Few takers in Israel for ethnic cleansing call

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (BAHRAIN), DEC. 3. Mr. Natan Sharansky, who fought for and won the right for Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel, appears to have made the full transition from liberal to a racist who is not unprepared to contemplate genocide. He has been quoted as saying at a rally in Jerusalem recently that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) should be allowed to ``destroy, demolish and obliterate the officers, staff and bases of the criminal organisations responsible for terrorist attacks''.

Since Mr. Sharansky, like many Israeli politicians including those within the liberal left, believes that the Palestinian Authority President, Mr. Yasser Arafat, is personally responsible for the militant uprising against Israel, this is a call for the elimination of the entire Palestinian leadership. Since no sane person can doubt that the Palestinians are waging a popular uprising, the call to eliminate the ``bases'' amounts to a call to eliminate the Palestinian masses. Mr. Sharansky and others of the right wing in Israel are living in a world of make-believe if they think that they can get away with such a policy.

The Israeli right-wing had never reconciled itself to the basic principle of the Oslo processes that they must return the land they have appropriated from the Palestinians in exchange for a comprehensive peace. But the logic of circumstances was so strong that even a right wing Prime Minister such as Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu had to give up the dream of an Israel that would stretch from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan river.

In the wake of the uprising in the Palestinian territories, however, the Israeli right thinks that it has the opportunity to revive the dream. Their new slogan, ``Let the IDF win'' is a call to let loose the most powerful military force in West Asia on a hopelessly mismatched opponent. Once the IDF has been able to crush the militancy, or so the right wing hopes, the Palestinians will be forced to live on whatever terms Israel wants to dictate to them.

Some within the Israeli right-wing, and Mr. Sharansky's statement suggests that he is inclined to this view, would like to drive the Palestinians out of even the territories they currently occupy. Others realise that such programmes of ethnic cleansing are no longer tenable and what they seem to prefer is a process of ghettoising the Palestinians.

In this prescription, the Palestinians would be confined to the towns and villages where they enjoy autonomy. These would be separated into ``Bantustans'' with the lands in between reserved for the expansion of Jewish settlements and the people living in these enclaves would be given no more than the little self- government they currently have.

The Israeli public is undoubtedly inflamed by the images of violence they see and read about in the media and occasionally experience. But to their credit, public opinion polls still show that a majority supports the idea of a fair and comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians.

A vast majority is also likely to reject any policy of ethnic cleansing if it is put forward in explicit terms. But all polls, and the common pulse as reflected in the news reports, suggest that most ordinary Israelis believe that the IDF should be allowed to use a tough hand to quell the current uprising. From their public pronouncement and the public posture they adopt, the Ehud Barak Government is clearly over-sensitised to this public mood. But they have kept hold of their sanity and refused to subscribe to the right-wing's prescription as the best method for ensuring Israel's security.

Israel's right-wing is living in a time-wrap when they think that Israel's armed might alone will ensure its security. They have failed to realise that Israel's hi-tech economy has made it a valuable partner for a whole host of countries that would not stand idle if there is a threat to Israel's existence.

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Section  : International
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