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RAMALLAH-Israel's
assassination of Fatah activist Raed Karmi on Monday was predictable.
Despite Israel's having killed more than 18 Palestinians since President
Yasser Arafat's call for a cease-fire on Dec. 18, there have been no Israeli
civilian casualties during that time. That, according to world governments
and the international press, constituted a "lull in the violence."
But a lull in the violence is exactly what Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon cannot afford. He was elected in a time of crisis and knows that
his rule is sustainable only in a time of crisis. For his own political
survival, he will do whatever it takes, and look for any excuse, to stoke
the flames of unrest and avoid a return to peace negotiations.
Hence, more than 600 Palestinians, already refugees, were recently made
refugees yet again as Sharon's bulldozers razed their homes in Gaza. A
day later Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem were destroyed.
And then, just to ensure that Palestinians are sufficiently provoked and
the cycle of violence starts again, Israel assassinates Karmi.
Sharon justifies such barbaric and illegal measures in the name of "security."
But as someone often considered a candidate for Israeli assassination
myself, I can assure the Israeli people that neither my assassination
nor any of the other 82 assassinations during the past 15 months will
bring them any closer to the security they seek and deserve. The only
way for Israelis tohave security is, quite simply, to end the 35-year-old
Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. Israelis must abandon the
myth that it is possible to have peace and occupation at the same time,
that peaceful coexistence is possible between slave and master. The lack
of Israeli security is born of the lack of Palestinian freedom. Israel
will have security only after the end of occupation, not before.
Once Israel and the rest of the world understand this fundamental truth,
the way forward becomes clear: End the occupation, allow the Palestinians
to live in freedom and let the independent and equal neighbors of Israel
and Palestine negotiate a peaceful future with close economic and cultural
ties.
Let us not forget, we Palestinians have recognized Israel on 78 percent
of historic Palestine. It is Israel that refuses to acknowledge Palestine's
right to exist on the remaining 22 percent of land occupied in 1967. And
yet it is the Palestinians who are accused of not compromising and of
missing opportunities. Frankly, we are tired of always taking the blame
for Israeli intransigence when all we are seeking is the implementation
of international law.
And we have no faith in the United States, the provider of billions of
dollars in annual aid to fund Israel's expansion of illegal colonies,
the "fighter of terrorism" that supplies Israel with the F-16s
and helicopter gunships used against a defenseless civilian population,
the "defender of freedom and the oppressed" that coddles Sharon
even as he faces war crimes charges for his responsibility in the 1982
massacre of Palestinian refugees. The role of the world's only superpower
has been reduced to that of a mere spectator with nothing to offer other
than a tired refrain of "Stop the violence" while doing nothing
to address the root causes of that violence: denial of Palestinian freedom.
Watch as the hapless Gen. Anthony Zinni focuses his efforts on "violence"
while Jewish settlers violate international law and even American policy
by moving into a new illegal colony in occupied East Jerusalem. We Palestinians
are not impressed.
Over the past 15 months, Israel has killed more than 900 Palestinian civilians,
25 percent of them under the age of 18. And still the United States has
the audacity to veto a U.N. plan for an international protection force
to stop the onslaught. So we will protect ourselves. If Israel reserves
the right to bomb us with F-16s and helicopter gunships, it should not
be surprised when Palestinians seek defensive weapons to bring those aircraft
down. And while I, and the Fatah movement to which I belong, strongly
oppose attacks and the targeting of civilians inside Israel, our future
neighbor, I reserve the right to protect myself, to resist the Israeli
occupation of my country and to fight for my freedom. If Palestinians
are expected to negotiate under occupation, then Israel must be expected
to negotiate as we resist that occupation.
I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist. I am simply a regular
guy from the Palestinian street advocating only what every other oppressed
person has advocated -- the right to help myself in the absence of help
from anywhere else. This principle may well lead to my assassination.
So let my position be clear in order that my death not be lightly dismissed
by the world as just one more statistic in Israel's "war on terrorism."
For six years I languished as a political prisoner in an Israeli jail,
where I was tortured, where I hung blindfolded as an Israeli beat my genitals
with a stick. But since 1994, when I believed Israel was serious about
ending its occupation, I have been a tireless advocate of a peace based
on fairness and equality. I led delegations of Palestinians in meetings
with Israeli parliamentarians to promote mutual understanding and cooperation.
I still seek peaceful coexistence between the equal and independent countries
of Israel and Palestine based on full withdrawal from Palestinian territories
occupied in 1967 and a just resolution to the plight of Palestinian refugees
pursuant to U.N. resolutions. I do not seek to destroy Israel but only
to end its occupation of my country.
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