Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Israel/Palestine: The Absence of Peace

A Book Review by Tanweer Akram

absenceofpeace.jpg Guyatt, Nicholas. The Absence of Peace: Understanding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. London and New York: Zed Books, 1998. Pp. 188+xviii.

The official ‘peace process’ in Israel/Palestine is unjust. It continues the Israeli occupation under slightly changed circumstances and with the partial collaboration of the official Palestinian leadership.  In spite of being a bit dated Nicholas Guyatt’s book on the peace process provides the historic background to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a fairly comprehensive analysis of the unjust nature of the official peace process, and some concrete suggestions for a comprehensive peace with justice in Israel/Palestine.

The chief merit of the book lies in exposing the reality behind the official peace process. Israeli authorities remain in effective control of the Occupied Territories. Even areas that have been assigned to the Palestinian National Authority can be easily brought back under the full control of Israel at its whim. Land confiscation and settlement activities continue; and detention, torture, house demolition, arbitrary arrests, collective punishments, human rights abuse, and the humiliating permit system are still very much in place. The main difference to people’s lives in the Occupied Territories since the Oslo accords is that Israel’s occupation is now accorded a semblance of respectability and legitimacy due to the cooperation and collaboration of the Palestinian National Authority.

Guyatt argues that the Oslo accords are fundamentally flawed. Indeed, it is designed to retain Israeli control of the Occupied Territories while passing the burden of control to a collaborating Palestinian national leadership. Israel has not kept most of the undertakings it agreed to in the Oslo accords, and the actual transfer of control to Palestinian National Authority is insignificant and meaningless. Guyatt holds that as long as the present pattern of subjugation continues resentment and violence shall not cease.

The prospects of achieving peace in Israel/Palestine diminish with the growing number of settlements in the Occupied Territories. Far from being a milestone to comprehensive peace in the Middle East, the present ‘peace process’ is likely to aggravate the sufferings of the Palestinian people, increase their economic dependency on Israel, and raise the probability of Israeli policies to expel Arab Palestinians from historic Palestine.

Guyatt explores the feasible alternatives to the Oslo accords in the final chapter of the book, discussing in turn the merits and the demerits of the two-state solution and the one-state solution.

Israel needs to reverse its policies of occupation and subjugation of Arab Palestinians to achieve real security and peace. The real road to peace lies in the fundamental transformation of Israel from its current confessional and apartheid character to an open, secular, and democratic society willing to face the historic injustice upon which it is founded and ready to renounce its territorial acquisitions through aggression. Guyatt does not discuss how such a political transformation can come about. Arguably key steps towards peace in Israel/Palestine lie in (a) replacing the corrupt, self-seeking, and inept PLO leadership that has failed both in political struggle and in diplomatic negotiations for peace and justice; and (b) terminating US economic, political, and military support for the state of Israel. Until both these conditions are met, the prospect of meaningful peace remains remote.

Tanweer Akram is an economist. His papers have appeared in professional journals, including Applied Economics, Bangladesh Development Studies, Journal of Emerging Markets, Kyklos, Third World Quarterly.

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