The Zionist Perception of Arabs and Armed Dialogue

Description

We must fully understand that we live in a world not of our making, a world that believes in the five senses and in all things measurable, and doesn’t readily acknowledge right, good, or beauty. Therefore, we must exert pressure on our enemies’ five senses through armed dialogue so that they understand that the true Arab is not merely an image in their consciousness that can be forgotten, but a tangible force that can inflict a heavy loss if ignored or marginalized.

Perhaps this is the fundamental flaw in attempts to achieve peace in the Camp David Accords and other agreements. The architects of these agreements believe that by raising the banners of peace, they will change the image of the Arab in the world’s consciousness, and that this image will create a dynamic that will compel the Israelis to reach a just or near-just agreement. However, the opposite has occurred. After the initial weeks, after the armed dialogue ceases and the heated television cameras are turned off, the cold calculations of power emerge, imposing their icy, harsh logic on everyone at the negotiating table. Newsweek magazine reported that after President Sadat accepted the Camp David Accords as dictated by Begin, he requested a plot of land in Jerusalem to be designated for raising Arab flags, so that it would be “another prize” to boast about. One member of the Israeli delegation commented that the flags should be raised on Arab cemeteries—a “peace of the grave” that Weizman himself had rejected. Dayan remarked, “Sadat wants a bribe,” meaning he viewed President Sadat, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, through the lens of Zionist perception. Since Sadat had halted armed conflict, Dayan portrayed him as a marginalized, backward figure, a beggar with no rights that could grant him anything resembling Zionist moderation. Dayan was more pragmatic than President Sadat, for the calculations of cold power in our world disregard right and wrong. Had there been an Arab tank standing proudly and powerfully behind Sadat, Dayan would not have seen him as a beggar standing at his doorstep.