Brit Tzedek v'Shalom

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Geneva Accord offers hope against despair

Creators Syndicate
Dec. 9, 2003

By Ray Hanania

A funny thing happened this week on the way to the "war." Despite the continued hate rhetoric between some Palestinian and Israeli leaders, a few voices of sanity managed to squeak through. And it is contagious!

In Chicago, I found myself where I haven't been in years. Standing with leaders of Chicago's American Jewish community and sharing a vision of peace.

Since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon torched the peace process, the subsequent violence he caused in the Middle East has encouraged words of hate from some Jewish American organizations in Chicago and around the country.

All hope seemed lost as spokesmen for the other side found glee in what appeared to be Sharon's government pushing the Palestinians back, rescinding peace agreements, stealing more land in East Jerusalem, and building an apartheid wall that not only separates Israel from its Christian and Muslim neighbors, but unilaterally confiscates more Palestinian lands.

But on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2003, representatives of Chicago Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom (Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace), a dozen Rabbis, Priests and Imams, and members of Yalla Salam! (the Palestinian equivalent of Peace Now) stood together and endorsed the Geneva Accord.

The Geneva Accord is not an official document, although it certainly has taken Palestinian and Jewish supporters of peace further than their own governments. It was drafted by former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Minister of Information Yasser Abed Rabbo.

The Geneva Accord defines a vision of what peace can be, and proposes compromises on the toughest issues like Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, and the Palestinian Right of Return.

Beilin and Abed Rabbo have proven that peace is possible if the leaders of the Palestinian and Israeli governments really want to find it.

While Palestinian President Yasir Arafat sent officials from his government and a letter of support for the Beilin-Abed Rabbo plan, which was unveiled in Geneva Switzerland Dec. 1, Sharon's allies immediately denounced it as "treasonous."

Imagine, Sharon's deputy Ehud Olmert, the self-appointed former "mayor" of Jerusalem, declaring those who try to find peace are traitors? His view helps explain why the conflict continues to take innocent lives on both sides.

But while Olmert represents the ruling Likud Government in Israel, he does not speak for everyone.

In Chicago, Brit Tzedek's Aliza Becker offered these words of hope:

"The Geneva Accord is positive proof to both Palestinians and Israelis that there are partners for peace on the other side, and that they can enter into positive dialogue with each other," Becker said. " The Accord rejects the negative arguments that there is no choice but to 'manage' the conflict until some rosy future when negotiations are possible. It announces by its very existence that bold leadership can reach agreement -- here and now!"

Rabbi Andrea London of Peace Now said,"We can only know peace when our neighbors know peace. We can only know justice when our neighbors know justice."

Also there, was Talat Othman, a leading Palestinian peace advocate who co-authored with Jewish leaders like Newton Minow and Marshall Benett a "Manifesto for Peace." Othman, a member of the American Task Force on Palestine, attended the Geneva Accord signing and said he left with real hope. Now, isn't that something we should all someday enjoy?