Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation

6. Withdrawal Pains: Gaza, Lebanon, and the Future of Palestine

75 WITHDRAWAL฀PAINS Withdrawal฀Pains 6 Gaza,฀Lebanon,฀and฀the฀Future฀of฀Palestine Before฀my฀first฀trip฀to฀the฀Occupied฀Territories฀in฀2004฀with฀ ฀a฀delegation฀organized฀by฀the฀Faculty฀for฀Israeli-Palestinian ฀Peace,฀I฀was฀a฀rather฀conventional฀left-wing฀critic฀of฀Israeli฀ policy.฀I฀knew฀that฀the฀condition฀of฀the฀Palestinian฀refugees฀was฀ bad,฀but฀until฀I฀saw฀for฀myself฀what฀had฀transpired฀in฀towns฀ such฀as฀Jenin฀and฀Jayousz,฀I฀had฀no฀idea฀just฀how฀bad.฀Of฀all฀ the฀places฀I฀have฀visited,฀only฀there฀did฀I฀experience฀such฀shock฀ and฀such฀a฀palpable฀feeling฀of฀oppression.฀Having฀grown฀up฀in฀ the฀Washington฀Heights฀section฀of฀New฀York,฀a฀neighborhood฀ of฀German-Jewish฀exiles฀where฀every฀second฀family฀had฀lost฀ relatives฀in฀the฀Holocaust,฀I฀felt฀even฀more฀ashamed฀of฀Israeli฀ policies—tantamount฀to฀ethnic฀cleansing—that฀remain฀acceptable ฀largely฀because฀they฀remain฀unseen.฀I฀was฀even฀more฀ shocked฀when฀I฀learned฀from฀any฀number฀of฀Israeli฀friends฀ how฀few฀of฀their฀countrymen฀and฀-women,฀let฀alone฀Americans฀ or฀American฀Jews,฀had฀actually฀visited฀the฀territories฀and฀the฀ people฀living฀under฀the฀heel฀of฀their฀state. Upon฀my฀return,฀I฀edited฀an฀issue฀of฀Logos:฀A฀Journal฀ of฀Modern฀Society฀and฀Culture฀devoted฀to฀Palestine,฀and฀it฀ sparked฀a฀radical฀growth฀in฀readership.฀Then,฀along฀with฀wellknown ฀literary฀critic฀Bruce฀Robbins฀and฀noted฀psychologist฀ Jessica฀Benjamin,฀I฀helped฀organize฀a฀conference฀on฀the฀plight฀ of฀the฀Palestinians฀that฀drew฀about฀five฀hundred฀people฀at฀Columbia ฀University.฀It฀was฀immediately฀criticized฀for฀its฀lack฀of฀ 76 PEACE฀OUT฀OF฀REACH balance—Palestine฀was฀the฀focus,฀rather฀than฀Israel฀or฀Israel฀ and฀Palestine—as฀if฀Fox฀News฀or฀CNN฀or฀even฀the฀New฀York฀ Times฀is฀known฀for฀its฀balanced฀presentation฀of฀the฀Palestinian฀ point฀of฀view.฀Things฀have฀changed฀somewhat฀since฀then,฀but฀ the฀United฀States฀remains฀a฀staunch฀supporter฀of฀Israel,1 ฀and฀ the฀satisfaction฀of฀Israeli฀interests฀is฀still฀seen฀by฀the฀United฀ States฀as฀a฀precondition฀for฀the฀satisfaction฀of฀all฀other฀interests฀ in฀the฀region.2 ฀Emotional฀loyalties฀make฀it฀difficult฀to฀engage฀ in฀any฀critical฀discussion฀of฀Israeli฀policy,฀and฀the฀problem฀has฀ only฀grown฀since฀the฀Israeli฀disengagement฀from฀Gaza. Here฀I฀would฀like฀to฀evaluate฀that฀policy฀and฀what฀has฀ transpired฀in฀its฀wake.฀The฀removal฀of฀eight฀thousand฀Jewish฀ settlers฀from฀Gaza฀in฀2005฀was฀a฀daring฀tactic.฀It฀was฀originally฀ conceived฀as฀the฀initial฀phase฀of฀a฀broader฀withdrawal฀from฀the฀ West฀Bank฀that฀would฀allow฀Israel฀to฀set฀its฀borders฀unilaterally฀ without฀engaging฀the฀Palestinians฀in฀negotiations.฀The฀result฀ would฀be฀a฀set฀of฀isolated฀cantons฀constructed฀around฀large฀ Jewish฀settlements฀and฀isolated฀by฀a฀“wall฀of฀separation,”฀which฀ would฀leave฀the฀new฀state฀of฀Palestine฀without฀a฀contiguous฀ territory.3 ฀The฀possibility฀existed฀of฀linking฀this฀withdrawal฀ to฀new฀negotiations฀and฀an฀Israeli฀retreat฀to฀the฀boundaries฀ in฀existence฀before฀the฀1967฀war.฀But฀this฀possibility฀was฀effectively ฀nullified฀by฀the฀electoral฀victory฀of฀Hamas฀in฀January฀ 2006,฀which฀was฀partially฀due฀to฀the฀lack฀of฀progress฀in฀peace฀ negotiations฀and฀this฀organization’s฀stubborn฀refusal฀to฀either฀ recognize฀Israel฀or฀disavow฀armed฀struggle. Initially,฀with฀the฀help฀of฀the฀United฀States,฀Israel฀sought฀to฀ destabilize฀the฀new฀government฀by฀economic฀means.4 ฀When฀ that฀proved฀unsuccessful,฀however,฀more฀brutal฀methods฀came฀ into฀play.฀Sparked฀by฀the฀capture฀of฀an฀Israeli฀solider฀by฀the฀ small฀terrorist฀group฀known฀as฀Islamic฀Jihad฀and฀then฀by฀the฀ capture฀of฀two฀more฀Israeli฀soldiers฀by฀the฀Lebanese฀branch฀ 77 WITHDRAWAL฀PAINS of฀Hezbollah5 —actions฀apparently฀predicated฀on฀the฀belief฀ that฀these฀soldiers฀could฀be฀exchanged฀for฀Palestinian฀prisoners ฀languishing฀in฀Israeli฀jails฀and฀a฀trio฀of฀Lebanese฀hostages฀ taken฀in฀20046 —Israel฀sought฀to฀destroy฀its฀most฀dangerous฀ foe.7 ฀It฀began฀a฀two-front฀assault฀on฀Gaza฀and฀Lebanon฀that฀ resulted฀in฀hundreds฀of฀civilian฀deaths฀and฀billions฀of฀dollars฀ in฀damage฀to฀property฀and฀infrastructure฀in฀Lebanon,฀as฀well฀ as฀demolition฀of฀the฀lone฀power฀station฀and฀many฀of฀the฀ports,฀ roads,฀and฀government฀buildings฀in฀Gaza.฀The฀Israeli฀nation,฀ so฀lauded฀for฀its฀democratic฀character,฀once฀again฀engaged฀in฀ a฀policy฀of฀collective฀punishment฀that฀ultimately฀proved฀selfdefeating .฀It฀undermined฀the฀tepid฀support฀by฀states฀attempting ฀to฀moderate฀more฀intemperate฀tendencies฀in฀the฀Middle฀ East,฀such฀as฀Egypt;฀fostered฀an฀increase฀of฀anti-Semitism;฀and฀ radically฀subverted฀support฀for฀Israel฀in฀the฀world...