An op-ed piece written by Mazen Chouaib published in the National Post

Monday, August 18, 2003. On July 29, Israel Asper delivered a speech in Toronto in which he declared that the road map for peace between Palestinians and Israelis "has become a farce." Mr. Asper blamed "Palestinian terrorism." His staunch defence of Zionism denies any possibility of peace between the two cultures. And while his honesty can and should be appreciated, one has to ask: Do his views help to secure a much-beloved land for two cultures equally deserving of peace? Is he doing Canada any favors by demanding that our country take sides?

Mr. Asper said the road map is misunderstood, and he is right in this respect. Indeed, the goal of the plan is not to stop building a wall of separation in order to keep "Arab terrorists" out. The road map is about ending Israeli occupation in order to establish peace between Israel and Palestine. This is how the rest of the world interprets it. But the will to let this happen should be measured by actions on both sides, and not by the ethnicity or religion of the people who stand to win if the prospect of peace is finally achieved.

For example, in the last decade, illegal Israeli settlements have doubled. More than 400,000 settlers now make their homes on Palestinian land, even though negotiations to return that land were taking place a decade ago, during the Oslo peace talks. There are 400 settlers in Hebron -- the reason why 125,000 Palestinians remain in perpetual curfew. In Gaza, 7,000 of those radical settlers control the daily activities of more than a million Palestinians.

Given the daily humiliations these occupied people endure -- from wholesale destruction of Palestinian homes, to the numerous "accidental" killings of Palestinian youth -- resistance is the legitimate right of every Palestinian. Many Palestinians have rejected violence as an expression of their frustration. But even choosing passive means, such as a rally, prompts Israeli authorities to use more violence. The escalation has resulted in suicide bombers unconscionably taking the lives of Israelis and Palestinians in a desperate attempt to inflict pain for pain received. And while we all must condemn this bloody denial of the right to life by both peoples, Palestinians as a whole do not deserve to be labeled suicide bombers. Yet this is what Mr. Asper would have us do.

Contrary to common belief, Israeli historians acknowledge how Palestinians and Arabs have tried to establish peace with Israel for many decades. Ilan Pappe, a prominent Israeli historian, has documented numerous examples of Arab governments repeatedly extending the olive branch to Israel, only to have it repeatedly slapped away. Itamar Rabinovitch wrote a book for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs -- based on the ministry's own archives -- titled The Road Not Taken (in hindsight, a prescient title indeed), detailing how Arab states secretly negotiated with Israel between 1949 and 1951.

The deal then was a recognition of Israel's right to statehood, in return for a solution to thousands of displaced Palestinians made homeless by Israeli occupation. And recent memory serves also to confirm this theme of Israeli unwillingness to settle for peace. At the Madrid peace conference in 1991, Palestinians and Arabs were negotiating despite then Israeli prime minister Shamir's protest against having to attend. The Oslo process followed -- again doomed by half-measures and a refusal to compromise.

Finally, at the historic Beirut summit of March of last year, the leaders of the 22 Arab nations called upon Israel to return to territorial borders that existed in 1967, eliminate illegal Israeli settlements and solve the Palestinian refugee question in a "just way," in exchange for full normalization of relations. Neither Israel nor its supporters, nor Arab extremists, accepted this offer.

Supporters of a Zionist Israel -- Mr. Asper among them -- have lost sight of what is good for Israel, and the world for that matter. The belief that more illegal land grabs, more bullying of the Palestinian people -- and even more state-sponsored terrorism in the form of wanton destruction of homes can bring peace is naive and short-sighted.

To believe the assertion that Israel is a Western democratic oasis situated in a scorching desert of Arab dictatorship is delusional. One cannot claim the virtues of democracy while actively participating in the ethnic cleansing of an entire culture. A Jewish-only democracy is not a true democracy, and a recent decision by the Israeli government denying citizenship and residency to Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens is but one example of how a racist act renders this so-called democratic state a laughingstock. Not to speak of the separation/apartheid wall.

To express the view that Israel's heavy-handedness is both righteous and democratic is Mr. Asper's right in a true democracy such as Canada's. But it is also false and irresponsible.