Surprisingly, recent hints of peace in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have not come from the United Nations, nor the embattled Israeli people, instead the peace suggestions have emanated from the least likely source, the military group Hamas – the arch enemy of the Israelis.
The peace impetus
It is difficult to trace the origins of this particular peace initiative. It may be the death of the PLO leader Yasser Arafat and the pending election of a new leader, a potential fall of the coalition government, or the frustration of the Palestinian people living in an improvised world. Another factor could be the changing of the guard, that is to say, a combination of events not the least of which is the death of an individual who was not widely known outside the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Rafael Eitan. Eitan was a career soldier who rose to the rank of general and an individual who had as much hatred for the Palestinians as the Hamas has for the Israelis.
In his autobiography “A Soldier’s Story,” General Eitan wrote: “All Arab leaders were the same, they had no desire for peace with Israel, and differed only in the tactics that they were prepared to use to see the nation destroyed.”
Eitan fought in every conflict since Israel’s inception in 1948 – yet today he is dead. With the passing of Eitan and Arafat, and with the changing of the guard, the Palestinian people may be thrusting an olive branch toward the Israelis.
Hamas proposal
According to a December 3, 2004, item by the Associated Press: “The militant group Hamas will accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a long-term truce with Israel, a leader said Friday, apparently softening Hamas’ hard-line stance and boosting hopes for renewed peace efforts after Arafat’s death.”
Sheik Hassan Yousef, a senior Hamas official in the West Bank, told the Associated Press he sees a truce in which Israel and a Palestinian state “live side by side in peace and security for a certain period.”
Yousef’s statements signal an apparent reversal of policy for Hamas, which has long sought to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic Palestinian state. Until now, Hamas has rejected peace accords and carried out suicide bombings and other attacks killing hundreds of people and badly damaging peace efforts.
Yousef said the Hamas position was new, calling it a “stage.” In the past, Hamas has said it would accept a state at the 1967 borders as a first step to taking over Israel. In his recent comments, Yousef did not spell out the conditions for the renewable cease-fire nor did he say how long it would last.
“For us a truce means that two warring parties live side-by-side in peace and security for a certain period and this period is eligible for renewal…That means Hamas accepts that the other party will live in security and peace.”
Yousef said further that Hamas, which announced it would boycott the January Palestinian vote, still planned to participate in Palestinian politics. It previously shunned any role in the Palestinian Authority because it rejected interim peace accords with Israel that created the governing body.
“Hamas wants to join the Palestinian political leadership when there are meetings over this issue,” he said. “Hamas being a part of the political equation means Hamas will deal with the other party (Israel).”
Although the Hamas proposal is not perfect, it is something that was unfathomable a few months back.
Egyptian element
Not only is Hamas seemingly looking to Israel for peace, so are the Egyptians. Within the short span of a week, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak praised Israeli Prime Minister Sharon as a man “capable of pursuing peace.” As well, both Israel and Egypt recently had a prisoner exchange wherein Israel freed six Egyptians and in turn, Egypt freed a convicted Israeli spy.
The countries are now negotiating an agreement under which Egypt will station 750 troops on the border between Egypt and Gaza to guard the frontier after Israel withdraws from the area.
In order to facilitate the upcoming elections to replace Arafat, the Palestinians have requested that Israel cease military operations and withdraw from Palestinian cities and towns to allow candidates to campaign for the January 9 presidential elections. Despite the complications, an agreement was reached with the help of the Egyptians. As reported by USA Today, December 8, 2004: “Egypt has brokered terms of an Israel-Palestinian truce and principles of an accord for ending the overall Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” In addition, “Cairo would call for a July peace conference in Washington to include all parties to the agreement: Israel, the Palestinians, the United States and the European Union.”
Although Israel seems a long way from peace, we continue to watch with great interest the events developing in the new year.
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