Ayoon Wa Azan (An Israeli for Palestine)

The Nakba did not take place 65 years ago. It only began 65 years ago, and it continues to this day. The above statement was made by Israeli peace activist Miko Peled, son of General Matti Peled, brother of Professor Nurit Peled-Elhanan, and uncle of her daughter Smadar who was killed in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 1997. Indeed, her death pushed her entire family to become even more insistent upon their quest for peace. Miko Peled was speaking at a room in the House of Commons, at the invitation of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (Caabu). The session lasted around two hours, and was moderated by MP John Denham. A Q&A round was held after the talk to take questions from the audience, who included an old woman sitting in front of me that had nodded in approval with Peled throughout the whole session. If a Palestinian thinker of the highest caliber, for example like Dr. Walid Khalidi, were to give an overview of the Palestinian question from the beginning to the present day, and the journey of suffering throughout, he would not have added anything to what Miko Peled said at the session. Peled wrote a book titled “The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” which I mentioned in this column before without reviewing it – instead reviewing his sister’s book in which she responded to allegations about anti-Semitism in Arab schoolbooks by highlighting how Israeli schoolbooks portray Palestinians and Arabs in a negative light. Miko Peled’s talk was titled “Beyond Zionism, a New Paradigm for Palestine/Israel.” He said that the UN partition plan gave the largest part of the land of Palestine to the less numerous side, as the Palestinians in 1947 outnumbered the Jews in Palestine 3-to-1. However, the Israeli account is that the Arabs (they do not say Palestinians) rejected the partition plan and declared war, which the Israeli side won. The first Israeli prime minister, Chaim Weizman, said something to the effect of: We asked them to stay but they refused. Peled said that the truth is that hundreds of Palestinian villages and towns had been leveled, and that the Palestinians were displaced after 12 months of terrorist attacks against them that culminated with the declaration of the Israeli state (the 65th anniversary of the Nakba falls next month). In talking about the 1967 war, following which his father Matti Peled became a peace activist, Miko said that the Israeli government found in it a good opportunity to destroy the Egyptian army. In that war, 15,000 Egyptian soldiers were killed, compared to 700 Israeli soldiers, an illogical ratio. Miko had visited Gaza and he said that poverty there was unbelievable, with open-air sewers. He described the Strip as a (Nazi-like) concentration camp with two million prisoners. Peled also referenced Israel’s attempts to invent a new history, by changing names and effacing archaeological sites, and hiring dozens of historians to alter known ancient history. He also mentioned that Israel detains thousands of Palestinians in violation of international laws. The Israeli peace activist said after this that the current situation in Israel cannot continue. He compared it to the apartheid in South Africa, and said that whites there did not lose any battle, but woke up one day and decided that the situation they were in could not continue and that changing course was imperative. Peled argued that a day will come when the Israelis will feel and do the same. He then assured the audience that the peace movement in Israel was here to stay, and that its members would not rest or tire in their quest for peace. I say that the peace movement in Israel is not just one man and his sister, but includes thousands. Yet they remain a minority in the face of the current rightwing surge in Israeli politics. Nevertheless, they are active and outspoken, and include in their ranks intellectuals, university professors and students, and many Jewish peace activists around the world. We can have peace with such people as soon as tomorrow. Their efforts must be appreciated and encouraged. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.