Guest Blog: 'A Street' - dead end or superhighway?

What a difference two weeks can make in progressing a resolution of the competing Jewish and Arab claims to sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza.

On 30 October I published an article - Where is "A Street?" - in which I asked:

…where do we see anywhere in the Arab world a multiplicity of opinions from Arab interest groups and pro-peace Arab organizations that are opposed to the actions and decisions of the Palestinian Authority in its negotiations with Israel?"

On November 5, David Suissa wrote a similar article in the Jewish Journal - We Need "A Street" not "J Street" - in which he opined:

If you ask me, what the Middle East needs more than anything today is not a J Street but an A Street. This would be an Arab organization that would do what no Jewish organization can do: rally peace-seeking Arab moderates to the cause of peaceful coexistence with a Jewish state. If the Jews can rally their own for peace, why can't the Arabs? Why should Jews have an exclusive on self-criticism and internal pressure?"

On November 13, one Arab organization - The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), put its hand up when one of its directors, Ameen Estaityeh, sent the Jewish Journal an article entitled "A Palestinian Response to David Suissa" stating that ATFP was "...precisely the 'pro-Arab, pro-peace' group he [Suissa] imagines does not exist, and performs exactly the work he [Suissa] should learn is, in fact, being done."

In fact, AFTP was only one of a myriad of Arab groups lobbying in support of the Palestinian Authority's negotiating stance - rather than actively opposing it.

Suissa was not fooled by Estaityeh's response and noted in a footnote to Estaityeh's article:

Mr. Estaityeh completely ignored my point. My idea was not an Arab organization that would trumpet its desire for peace to the Western world - that's easy. I had something a lot more difficult in mind: An Arab organization - A Street - that would pressure its own Palestinian leadership and institutions to stop the teaching of Jew-hatred to their people. That is internal pressure, the kind you always see in Israel and among Jews. Until the Arab side learns to do the same, peace doesn't have a chance."

Noting these exchanges in a further article I wrote on November 13 - "A Street" - The Arabs Still Don't Get It - I posed a simple question:

Are there any Arabs - anywhere in the world - who are prepared to form 'A Street'? Or must we simply accept there is a monolithic world-wide Arab consensus and opinion that is conveyed in the present positions of the Arab League and the Palestinian Authority?"

Amazingly, just one day later an article appeared in The Jerusalem Post - Announcing My Candidacy For President of Palestine - written by Ray Hanania, who was described at the foot of the article as "… an American Palestinian columnist, stand-up comedian and radio talk show host in Chicago."

Hanania certainly had a lot of new and refreshing things to say that certainly challenged the intransigent negotiating stance and unyielding position of the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League.

The platform Hanania is espousing  on his web site Yalla Peace can be read in full here.

Policies of particular interest which contradict the current policies of the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League are:

1. I support two-states, one Israel and one Palestine. As far as I am concerned, I can recognize Israel's "Jewish" character and Israelis should recognize Palestine's "non-Jewish" character.

2. I can support some settlements remaining - given the reality of 42 years of time passing - in a dunam-for-dunam land exchange. If Ariel is 500 dunams with a lifeline from Israel, then Israel gives Palestine 500 dunams in exchange.

3. Jerusalem should be a shared city and Palestinians should have an official presence in east Jerusalem. The Old City should be shared by both permitting open access to the city to all with a joint Palestinian-Israeli police presence.

4. Palestinian refugees would give up their demand to return to pre-1948 homes and lands lost during the conflict with Israel. Instead, some could apply for family reunification through Israel and the remainder would be compensated through a fund created and maintained by the United States, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the United Nations.

5. I support creation of a similar fund to compensate those Jews from Arab lands who lost their homes and lands, too, when they fled.

6. Another concept is to have non-Jews living in Israel continue to live there but only vote in Palestinian elections, while Jews living in Palestine would only vote in Israeli elections. A special citizenship protection committee could be created to explore how to protect the rights of minorities in each state.

These views - if taken up by the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League - would be the kind of circuit breakers needed to bring about a complete change in perception as to what is needs to occur if ever a new Arab state is to be created between Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

There will be a multitude of Jewish organizations - and I guess Israel itself - that should enthusiastically welcome and back Yalla Peace's platform to bring a change in Arab thinking after 60 years of stagnation. That does not mean automatic acceptance of all those policies - rather they are a realistic basis for meaningful negotiations as contrasted to those conducted during the past 16 years.

The real test will be the support Mr. Hanania receives from the Arab world.

This indeed is the "A Street" I have been looking for. That it has suddenly appeared after just 14 days of asking could perhaps be seen as a miracle befitting the land of miracles.

Best of luck in your endeavours, Mr. Hanania.

I hope your platform does not land up in a dead end but garners sufficient Arab approval and international endorsement to put it out there on a super highway leading to future peace.

This post first appeared on bloggersbase.com.