The issue of Israel/Palestine is one of the more divisive issues there is. I have previously made my view clear: both naitons exist based on the same legal foundation so it is impossible to be for Israel and not Palestine or to be for Palestine and not Israel. The main obstical to peace is simply the actions of the extremists on each side. A minority of extremists on each side dictate the dialogue.

A survey of Israeli Arabs and Jews caught my eye today and I would like to share it. It adds some perspective and it gives me some hope. It also confirms my opinion that it is a minority on each side that keeps the conflict so violent. See below.
From a survey that recently came out in Israel:

While 70% of Israeli Arabs believe that the Hebrew State has a right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, 25% also acknowledge the idea that Israeli authorities would want to preserve a Jewish majority.  (Guysen.Israכl.News)

On the Jewish side, 25% of the people surveyed believe that Arabs should not enjoy all civic rights, and 70% admit they avoid Arab population centers.

I see great hope in the fact that 70% of Israeli Arabs accept the existence of the Jewish state of Israel (though I would like to see how the question was phrased). I also find hope in the fact that 75% of Israeli Jews believe Arabs should enjoy full civil rights.

On the other hand, there are those 30% and 25% who refuse to accept the other side and there is the fact that Israeli Jews avoid Arab areas. These results actually confirm my impression when I was in Israel of the situation. I was there after Rabin’s assassination but before Sharon’s power play. Hope was still in the air but there was also fear that what did eventually happen was going to happen. I found that the Israeli Jews I knew were all for peace, giving land to the Palestinians, moving many of the settlements, and for civil rights for the Muslims in Israel. Most Arabs I talked to wanted peace because it was good for business. But what was very clear was that there was a form of Apartheid (legal? voluntary?) where the division between where Arabs lived and where Jews lived was sharp and even the division between the Jewish part of the Souk and the Arab part was clear and absolute.

Hope but division. That was what I saw in Israel and that is what this survey suggests. Now if only the 70% of each population that is reasonable could actually take control of the situation rather than letting the 20% or so who are most extremist dominate the debate.

If I may quote someone’s comment from Daily Kos:

[T]he situation in israel/palestine is frustrating though because clear majorities on both sides are enough in agreement on major issues that a political settlement is clearly theoretically possible, IF there were enough trust and IF the irredentists on both sides could be sidelined (which is difficult because they completely believe in what they are doing and are religiously motivated, which makes compromise difficult.)

That about sums up my view–each side has to face and deal with its extremists before progress can be made. Of course trust also has to be built up between both sides as well.

I liked the Arab attitude I saw when I was there–we want peace because it’s good for business. This is so practical and so ACHIEVEABLE. It suggests that peace can be achieved not only through diplomacy, which has not done well except when Carter and Clinton were President, but also by economic cooperation. Along those lines there is a company called Peaceworks that takes this very approach and in a small way is contributing to peace. I’ve tried their tapenades and they are excellent!!

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