The HyperTexts
A Proposal for Peace through Justice in the Middle East:
The Burch-Elberry Peace Initiative
by Michael R. Burch,
an editor and publisher
of Holocaust and Nakba poetry
The ongoing conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinians seems irresolvable;
the current wisdom seems to be that "those people" are
full of "hatred" for each other and have been "fighting for thousands of years,"
so there is "no hope for peace." But before we wring our hands or throw them
helplessly up in the air, we need to carefully consider two things:
First, people who don't care for each other can live together in peace, if
everyone is governed by fair, nonracist laws and courts. During
the Holocaust, Nazis enslaved, brutalized and murdered Jews, Gypsies and Slavs
in the most despicable fashion imaginable. However, after
Germany lost the war and established a much fairer system of laws and courts, minorities
were able to live there in relative peace and safety, even though
there was no sudden outpouring of affection between the victims and their
former oppressors. (Some of the Jewish Holocaust survivors I've published
still despise Germans with a passion, and
understandably so, but they don't go around killing them.) The same is true for the descendents of black slaves and white slaveowners
here where
I live in Nashville, Tennessee.
After the
United States finally abolished Jim Crow laws and kangaroo courts during the
days of the American Civil Rights Movement, millions of
white Americans soon came to the conclusion that the main problem all along had been racial injustices
on the part of whites, not "inferiority" or "intransigence" on the part of blacks. If
Israel were to establish fair, nonracist laws and courts, the evidence of
history is that racial violence would decrease dramatically within a
relatively short period of time.
Second, it is a myth that Jews and Palestinians have been "constantly at war" with each other.
The New Testament records what life was like in Palestine during the first century AD, when Roman laws and courts (the
famous Pax Romana) governed everyone in the region; it
doesn't record any major hostilities between Jews and Palestinians back
then. Furthermore, during the Jewish Diaspora (which
lasted the better part of 2,000 years) there were always Jews who continued to live in
Palestine and elsewhere in the Middle East. For the most part, they lived in peace with their neighbors. As
the great Jewish scientist and humanitarian Albert Einstein pointed out,
Jews had historically been treated much more tolerantly
by Muslims
than by European Christians. It was only when Jews began to arrive in Palestine
in ever-increasing numbers in the early 1900s, with the stated intention of
taking over, that tensions began to mount,
nerves began to fray, and both sides (not just the Arabs) began to resort to violence.
(As Einstein and other Jewish intellectuals mentioned in their letter to
The New York Times in 1948, Menachem Begin, a future prime minister of
Israel, was a fascist and the preeminent terrorist in the Middle East.) And let's be honest: if millions of Jews had emigrated to Texas en masse,
informing the locals that eating bacon and driving to
football games on Saturday would soon be illegal, all hell would have broken loose
there too. After all, Texans, like Palestinians, prize their freedom, rights and
culture.
If we consider historical facts, it is justice that
leads to racial peace, not love. And this makes sense, because fair
laws and courts make it too expensive to practice racism, since lawbreakers on
both sides face fines, civil damages and prison terms. Once fair
courts have been established, everyone willing to obey just laws can live together in
peace, while everyone else ends up in jail, or broke. Wherever fair laws and courts do not exist, the result is
invariably racial
violence on both sides, with the greater violence being on the part of the
people in power (because the laws and courts are rigged to favor and protect them). This is
clearly the case in Israel/Palestine today. As Nobel Peace Prize laureates Jimmy
Carter, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and more than 200 Jewish
peace, human rights and humanitarian organizations have pointed out, Palestinians have been
subjected to a system of daily, large-scale, systematic racism, ethnic cleansing and
apartheid.
But there is hope, if only we can persuade Israel to do what Americans, Germans
and South Africans did: establish justice. If we want peace with the least amount of violence possible, the first step is
to establish fair laws and courts.
But how?, you may be wondering. Sure, it makes sense to say
that fair laws and courts are necessary for peace,
but what can anyone do, to encourage Israel
to do what other nations have done?
I think the answer is surprisingly simple. It can, in
fact, be stated in a single sentence:
We need a new U.N. resolution requiring Israel to
unconditionally establish equal rights, fair laws and fair courts for every
human being
under its jurisdiction, whether civil or military, without exception;
the courts must be able to set legal precedents and should be subject to
peer review by judges appointed by the U.N.
Any member nation of the U.N. can submit a
new resolution, so we don't have to depend on Israeli or American politicians to
"do the right thing." This is the beauty of this new peace initiative. Unfortunately, to date
many Israeli and American politicians have only paid lip service to their
stated ideals of equal rights, freedom, justice and self-determination for all
human beings. Politicians are often much better
at saying the right things than doing the right things.
Upholding their stated ideals in this case would cost them votes and campaign
contributions, so they do what is politically expedient, rather than what is
right. But my idea takes this unfortunate political reality into account and
operates through the U.N., bypassing American and Israeli politicians in the
early going.
The U.S.
Security Council veto has blocked past efforts by the U.N. to bring peace
through
justice to the
region. But how can the U.S.
veto the American Creed of equal rights and justice for all human beings? So the key
is a new U.N. resolution based on the American Creed, because the U.S. cannot
veto such a resolution.
If Israel complies, then peace through justice becomes
possible, and fair laws and courts can resolve disputes over land and water "organically"
over time, even if politicians can't arrive at solutions diplomatically. In the
meantime, completely innocent women and children will be protected from
their homes being demolished, their land stolen and their most basic human
rights being violated on a daily basis.
If Israel does not comply, the U.N. can impose economic
sanctions and in due course Israeli voters will "vote their pocketbooks" (a
worldwide democratic phenomenon) and elect new leaders more amenable
to establishing peace through justice. But hopefully economic sanctions will not be
necessary, once Israeli voters and politicians understand their new reality.
Just the threat of economic sanctions will probably be the catalyst for
Israel to finally decide whether there will be one democratic state, or two
fully independent states, or a union similar to the European Union, with
citizens of both nations being able to cross borders freely without visas
and customs. (I think the third option deserves consideration because it
would allow Jews and Palestinians to own land anywhere, including Jerusalem,
and if every Jew was a citizen of Israel and every Palestinian was a citizen
of Palestine, regardless of where they lived, Israel would no longer have a
"demographic time bomb" that threatens its viability as a democratic Jewish
state and Palestinians who live in Israel would not be second-class
citizens.
Yes, the problems are complex, but the correct path, the right path, the just
path is obvious. And while American politicians
may never voluntarily do the right thing, we really don’t need them and they won’t have to risk their
jobs or careers. Israel's reform must come from within, just as
reform came from within in the U.S. and South Africa.
With this new peace initiative, one way or another the needed reforms will come. Hopefully
Israel will see the "writing on the wall" and voluntarily choose to establish
equal rights, fair laws and fair courts. But even if Israel has to be dragged
kicking and screaming into the 21st century, just as many Americans had to be dragged
kicking and screaming into the 20th century, the necessary results will be
achieved. One
way or another, every nation—in order to be
considered civilized—must establish equal human rights
and justice. Israel is not a "special case." The Jews are not a "special case."
The Palestinians are not a "special case." And no, Americans, are not a "special
case." Americans need to practice what they preach abroad, as well as at
home. When we do, peace through justice will become possible, and when every
nation has established fair laws and fair courts, world peace will become
possible.
If you think this idea has merit, please feel free to hyperlink to this page
and to email this page's URL to your family, friends and elected
representatives.
Michael R. Burch
Holocaust and Nakba poetry editor
The HyperTexts
The HyperTexts