April 1, 2006
By Deborah Moon Seldner

With the election of the terrorist organization Hamas to lead the Palestinian Authority, at least Israel can be assured that any cease-fire agreement is likely to be upheld, according to two Israelis and one Palestinian now living in Portland.

David Barkai, Aaron Vitells and Frank Afranji discussed the Palestinian and Israeli elections at a March 12 forum hosted by Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace. The three, all of whom said they support U.S., Israeli and Palestinian peace camps, discussed the impact of the recent election of Hamas to lead the PA and the expected victory of the new centrist party Kadima in Israel’s March 28 elections.

“Having Hamas in power may end up resolving many issues that could not be resolved until now,” said Afranji, who was born in Ramallah. Noting he has a hard time stomaching Hamas’ views of the world, Afranji said that “if radicals are outside (the government), they can destroy an agreement.”

A former IDF reservist who served in the Six Day War, Barkai agreed with Afranji on Hamas’s ability to deliver. “With Hamas, you can have a lot of confidence they can deliver on a cease-fire,” said Barkai.

Vitells, who lived on a moshav in Israel before immigrating to the United States in 1982, said a long-term cease-fire may be the only thing an Israeli government led by the new centrist party Kadima and a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority can agree on.

Yet Vitells said a cease-fire combined with unilateral withdrawals by Israel may create a separation and a cooling off period that could enable the two sides to discuss true peace in 20 or 30 years.

“Unilateralism is not what I wish; I am trying to describe reality,” said Vitells.

All three men lamented the failure to achieve negotiated peace in the years since the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Afranji and Vitells said the Palestinians and Israelis are tired of peace negotiations that go nowhere.

“Over the past four years, the Palestinian population got sick and tired of hearing about negotiations and peace... (while) their life was going from bad to worse,” said Afranji. "It became clear that this group of Palestinians (Arafat’s Fatah party) can't deliver the goods.” Afranji said that Palestinians were not voting for Hamas, they were voting against the ineffectiveness and corruption of Fatah, many of whose leaders became millionaires by pocketing the foreign aid that was supposed to improve the lives of the Palestinian people.

Vitells said that Israelis are no longer talking about peace, they are talking about unilateral solutions.

“The majority of Israelis are tired of endless attempts to reach a peace agreement that never succeeded,” he said. “Therefore, a significant majority supports unilateral action.”

He said most Israelis now seem to feel, “If we can't reach agreement, let's disengage.”

Barkai said that given the mistrust between the two sides, he also sees the advantage of disengagement. Though he objected to the route of the separation barrier Israel is building, he did see potential advantages.

“The fact that there is a wall is not such a bad thing if it’s put in the right place,” he said. “There’s a need for a cooling off period.”

Yet Barkai said he believes Israel should take advantage of Hamas’ ability to deliver even if Hamas doesn’t moderate its refusal to recognize Israel. Barkai noted that Israel has survived for more than 50 years surrounded by Arab neighbors who have refused to recognize the Jewish state. At least Hamas, unlike Fatah, has the power to enforce any agreements it does make, he said.

“There is someone to talk to even if we don’t like what they have to say,” said Barkai.

Afranji also supported renewed talks. He said he believes that now that it is in power, Hamas will begin to become more pragmatic.

“It’s time to have Israelis and Palestinians sit down and talk,” he said. “The longer this keeps going on the more complicated it gets,” he said, noting he views the wall as Israel’s attempt to capture as much water and area in the West Bank as it can as part of ongoing colonization efforts.