists, although a minority, have made themselves painfully well known. In Israel, conservative settlers have swung Ariel Sharon and public policy significantly farther to the right than the views of the majority of Israelis. 70% of Israelis support working together with Palestinian leadership toward the formation of a Palestinian state. But, Chazan pointed out, the current Sharon plan includes disengagement: removal of Israeli forces from the occupied territories. This strategy, she argued, is inherently one-sided, excluding the possibility of joint negotiations.

Chazan also criticized American and world Jewry for its role in perpetuating the conflict. “The Jewish community outside Israel…lets extremists speak for it,” she said. She implied that the black-and-white version of the situation in Israel that she sees presented in American discourse only complements the danger posed by the extreme voices that dominate both Israeli and Palestinian politics.

Ultimately, Chazan said, she does not believe in a duality that only allows one to identify as pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian. Indeed, in her words, “to be a Zionist now means to be for a Palestinian state.”
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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.


Beth Herz
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