More about that 1948 t-shirt I mentioned yesterday, worn by a Palestinian protester. "I saw a number of these shirts in Deheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem," says Michael F. Brown of Interfaith Peace-Builders, just back from a trip to Israel/Palestine. He points out that the t-shirt has the numerals 194 in white and the 8 in red. "194 is the UN General Assembly resolution on the right of return." (Passed in Dec. '48.)
The significance of the t-shirt is that because of the failure of the peace process, which is about 1967, the 1948 issue is reasserting itself. My own sense is that both Israelis and Palestinians bear responsibility for the failure of the peace process–because neither side truly believes in the ’67 (i.e., ’49) borders. During Michael Brown’s tour, Muhammad Jaradat of Badil said, “What Israeli leader has the
charisma to pull 500,000 settlers out of the West Bank and East
Jerusalem?” Yes and what Palestinian leader has the charisma to accept a limited right of return and land swaps and sell that to the Palestinian people? Nadia Hijab says that when Arafat died, the 2-state solution died with him.
I don’t know the answer to these questions. I believe that going back to 1948 is essential from a moral and emotional standpoint–Israel must acknowledge and apologize for the Nakba–but that a peaceful resolution of this dispute, with compromise and generosity and fairness, is in the interest of the world. When Jaradat asks who is that Israeli leader, the answer is: the United States. When our leaders take a firm stand, and shift our Middle East policy, who knows the effect on the combatants there. To have the Syrians on board? To have American leadership on board? I look for miracles. Remember a president with great strength of character, Ronald Reagan? “Mr. Olmert, tear down this wall!”
