Daniel Lubetzky

The following article provides a sobering assessment of the challenges faced at the political level by the Palestinian and Israeli negotiations teams.  It is also instructive for OneVoice, as a microcosm of what is going on among the politicians.  OneVoice aims to represent the will of the people for an end to the conflict and to an extent lead the way, but as it is currently structured (unlike other very laudable efforts like Ayalon-Nusseibeh) it aims to stay with the current pulse of the people and not lead too far ahead of them. 

If the leaders get stuck, though, or even regress in positions, OneVoice will have a challenge amplifying the voice of moderates amidst decreased agreement among the Heads of State, unless it opts to lead a notch more than just represent.  Leading ahead of politicians can help break taboos on BOTH sides, but runs the danger of losing legitimacy from mainstream populations. 

For now our focus is to continue encouraging elected representatives to recognize the imperative of immediate and uninterrupted negotiations till the conclusion of an agreement.

U.S. and Israel Play Down Hopes for Peace Talks

New York Times, By STEVEN ERLANGER

Published: November 12, 2007

JERUSALEM, Nov. 10 — The American-sponsored Middle East peace conference expected by the end of the month looks to be thin on content, mostly serving as a stage to begin formal negotiations on a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli and American officials have been so busy dampening expectations that they are not even calling the event a conference anymore, instead referring to it merely as a “meeting.”

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are having trouble agreeing on even a short declaration about the shape of a final peace. Their leaders, Mr. Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, have a rough understanding on where they are heading, officials of both sides say, but they are afraid to write it down or say so publicly, given the political cost of any concessions.

Before the meeting, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 25-27 in Annapolis, Md., Israeli coalition members are warning Mr. Olmert not to go too far or get too specific. And Palestinian negotiators are squabbling among themselves, getting little firm direction from Mr. Abbas.

“Because we can’t agree on the substance of a joint paper, we prefer to say we’re just beginning to negotiate,” said a senior Israeli official close to Mr. Olmert.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may return to Israel before the conference to push for a more substantive agreement.

If any document coming out of the conference remains vague, Annapolis will also be used to mark another effort to carry out the first stage of the moribund 2003 “road map” for peace. That first stage calls for simultaneous efforts by the Palestinians to build state institutions and fight terrorism, while Israel halts the growth in West Bank settlements, considered illegal by much of the world, and removes settler outposts that are illegal under Israeli law.

Ahmed Qurei, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said: “What we need for a successful meeting in Annapolis is to implement the first phase of the road map. We have suspicions of each other over seven years, so need to build trust.”

But little of that work, too, can be done before Annapolis. From Mr. Olmert’s point of view, changing security on the ground, including another release of prisoners, is “more difficult than negotiating a declaration of principles, and politically more destabilizing,” the senior official said.

Meanwhile, both sides are still struggling with compromises on the core issues of final borders, the status of Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem. While negotiators have agreed to leave the issue of Jerusalem alone for now, they have fundamental disagreements on how to couch the other issues.

The Palestinians, for instance, want to be as specific as possible about the borders of their future state. But they want to be as vague as possible about Palestinian refugees from the 1948-49 war, afraid to suggest that the “right of return” of these refugees and their descendants may not have much content.

Israel, for its part, wants to be as vague as possible about borders and land swaps, because it is occupied land to trade that is Israel’s main bargaining chip. On the other hand, Mr. Olmert wants to be as specific as possible about the refugee issue. He and his deputy, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, vow that no Palestinian refugee will return to what is now Israel, and that the new Palestine will be the homeland for Palestinians.

So Mr. Olmert is reluctant even to countenance the possibility of humanitarian exceptions, as the Clinton administration did at Camp David. He is also insistent that the Palestinians recognize Israel “as a Jewish state,” another way of trying to shut the door on refugees.

The long buildup to Annapolis, together with Ms. Rice’s many trips to the region, have given birth to a new verb in Israeli government circles: “lecondel,” meaning, to come and go for meetings that produce few results. The word is based on Ms. Rice’s first name.

Still, a weak Mr. Olmert, beset by a failed war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and numerous criminal investigations, is committed to try, needing a peace agenda to help justify his term in office. He understands, senior Israeli officials say, that moderate partners like Mr. Abbas and Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, who believe in nonviolence and two states, may not come again.

Even if a deal is reached, and many are skeptical, it will not be carried out for a number of years. Israel wants to be sure that if it withdraws from the West Bank, there is a reliable Palestinian security force to stop aggression and terrorism — to ensure that a Hamas-run Gaza that fires rockets at Israel is not replicated in the West Bank.

As Tony Blair, the representative of the so-called quartet — the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations — pushing for a Middle East peace, said: “The true Israeli anxiety is focused not only on the territory of the Palestinian state, but on the nature of that state. The true Israeli position is not to agree to a state for the Palestinians unless they are sure of how that state will function, how it will be governed, how viable it will be, and not simply in its territorial contiguity, but in its stability as a long-term partner for peace.”

The risks of failure, all agree, are extremely high, both for Mr. Abbas and the concept of a negotiated two-state solution. Many Israelis and Palestinians — and not just Hamas — say they think that Annapolis is ill-timed and bound to disappoint.

Even senior Israeli and Palestinian officials are worried. “If we can reach a final agreement, then I’m willing to risk the government and go to new elections,” the Israeli official close to Mr. Olmert said. “But to risk the government for something unclear seems unwise. To go to Annapolis and lose a government is not a good idea.”

The problem, he said, is how both Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas “can come up with a paper and both of them stay alive politically.”

As for Mr. Abbas and Fatah, the risks are existential, a senior Palestinian aide said. He pointed not just to the Hamas takeover of Gaza, but to the warnings of senior Hamas leaders like Mahmoud Zahar that Mr. Abbas was a collaborator with Israel and that the West Bank could be next. Mr. Zahar said Friday, “We say to the West Bank, ‘Take a lesson from what happened in Gaza.’”

“Israel says the party in Ramallah serves Israel,” Mr. Zahar continued, referring to Fatah, “and if Israel quits the West Bank, Hamas will take it over. And we say this is true.”

What are some of the lessons from the painful postponement of the OneVoice Summit?

· to stand strong on our principles, and not let anyone define who we are;

· to anticipate threats and challenges and plan better to prevent anyone from derailing non-violent actions that are consistent with the Will of the People;

· to brief all constituents directly, even those who may be suspicious of or threatened by OneVoice, to clarify the sincerity of purpose and nobility of the goals of the Movement;

· to not be swallowed by hatred or contempt, and to not attack anyone as an individual, but rather to point out that the ideology of absolutism must be overcome;

· to be exceptionally clear and transparent about all we say and do;

· to work more strategically

· to avoid centralization of authority;

· to empower youth leaders;

· to strengthen alliances and emphasize partnerships;

· to demand the highest standards of transparency and professionalism from all of us;

· to never lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing.

You may not see this on TV, but something huge happened in Gaza over the last couple days. 

Hundreds of thousands of people rallied across the center of Gaza City to commemorate Yasser Arafat’s passing.

AFP/via BBC

The rally was organized by the "National Committee", a group of Palestinian civic leaders, primarily from Fatah but also spreading across other parties and unaffiliated Palestinian luminaries tasked with representing the people.

The few media reports that I’ve seen on this are reporting that 5/7/10 people were killed and many others wounded as the Hamas-led police force opened fire at the crowds that were condemning their coup d’etat.

But the bigger story is that this is the biggest demonstration since Hamas took over Gaza by force, and arguably the biggest demonstration in Gaza ever.

THE PEOPLE ON THE GROUND were shouting "Shiia, Shiaa" against the Hamas forces, openly associating them as peons of the Iranian government.

For days, Hamas had been trying to prevent this mobilization from happening, going to the lengths of blocking out all the bus companies so they could not be rented by organizers to bring in people from the outskirts.

But people drove in their cars, and walked long distances, to make their voices heard.

Checkpoints across Gaza set up by Hamas forces were not able to stop this mobilization.

We had a setback last month when we had to postpone the OneVoice Summit in Jericho intended to send a message of support to President Abbas.

But this time the people of Gaza, hundreds of thousands of them, risked their lives to vote with their feet against militant extremism.

Here are a couple of stories that provide more context on this important development:

AFP: Hamas Kills Six at Arafat Rally in Gaza

IHT: Former Gaza strongman Dahlan says Hamas breakup of rally sign of group’s growing difficulties

AP via BBC

We often think about the immediate issues of the conflict – justice, security, walls, barriers, rockets, military threats, checkpoints, land, dignity, etc. – as the drivers that provide but the challenges and the opportunities for what needs to be addressed in order to end the conflict and build a better future for Israelis and Palestinians.

But increasingly the status quo is harming the essence of Palestinian and Israeli societies at the very core – in areas like education.

Data over the last few years points to a deafening brain drain from Palestine and Israel.  Can you blame talented individuals who decide to escape the chaos?

Educated Palestinians more and more are moving to Jordan, to the United States, to Egypt, to the point that writers have started to call the "Palestinian National Dream" in jeopardy.

And educated Israelis more and more are moving to the US and Europe at alarming rates.

I just read a Wall Street Journal excerpt from a BusinessWeek article by Neal Sandler highlighting how serious the danger and impact is on the Israeli educational system:

Israeli students ranked 33rd out of 41 countries in a global survey on math and sciences in 2002, the last time they participated therein, contrasting to the 1960s when Israeli students were among the world’s best;

Only 30% of 18-year old native-born conscripts into the Israeli Defense Forces passed a standard Hebrew reading comprehension test in 2005, down from 60% two decades earlier

Israeli teacher salaries are the LOWEST in the industrialized world, acording to the OECD

So for people that are clinging to a Greater Israel or Greater Palestine vision, it is time to understand: your children’s future is at stake.  This region, with so much potential to bring light to the world, is going to implode and become a sad example of what hatred and absolutism reaps, if we don’t get our act together.

Anyone who has not taken the first step of signing on to the OneVoice Mandate demanding IMMEDIATE UNINTERRUPTED NEGOTIATIONS TILL AN AGREEMENT IS REACHED AMONG THE ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN HEADS OF STATE should do so now.

A few friends wrote to me alarmed and saddened by the poem I wrote, Haunted.  They mentioned I am always ‘so positive’ and encouraged me not to lose hope.  Some encouraged me to share positive thoughts as they tend to see me do, rather than to succumb to the plentiful doom.

So I thought I’d share a few related thoughts:

1) no, I am not in a state of deep depression, or suicidal, and I am not about to give up on our mission;

2) I am a human being like everyone else, who has worries and doubts and fears, and I have always had these; indeed, this is what drives me to try to prevent such dark vision from prevailing;

3) when I made the commitment to write this blog, I decided I needed to be true to myself and those who read this journal, so it will continue to reflect the reality of my feelings at the moment when I use the journal to share them, and my best efforts to provide an accurate reflection of what I see happening around me;

4) I am sobered up and increasingly worried that time is running out, that partisan hatred is so deep, that all the best efforts of OneVoice, and PeaceWorks, and the hundreds of groups working in this space will not be enough if we don’t achieve the critical mass necessary, which requires ordinary citizens to recognize their power and responsibility to join this effort;

5) the challenge requires MORE, not less dedication to it; and so OneVoice is already working on several fronts to strengthen its efforts, as is the PeaceWorks Foundation;

6) I wrote "Haunted" late at night after watching the very poignant and powerful but sad movie The Black Book, which brought back memories of what my Father went through during the Holocaust, and marrying that with the growing animosity overtaking the Middle East, and the increasing sadness I personally feel at seeing so much hatred, so much suffering, so much anger, so much partisanship and dehumanization.

7) The silver lining is that a lot of this anger and hatred is also a sign of the winds of change.  Groups opposing a two state solution are mobilizing with passion because they also see the writing on the wall; my only hope is that they won’t see a two-state-solution as their defeat, but their opportunity – not an opportunity for total justice as they may envision it, as total justice is by definition unattainable when seeking a political agreement and historical compromise among two parties, but an opportunity for them to help build a better future for their children and for the children of the region.

The window of opportunity for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state agreement is closing, and with that the hope for building hope and prosperity for the overwhelming majorities on both sides that cherish that.

9) The prospect of this region becoming an eternal battleground is truly scary.

10) This conflict is not intractable today.  I hope we will seize the opportunity before it gets too late.

11) Change is not going to come about without action from the ordinary citizens on both sides whose lives are most affected.

{I requested and got permission to share excerpts of this letter on my blog}

Dear Daniel,

It is my great pleasure to write to you and reach out to you on a cause that we both stand for and work for: Peace in the Middle East and in the World. A cause that is worthy of devoting ones life to. I was introduced to your team in a conference held by University of California Irvine, through the Center for Citizen Peace Building. I can not begin to tell you how touched and moved I was by the courage of the young students from both Palestinian and Israeli side. It was truly inspiring to see something so extraordinary and so pure.

I’d like to give you a brief overview of the journey that led me to that conference and why our paths have crossed. I’m an Iranian American who survived the Iran Iraq war and never really unveiled it until recently. I have been in the rubble, I have seen people killed and youth as young as 12 years old dragged to the army to fight in the name of religion and let me tell you I did not believe in Peace. As a matter of fact, it would really upset me to see people preach it, I felt like they have no idea what it’s like to have bombs come down on them, and they have no idea that it is the last thing on one’s mind when running for shelter.

So you may ask yourself "what happened, and why a person of my background started working towards causing peace?" Well, I realized that being tired, resigned or apathetic is the source of it. I realized that it is not just about me the Iranian American kid, it’s about that Palestinian kid, that Israeli kid, that American, African, Sudanese… kid it’s about all of us. I realized that our biggest pitfall is that we have forgotten that before we’re Iranian, American, Israeli, Palestinian, we are human beings. Simple really simple yet so powerful that we have missed it and had wars get the better of us.

Please know that I’m not reaching out to you as an Iranian American, Muslim, Jew, republican, democrat, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Shiite, Sonni, catholic, protestant, but I’m reaching out to you as all of the above a fellow human being.

…

…

You know Daniel, although I don’t know you or seen you, I know that it’s people like you and me and those who truly believe if there is a will, there is a way are the ones who take actions for the better good of human kind and inspire others to make it happen with them! People ask me, "you are not even Israeli or Palestinian so why do you care so much?", and I tell them I’m a human being and it is my human duty to care.

…

Although I run two businesses and run a humanitarian organization, I will drop everything for this cause and for a chance to make an impact, so please know that whenever you or anyone from your team calls they are welcome.

Your kindred Spirit,

Sunny Zia

It is interesting to see how society reminisces about its leaders.  The contrast is often striking between how we relate to leaders during their lives and after they’ve passed on, particularly if their passing was not natural.

Yitzhak Rabin was not murdered amidst an environment of unwavering support towards him, as we’d like to think.  He was murdered after years of demonization by extremist groups that called him a traitor and called for his life.

I was blessed to meet Yitzhak Rabin twice, and both times were telling of what he signified.

The first time I "met" him briefly in person was at the lobby of the Tel Aviv Hilton, as he was walking down the steps, in the late fall of 1993, shortly after the Oslo Accords.  I had just graduated from law school and was doing research on a legislative proposal for fostering joint ventures among Arabs and Israelis.

When I saw Rabin in the lobby, walking with just one young guy to his side, I was so excited I ran towards him and waved a thumbs up sign at him from the top of the stairs, screaming out "Prime Minister Rabin, you are awesome."

He looked at me with suspicion and disappointment (bordering on disdain), and waved me off, making a facial expression that could best be translated to "get a life and do something productive."

I actually rather admired that this matter-of-fact leader had no time or patience to play the hero.  He had shit to do.  And he expected others to do their part also.

What is the role of the people?  This is what Rabin said during a Congressional Address in 1994 regarding his negotiations with King Hussein of Jordan:

“Who shapes the face of history – leaders or circumstances? My answer to you is: We all shape the face of history. We, the People. We the farmers behind our plows, the teachers in our classrooms, the doctors saving lives, the scientists at our computers, the workers on the assembly line, the builders on our scaffolds. We, the mothers blinking back tears as our sons are drafted into the army; we, the fathers who stay awake at night worried and anxious for our children’s safety. We, Jews and Arabs. We, Israelis and Jordanians. We, the people, we shape the face of history.”

The second time I met Yitzhak Rabin was at my first World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan, in 1995.  It was the day where different countries in the region host luncheons.  Israel was hosting a lunch, Saudi Arabia was hosting a lunch, Qatar was hosting a lunch, Egypt was hosting a lunch, and so on.  What was striking, and unseen before or hence, was that the Israel lunch was the most popular one, and Arab leaders from across the region were jockeying for a ticket.  It was a sign of the times – tangible prospects that this region would see peace soon, Israel would be integrated in the Middle East business map, as would Palestine, and the world would be a better place.

Less than a week later, while walking into dinner at a hotel in London with my girlfriend, the entire lobby fell silent.  We asked what had happened.  Yitzhak Rabin had been assassinated.

I have to imagine the pain we felt in our gut and in our heart that night must have been akin to the moment when JFK was assassinated.

As I wrote in an entry earlier in the year,  when a friend wondered aloud if Rabin even left a legacy, I agreed it remains to be seen.  And I pointed out it is up to us, the people, to ensure one.

This speech is worth reading. It was the precursor to the Annapolis language that validated OneVoice’s mission.  And it provides a very good framework for where we are coming and where we need to go in order to ensure peace and security for Israel and Palestine.

[Read more →]

More and more
The darkness haunts me
The memory of before I was
The stone sinking deeper into the sea
The inevitability of evil
Will it never change?

More and more
The sleepless nights
The failure to bring light
The stone sinks deeper, a rope attached around:
A noose around humanity

More and more
The breathing gets harder
The tears are dry, crude salt
A grayer soul has seen the tombs
A frayed body finds its limitations

Maybe he was right that knowledge burns and hardens the heart.
Maybe he was right that only Generals can set the tone.
Would a final offering, foregoing life’s sustenance itself, awaken?

This poem is an apt warning to the dangers of political apathy and inaction when someone other than yourself is being persecuted…

First they came for the Communists,
- but I was not a communist so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists,
- but I was neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews,
- but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Catholics,
- but I was not a Catholic, so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

This poem is attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.  For more info, take a look at the wikipedia entry here.