Monday, 5/5/97 Experts discuss peace in Middle East Authors of
book share thoughts on Israel-Palestine conflict
By Hala Ali Daily Bruin Contributor Last Thursday, two experts
from nations which have been historically opposed for decades met
together at UCLA to discuss the future of Israel and Palestine. On
May 1, Abdullah Toukan, science advisor to King Hussein of Jordan,
and Shai Feldman, an arms control and strategic affairs expert, met
to discuss the vulnerable peace process in the Middle East and
their recently published book, "Bridging the Gap: A Future Security
Architecture for the Middle East." Their book is the first ever
written jointly by an Israeli and an Arab. It frames strategies for
dealing with security issues in the Middle East and presents arms
control policies. The book offers five joint proposals for
"bridging the gap" between the differing perceptions on the issue
of security. "The book is a last ditch effort on their part to
resolve tensions between the two powers," said Richard Rosecrance,
a political science professor at UCLA and director of the Center
for International Relations. The peace process between the Israeli
and Palestinian governments is at a point of uncertainty which
Rosecrance calls the "worst tide of Arab-Israeli relations since
the Oslo agreement in 1993." Factors such as settlements under
construction and suicide bombings have increased security threats
and the distrust between the two sides. Feldman and Toukan hope
that their book will affect people’s perceptions and to cause
people to discuss the issues at hand. "Many of the agreements have
remained agreements between these governments and have not really
filtered into the population. We hope that the book will contribute
to addressing this issue," said Feldman. "We are trying to
encourage (the open dialogue) to continue on a formal level," said
Toukan, and to "include negotiators and non-negotiators together in
an informal discussion." The U.S.’s involvement in the discussions
and negotiations has been controversial. However, both Toukan and
Feldman agree that the U.S. has and should play a big role in the
negotiations. "If you look at all the times that the U.S. has
achieved success, it really outweighs all the obstacles," Toukan
said. Although many people agree that U.S. involvement is
important, there are varying opinions as to the extent of the
involvement and U.S. objectivity. "I think the U.S. should help
facilitate (the peace process), but not with any active pressure,"
said UCLA student, Naetanel Livni. "Active pressure is
counterproductive because it puts either side at a defensive stance
and less likely to compromise," he continued. Alluding to
Israeli-U.S. negotiators such as Dennis Ross and Secretary of State
Madeline Albright, UCLA graduate and current UCI medical student
Eyad Aryan is skeptical as to the fairness of the U.S. position.
"It’s good that the U.S. is involved in trying to make peace in the
area, but it seems that its interests are a little more aligned
with Israel’s invested interest." Aryan does believe, however, that
"if it wasn’t for the U.S., there would be little or no peace
process." Toukan also credits the Jordan peace treaty in playing a
major role in the process. "If it wasn’t for the Jordanian-Israeli
peace treaty, there would have been a lot of misinterpretations, a
lot of things would have broken down." Feldman and Toukan are not
only concerned with security issues within the Israeli-Palestinian
territory, but also with surrounding countries, calling them "over
the horizon threats." This spread of insecurity to nearby countries
is "one of the major changes that have taken place in Israel’s
threat perception," Feldman said. Feldman further stated that the
inclusion of other nations in the region to the peace process would
ease some of the political strife. "Our perspective is that if we
have an enlargement of the peace process that would include Syria
and Lebanon, it would take away some of the political conflicts,"
he said. The construction of housing settlements in Jerusalem poses
a serious threat to security. Last March, the construction of
Jewish housing on land captured by Israel in 1967 and claimed by
Palestinians as a future capital, led to weeks of rioting. "That’s
a direct violation of the agreement imposed by the previous Israeli
administration," Aryan said. He states that the reason Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued with construction was
to appease the hard-liners in his political party. "It shows that
he’s not serious about making a fair peace." Livni argues that the
Palestinians only "perceive it as their territory" and that Israel
retained the right to build in Jerusalem in the Oslo agreement in
1993. The most serious threat to the peace process, according to
Feldman and Toukan, is the fundamentalist terrorism, both by Jews
and Palestinians. "Fundamentalists from both sides affect the peace
process by putting pressure on the government," Feldman said.
Feldman attributes the sense of insecurity among Israeli
populations to Islamic fundamentalism. On the other hand, Jewish
fundamentalism, such as the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in
November 1995 "has had strategic consequences." "Whenever there is
an impasse, automatically the terrorist groups take advantage of
that, they blow things up, so that they can further deteriorate the
situation," said Toukan. Toukan relates these impasses or "deep
freezes" to the economic instability of the area. "When there is
nothing happening, no economic activity, no investments, no money,
people get desperate." He explains that at summit meetings held in
various Arab countries, an "amazing" amount of plans for the area
are discussed. But the lack of investment, and consequently the
lack of jobs, renders these plans impossible. This is when
extremism comes into play. Toukan believes that the U.S. harbors a
bias for Israel regarding foreign aid. There are no institutions
for the U.S. to invest in, and the reason for this is that the
interim agreement has not been fully implemented. "We’re trying to
get the economic flow going," he said. Feldman’s and Toukan’s book
outlines several important aspects of the peace process. Changing
security perceptions, enhancing the arms control security process,
taking a nongovernmental approach, and establishing a security
cooperation forum, a body which can coordinate all these events
taking place, are all essential elements of the peace process.
"Books of this kind, even as unusual as this book is, the most you
can hope for is that it will affect people’s perceptions," said
Feldman. Previous Daily Bruin stories Interfaith dialogue promotes
community, November 15, 1995