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As
Israel jumps from one self-made crisis to the next,
the State of Israel itself is in an alarming condition.
The
peace and security that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon promised during his year 2001 election campaign
have vanished in the dust of Israeli tanks rampaging
Palestinian cities. Israel's economy is declining
at a record pace. The right-wing Sharon government
has sparked a national debate in Israel that questions
the legal right to citizenship for over 1.1 million
of its Palestinian citizens. Israeli families across
the social strata are sending their children to study
abroad and emigrating at a pace that was not thought
possible only a few years ago. Over 400 Israeli conscripts,
soldiers, or reservists are refusing to serve in the
occupied Palestinian areas and some are now imprisoned
in Israeli jails as consciousness objectors. The moral
fabric of Israeli society is tearing apart at the
seams as the Israeli military proudly reverts to a
policy of assassination, imprisonment, demolition
of homes, deportation, and collective punishment.
Israel's
unrelenting military onslaught against every Palestinian
city, village and refugee camp in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip has put the Israeli economy at serious
risk. As Palestinians living (if you can call it that)
under Israeli military occupation for the past thirty-six
years and Israeli military curfew for the last five
months, our first concern is hardly for the welfare
of Israel and its economy. On the other hand, I, as
most Palestinians, fear that the threatening socio-
economic collapse of Israel may bring even more death
and destruction upon us.
Only
last week the price of flour in Israel rose 6 percent
and gas 14 percent. Flagship Israeli companies are
reporting cuts in their workforce by the thousands.
One high-tech firm just cut twenty-five percent of
its workforce in one day. Rochard Fox, senior director
of sovereign ratings, from the international ratings
agency, Fitch, told Reuters this week, "There's
a greater than 50% chance the [Israel's] rating will
go down based on current trends." Israel's other
credit rating has taken a pounding lately as the Israeli
currency, the New Israeli Shekel (NIS), declined against
the US dollar after Standard and Poor's lowered its
rating for two of Israel's top banks to BBB+ from
their previous A- rating.
Additionally,
this week the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said
that Israel faces negative growth and rising unemployment,
which the IMF said would hit 10.7 percent this year
and 10.9 percent next year. The IMF report predicted
that Israel's gross domestic product would contract
by 1.5 percent this year. The IMF also forecasts for
Israel an inflation rate of 6.2 percent this year
and 3.0 percent in 2003. Combined with the bleak global
economic scene and the growing strains of continuing
its three-decade old occupation, these numbers should
be ringing many bells within Israel.
Another
arena that may further damage the Israeli economy
is the global divesture campaign that was launched
by Professor Francis Boyle, professor of international
law at The University of Illinois College of Law.
Already, groups at over fifty US university campuses
have signed on to help organize the campaign and many
other campuses and professors around the world are
joining in. This effort recalls the successful divesture
campaign against South African Apartheid that contributed
to Apartheid's abrupt end.
As
Israel continues to refuse to implement dozens of
United Nations resolutions, the latest calling for
an end to the siege of Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah,
it can only be expected that increasing numbers of
communities will bypass governmental paralysis in
taking action against Israeli and look for other means,
such as economic sanctions, to pressure Israel into
ending the occupation. Alternatively, Israelis do
not have to wait while the US forces Sharon to end
the siege of Arafat. Israeli citizens have the power
to step back from yet another embarrassing political
scenario on their own, today.
Israel's
occupation of Palestinians is destroying Israel from
within and ultimately only Israeli citizens have the
power to reverse the current trend of self-destruction.
After two years of watching Israel spiral downwards,
the world no longer believes that the current Israeli
administration is interested in addressing its sad
state of affairs. As a matter of fact, all efforts,
even those by Israel's strongest allies, are falling
on deaf ears. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
instead chooses to continue his wildly irresponsible
(many would say criminal) foreign and domestic policies
while being cheered on by the current US administration
and the more powerful elements of American Jewry and
Christian fundamentalism.
It
is no longer sufficient for Israelis to pay lip service
to their intent to end the occupation. It is in Israel's
immediate best interest to set aside the political
spin that aims at demonizing the Palestinian leadership
and people and swiftly, even unilaterally if need
be, beg the international community to assume responsibility
for the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
By doing so, Israel can finally end the long drain
of military occupation. There will be many years after
the end of occupation to discuss the details of a
final status political agreement with the Palestinians.
But holding 3.5 million Palestinians hostage until
a final status agreement can be reached will only
destroy Israel from within.
Israeli
voters taking back their country from those bent on
forever persecuting Palestinians is the final hope
for Israel to save itself from its own ill-advised,
three-decade policy of occupation. The fact remains
that there exists only one policy that Israel, to
date, has refused to even attempt to employ: actually
ending the occupation. This action has the best chance
of relieving Israel of the prisoner's ball and chain
that it has been dragging around for the last fifty-five
years.
As
many Palestinians are anxiously waiting for the US
to gallop across the Atlantic on a white horse to
solve our woes, I prefer to appeal to my Israeli neighbors
to wake up and smell the occupation, for their sake
and for ours.
*
Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American businessman living
in the besieged Palestinian City of Al-Bireh in the
West Bank and can be reached at sbahour@palnet.com.
He is co-editor of HOMELAND: Oral Histories of Palestine
and Palestinians (1994). To be added to his news mailing
list, send an email with the word 'subscribe' in the
subject.
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