{"id":12309,"date":"2015-05-01T00:07:33","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T07:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=12309"},"modified":"2015-04-29T21:41:45","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T04:41:45","slug":"a-more-realistic-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/05\/01\/a-more-realistic-future\/","title":{"rendered":"A more realistic future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ari Shavit speaks at Winnipeg\u2019s Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. (photo by Rebeca Kuropatwa)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As part of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada\u2019s Annual Sol and Florence Kanee Distinguished Lecture Speaker Series, leading Israeli columnist and writer Ari Shavit addressed a packed room of 300 people on the topic Is Peace Dead? The talk took place April 19 at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

Shavit, who described himself a \u201cdiehard peacenik,\u201d said he is more comfortable referring to what some call \u201cthe Arab Awakening\u201d as \u201cthe Arab Chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained, \u201cWe were hoping for an Arab Spring. It turned into something else and the result is the Arab Chaos. The old order that ruled over the Arab world has collapsed, but it was not replaced by any liberal democracy. It was replaced with more tribalism, more fanaticism and much more violence. We now see a human catastrophe engulfing a large part of the region and the acute situation of instability. I care about my fellow humans and we have to be saddened that we have such a terrible human catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even worse, in Shavit\u2019s view, \u201cThere is no more chance in the upcoming years to have the old kind of peace we hoped for,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we can have the kind of peace agreement like with Egypt or Jordan in the coming years, because those were peace agreements that were signed with tyranny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shavit used Syria as an example, saying that, back in the 1990s and in early 2000, he very much supported a peace agreement with Syria. But, he said, \u201cNow, there is no one to make peace with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good news is the more clear division within the Arab community. Many Arab moderates are now terrified by Iran, by ISIS, by the Islamic Brotherhood, by Al-Qaeda, by extremists, [so] they actually are closer to Israel than they ever were in the past. So, there is a kind of interesting potential within this sad, tragic, acute situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Shavit, the road to peace today begins with the understanding that we cannot reach a two-state solution with the Palestinians in the coming months or years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t have the comprehensive peace we hoped for,\u201d said Shavit. \u201cBut, on the other hand, we should not accept the status quo. And, I think we should launch a two-state dynamic, which would lead to a two-state state to start with, and eventually lead to a two-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regionally, Shavit stressed the need for Israel to work much more closely with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries and Jordan, as, he said, \u201cThey are closer to Israel than they ever were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Shavit conceded that the likelihood of signing a new formal peace agreement may not currently be in the cards, he encouraged \u201cbuilding a kind of peace based on economic interests, mutual interests and strategic interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Shavit envisions is \u201cthe kind of peace agreement [Israel] had with Jordan before the 1994 peace signing. There were no embassies, there were no Nobel Prizes, no White House ceremonies, but we had a very close, intimate relationship \u2013 quite a lot of the time \u2013 better than after the formal signing. That should be an example of what can be done in this new chaotic situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shavit sees potential for \u201ccooperation as opposed to a utopian peace.\u201d Potential partners for this cooperation, Shavit suggested would include \u201cthe major Arab Sunni nations led by moderate people…. [People who] are not deeply concerned or interested in human rights or democracy, but they don\u2019t want extremists. Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States fall into that category. So, the strategic game now is pretty much controlled by two non-Arab countries \u2013 Israel and Turkey \u2013 and, I would say, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n

As to whether or not these partners are interested in just cooperation or a more lasting peace, Shavit said, \u201cI think they want to live and they want stability. Therefore, if we promote this new peace concept, I think there\u2019s a chance of having a better relationship. I think many of them see Israel as a partner in that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that they are going to have a religious conversion…. I don\u2019t see a kind of relationship that France and Spain have or Canada and the U.S. do, but, I do see a kind of Middle East-style relationship \u2013 the ability to create a structure that can be formed again if we endorse the right ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding Israel\u2019s recent elections, Shavit feels that the left lost more than the right won. \u201cThe lack of a peace plan of action had a lot to do with that. Even the left-wing part[ies] were not very aggressive at promotional peace. The peace talked about in the national community is a kind of peace that is totally detached.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shavit is hopeful that Israelis will open their hearts to peace, in the case where \u201ca kind of new peace, a concept that is more realistic, comes around. As long as the community talks about European-style peace, when we have a kind of evil political reality in a large part of the Middle East, Israelis will not buy into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

International support is critical to any potential peace progress and, while Shavit loves Canada in many ways, he said, \u201cI appreciate that Canada is supportive of Israel, when there aren\u2019t many that support Israel in such a way. [But] obviously, the real relevant player is the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that America will endorse a new kind of peace policy and then build a wide coalition \u2013 first of all with Canada, then with the European powers and then with the moderate Arabs and Israelis \u2013 addressing the issues in a realistic way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shavit believes that the \u201cdysfunctional relationship\u201d of Binyamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama is not advancing the situation. \u201cI hope I can be successful in encouraging an intellectual process to be helpful in bringing some change to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shavit, like many others in Israel and around the world, is waiting to see what kind of Israeli government will be formed. \u201cIf we do have a right-wing government, with [Avigdor] Lieberman being the centre, I worry that we will have unpleasant legislation that will alienate the Arab minority even more and jeopardize the fragile relationship with them. If it will be more moderate in the centre, there is less danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the last six months were very troubling, with unprecedented legislation or attempts [to discriminate], though most failed. I hope and pray that our power will not go back to that kind of approach. I think it will endanger\u00a0Israel\u2019s soul in a serious way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shavit is hopeful that minority rights will not be trampled, as \u201cthe tradition of the historic Israeli right always combines nationalism with liberalism, with a deep respect for democracy. I really hope we will not see dark forces in Israel rising to power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa<\/strong> is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ari Shavit speaks at Winnipeg\u2019s Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. (photo by Rebeca Kuropatwa) As part of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada\u2019s Annual Sol and Florence Kanee Distinguished Lecture Speaker Series, leading Israeli columnist and writer Ari Shavit addressed a packed room of 300 people on the topic Is Peace Dead? The talk took place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[640,4330,1798,2721,1044],"class_list":["post-12309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-ari-shavit","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-peace","tag-two-state-solution"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}