Wanted: settlers-and some sanity

Wanted: settlers-and some sanity

By Gil Troy
August 22, 2005

This spring, a sign in my children’s Jewish school proclaimed: “WANTED: SETTLERS.” Shocked by the bold political statement in this moderate, apolitical environment, I looked closer. My daughter’s Grade 4 class projects celebrated nineteenth-century pioneers who settled North America.

This summer, people watching events in Israel experienced a similar play on their perceptions. Israeli settlers – frequently caricatured as gun-toting hooligans – have been protesting angrily but denouncing violence repeatedly. When one Israeli army deserter murdered four Israeli Arabs, not only did the settler movement repudiate him, the leaders of the settlement where he had lived refused to bury his body there. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of settlers during the heart-wrenching Gush Katif evacuation respected the “red lines” and did not attack Israeli troops.

Media caricatures of Israel’s prime minister Ariel Sharon have proved equally inaccurate. Long denounced as bloodthirsty, long cheered by settlers as their champion, Sharon’s Gaza pullout infuriated the settlers and charmed the world. Sharon even enjoyed a warm Parisian reception from Jacques Chirac, after a sustained Gallic chill toward Israel.

Israeli democracy itself has proven more resilient than expected – and less explosive than its caricature suggests. While the Israeli police have been lamentably heavyhanded with some dissenters, numerous peaceful protests have taken place -- 30,000 made it to Kfar Maimun, 100,000 prayed against the disengagement at the Western Wall, 150,000 gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin square. The “orange” anti-disengagement forces can mourn their campaign’s outcome, but they have been heard – as it should be. Ads on buses in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem have urged Israelis: “LET’S MAKE SURE WE DON’T DISENGAGE FROM EACH OTHER.” Judging by the festive, summertime atmosphere on Israel’s streets despite the intense debate, thus far, the rule of law held, democracy triumphed. Israelis remain passionately engaged, sometimes enraged, but not violently estranged from each other.

Alas, while Israel defies the conventional wisdom – to its credit – its neighbors and allies are behaving all too predictably, and destructively. Rather than using Israel’s Gaza departure to evolve from demagoguery to statesmanship, from terrorism to diplomacy, from targeting a viable democratic neighbor to building a stable democratic state of their own, Palestinians have continued attacking Israel rhetorically and militarily. Forgetting that Israel won the war and defeated their “intifada” by demonstrating collective civilian grit and creative military effectiveness, the Palestinians have continued launching rocket attacks, attempting terrorist incursions, and crying for Israel’s destruction. True, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas appears moderate when compared to Yasir Arafat, but the question emerging is whether Abbas is too impotent to control terrorism or, like many of his colleagues, too addicted to Palestinians’ culture of terrorism. Regardless, Hamas seems ascendant among Palestinians, with extremism and terrorism continuing to eclipse moderation and compromise.

Nevertheless, world leaders, remaining true to form, are feeding Palestinians’ addiction to terror. Canada, the United States and the Europeans are pumping billions of dollars into the Palestinian Authority– without guaranteeing that these monies once again will not be diverted to evil terrorists’ coffers or corrupt leaders’ Swiss Bank accounts. Even Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has pressured Israel to concede ever more to the Palestinians, arm them with more weapons, and act with a generosity and restraint no other country is expected to display. Instead, she should warn the Palestinians not to greet the Gaza withdrawal with a resurgence of terror – or suffer the consequences.

World leaders who have been demanding an Israeli withdrawal from territories for years can help during this delicate time. If the United Nations and the Western allies proclaimed that zero tolerance for terror worldwide includes Palestinian violence, and that Israel will be encouraged to retaliate aggressively if even one mortar falls or one suicide bomber “succeeds” -- the message would be clear: the world community wishes to encourage progress in the Middle East. By remaining silent, world leaders implicitly empower Hamas, demonstrate their typically, one-sided disdain for Israel , and wait for the disengagement to fail, so they can blame Israel. Every Palestinian rocket launched, every terrorist attack attempted, bolsters critics of Sharon’s gamble to redraw the regional map and find stability, if not peace.

This summer, the settlers and their Israeli countrymen defied the conventional wisdom and behaved better than most observers imagined they would. Now, it is the world’s turn. In fact, such farsighted, balanced, moral leadership from Canada, Europe, and the UN is long overdue.

Gil Troy is Professor of History at McGill University and the author of Why I Am A Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today and Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s.

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