Optimism breaks out in Mideast

Optimism breaks out in Mideast

Olmert, Abbas and Yo-Yo Ma strike the right chords in the quest for peaceful co-existence

By Gil Troy
The Montreal Gazette
June 5, 2006

Although moods in the Middle East fluctuate as rapidly as one of virtuoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma's vibratos, the recent optimism outburst should be savoured. Nearly six years after Israelis and Palestinians turned away from each other in disgust when Yasser Arafat led his people from negotiations toward terror, both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas endorsed compromise over confrontation.

Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, the irrepressible Yo-Yo Ma and his eclectic Silk Road Ensemble conjured up the Middle Eastern spirit as it should be, an old-new crossroads of the world, harmonizing amid a cacophony of cultures.

In Washington, Israel's rookie Prime Minister Ehud Olmert eloquently addressed a joint session of Congress. While denouncing Iran's threat to the West, Hamas's threat to Israel and terrorism's threat to civilization, Olmert extended his "hand in peace to Mahmoud Abbas," recognized Palestinian national aspirations and offered to compromise. Echoing Ariel Sharon, Olmert declared: "the Palestinians will forever be our neighbours, they are an inseparable part of this land, as are we. Israel has no desire to rule over them nor to oppress them. They, too, have a right to freedom and national aspirations."

Asserting Jewish claims to the land, Olmert nevertheless affirmed Israelis' willingness to compromise if their neighbours offered peace and security: "We have to relinquish part of our dream to leave room for the dream of others, so that all of us can enjoy a better future."

A lesser statesman than Olmert simply could have watched the international community spurn the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, and civil war brew between Abbas's Fatah movement and the Hamas Islamicists.

Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abbas trumped Palestinian extremists by proposing a referendum on his compromise plan unless Hamas endorses a joint platform. Abbas proposes "a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders." Paralleling Olmert, the PA president proclaimed, "This is what we have, we cannot talk about dreams."

Critical differences remain regarding the status of Jerusalem and of Palestinian refugees who left decades ago. Still, if some compromise emerges, historians might consider these parallel speeches watersheds.

Amid such rays of optimism, it was particularly destructive just days later for British academics to violate the essence of academic freedom by advocating a boycott of Israeli professors unless they followed a particular script to condemn their own country, and for the Canadian Union of Public Employees to boycott Israel. Laptop warriors must take responsibility for fomenting the conflict - and feeding violence. As long as Palestinians encourage and feel emboldened by such armchair extremism, Israelis justifiably will question Abbas's credibility.

Last year, Israeli journalist Hirsch Goodman contrasted the vitriol he witnessed on many North American campuses with the continuing dialogue and impressive calm between Israeli Arabs and Jews on Israeli campuses throughout the years of terror. Extremists love whipping themselves into frenzies, emailing rants to each other. The Middle East has enough extremists; we in the West should try to be constructive - absurd slurs alleging "Zionism is racism" and Israel is the new South Africa radicalize maximalists and rationalize further terrorism.

Yo-Yo Ma spent last week demonstrating how an outsider can be a force for good, helping countries realize their highest aspirations.

The renowned cellist went to Tel Aviv to receive the Dan David Prize, a $1-million reward "for making unique contributions to humanity." This Paris-based, Chinese-born, American-educated artist brought his "Silk Road" ensemble celebrating the musical melange that developed as merchants travelled from the Mediterranean, across Asia, to China and Japan.

"It is particularly fitting to have this conversation in Israel, a country infused with ideas and cultures brought by emigrants from Europe, Asia, Africa, and even the Americas. It is a society of ancient traditions and modern ideas whose culture is based in both," Ma said when receiving the award.

"Israel is a manifestation of the Silk Road and clearly illustrates that the more richly we understand the past, whether our own or our neighbours', the more brilliantly we can imagine the future."

At his magical concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of Tel Aviv University, which sponsors the prize, Ma interrupted his program of Persian, Afghani, Chinese, Indian, and Azerbaijani music to welcome Margalit Oved, an Israeli performance artist born in Aden. Oved's Yemenite-Israeli identity, expressed in a cascade of Arabic and English, captured the spirit of Yo-Yo Ma's project, as did the maestro's obvious delight in his fellow performers.

"You've restored my faith in humanity," one Israeli yelled backstage after the concert.

In Washington, Ehud Olmert asked "all peoples of the Middle East" to "replace the culture of hate with an outlook of hope." In Tel Aviv, Yo-Yo Ma showed how it can be done. The rest of us need to do what we can to transform cultural differences and national distinctions into opportunities for harmonic convergence not just violent divergence -- in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Gil Troy teaches history at McGill University. The updated version of his book Why I Am A Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today was just released and is available at www.bjec.org

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