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PALESTINE
(Continued from page 11)
Palestine" and "driving Israel into
the sea." Having confronted the real–
ity of Israel for over 30 years, Pales–
tinians now appear ready to strike a
bargain for peace, willing to compro–
mise and accept a Palestinian state in
the West Bank and Gaza- an arca
not even a fourth of all Palestine.
"The PLO will accept an indepen–
dent Palestinian state consisting of
the West Bank and Gaza, with a
connecting corridor," declared Ara–
fat last December, "and in that cir–
cumstance will renounce any and all
violent means to enlarge the territory
of that state."
But Israel is not so sure. The PLO
has notas yet recognized
U.N.
Reso–
lution 242, which concedes Israel's
right to exist within peaceful borders
in exchange for Israelí withdrawal
from territories occupied in the 1967
"Six-Day" Jew-Arab war. Moreover,
Article 15 of the PLO constitution
remains unaltered, calling for the
Arabs to "purge the Zionist presence
from Palestine." Consequently the
PLO is outlawed in Israel and the
occupied territories. American policy
also bars any contacts between
Washington and the PLO until the
organization accepts 242 and Israel's
right to exist.
Palestinians say they reject 242
because it ignores them. Arafat says
he would back a new resolution with
virtually identical wording
if
it also
guaranteed a Palestinian state.
Many observers believe that Arafat
will recognize lsrael's right to exist
as a nation if and when he believes a
West Bank-Gaza state is within
reach. Recognition of Israel is a vital
card for the PLO, not to be played
until the time is ripe.
Thus it appears to be a question of
who will be the first to budge. Nei–
ther side trusts the other, or is willing
to take the first step.
While the PLO cannot, of course,
hope to alone recapture by force the
land they believe is theirs, they nev–
ertheless can veto any plans for a
genuine peace in the region. It is a
force which cannot be ignored, strong
enough to upset the delicate balances
38
in the arca.
If
the vicious cycle of
raids and reprisals (in which often,
on both sides, civilians pay most of
the price) is ever to be halted, say
experts, the PLO will have to be
brought into meanirigful negotiations
with the Israelis.
Solutions
Like many, Prince Fahd of Saudi
Arabia sees the unsolved problem of
the Palestinians as the fundamental
destabilizing factor in the Middle
East. Towards effecting a solution,
he has declared that bis nation will
make formal peace with Israel if the
Jewish state withdraws to its pre-
1967 borders. Moreover, he says
Saudi Arabia would help guarantee
the security of the new borders.
Israelis, however, contend that the
Palestine issue is
not
the core of the
problem. They assert that returning
the land would not prevent another
war, pointing out that it did not pre–
vent the wars which took place before
Israel occupied the land in 1967.
Most Arabs, however, dispute that
argument, asserting that times have
changed and that Israel's retention of
the occupied territories is now the
only
barrier to peace.
If
those territo–
ries were returned, they maintain, Is–
rael would then be "fully acceptable"
to her Arab neighbors and secure
within her borders. The lsraelis can
have land, or they can have peace,
but not both, they declare.
Palestinians insist they are seeking
peace, not a springboard for war. A
sovereign Palestinian state, they
claim, could never be used success–
fuUy as a base for terrorist attacks
against Israel. The new state would
be preoccupied with its own interna)
problems, which would be enormous.
Moreover, with the establishment of
a Palestinian state.,
th~y
.say, the Pal–
estinian guerrilla forces would be–
come the regular Palestinian army; if
it were ordered to operate against
militarily superior Israel, it would be
an official act of war, in which their
newly gained state would undoubted–
ly be lost forever. Palestinians say
they would never be so stupid. as to
risk losing the state for which they
had struggled so hard and so long.
Anyway, Palestinians observe, Is–
rael could reoccupy Gaza in ten min-
utes and sever the vital Iand link be–
tween the Strip and the West Bank
anytime it chose. The vulnerable
West Bank itself could be retaken in
a few hours.
If
anyone has to be con–
cerned about security, Palestinians
say, it is
they,
not the Israelis.
The Prospects
Most observers agree that there will
never be a stable resolution of the
Arab-lsraeli conflict unless the na–
tional aspirations of the Palestinians
are somehow satisfied.
Can the Palestinians be persuaded
to accept "autonomy" instead of sov–
ereignty, "self-rule" rather than
their own "homeland" free of Israelí
presence?
lt
is highly doubtful.
Alternately, can Israel be per–
suaded to withdraw totally from the
occupied territories in return for firm
guarantees of peace and security? In
time, a possibility, observers feel.
At the moment, however, the West
Bank is a simmering caldron threat–
ening to boil over. Any early progress
toward a Palestinian settlement-de–
spite approaching deadlines-looks
extremely dim. The gulf between
the parties remains wide and deep.
False optimism is certainly out of
place.
Given the intense national feeling
on both sides, the Middle East situa–
tion can be settled
only
by compro–
mise. Four wars in the past 30 years
have solved nothing. Total victory for
either side is iinpossible.
A new war in the Middle East
would befar more bloody than any in
the past. The danger of superpower
involvement would be great. The
stakes are indeed high!
What are the prospects? Despite
the peacemaking efforts which con–
tinue in the region, Bible prophecy
indicates that the future of the Mid–
dle East holds
war,
not peace.
Real peace will come only with the
reestablishment of the government of
God on the earth in the corning mil–
lennial rule of Christ. But unfortu–
nately, for the immediate future,
Yasser Arafat's dire prediction of
continue·d conflict may be heading
for fulfillment. "It is approaching,"
he says, "it is pushing . .. the whole
atmosphere to the direction of
war." o
The PLAIN TRUTH Qctober/ November 1979