Battle for the Holy Land
Prospects for peace
As the occupation continues, the divide widens, bitterness grows and any prospect of peace seems like a mirage. For Rod Liddle, the key lies in Israel’s commitment – or otherwise – to the principles of democracy.
Paddy Ashdown, who has long experience of divided cities, like Belfast and Sarajevo, where communities have been torn apart by politics, economics and religion, is looking for some building blocks on which a future peace could be constructed. He believes that five elements are necessary for any prospect of peace.
The first ingredient of his recipe for peace is for Jerusalem, this city which is so central to the past, present and future of both peoples, to be the first item on the negotiating table, not the last.
His second ingredient is a recognition that Jerusalem has a shared history, and is not just the location of disparate and conflicting histories. This means both sides must accept the other’s right to exist, and face the painful truth that terrible things have been done: crimes have been committed by both sides, such as the massacre of Jews by Arabs at Gush Etzion and the massacre of Palestinians by Jews at Deir Yassin.
His third ingredient draws on the example of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where, for 1,700 years, different denominations have fought, at times violently, for control of this holy site. In an attempt to stop the violence, in 1767 the Ottoman rulers issued a decree establishing a status quo that divided the church between the various groups. Some tensions and skirmishes notwithstanding, overall that status quo has remained in place ever since. Paddy Ashdown believes this could be a model for negotiating an agreement between Muslims, Christians and Jews for all their holy places.
The fourth ingredient is a charter of rights for all Jerusalem’s citizens to end the terrible discrimination against the city’s Palestinian inhabitants. This discrimination, says Paddy Ashdown, is not only inhuman and unjust but has provoked more conflict.
The fifth ingredient of Paddy Ashdown’s recipe for a sustainable peace is to dismantle the Wall as part of a broad agreement which includes a firm and binding commitment to end all terror attacks on Israeli citizens.
If these steps are followed, he says, then peace might just have a chance.
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