Weekly Commentary: Palestinian conditional non-violence - denying the
fundamental basis of the game

Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 28 February 2008 [Distributed again on 4 Augsut]

"At this present juncture, I am opposed to the armed struggle because we
can't succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different."
Mahmoud Abbas in an interview with the Jordanian daily al-Dustur (as
reported today in The Jerusalem Post)

"The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process, and to a peaceful
resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all
outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through
negotiations. ... the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of
violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel
in order to assure their compliance prevent violations and discipline
violators."

So wrote Yasser Arafat in his September 9, 1993 letter to Yitzhak Rabin, the
Prime Minister of Israel.

And it wasn't easy to get Arafat, acting as the representative of the
Palestinian people, to sign off on those phrases.

Words that forfeited any possible legal claim to the right to continue
employing terrorism and other acts of violence in what he and his supporters
called a "liberation struggle".

Take a look at the phrase: Arafat didn't just renounce the use of
"terrorism" - a word that the Arabs claim cannot ever be applied to their
murderous activity - he also renounced the use of "other acts of violence".

Arafat didn't want to sign off on the phrases, but Yitzhak Rabin made it
clear that this was his red line.

So there was Yasser Arafat in the summer of 1993: Arafat, essentially an
aging has-been exiled to Tunis from Beirut, watching as each month Israeli
security forces continued to whittle down their dwindling "wanted list" of
terrorists.

No.

Contrary to what has become the story line in some quarters, it wasn't the
"children of the stones" that raised Arafat from the dung heap of history;
it was a group of Israeli ideologues seeking a way to facilitate an Israeli
withdrawal from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Oslo was Arafat's lifeline. Israel could take it or leave it. So Arafat
blinked first.

It wasn't a minor matter then. And it shouldn't be a minor matter today.

Let's be clear about this: when the entire Palestinian leadership - from
White House Lawn "man of peace" Mahmoud Abbas explains that the Palestinian
decision not to engage in violence is based on its current efficacy they are
trashing this fundamental Palestinian commitment.

That's not to say that Arafat's letter and the agreements that followed it
stripped the Palestinians of the ability to struggle for their interests. It
just limited them to pursuing them via non-violent means - both on the
domestic and the international front. Arafat's September 9, 1993 letter to
Yitzhak Rabin committing to "a peaceful resolution of the conflict. . .
resolved through negotiations" and assuming "responsibility over all PLO
elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent
violations and discipline violators" was supposed to be a watershed event.

But it wasn't.

Because from day one that commitment has been ignored and forgotten.

The latest stunning remark by Mahmoud Abbas was indeed covered by all the
Israeli news media. But it appears that the story - which has tremendous
policy ramifications - is already pretty much forgotten.

Secretary of State Rice will be coming next week to push Israel to make
various concessions to "moderate" Abbas.

Concessions that could very well bring the Palestinians closer to the day
that "armed struggle" would succeed.

And as "moderate" Abbas explains - his opposition to armed struggle is
neither moral nor legal, but instead simply a question of efficacy.

This is not rhetoric. This is strategy.

And the sooner that Israel's leadership recognizes this, the better the
Jewish State's ability to pursue policies that reflect this reality.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il