This past weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in "Do The Write Thing," a journalism track for the General Assemblies of the United Jewish Communities, a program sponsored by Hagshama (Hebrew for fulfillment). Yoel Hasson, the youngest member of the Knesset and a member of Kadima, the ruling party of the Israeli government, spoke at the event. However, his assessment of the major Palestine/Israel issues is what’s causing the stumbling blocks of a path toward peace that I do not agree with, and am in fact ideologically opposed to.
Hasson spoke about the situation with the Palestinians, the upcoming peace talks in Annapolis, Md. and the threat that Iran poses to Israel and to the rest of the world. But what is most troubling about what Hasson said concerns the Palestinians and the upcoming summit in Annapolis.
Hasson spoke frankly and only of his own opinion regarding the future negotiations. Concerning the fracturing among the Palestinians, he stated that it was his belief that the upcoming summit was going to be a failure. He believes that with Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) unable to unite his people and Hamas threatening Israel from the Gaza Strip, any agreements made would be nullified. Hasson believes that Mazen is a weak and useless ruler, that the Palestinians need a leader who is willing to unite his people and take the chance for peace, and realize that negotiations are not the place for demands.
But what was most disturbing was what Hasson said concerning Jerusalem.
When we had the chance to question Hasson, I brought up a recent development within the Israeli Knesset concerning any negotiations of Jerusalem. Signed by more than half the Knesset, the statement was sent to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert telling him that if he gives up any part of Jerusalem to a future Palestinian state, his ruling coalition will fall apart because Labor, Likud and even his own Kadima members will pull out. Hasson’s response to this was that we must focus on the smaller and day-to-day issues of economics and security before we focus on the bigger issues such as Jerusalem, refugees and borders.
For the success of the peace process, we must discuss the bigger issues first before we can decide anything else. No matter how long we bicker about the mundane issues of economics or even the harder issue of checkpoints and Palestinian mobility, the looming issues such as Jerusalem will stop any future Palestinian state. For Jews, we must answer the question, "What exactly is Jerusalem?" Is Jerusalem the idea of West Jerusalem and the Old City, or is it the concept of West Jerusalem, the Old City and Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem?
Certain Palestinian neighborhoods were brought under the municipality of Jerusalem after the 1967 Six Day War solely for protection purposes of the rest of Jerusalem. If we are to have a peace, a true and lasting peace, do we still need those neighborhoods?
Different ideas about Jerusalem have been floated, even dividing the Old City itself with the Christian and Muslim Quarter being part of the Palestinian state, while the Armenian and Jewish Quarters are part of Israel. The Temple Mount, also known as Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, would be under Muslim control while the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall would be under Jewish control. Is such an idea as this even plausible?
Hasson suggests putting off debates like this until after the smaller issues have been decided. I think it is obvious that with so much interest in Jerusalem, to put off the debate about Jerusalem is just a tactic of right-wing Israelis to put off the inevitable pullout of the West Bank.
I am a Jew, and I recognize the historical and biblical value of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. But I also recognize that our people have been without a homeland since 70 A.D. and that with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, we have a chance to take our destiny into our own hands, but the continued Israeli-Palestinian conflict threatens to end all of that.
Israel is less than one-nineteenth the size of California, and if Israelis and the Jews want to ensure that Israel remains a safe haven for Jews around the world, with a Jewish majority, then we must be willing to compromise. After all, we expect it from our enemies, so why not expect it from our very own people?
