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Barring any unexpected developments, the Palestinians may have a state
before the end of 2008. It will not be the best of states in the best of
worlds. It will not match the historic realities of the region, nor will
it reflect the true interests of all those involved. But it will give
everyone something they wanted. It will leave much undecided, but it is
the ambiguity that will make it possible, and we'll have to get used to
living with the ambiguities and contradictions. That will be the easy
part.
Some would be pleased to see the name of Palestine put on the map once
again. Some will be less excited about it. But that's not what matters
really. States do not live on promises or guarantees alone, but on the
wisdom of their leaders and the hard work of their citizens.
Theodor Herzl didn't like the Balfour Declaration at first. In his
memoirs, Herzl admitted that he was disappointed because the declaration
spoke of a national homeland rather than a state. But the newborn state
managed to grow and became a power to contend with. This happened
because its inhabitants managed to turn the promise into reality.
Following the Evian Agreement that gave Algeria its independence, Karim
Belgacem, member of the Algerian Revolutionary Command Council, stopped
by to see me. Following a quick dinner, he said, "the easy part is over
now and the hard part is just beginning." We were never to meet again.
He was killed briefly afterwards in Europe; assassinated in the power
struggle that followed.
The biggest challenge for the new state would be to hold together. See
how Lebanon had to endure months without a head of state. See how
Palestine is divided ahead of becoming a state. Once the Palestinians
have a country to run, things may get harder than they already are.
Before Israel became a state, it had multiple of terrorist outfits
running their separate shows. Then the Haganah, Zvai Leumi and Irgun
became political parties and elected a terrorist, David Ben-Gurion, as
prime minister and minister of defence. For a while, the paramilitary
outfits of the gangs continued to co-exist. Then Ben-Gurion called a
conference in April 1948 and had everyone agree to disband the militias.
A state needs to have one army, he said.
Irgun had second thoughts about it. Ben-Gurion had banned all arms
shipments ordered by the paramilitary outfits and Menachem Begin didn't
exactly see the point. So he ordered his militia to unload a shipment of
military hardware from the ship Altalina. Without blinking, Ben-Gurion
ordered the ship sunk. Dozens of Israelis died in the attack and
hundreds of Irgun members were rounded up and thrown in prison. This
action arguably saved Israel.
I am recalling this episode for the benefit of our Palestinian brothers.
The hard part is what comes after the creation of the state. You cannot
run a state in the same way you run a militia. A newborn state can be
forever traumatised by a power struggle. For the new state to survive,
the Palestinians must have one army. And that army should take orders
from one political leadership and from that leadership alone.
* The writer is former defence minister and chief of General
Intelligence.
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