A 'Traitor' for Peace

By Richard Cohen

Tuesday, December 9, 2003

NEW YORK -- The traitor, the pariah, is a little man, maybe 5 feet 6, and probably bone tired. In the last week, he has gone from Israel to Geneva and then New York to Washington and back in a blizzard. If he were an American, he would be prosecuted for his activities, one columnist said, while others just dismissed him as a dreamer. His name is Yossi Beilin and all he wants to do is bring peace to the Middle East.

You would think there is no greater enemy of the Jewish people and the state of Israel than this wan figure on the other side of a breakfast table from me. For his efforts to bring Palestinians and Israelis together, he has been Krauthammered as virtually a traitor and Safired to a crisp. He has been denounced by some important American Jewish (and Christian) organizations, and his opposite number, the former Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, has received similar treatment from his (not-yet) countrymen.

Still, Beilin is not exactly friendless. His peace effort is supported by many notables and, almost as important, he has the invaluable animosity of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. His government so vehemently denounced the Geneva accord -- the faux peace treaty was signed in that Swiss city -- and so vigorously protested Beilin and Rabbo's meeting with Colin Powell that he gave the effort a PR boost it otherwise might have lacked.

"This was a direct contribution by Sharon to our effort," Beilin said with a wee smile. "He made out of it a big fuss."

In a way that Sharon did not intend, the fuss is worth making. The Geneva accord leapfrogs over many hurdles and simply proclaims what things would look like if the Palestinians and Israelis could agree on peace. It creates a demilitarized Palestinian state. It makes Jerusalem a dual capital. It limits the number of Palestinian refugees who can "return" to Israel and it awards the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem to the new Palestinian state. Significantly, Israel would retain the bulk of its close-in settlements on the West Bank.

That's the outline. Call it a wish or a hope or a dream, if you want, but it's pretty much how things are going to look if and when peace ever comes to the region. It's a good deal for the Palestinians, but it's also a good deal for the Israelis. In the past two years the two sides have lost about 3,000 lives -- 2,200 of them Palestinian -- in suicide bombings and reprisals. You could say neither side is winning, but that's not how Beilin looks at it.

If Israel retains much of the West Bank and if its security fence encompasses Palestinian areas (346,650 residents), the Jewish state might win territorially but lose demographically. A high Palestinian birthrate and a low Israeli one are going to mean an eventual Muslim majority. For Israel to remain Jewish -- it's raison d'être, after all -- it will have to become an apartheid power. It may stay Jewish, but it cannot stay democratic.

The Geneva plan not only acknowledges the demographic reality, it is a direct response to it. The plan is not some pie-in-the-sky effort but a highly pragmatic solution to an impending crisis. It may not have all the answers -- and it will surely be amended plenty in the future -- but it is in the best interest of Israel, never mind what it does for the Palestinians.

In a way, Beilin is similar to Howard Dean. He appreciates the power of the Internet. More than 2 million Israeli homes have received the plan -- many of them with thanks. He and Rabbo have also gone over the heads of the Palestinian Authority and the totally untrustworthy Yasser Arafat. Both Beilin and Rabbo have identified a genuine yearning for peace on both sides.

Will it work? Maybe not -- but nothing else has, including the Bush administration's so-called road map. The plan's one chance of success is that it appeals directly to the people, the ones being threatened. If they, in turn, apply pressure to their leaders, maybe something can be done. After all, the polls tell us that a considerable number of Palestinians like the deal -- 35 percent to 40 percent.

Get this straight: In the end, the Beilin-Rabbo plan is pretty much how things are ultimately going to look. The trick is to get there with the minimum loss of life. To Beilin, who was denounced in Israel as a traitor, I offer encouragement and the words of Patrick Henry: "If this be treason, make the most of it!"