Camp David II

The Second Camp David, like the First, promises more than it can deliver. The Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the most complex and tragic in the world. It has a long history and unfortunately is not going to go away soon. Despite the general impression, this is not a religious conflict, but religious extremism has exacerbated it. Jews and Muslims lived together peacefully in West Asia for centuries. In fact, Jews had a prominent position as scholars and administrators in the Islamic Abbasid, Ottoman, and Safavid Empires. Jewish communities were protected in Islamic societies as one of the Peoples of the Book. Jewish, Christian, and Zoroastrian communities each enjoyed considerable internal autonomy under Islamic rule.

Following Hitler's rise to power, that picture changed. As Jewish immigrants from Europe took refuge in the British mandate of Palestine, Arabs were displaced from their homes and farms. This was initially accomplished by outright purchases of land from Arab landlords by the Jewish Agency to provide settlement for the newly arrived Jewish immigrants. In the past, every time land had changed hands among Arab landlords, peasants would remain with the land. But this round, they had to move out. During the 1930s and 1940s, this process of displacement created increasing tension between the Jewish and Arab communities. Both communities were increasingly nationalistic and wished to rid themselves of the British colonial yoke. In the meantime, to obtain the cooperation of both Jews and Arabs in their war efforts, the British had promised each community a "homeland".

With the impending departure of the British, in 1947, the United Nations voted for the partition of Palestine into two Jewish and Arab states. When the British withdrew, in 1948, Israel declared its independence while the Arab states that rejected the partition attacked the new state. That was the first of four wars fought between the two sides, in 1948-49, 1956, 1967, and 1973. Given Arab disunity and Western military and political support for Israel, the new state won more territory in each of these wars.

The peace process between Arabs and Israelis began dramatically with Egyptian President Sadat's trip to Jerusalem. In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed the so-called Camp David Accords that provided for phased withdrawal of Israel from Sinai. However, the accords led to the isolation of Egypt from the Arab World. Palestinians, feeling abandoned by their most powerful Arab ally, took to guerrilla warfare in the Intifada movement. That forced Israel to agree to the Oslo Accords that brought Ishaq Rabin and Yasser Arafat to shake hands at the American White House. The peace process initiated by this handshake has led to a bumpy road full of obstacles.

Seven critical issues remain unresolved:

1. The Israeli annexation of Golan Heights that were captured from Syria in 1967.

2. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank that was captured from Jordan also in 1967.

3. The Israeli unilateral declaration of Jerusalem as its capital.

4. The increasing clashes between Palestinians and the new Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

5. The repatriation of Palestinian refugees outside of Israel and the West Bank.

6. The question of a Palestinian independent state to be established in the West Bank.

7. The guarantee for mutual security for both states of Israel and Palestine.

Israel's unilateral withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 1999 has largely removed that issue from the peace agenda. But under the United States auspices, in July 2000, the Second Camp David negotiations between Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak have had to take up all of the other thorny issues. None of them lends itself to an easy solution. The problem revolves around the continuing territorial claims of both sides for the same land. Unless leaders of both sides are willing to compromise on creative solutions, a stalemate will continue. In the meantime, hundreds if not thousands of lives are being lost in ceaseless clashes.

This is not a conflict that, as partisan views argue, pits right against wrong. It is a problem of Israeli rights against Arab rights. It is what true tragedies are made of. The road to a durable peace is to get away from blame games and the traditional notions of exclusive national sovereignty. A just solution would recognize shared sovereignty over Jerusalem- a holy city to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. It also would allow a new Palestinian state to control the West Bank in a federal arrangement with the state of Israel. The devil is, of course, in the details. We should leave that to seasoned peacemakers, wise mediators, and courageous politicians on both sides. Peace is historical necessity. The last 50 years must be considered an aberration from the historical norm of peaceful co-existence of Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Holy Lands.

Majid Tehranian

July 23, 2000
Honolulu, Hawaii