A ‘warning’ from Israel that merits the worlds attention

As Israel’s planned pullout from the Gaza Strip draws near, three Israeli scholars have sounded an alarm about the potential dangers that could follow the withdrawal. In a message entitled “A Warning from Israel,” Uri Davis, Ilan Pappe and Tamar Yaron – all three of whom have extensive knowledge of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict – say they fear the Israeli evacuation of Gaza could be a prelude to disastrous war crimes against the Palestinian inhabitants of the territory. Based on their analysis of the “past behavior, ideological leanings and current media spin initiated by” Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government, they conclude that a primary motive for the Gaza withdrawal is to remove Jewish settlers so that they will be “out of harm’s way when the Israeli government and military possibly trigger an intensified mass attack on approximately one and a half million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

To support their claims, the three point out the fact that Sharon has many times throughout his military career used the tactic of provocation in order to launch massive attacks. And while they admit they can’t use past behavior to guarantee future outcomes, they maintain that their “educated intuition with matters pertaining to the defense of human rights has been more often correct than otherwise.” For that reason, they felt it necessary to sound the alarm.

It would be prudent for the international community, particularly the United States, to take notice. Possible outcomes such as the one described here should be looked at seriously by Washington so that steps can be taken to avoid a foreseeable disaster. Any movement by Sharon’s government in this direction would undoubtedly be the worst-case scenario for American foreign policy, security in the Middle East and for the U.S.-sponsored “road map” to peace.

The easiest way to avoid such an outcome is to link the Gaza withdrawal with other steps in the peace process. Until now, the pullout, which Sharon has called his “disengagement plan,” has been a mostly unilateral Israeli measure – and there has been no signal from Israel that it will be followed up with additional steps in the peace process. But it is now urgent for Washington to secure a commitment from Israel that the withdrawal is one step which will lead to further steps along the road to peace with the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon.

While one could easily dismiss the fears of the three Israeli academics as unfounded, failing to take precautions at this time to prevent such a deadly outcome to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza would be foolish. An ounce of prevention is always better than a pound of cure. And after such an alarm has been sounded, arriving at such an outcome would be tantamount to failing to have read the writing that was scrawled in bold red letters on the wall.