Most Israelis and most Palestinians, tired and stressed out, seek a future without war. Both do not support indiscriminate brutality against the other. They desperately want security and peace. The vast majority of the Israeli Jews (73.8%), Israeli Palestinians living inside Israel with Israeli citizenships (97%) and the Palestinians (under enemy control in Gaza and the West bank) (85.7%) want peace, heretofore, either not realized or denied by all sides of the Divide. This is breaking news affirmed by the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute18 and the Ramallah-based Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research19. Check out their survey of Israeli and Palestinian Opinion (executive summary here20, full survey here21). Respondents include 1,270 Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and 1,184 Jewish and Arab Israelis.
Breaking News … They Want Peace
Most respondents are shocked when discovering that the other craves peace and that just about all misconstrue each other’s intentions. It gets worse. Most everyone wants peace, but few agree on the route to getting there. Even if I invite only the ‘peace makers’ to partake on a feast of culinary delights buffet-style, I would have to separate them into two rooms. Why? One group, a small majority, wants a two-state solution (Israeli Jews 53.4%, Israeli Palestinians 87.1%, Palestinians West bank 50.9%, Palestinians Gaza 52.1%). The other group, a minority, wants a one state solution (Israeli Jews 20.4%, Israeli Palestinians 52.4%, Palestinians West bank 32.8%, Gaza 37%).
But then you might think that each respective group would break bread together in their separate rooms. Wrong! Instead, they’d probably be breaking each other’s heads (figuratively speaking) arguing who’s right and who’s wrong, some still claiming, “what’s mine is mine, what’s yours is mine also” and not even going forward with what Martin Luther King Jr. beckons as ‘the Urgency of Now’:
“What can we do to steer our children and theirs out of the quagmire, a quagmire of history and a quagmire prolonged by today’s deep traumas and collective hysteria?”
The bigger issue is: will they want to come, assuming they are permitted to freely cross borders? Most might be willing. But they want protection. These peace-loving people fear each other. Sixty-five percent of the Israeli Jews fear the Palestinians more than the Palestinians fear the Israelis. Three-quarters of the Israeli Palestinians fear neither.
Impotence Among Leaders …
What are they waiting for? When will they serve the main entre, the most tasteful that the best of the best chefs can offer? The sweet aroma of peace is in the air, all around us. A clear majority on all sides of the Divide wants peace. Are the politicians just stumbling over their own hurdles? Is a movement toward peace solely about real estate, jobs, position, or status; power and money? Or, should it be about humanity, community, and the public interest. When Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. talks about the mountaintop, he is talking about a higher level of consciousness, a movement that harmonizes the “I” with the “we” and the “we” with the “I.”
Do the people in Israel-Palestine have the moral courage to dare go beyond their ‘I-sight' to allow them to imagine a moral path with a ‘we-sight,' reinforced with hindsight, insight and foresight (adapted from Civil Rights Icon Ms. Ruby Sales during an interview with Krista Tippett of On Being)22? Can they, will they rid themselves of the hurdles, real or imagined?
In the past, those in command of the peace talks dare not take off at full throttle. The results: one deadlock after the other. Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Madrid, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna have succeeded in producing stalemates often ending in standoffs with one foot in the stirrup, the other in the sand.
Working Through Obstacles?
The leadership on ALL sides of the Divide has yet to strike an acceptable peace package. To date the majority on both sides, reject the proposed resolutions ostensibly designed to fail from the start. “Only 39 percent of Palestinians and 46 percent of Israelis support a peace agreement package, riddled with obstacles that comprises:
1 A de-militarized Palestinian state [rejected by 80% Palestinians but supported by 61% Israelis]
2 An Israeli withdrawal to the Green Line with equal territorial exchange [rejected by 56% Israelis; supported by 61% Palestinians]
3 A family unification in Israel of [ONLY] 100,000 Palestinian refugees [overwhelmingly rejected by both; not enough for the Palestinians, too many for the Israelis]
4 West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
5 East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine
6 The Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall under Israeli sovereignty
7 The Muslim and Christian quarters and the al Haram al Sharif / Temple Mount under Palestinian sovereignty [items 4, 5, 6, 7: all seemingly prayers without an end in sight]
8 The end of the conflict [ironically desired by all, but impeded by all the stumbling blocks]
9 All future claims against the other [supported by most Israelis, rejected by most Palestinians because they’re not going to let the Israelis get something for nothing and neither side will permit the other to get away with murder].”
It is clear that the leadership should concoct more palatable recipes. And, if any one of the leaders can’t stand up to the heat, tell them to get out of the kitchen. A leader who cannot hammer out an acceptable peace resolution is not worth his or her salt and should be democratically replaced. Of course, from my ivory tower it is easier said than done. But the leaders of the region must creatively combine the many regional contradictions to produce a well-balanced yet spicy feast.
What Matters Most … Trust Not Fear
What matters most to the people of Israel - Palestine? Just about all prefer to trust, not fear, the other. It will help when Europe treats both Israel and Palestine as de facto NATO affiliates so that neither may attack, invade and occupy the other. It will also help when the people of the region start getting to know each other.
The outcome of The Palestinian - Israeli Pulse makes that clear. “The perception of threat on both sides regarding the aspirations of the other side is high:
Fifty-four (54) percent of Palestinians think that Israel’s goal is to extend its borders to cover all area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and expel its Palestinian people. FALSE!
Some 27 percent [Palestinians] think Israel’s goal is to annex the West Bank while denying political rights to the Palestinians. FALSE!
Some 35 percent Israelis (40% Israeli Jews and 8% Israeli Palestinians) think Palestinians’ main aspirations is to conquer the State of Israel and destroy much of its Jewish population. FALSE!
Nineteen (19) percent [Israelis] think the goal of the Palestinians is to take over the entire state of Israel. FALSE!
Only