Barghouti: A Palestinian Mandela would rescue the peace process

 

West Palm Beach, FL

A strong Palestinian leader is required for the peace process.

Nelson Mandela‘s achievements illustrate the power of leadership in politics. Palestinians adore Mandela and wish to have one of their own. Without a strong and wise leader Palestinians are drifting apart ideologically and geopolitically. How can they negotiate viable peace with Israel when the West Bank and Gaza act as two rival mini-states?  

Excluding the Hamas led Gaza strip from the ongoing Mideast negotiations is a formidable impediment to the peace process. However, there is a way for the peace process to bypass Hamas without bypassing Gaza. The people of Gaza are eager to join their brethren outside the strip in the struggle for independence and economic security. Living conditions in Gaza are sterile, largely due to regressive governance and border blockade by Israel.  Given Hamas’s current unpopularity, there may be a way to integrate Gaza in the peace efforts, a way which requires Israel’s cooperation.

Palestinians have a Mandela- like leader who has been in an Israeli jail since 2002: Marwan Barghouti - educated, secular and pragmatic.  Polls show Barghouti to be popular in Gaza, in his native West Bank, the refugee camps, Israeli prisons, and even among some Israeli liberals.

Israel incarcerated this popular leader for allegedly planning terror and murder. Barghouti acknowledges indirect involvement in isolated, bloody acts of resistance during the second intifada, but he is certainly not a murderer. Not many of Israel’s founders could claim moral superiority over Barghouti.

In a 2002 letter to the Washington Post Barghouti expresses his opposition to terrorism: "While I, and the Fatah movement to which I belong, strongly oppose attacks and the targeting of civilians inside Israel, our future neighbor, I reserve the right to protect myself, to resist the Israeli occupation of my country and to fight for my freedom." http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-10-28-marwan-barghouti-the-most-influential-man-in-palestinian-politics/#.UrTshjh3tjp

If freed, Barghouti would have an excellent chance to be elected as the new president of the Palestinian Authority.  His election would unify Palestinians, strengthen their leadership and enable them to negotiate enforceable peace terms.

Israel’s hard liners blame Arafat for missing a “historic” peace opportunity offered by former President Clinton and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Assuming that the offer was historic, Arafat in the late nineties was too weak and compromised to speak on behalf of his people and the wider Arab world.

Today President Mahmoud Abbas is as lacking in clout as former President Arafat was in his later years. Regrettably, Israel’s leaders have so far considered political weakness of Arab adversaries as an opportunity to drive a hard bargain. While Palestinian weakness may serve the interest of Israel at the negotiating table, the full execution of peace terms would require genuine acceptance of the people involved.

Over his eleven years in prison, Barghouti’s interest in peace making has not changed but his strategy has. He no longer supports rushing for peace talks, not before Palestinians are united and able to negotiate from a position of power. He now believes that, with settlements expanding, Israel is not serious about peace: “it must be understood that there is no partner for peace in Israel when the settlements have doubled.” http://palestinechronicle.com/old/view_article_details.php?id=19214

In early December I attended a talk by former Congressman Robert Wexler (Director of the Washington-based Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace) to a group of mostly Jewish leaders of the Palm Beach area.  Wexler, who has easy access to -and support of- President Obama, explained “that this is a historic opportunity to make peace with the Arabs”. He added that Arabs are weaker than ever, Hamas is exhausted, Abbas is reasonable and friendly; Egypt and Syria are destabilized. What better conditions are needed for striking a deal, Wexler rhetorically asked?

 Wexler, who spoke with full sincerity, makes a valid point that time is ripe for Israel to make a deal. However, it may be counterproductive to exploit the adversary’s current weakness to try to reach a “perfect”, but abstract agreement. Think of the two fragile and feeble Israel peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. If the people of Israel expect to experience and enjoy true peace with the Arabs reconciliation terms must be reasonable and enforceable.

Israel should not consider a strong Palestinian leader a threat. If Barghouti did not exist, Israel would have had to invent one. By keeping this Mandela-like figure behind bars Israel shows narrow vision of what makes peace possible and lasting.