By Dan Margalit - Ha'aretz 5 October 2000

[IMRA note: For purposes of reference, and in order that readers appreciate
the significance of this column, Dan Margalit is a leading leftist in the
Israeli media]

Some serious, public soul-searching is required in the wake of the grim,
tragic casualty list produced by the recent riots: four Israeli soldiers and
police officers and dozens of Palestinians, including ten Israeli Arabs.Dan Margalit: Will Arab Israelis turn the Wadi Ara region into a Middle Eastern Sudetenland? Reaction to Sharon visit unjustified, Arab Israeli rioting can't be compared to Zu Artzeinu protests


By Dan Margalit - Ha'aretz 5 October 2000

[IMRA note: For purposes of reference, and in order that readers appreciate
the significance of this column, Dan Margalit is a leading leftist in the
Israeli media]

Some serious, public soul-searching is required in the wake of the grim,
tragic casualty list produced by the recent riots: four Israeli soldiers and
police officers and dozens of Palestinians, including ten Israeli Arabs. The
Palestinian leaders should listen to this soul-searching in a level-headed
manner, despite the fact that Arab members of Knesset played a key role in
the escalation of the violence.Opposition leader and Likud chief Ariel
Sharon fanned the flames of hysteria by visiting the Temple Mount. However,
it is in the nature of Israeli democracy - under whose wing the Arab
citizens of Israel are so anxious to seek asylum - to allow activity the
sole purpose of which is to amass political capital.

For the time being, Prime Minister Ehud Barak is prepared to discuss
international sovereignty over the Temple Mount, while Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat is adamantly opposed to such an arrangement. It is
particularly important for the Palestinians to understand that we will never
permit any place in this land to be Judenrein - "clean of Jews" or
"Jew-free." Therefore, Sharon has the right to visit the Temple Mount.

The chain of events following the visit clearly indicates that the Arabs
wanted this ghastly confrontation. It is easy to secure the sympathy of the
world with the photograph of a dead child; however, the responsibility lies
squarely on the shoulders of the Palestinian leaders, who so cynically
dispatch children to the frontline. The only person deriving any political
gain from the pictures is Arafat, whose hands are stained with the blood of
the sons of the members of the Four Mothers movement, which pressed for a
withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.

The same can be said about the demonstrations by Israeli Arabs within the
pre-1967 borders. A stable state cannot allow demonstrators to hurl rocks
and fire weapons at police officers. The results, which have been expressed
in the loss of human lives, are painful, yet Barak and Public Security
Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami managed to maintain the delicate balance between
sensitivity to human lives and a steel determination to enforce the
principle of law and order. Their approach deserves praise, even though
there were some places in which this balance was tragically violated. It
should be noted that these violations will be investigated and will require
the assumption of personal responsibility.

The Arabs are right in saying that the Israel Police did not open fire on
demonstrators from the right-wing Zu Artzeinu movement who burned tires at
traffic intersections. However, it must be pointed out that these
demonstrators did not endanger the lives of police officers by throwing
rocks or using live ammunition. In contrast, the price tag of the sporadic
shots fired from the home of militant Uzi Meshulam ended in the death of one
demonstrator.

Beyond the recent riots, Israeli Arabs would be wise to carefully consider
the serious question marks that have been produced by their overall
position. On the one hand, all Israeli Jews understand that their Arab
compatriots identify with the Palestinian demand for an independent state.
On the other hand, there is a serious question that must be asked: Why, in
every dispute with Arafat, do Israeli Arabs never find even one point in
favor of the government of Israel? This total identification and the absence
of any voices in the Israeli Arab community publicly calling for an end to
the violence gives rise to the suspicion that the members of this community
constitute a fifth column.

In the face of the continuation of the violence, hope is fading that once
their situation improves, Israeli Arabs will be satisfied. In fact, there is
a growing fear that the Israeli Arab minority will want more, that it aims
for autonomy within the context of the State of Israel, for a State of
Palestine beyond the pre-1967 borders and for a binational state within
these borders.

Many of us remember the achievements of the subversive minority in
Czechoslovakia of the 1930s. There is the fear that within a very short
period of time, there will be an attempt by the Arab Israelis to take
advantage of the split in Jewish Israeli society and to turn the Wadi Ara
region into a Middle Eastern Sudetenland.

The leaders of the Arab minority adopt a uniform attitude when they come to
the Knesset. As citizens in a democracy on the defensive, the Jewish
majority in Israel should learn from the Arab minority, which openly
challenges its position by means of predetermined decisions by the High Arab
Monitoring Committee for Arab Affairs.

Imagine what would happen if there were a Jewish covenant - based on an
agreement between all the political parties of the Jewish majority - that
said that all internal decisions on political and security matters would be
made in advance by the Israeli branch of the executive committee of the
Jewish Agency for Israel. Imagine if such a branch consisted of the leaders
of the parties in accordance with their respective electoral strength and if
all decisions made on vital issues by the Israeli branch were binding for
all political parties in the Knesset and the coalition.

It is a horrifying thought that a democracy on the defensive could end up in
such a situation; however, this scenario could materialize if the present
emergency situation continues