-
2. Dialogue and National Consensus in the Pre-Madrid Period: Dilemmas of Israeli and Palestinian Peace Activists
- State University of New York Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
2. Dialogue and National Consensus in the Pre-Madrid Period: Dilemmas of Israeli and Palestinian Peace Activists Mohammed Abu-Nirner 1 Haim Gordon and Rivca Gordon, eds. Israel/Palestine: The Quest Jor Dialogue (New York: Orbis Books, 1991). David Hall-Cathala. The Peace Movement in Israel, 1967-1987 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990). Deena Hurwitz, ed. Walking the Red Line: Israelis in Search oj JusticeJor Palestine (Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1992). (~ I ~hese three books focus on the dilemma that Israeli U and Palestinian activIsts have faced in their efforts to create and maintain a dialogue for peace between their communities . Most of the authors' interviews were conducted between 1988 and 1991, shortly after the Palestinian Intifada erupted and before the beginning of the current peace process. The three books show how a comprehensive consideration of historical and socioeconomic contexts, coupled with 30 Dialogue and National Consensus 31 the background of the largest group in the peace camp (Peace Now), can be an effective tool for understanding the perplexity . moral dilemma. and agony of an Israeli peace activistan activist who is morally aware of the wrongdoing. but is unable. practically speaking. to "cross the red line." which occurs when peace activists are willing to adopt political attitudes and actions that will exclude them from the Israeli national consensus. as defined by the mainstream and rightwing Zionist parties. That consensus has included the legal ban on dialogue or public contact with the PLO; unquestioned participation. and acceptance of. compulsory military service. even in the occupied territories; and the avoidance of confrontation with the Israeli Defense Forces in the territories . Until September 1993. the signing of the Declaration Of Principles agreement between Yassir Arafat and Itzak Rabin. acting against any of the consensual principles would have meant "crossing the red lines" of the national consensus. Nevertheless. activists and members of the peace camp on both sides-Palestinians and Israelis-broke. and continue to break. their communities' defined consensual boundaries. The three books considered in this chapter provide a valuable context in which to examine the attempts of peace activists to redefine the relationship between moral imperatives and political expediency. For example. Hall-Cathala shows that the very emergence of Peace Now in Israel was. in itself. an attempt at redefinition. When a group of high-ranking army generals (Ashkenazi and middle class) took the initiative and wrote a letter to Prime Minster Begin in 1977. urging him to negotiate with Sadat. this shocked the entire country. However. it also served as a mobilizing force. a force that was translated into consolidation and expansion within the Israeli peace movement. At the same time. as Hall-Cathala indicates. it was the very connection with military men that limited the Peace Now movement from reaching out further to the Palestinian community. Therefore. since its inception in the late 1970s. it has remained within the consensus. In fact. Peace Now never really left the national Zionist camp. This connection provided Peace Now members with partial credibility [44.200.23.133] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 22:41 GMT) 32 The Arab-Israeli Conflict within their society. and restricted their ability to engage in a dialogue with the Palestinian community or representatives based on symmetrical principles ofjustice and freedom. Hall-Cathala argues persuasively that Israeli peace organizations have the basic infrastructure of a social movement . He mainly discusses the question of whether this movement-particularly in the case of Peace Now. the largest organization-functions as a restorative movement. restoring the balance between universalist and particularist values. Hall-Cathala's book addresses the peace organizations in Israel and its relationships to the Palestinian issue. However , it has different objectives than do the other books. This book is directed to different audiences of academicians and researchers. In his deSCription and analysis of the Israeli peace movement's development, and the historical and sociopolitical conditions that surrounded its emergence. HallCathala is among the veIY few scholars-if not the only onewho conducted comprehensive research on the various political and educational activities that relate to the Israeli peace movement. Using the framework of social movements theory. the book points to contradictions within the peace camp, as well as between the right wing and the peace camp. Hall-Cathala argues that. among the important reasons for the emergence of the peace camp. there was the need to defend a universalist set of ideas and values (p. 15). Those values had been threatened by particularist-or national and territorial-trends...