Zakariya Zubeidi's Remarkable Disclosure - Opinion

On April 4th, Ha'aretz published Avi Issacharof's remarkable interview with Zakariya Zubeidi, the former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin. The interview is shockingly frank. Zubeidi's basic point is that Israel has defeated the Palestinians and that the Palestinians cannot defeat Israel. The Intifada has failed. The "armed struggle" has resulted in no benefit at all. Zero. It did not produce any military advantage which could be converted

Israel has defeated the Palestinians.

into political achievements.

Zubeidi also declared that there was no Palestinian identity, only factions; and that the leadership of the Palestinian Authority was corrupt and unfit to govern.

This is an important statement, because it could represent a turning point. If additional leaders share the same views and arrive at the same conclusions, then it means that Palestinian society in Judea and Samaria is developing a new stage of awareness.

A man of considerable talent, Zakariya Zubeidi is a lapsed terrorist leader. Had this young man of quick intelligence and an artistic streak received the opportunity to acquire a good education, he may have reached a comfortable middle-class profession. But the street-smart Zubeidi, who grew up on the barricades, survived a tough selection process, which may have included crime. A leader who fought his way up from the bottom, it is evident that he is able to size up the situation quickly and is quite articulate. In contrast to the well-fed leadership of the PA, which seeks to maintain the inflow of funds from abroad, for Zubeidi any continuation of the conflict would mean the senseless loss of more of his friends. Indeed, his point of view clearly reflects a class difference.

What is important is the content of his statement, namely, the basic recognition and acceptance of military and political defeat. Here, Zubeidi describes the classical features of defeat: the realization that one cannot defeat one's adversary and that there is no point in continuing the armed struggle. He states in direct language:

"We have been defeated.... Today there is no Palestinian identity.... Even Gamal Abdel Nasser admitted his defeat.... We are marching in the direction of nowhere, toward total ruin. The Palestinian people is finished.... Today the president of the Palestinian people is General Dayton [Keith Dayton, the US security coordinator]. They are all working for him. He is the boss. A PA no longer exists."

His interviewer, Avi Issacharof, added that recently Zubeidi has taken to sleeping in late - a sign of demoralization or depression - and, as Zubeidi himself volunteered, he does not earn enough money to support his family.

Separately, Khaled Abu Toameh reported (Jerusalem Post, April 7th ) that a new Young Guard of the Palestinian Authority is seeking reform and wants to send a "message of compromise" to Israel. "As such," wrote Abu Toameh, "they are seeking to remove such harsh terms as 'armed struggle,' 'resistance,' and 'liberation' from the program."

If some Palestinian leaders are beginning to perceive that they have been defeated, it represents a major step forward. For this realization is necessary if Palestinian society plans to change its direction. When, for example, the United States defeated Germany and Japan, and they accepted their defeat, the Americans could then help these countries rebuild their societies on a new basis of a well-run, peaceful, egalitarian democracy and a growing economy. Similarly, after the War of Independence, Israel helped lay the foundations for a modern society in the

This realization is necessary if Palestinian society plans to change its direction.

areas populated by its Arab citizens. Although there has been much criticism of this endeavor, it was remarkably successful in creating a modern self-governing society, which provided its citizens with a good standard of living, civil rights and social benefits guaranteed by law.

The Palestinian Authority, if it is hoping for a better future, must find a way of changing course and engaging in peaceful pursuits, of the kind which would produce a job and an honest living for a person of Zubeidi's talents, a job that would keep him and others off the streets. A new direction would require an end of incitement to violence and, of course, acceptance of the Jewish state.

Our reality is such that with the prospect of a potential Palestinian defeat in the territories, Israel should make sure that it derives a concrete political advantage. What happens in the PA is of tremendous importance to our well-being and security. With or without the PA, the Palestinians will be with us tomorrow and the day after. Israel cannot cut loose from the PA and let it float out to sea, as Yitzhak Rabin dreamed about Gaza, or wish them a society without the rule of law. Although Israel will not be ruling these areas again, it has a great interest in assuring that the new generation of Palestinians will become good neighbors and abandon the dead end of "armed struggle" in favor of reform, transparency and peaceful economic development.

The foregoing article originally appeared in Hebrew in Makor Rishon on April 11, 2008.

Opinion	11 Iyar 5768, May 16, '08