By Yotam Ben-Ami
I am writing this submission in response to an article by
Natalie Sweiss (“Palestinians still oppressed despite peace
talks’ progress,” Viewpoint, May 15). Many articles
have been written about this issue, but few have been so one-sided
and biased as Sweiss’ article. This piece makes allegations
to horrors such as young boys being tied to Jeeps travelling in
opposite directions, and their disembodied corpses being presented
to their families. This, as well as other inaccuracies, are what
prompted my submission.
Reporting on complex situations based solely on secondhand
information is always a dangerous practice, but even more so when
the situation is so emotionally and historically charged.
Sweiss’ piece was laden with inaccuracies, partial truths and
at times, blatant lies.
In order to understand the political situation in Israel, one
must first know its history. Since 1948, when Israel was granted
its independence from Britain, its Arab neighbors have continuously
attempted to destroy the newly formed state, with no success.
In one of these wars ““ which was initiated by the Arabs
““ Egypt, Syria and Jordan lost certain lands, now known as
the “Occupied Territories.” These are the territories
that the Palestinians now claim as “rightfully
theirs.”
Even though these territories were lost in a war initiated by
the Arab countries, Israel has already returned many of them to
their original owners, thus allowing the signing of the peace
treaties with Jordan and Egypt. The Israeli people have recently
reaffirmed their willingness to return the remaining territories by
electing the liberal Ehud Barak as prime minister.
Just recently, Israel unilaterally withdrew from southern
Lebanon. The only remaining negotiation fronts are the Syrian and
the Palestinian. The Syrian front is complicated by the toughness
of the Syrian leader, Hafez Assad. The Palestinian track is
complicated mainly by the failure of the Palestinian Authority to
prevent terrorist acts. Even though many security problems still
exist, Israel has recently voted to return three important towns to
the Palestinian Authority. Sweiss mentions this in her
submission.
What she fails to mention is that this decision has hurt
Barak’s coalition government because some parties feel that
returning these territories at this time is not justified due to
the inability of the Palestinians to prevent terrorist acts. But
this heavy price did not stop Israel from returning the
villages.
Sweiss also writes about the curfews that were imposed on the
Palestinians “for no apparent reason.” Regardless of
whether their struggle is just or not, when hundreds of thousands
of people raid the streets attacking Israeli soldiers and citizens,
a curfew is not “without reason.”
The Intifada, the Palestinians’ armed struggle against
Israel, was very far from a “group of teenage boys”
that “throw stones at soldiers.” The Intifada was an
armed struggle of the entire Palestinian people, using stones,
Molotov cocktails and guns. Ever since Israel permitted the
creation of a proper Palestinian security force, there has been an
increasing number of incidents involving armed Palestinians.
To these massive attacks, Israeli soldiers respond not with
bullets, as falsely claimed by Sweiss, but rather with
rubber-coated pellets. These pellets may indeed be fatal from close
range, but they are not so from medium to long range.
Sweiss proceeds to tell the horror story of how Israeli soldiers
stormed her friend’s house, looking for “any teenage
boys.” This, once more, is a false claim that represents pure
ignorance. Israeli soldiers storm houses in search of wanted
criminals or terrorists. They do not storm houses randomly, but do
so on the basis of intelligence and surveillance work. If
Sweiss’ friend’s house was indeed stormed, which I
doubt, the boy would be in no danger unless he was a wanted
criminal.
I am not sure how to react to the tales of
“barbarians” tying kids to Jeeps. Amnesty International
publishes an annual report of human rights violations around the
world. It is true that Israel is usually featured in that report,
mainly due to a law that permits interrogators to employ
“mild physical pressure” to suspects of terrorist acts.
This law was recently deemed unconstitutional by the Israeli
Supreme Court, and is now under debate by the Israeli
parliament.
No mention has been made of Israeli soldiers slaughtering
Palestinian kids, let alone doing so on a “regular”
basis, as claimed by Sweiss. Such lies do not promote peace and
tolerance, but rather do quite the opposite.
Sweiss then proceeds to compare the living conditions of the
Palestinians to those of the Israelis. This comparison is
completely absurd. It is the Palestinians themselves who claim the
land to be theirs and refuse to accept any Israeli investments in
infrastructure, as they see it as an infringement on their
territorial rights.
It is also curious that Sweiss’ friend enjoyed “the
best three months of her life” in the territories, which
Sweiss says are so poor and neglected. The correct economic
comparison would be with other Arab countries. Under this
comparison, the Palestinians’ per capita gross domestic
product of $2,000 is actually higher than it is in Jordan ($1,200)
or Egypt ($970), and comparable to that of Syria ($3,500). This
comparison shows that the Palestinians have actually benefited
economically from their association with Israel.
At this point, I believe that the situation is a little clearer.
I could follow Sweiss’ example and continue this piece with
graphic illustrations of how Israeli citizens who take a wrong turn
can be attacked by angry Palestinian mobs, or maybe I could
describe how terrorist attempts that originate in the Occupied
Territories target buses carrying women and children. But I choose
not to do so. I will end my submission here, and thus remain true
to my original objective ““ clarifying the facts.
I will only note that I, like most other Israelis, pray for
peace in the region as I am aware that it is the only true option.
I only wish that others will join forces in the effort, and not try
to ruin it by writing defamatory articles based on falsities.