The Israel Project recently hosted a dinner with Palestinian PM Salem Fayyad, partnering with the American Task Force for Palestine, a Palestinian organization dedicated to coexistence and a two-state solution. This makes sense, because peace is at the heart of Israel advocacy, and mutual recognition is at the heart of peace.
The peace initiative of an Israel advocacy organization has given fits to fake “peace” pundits like M.J.Rosenberg, because it violates their demonic stereotype of “establishment Zionists” as evil and unreasonable warmongers. They are afraid that people will find out: Zionists and Israel advocates do not have horns and tails. Zionist organizations such as AIPAC, which has been cast as the evil “Israel lobby,” are also talking to ATFP.
The conflict has always been about mutual recognition. It has never really been about settlements or occupation. The conflict did not begin with the occupation in 1967. Settlements in West Bank did not cause the first Arab Israeli War in 1948 or the Six Day War. Palestinians and people like Rosenberg want you to forget this.
In the Irish Times, Hikmat Ajjuri, the Palestinian ambassador to Ireland writes:
THE ROOT of the problem in Palestine is Israel’s continued occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza, which began in 1967.
Really?? That is “the root” of the problem? The only Jewish “occupation” that existed when the PLO wrote the Palestinian National Charter and the Fateh wrote the Fateh constitution, was inside “green line” Israel. The Jewish “settlements” were in places like Tel Aviv, Qiriat Malachi, and West Jerusalem. The PLO and Fateh nonetheless vowed to destroy Israel. In line with their underlying goal, Palestinians have refused to compromise in any way on their refusal to recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people, and on their demand for ‘right’ of return for refugees in recent negotiations.
In an article entitled “The Real Path to Peace,” Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of The Israel Project, responded to Rosenberg and other critics:
J Street – like MJ Rosenberg — mislead when they assert that the main obstacle to a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians is settlements. They argue as if settlement expansion suddenly stopped, the conflict would magically disappear. This is not only hogwash – it is dangerous. Yes, settlements are an issue. But they are no more an issue than security, incitement, final borders, Jerusalem, water and refugees. All of these issues must be dealt with at the negotiating table — something Israel is eager to do.
When you misdiagnose the underlying condition in the Middle East — as J Street and MJ Rosenberg have done and convinced others to do — you become unable to cure it.
The fact is that Israel has repeatedly offered to uproot settlements as part of a deal creating a Palestinian state – but the Palestinians did not agree. It is clear from the statements of Prime Minister Netanyahu that he too, like Israeli Prime Ministers before him, is willing to make painful sacrifices for peace and a two state solution. Israel has proven by its withdrawals from Sinai, Southern Lebanon and Gaza that it will make genuinely bold moves for peace.
The chief impediments to an Israeli-Palestinian peace are the lack of mutual acceptance and the misuse and abuse of ideology. Israel needs its neighbors to embrace the idea of mutual coexistence, dignity and respect.
Why is it so hard for some Arabs and Iran to accept that Israel should be the national and democratic homeland of the Jewish people – while living alongside a Palestinian state? Why is it that, despite the fact that 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs who have full rights, that some Palestinians can only imagine a state that is Judenrein?
Yes, I say again, there are issues with settlements. But there are zero settlers and settlements in Gaza today. There have not been any since the summer of 2005 when Israel and close to 10,000 Israeli citizens withdrew from all of Gaza with hopes of peace. And still, after thousands of rockets fired by Iran-backed Hamas at Israel later, the official Hamas charter demands that their people “kill the Jews.”
Regrettably Israel also has a small minority of extremist, right-wing ideologues. While the fruits of their ideology are not anywhere near as reprehensible as those of Islamist extremists, they also can pose obstacles to peace and must be condemned.
Thankfully, many on both sides want to negotiate peace. To show that they are serious about helping to achieve a peace agreement, MJ Rosenberg and the people at J Street should focus talent and funds on replacing the Palestinian culture of hate with a culture of hope. They should support Palestinian leaders who want to stay at the peace talks and resolve painful issues once and for all. Israel longs for a time when Palestinians will finally “miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity” by saying ‘yes’ to peace.
Palestinians need jobs, not jihad. Many moderate Palestinians know this and they are the future of their future country. Those who care about peace have a moral obligation to use facts, not ideology, as our guide. Being honest and open is the only way to create a better future for all sides.>
Facts, not “narratives,” are the keys to understanding.
The Palestine Solidarity Movement will probably not be hosting any Israeli officials for dinner any time soon,and neither will the BDS movement.That doesn’t matter. Their way is confrontation, not peace. Dialog, not divestment and boycott, is the only path to peace. That has always been the Israeli way and the Zionist way.
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