Views of Palestinians give reason for hope in Mideast peace talks

Skeptics see Palestinians as committed to violent resistance and unwilling to recognize the state of Israel. In fact, more than 20 years of polling data strongly refute these perceptions, and give leaders in Ramallah substantial room to maneuver in the ongoing peace talks.

|
Majdi Mohammed/AP/File
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of Israeli troops during a protest against Israel's separation barrier near Ramallah in the West Bank Feb. 17, 2012. Op-ed contributors Khalil Shikaki and Steven M. Cohen write: 'Even under what they perceive as harsh conditions of military occupation, very few Palestinians demonize Israelis.'

Secretary of State John Kerry has succeeded in bringing Israelis and Palestinians back to negotiations. Now his mission must focus on helping the two sides reach an agreement. Many Israelis and Palestinians and their supporters in the United States and around the world believe the gaps are so wide that an agreement is mission impossible. Instead, they say, the goal should be to manage the conflict. We disagree.

Skeptics among Israelis and their American supporters, with counterparts on the Palestinian side as well, see Palestinians as committed to violent resistance, as seeking to destroy the state of Israel, and as being uniform, unwavering, and unjustified in their seeming hostility to Israel. Israelis have a succinct saying to reflect this perception: “There is no one to talk to and nothing to talk about.”

But in fact, more than 20 years of repeated scientific polling of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza strongly refute these perceptions, and give leaders in Ramallah substantial room to maneuver in the ongoing negotiations.

Palestinians’ attitudes toward Israel and the peace process are diverse and complex.

Polls show that Palestinians worry that Israeli authorities can demolish their homes. Since 1967, 28,000 Palestinian homes, livestock facilities, and other structures have been displaced, and more than 676 in 2012 alone. They are distressed that Israel’s building of new roads, settlements, and the 430 mile-long “separation barrier” will further deprive them of access to what they regard as their lands.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates that more than 6,000 acres on the West Bank were transferred to Israeli control in 2012, and 36,000 new housing units in Israeli settlements were approved. Palestinians live in constant fear that Israeli soldiers can arrest and imprison them for long periods, or cause bodily harm to them or their family members. In a June 2013 survey, 74 percent said they worried that they or family members would be hurt by Israelis or have their land confiscated or homes demolished.

And yet, a majority of Palestinians reject using violence against Israelis. In a recent poll, 59 percent opposed returning to armed intifada, and 61 percent endorsed non-violent resistance and international adjudication. The West Bank population has – at least for the time being – widely adopted a non-violent approach to resisting the Israeli occupation, even as significant minorities continue to justify the use of violent measures.

Perhaps most encouragingly, most Palestinians support the two-state solution – Israel and its Jewish majority living side-by-side in peace with the yet-to-be founded Palestine. Asked about the two-state solution, 53 percent of Palestinians are in favor and 46 percent opposed.

Under conditions of permanent peace, an overwhelming majority of Palestinians endorses genuine and full reconciliation between the two peoples. Even during the worst days of the second intifada, findings consistently showed about three quarters (73 percent) supporting reconciliation between the two peoples once the conflict ended and a Palestinian state established alongside Israel.

Even under what they perceive as harsh conditions of military occupation, very few Palestinians demonize Israelis. For example, when Palestinians were asked, in a 2006 Arab Barometer survey conducted by Khalil Shikaki to assess and compare world democracies they ranked Israel ahead of governments in the Palestinian territories, the US, and Europe.

Amid these trends, Palestinians vary in their readiness to negotiate and to compromise, as well as in their optimism regarding the peace process. Continued Israeli settlement construction reinforces Palestinians’ bleak reading of Israel’s long-term aspirations – leading them to view Israel as determined to hold onto the entire West Bank and prevent the emergence of a Palestinian state.

Those Palestinians with higher threat perception (from arrests, physical danger, house demolitions, settlement expansion, etc.) provide greater support for violence. Palestinians – like Israelis – see the other side as unwilling to compromise, and – like Israelis – the very perception of the other side’s implacability fuels pessimism and hardline positions. Accordingly, over the years, Palestinians willingness to compromise rises dramatically when the political horizon looks promising, and plummets when things seem stuck and desperate.

Overall, Palestinians widely endorse non-violent resistance to the occupation and a negotiated settlement leading to statehood. These tendencies intensify with diminished threat and enhanced prospects for resolution. The Israeli people – and negotiators – can be assured: There is someone to talk to on the Palestinian side, and there is something to talk about.

Dr. Khalil Shikaki is director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah and senior fellow at the Crown Center at Brandeis University. Steven M. Cohen is a sociologist of American Jews and a professor at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. They are currently working on an Israel Policy Forum project, "Palestinians, American Jews and the Peace Process.”

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Views of Palestinians give reason for hope in Mideast peace talks
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0822/Views-of-Palestinians-give-reason-for-hope-in-Mideast-peace-talks
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe