Adri Nieuwhof

History has not given the Palestinian people much reason to trust the intentions of the government of Israel. While Ariel Sharon has repeatedly claimed to be driven by a commitment to peace, his actions have so far belied his words, particularly concerning its military occupation of Palestinian territories. In this second article of a two-part series, Adri Nieuwhof, Bangani Ngeleza and Jeff Handmaker revisit key factors that built trust amongst both parties to the conflict in apartheid South Africa, without eroding key principles of the liberation movement, and reflect upon these experiences in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Despite some initial optimism following the outcome of the Palestinian presidential elections, there has been no obvious progress towards peace negotiations. This is of little surprise, since the conditions for holding negotiations simply do not exist and possibly have not even been thought through by either party. While opportunities for peace talks are fast disappearing as the region appears again to slide into outright confrontation, the writers, former anti-apartheid activists from the Netherlands, South Africa and Great Britain respectively, look back on this crucial period in South African history in the first of two articles in a series, to reflect upon and provide inspiration to the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

The South African people fought for decades to free themselves of apartheid. The ANC departed from its non-violent policies in the early 1960s, becoming actively involved in the armed liberation struggle. The violence used by the ANC was directed at government institutions, economic targets and the forces involved in oppression. Nelson Mandela was arrested and imprisoned for almost 30 years. International solidarity movements supported the ANC by organising massive campaigns for sanctions and public boycotts against South Africa. A Dutch anti-apartheid activist and a South African ANC supporter whose father was imprisoned for ten years on Robben island for in his involvement in the resistance look back on activism during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

”After the death of Yasser Arafat, it was impossible not to note the grief and sadness of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories and in the Diaspora, an emotion echoed by leaders of other liberation struggles, including Nelson Mandela. Most of the Jewish voices inside Israel were conveyed a different perspective, one that ignored the fact that Israel is also the home of many Palestinians. A free election to choose a new leader must ensure the participation of all Palestinians, including prisoners and refugees.” Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker comment from The Netherlands.

One of the biggest challenges amongst activists concerned with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a growing divide in the perspectives of peace advocates on one side and human rights advocates on the other. In attempting to explain or justify the use of violence, one can easily forget that that one party has a heavily fortified military with nuclear weapons capability; the other a population so oppressed and desperate, that some are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to claim casualties on the other side. Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof critically examine whether these perspectives are reconcilable through promoting participation of Palestinian refugees.

Israeli public pressure on Sharon’s militarised regime to withdraw from Gaza and the occupied territories is growing. This comes not only from civilians and organisations active in the peace movement, but — to the great alarm of an Israeli government with deep military links — also from the country’s military and security forces. Reservists and soldiers are not prepared to die for the settlers in Gaza. Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker say Sharon would be foolish not to heed the similar experiences of other leaders who faced growing resentment from their army and police commanders as their militarised policies failed.

Two weeks ago, Sharon met George Bush to discuss his plan for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. On the face of it, this could have been welcomed as a major first step towards peace, that is, if it was not linked with a further intention to retain most of the major settlements in the occupied territories on the West Bank. Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker argue that up until now, the European Union has failed to use the means it has at its disposal to enforce respect for international law and human rights. The EU must no longer take the middle ground, merely limiting its role to expressing support for the peace process. They cannot claim that the peace process needs time. In fact, there is no peace process and no time left: we are at the point of no return.

As a privileged young Israeli, Mordechai Vanunu took a risk and exposed Israel for operating an illegal nuclear weapons programme. While the rest of the world sought to reduce its weapons of mass destruction, Israel was evidently busy stockpiling them. After being illegally abducted from Italy, Vanunu served a sentence of 18 years imprisonment, 12 years of which were in solitary confinement. Now freed by the Israeli government, he leaves behind concrete walls, but will be thrown into a bureaucratic “prison” that denies him basic freedoms. Is this the democratic country in the Middle East that according to its government respects rule of law?

Much of the rising anti-Semitism in Europe today is undeniably fuelled by conflicts in the Middle East. However, continued insistence on the part of the Israeli government and its supporters that critics of its policies are “anti-Semitic” is a dangerous and damaging position to hold. Human rights advocates Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof argue that continued insistence on this equation of anti-Israeli government sentiments and anti-Semitism creates a hostile atmosphere and prevents a critical dialogue on Middle East issues from a human rights perspective.