In a persuasive article published in the Citizen on Sept. 1, Israeli commentator Barry Rubin warned that a United Nations vote this September recognizing the State of Palestine would likely lead to less peace and more bloodshed.
He based his argument in part on remarks he attributed to Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti who, he claims, called for "massive riots." Barghouti, an elected member of the Palestinian Parliament, is currently serving five life sentences for murder and terrorism.
Barghouti's alleged remarks are hard to verify since he is being held in "indefinite solitary confinement" in an Israeli jail. However, on Aug. 9, he was quoted by The Guardian, an English newspaper, calling for a "a peaceful, million-man march during the week of voting in the United Nations in September." Perhaps this is what Rubin calls a "massive riot."
While the Israeli government calls him a "terrorist," Barghouti has been described by The Economist as the best bet to replace Abbas in a Palestinian unity government. Uri Avnery, a former member of the Israeli Knesset, refers to Barghouti as "the Palestinian Nelson Mandela." Mandela was also accused of murder and terrorism by the regime and held in prison for many years.
Rubin's efforts to scare support away from the upcoming UN vote are part of a huge campaign undertaken by Israel and the United States to prevent the vote from even getting to the floor of the UN.
What is Israel so afraid of? How would a vote at the UN recognizing Palestine cause so much difficulty for Israel?
One possible clue comes from a recent fundraising letter written by Lee Rosenberg, president of AI-PAC, the dominant Israeli lobby group in Washington. In part, the letter warns AIPAC members that if the UN resolution passes, "Israelis could be dragged into foreign courts and charged with human rights violations . nations could implement sweeping economic sanctions . the Jewish presence in east Jerusalem could come under severe international challenge."
Rubin went further than predicting wanton violence - he repeated another commonly heard claim, namely that Arab and Muslim countries want to "wipe Israel off the map." The fear of a massacre of Jews resonates with Canadians who are only too aware of our own failure to protect Jews from the Holocaust. But every Palestinian leader I talked to during my visit in 2009, recognizes that no permanent solution to the Israel/Palestine issue can come about without guarantees of safety and security for everyone - including Jewish Israelis.
The issue is not whether Israelis should be able to live in "the Holy Land." The issue is how to create a political framework in which Jews and Palestinians can both live in peace and equality.
While Rubin waves the spectre of Israel being "wiped off the map," he ignores an awkward historical fact. In 1948, it was Palestine that was "wiped off the map", by the creation of the new State of Israel.
According to the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, Israel expects a massive vote in favour of the Palestinians at the UN. It reported only five countries have told Israel they would vote against the Palestinian bid: the United States, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. (Canada has also said it will oppose it.) 130 to 140 of the 193 UN member countries are expected to endorse Palestinian membership - a majority of more than two thirds.
Israel has good reason to fear a UN vote. So does Canada. It will show how little support Israel (and Canada) has around the world.
In 60 years, Israel has become a multi-cultural society that has brought together talented people from around the world. It can be proud of remarkable accomplishments in culture, science, technology and education. It can be a light unto the world.
But if Israel wants to have safety and security for its people, and be respected among the world community of nations, it will have to find a way to live in peace with its neighbours, give up the territories illegally occupied in 1967, recognize the rights of those Palestinian refugees who have not been allowed to return home since 1948, and give those Palestinians who remain inside Israel their full civic rights.
Peter Larson is Secretary of the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations, and a member of the Canadian International Council's Middle East Study Group. The views expressed are his own.
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