By Michael Regenstreif
It was 20 years ago, but I remember being glued to the television on September 13, 1993 watching the scene unfold on the White House lawn.
There was Bill Clinton, the American president, standing between Yitzhak Rabin, the prime minister of Israel, and Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), as they shook hands with the whole world watching.
That day, two decades ago, heralded such hope. The end of Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians seemed to be near – peace was at hand. Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, the PLO recognized Israel and renounced violence, and the Oslo Accord, signed by Rabin and Arafat that day in Washington, created the Palestinian Authority and established a framework for further negotiations and the move toward Palestinian statehood in the West Bank and Gaza.
Sadly, the hope and promises were shattered by a Jewish extremist so opposed to peace that he went to a huge peace rally in Tel Aviv and assassinated Rabin moments after the prime minister joined in the singing of “Shir LaShalom (Song of Peace).”
And they were shattered by a corrupt Arafat, who did not begin to live up to his promise of renouncing violence in favour of negotiations.
And they were shattered by so many other factors over the years.
In the two decades since, there were other efforts to move the peace process forward. From Camp David to Annapolis; from the Quartet (the U.S., the European Union, the UN and Russia) to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s unilateral evacuation of Israeli settlements from Gaza.
All of them, and others, failed.
Now, the first peace talks in three years between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have begun. These latest talks, brokered by the U.S. administration, are expected to take nine months.
Of course, that is assuming the talks don’t break down over any of the seemingly myriad issues that separate the two sides – and, given the history of the peace process over the past 20 years, it would be a major miracle if they don’t break down.
And, even if they do reach a peace deal and it is ratified in referendums both sides have said they would hold, there is still the impossible situation in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, which rejects both peace and the existence of Israel.
Despite the history of failed peace attempts, the Palestinians are not the worst enemy the Jewish people have faced over the past century. That, surely, was Nazi Germany, an antisemitic regime that murdered six million of our people in the Holocaust in their genocidal attempt to rid the world of Jews.
Yet, today, Germany is a friend of Israel. Five years ago, 63 years after the Holocaust came to end, and 60 years after the founding of the modern State of Israel, Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, addressed Israel’s Knesset.
Many commentators have pointed out that the chances of these latest talks leading to peace and to a two-state solution are remote. And they’re probably right. There are so many impediments to a resolution of the conflict. But, still, I am reminded that, as Jews, we hold the concept of tikkun olam – repairing the world – as a cherished ideal and, until there is peace, ours is far from a world in repair.
The most commonly spoken words in Hebrew and Arabic are shalom and salaam, and they mean the same thing: peace.
Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians pales in comparison to the Holocaust.
And, in a world where the nation that perpetrated the Holocaust is a friend of Israel, it’s not so hard to imagine Israelis and Palestinians living beside each other in peace and prosperity.
