09/24/02
ZAHA HASSAN
September 2002 marks another anniversary of an attack on twin towers. On Sept. 29, 2000, hope for peace in the Middle East was hijacked by Ariel Sharon.
Palestine's twin towers of freedom and justice took a direct hit; they still stand, though badly weakened.
When Sharon, now Israel's prime minister, "visited" the Haram Al Sharif in Jerusalem with 1,000 Israeli troops two years ago and sparked the Al Aqsa Intifada, he did so to demonstrate that if he became prime minister, he would make no compromise when it comes to Jerusalem. And he has indeed proven, with the utmost brutality, that he does not intend to compromise on his vision of a Greater Israel: New settlements continue to be built, more Palestinian homes have been destroyed, and more innocent Israelis and Palestinians have died.
Even so, the two sides may now be ready to live side by side in peace. In a poll conducted by the Israeli group Peace Now, 68 percent of Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and Gaza would obey a democratic decision of the Israeli government to leave the settlements. Only 6 percent said that they would resist. In a recent poll conducted by Common Ground, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to conflict resolution, more than three-quarters of Israeli Jews surveyed said the Palestinians have a legitimate right to seek a Palestinian state, provided they use nonviolent means.
All this should give us some hope for the future, yet never have we been closer to the brink than we are today. The Bush administration is intent on opening up a new arena of battle in Iraq, despite lack of evidence that Iraq is a current threat to the United States.
So why are the war drums beating so loudly in Washington now and who is doing the drumming? Among those standing center stage for war with Iraq are Israeli lobby groups and pro-Israel policy institutes. Why would it be to Israel's benefit to have the United States attack Iraq when Saddam Hussein's response would most assuredly be an Iraqi missile attack on America's perceived proxy in the region, Israel?
Israeli peace groups believe that Israel is pushing the Bush administration and members of Congress facing an election year to go to war with Iraq so that Israel can expel Palestinians.
Many Israelis believe that Sharon's plan is to provoke Iraq to attack Israel if U.S. troops invade Iraq, as Iraq did during Desert Storm. It's speculated that Israel would then, under the guise of "national security," round up Palestinians and drive them either to Jordan or to Gaza. Gaza is completely fenced in and already serves as a proto-Palestinian internment camp.
Palestinians from the West Bank have recently been deported to Gaza as collective punishment for being related to Palestinians suspected of engaging in suicide missions against Israel.
Some believe the recent deportations serve as a test case for Israel to gauge the level of public outcry for the policy of "population transfer," a clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Sharon is in desperate need of a solution to the demographic problem posed by 4 million Palestinians living in a Greater Israel. As Sharon's Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon bluntly described it, the growing Palestinian population poses a "threat" with "cancer-like attributes" to Israel. One way to treat a cancer is to surgically remove it, and this is Sharon's long-held treatment of choice.
Of course, such a plan would have catastrophic impact on Americans. The United States will lose any credibility it has in the Arab world and in the international community if it plays into Israel's hand. New bin Ladins will be born with nothing more on their minds than blind revenge against our country. Worst of all, our sons and daughters would be used as pawns and sent to a foreign land to die for the most unjust of causes.
As the twin towers in New York should be rebuilt as a symbol of American resolve, so, too, must the twin towers of freedom and justice rise again in the Middle East. We must demand that the United States lead the effort for the sake of peace everywhere. War with Iraq does not serve the cause of peace but ensures that it will always be an illusive dream.
Zaha Hassan, a founding member of the Portland-based organization Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights and an attorney, lives in Lake Oswego.