A worthless piece of paper?
Jordanian blogger Black Iris (who may be horrified to see a link from an Israeli blogger) shows a picture of something called the Wadi Araba mural (there's a second picture here).
The picture's description is as follows:
Artists draw a mural that calls on Jordan to cancel a 1994 peace treaty with Israel at the premises of the Islamists-dominated Professional AssociationsUnder the 1994 treaty with Jordan, Israel resolved its border disputes with the Hashemite Kingdom by giving up land or leasing it on a long-term basis. Israel also agreed to give Jordan millions of cubic meters of water - our most precious commodity - every year.
But like the Egyptian 'peace treaty,' our 'peace' with Jordan is quite cold. Israelis visit Jordan; Jordanians rarely visit Israel. There is a constant fight against 'normalization' in Jordan - a fight against the idea of normal relations with Israel and Israelis. Two years ago, there was an international incident because an Israeli reporter walked into a Lebanese singer's press conference in Jordan.
When Israel makes peace with Arab countries, it gives up hard assets - like land and water - in exchange for a piece of paper that we hope will lead to normal relations. So far, those hopes have been dashed. We Israelis find ourselves wondering why we should want to make 'peace' with more Arab countries and entities. They pocket our hard assets, and treat us as miserably as always.
No one here expects things to be any different with the 'Palestinians.' If anything, it is more likely that the 'Palestinians' would actively continue to oppose our very existence after a peace treaty than is the case with countries like Egypt and Jordan (although, as I have noted several times, Israel continues to be the enemy every time Egypt has war games).
One problem is that Israel has made peace with individual leaders (Anwar Sadat, King Hussein) and not with countries. But there is a bigger problem. The Arab street has no interest in peace with us or in accepting us. They are only interested in what we will give them on the alter of false hopes for peace.
Israelis need a serious discussion of the value of that kind of peace and whether we should continue to pursue it. One cannot escape the impression that the Arabs with whom we have 'made peace' are just biding their time waiting for the next war.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:32 AM
3 Comments:
Israel needs a bottom-up approach to peace. Relying on Arab leaders to secure the peace is a vain hope. If the regime is literally replaced overnight by a far more radical one, Israel's security situation could become far more precarious. There needs to be a major rethinking of Israeli foreign policy. Another "cold peace" will not deliver either improved security or acceptance of the Jewish State in the region.
What could go wrong indeed
Israel would have been better off keeping every piece of land it conquered.With Sinai, the Jordan, Judea and Samaria, Golan, Lebanon, and Gaza, what Israel could have done to make a good life. Giving stuff back did not make a bit of difference in peace.
"One problem is that Israel has made peace with individual leaders (Anwar Sadat, King Hussein) and not with countries"
That is unfortunately always the case when dealing with dictatorships. Just one more reason not to bother negotiating with the palestinians.
You might recall when Sadat was murdered, a lot of people were worried about the fate of the peace treaty with Egypt, and it was only two years old.
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