This week, roughly 9,000 Israeli settlers are being moved from their communities as all settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank are being evacuated. Given the controversy over this disengagement initiative, made even touchier by the Aug. 4 Jewish attack on Israeli Arabs, student opinion, unsurprisingly, varies considerably.
While some students say they are optimistic that the move will strengthen Israel’s security and embolden the Palestinians to commit to reliable self-governance, others said they thought the expulsion of Israelis, who were initially instigated by Sharon to move to the settlements, was wrong. Some said they were fearful that an independent Gaza would turn into a terrorist entity.
Recently, New Voices asked a group of Washington, D.C.-based interns attending an annual lecture series by Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Daniel Ayalon, what they thought about the withdrawal from Gaza.
Elizabeth Zolotukhina, an intern with the National Council of Soviet Jewry, said that the pullout was an important gesture toward peace but that she didn’t feel Palestinians were as committed to negotiating a peaceful solution to the conflict.
“I think that Israel is committed to the process of pulling troops out and giving Palestinians land and making them feel that they are willing to act,” the recent University of Pittsburg graduate said after an address by Ambassador Ayalon on July 20.
“Mahmoud Abbas is not consolidating Palestinian forces and not asserting is authority over terror organization,” she said. The Palestinian leaders’ lack of cooperation will likely lead to a failed peace effort, she said. “I think that Palestinians, just like in the past, they haven’t been full partners in achieving two states side by side.”
Rafi Menachem, a senior at George Washington University was much more confident in the outcome of disengagement and said he thought it would move peace negotiations forward.
“I think it’s worth it to give land for peace,” he said.
Other students were less sure how the result of the complex process would pan out.
“Part of me thinks that things have been moving in a positive way since February. Part of me sees what happened last week,” said Elayna Fremes, a sophomore at the University of Toronto, referring to a suicide bomb attack in Netanya, Israel. “Extremism has always had veto on the peace process in the past,” she said. “It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen until it happens.”
