DREAMERS AND PRAGMATISTS: A Letter From Jerusalem

by Arlynn Nellhaus

Painful cries of disillusion and deception by Yasser Arafat are arising from what is erroneously called Israel's "left." For those who never had illusions and always thought Arafat was the great deceiver, to gloat is too painful, what with the loss of life that has gone on since the end of September.

You can't really talk about the "left" and the "right" in Israeli politics in their accepted meanings. What is called the "left" here, Labor -- transformed by Prime Minister Ehud Barak into "One Israel" -- and Meretz, really should be thought of as the Israeli Republicans.

They are the Establishment.

They are the ones who believe they own Israel, and only those who look and speak like them and tow their rigid party line can join their club. On the other hand, it was Likud that gave Israel's underdogs, the Sephardim (Afro-Asian Jews), entry. They didn't ask the Sephardim to change anything. All Likud wanted from them was their vote.

Because of the reversal in terms, many Americans who live in Israel now, Americans who were at the barricades in the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam protests, now find themselves labeled, "right-wing, " because of their distrust of Arafat's intentions.

Linda Gradstein of National Public Radio referred to Israelis "for peace" and those "against peace." No one in Israel is against peace. Israelis have dreamed of it, yearned for and worked for it for 52 years.

The only accurate terms are "dreamers" and "pragmatists." The dreamers believed in Arafat's promises in English. The pragmatists never believed in Arafat's promises in English, but did believe in his calls for violence in Arabic.

They are relieved that so many of the dreamers have awakened, some even among founders of Peace Now. But the question remains: if the Palestinian-instigated violence ceases, they will want to hug Arafat again and let bygones-be-bygones. Or have they truly developed a fundamental suspicion of this thug and murderer?

Since the Sharm el-Sheikh summit and its agreement between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to end violence, Arafat has increased the violence.

The sickening lynching of two reserve soldiers -- which Palestinians did their best to prevent the world from seeing; the attack on a group of Israeli families on a hike which resulted in the death of one and injury of four others; the shooting into homes in Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood are among recent outrages. Fire bombs and hand grenades have hit Israeli civilian and military targets.

All this Palestinian rage, despite that between 97 and 99 percent of them already live under the Palestine Authority.

And all the time, Arafat has said nothing, despite his agreement. Even Hanan Ashrawi, who presents herself to the West as the Palestinian voice of morality, has said nothing. The two Israelis were lynched by the howling, cheering, laughing mob in her hometown.

Not only are youngsters raised to hate in the forefront of Palestinian-instigated violence, but now they are being backed up by armed Tanzim as well as Palestinian police.

Under the Oslo Accords, the Palestine Authority's police were armed by Israel to preserve law and order. Now they aim their Israeli-supplied guns at Israeli soldiers and civilians. Twice while on joint security patrol with Israelis, they suddenly turned and killed one of the Israeli soldiers.

These are among Arafat's gross violations of the Oslo Accords, which he began within weeks of the famous signing on the White House lawn in 1993. But Israeli Oslo supporters, the dreamers, refused to make an issue of the violations for fear of ending the imagined peace by the signing of a piece of paper at the end of this rocky road.

The outcome of the Cairo Arab summit this weekend is many intemperate words, but probably not a lot of action. Will there be another economic boycott of Israel?

The last one started before there was an Israel. The established nation managed to survive. And Israel is far better off economically now than it was then.

While the word, "war" is in the air, the Arab countries can't afford war. They no longer have their patron saint, the Soviet Union. Its heir, Russia, has its own overwhelming economic problems.

But Arafat plays recklessly with the safety of the region. He created war in Jordan and in Lebanon. His next host, Tunisia, escaped that fate by severely limiting the number of supporters he could bring with him and keeping him on a short leash.

Arafat cares nothing for the destruction he causes, even though he only loses each time. Only Israel with its offer of the Oslo Accords gave him a new lease on life.

It would be in his pattern to rashly try to spark a full-scale Middle East war in hopes that with this, he finally could see an end to Israel, his true goal.

While Egypt's Pres. Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah have gone beyond the fantasies of war, their people are inflamed. Who knows what act could trigger a conflagration?

Barak hugs his cards against his chest.

As close as anyone can be to him is Acting Foreign and Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, who was instrumental Sunday in stopping Barak from calling "time out" on the peace process.

With Barak at Camp David and at Sharm el-Sheikh was Transport and Tourism Minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, another retired general panting to be prime minister. One wonders if he holds the views of his journalist wife, Tallie, who recently called for "peace at almost any price" and for Israelis and Arabs to sit down and talk to each other

Of course, Israel has been there and done that -- and here we are.

So what of Israel's dreamers? If Arafat truly stops the violence, at least for now, will they be buoyed again by their own wishful thinking? Or will their feet now be closer to the ground?

Arlynn Nellhaus is a former Denver Post reporter now based in Jerusalem and the author of Into the Heart of Jerusalem.