By Saad Eddin Ibrahim

Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute has recently (Spare a House, Save the Peace; NYT, Feb. 18, 2005) expressed concern over the planned bulldozing of homes, greenhouses, and other assets built by Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip, as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s bold disengagement initiative. For a multitude of good reasons, Mr. Isaacson hopes that these buildings and other facilities will be spared and turned to some constructive and/or symbolic use to enhance the fledgling peace that is being born between Palestinians and Israelis. It is an excellent idea.

Among the reasons given by Isaacson are the prohibitive cost of dismantling many fortified structures, removing the rubble, razing and leveling the ground --to no side’s benefit. If anything, he argued, it would bring negative public opinion around the world for the Israelis, as did the sight of dynamiting Yamit in the Sinai before handing it over to Egypt a quarter of a century ago. Rightly noting the residue of ill feeling on both sides that may make a smooth transfer of the settlements difficult, Mr. Isaacson is calling for a third party to step in and offer to take over these elaborate and usable facilities. He did not go beyond that to name candidates for this worthwhile task.

There are several appropriate organizations that fit the bill. First among these is the Vermont-based Seeds Of Peace. This courageous program has been in operation for several years, bringing young Israelis and Palestinians to joint summer camps in which they learn the difficult art of co-existence. By now the graduates of this visionary undertaking are in the hundreds, many of whom are young professionals on both sides of the Green line. I can’t think of a more qualified party to take joint charge of the soon to be former settlements.

Another organization which started some 25 years ago with a focus on adult peace and democracy activists is Search For Common Ground (SFCG). While the bulk of its membership are Israelis and Palestinians, SFCG has expanded over the years by attracting likeminded Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese, Saudis, and Turks. Though an NGO, some of its members have served in an advisory capacity to their countries’delegations to the Madrid Peace Conference (1991), Oslo(1993), and the Israeli-Jordanian negotiations leading to the signing of a peace treaty in 1994, as well as the second Camp David negotiations in 2000. Some of its veterans later became cabinet ministers in their respective countries.

Finally, there are several other UN and nongovernmental international organizations which are genuinely keen on nurturing the peace process that could be engaged in the transfer and/or transformation of these assets instead of destroying them. Most recently, the Israeli Army declared an end to its four-decade-old practice of blowing up the homes of suspected Palestinian insurgents. That decision was hailed by human rights groups around the world, the same groups that had previously condemned the practice. It is in the same spirit that Isaacson’s proposal would follow.

Several years ago, the then Prime Minister Shimon Peres wrote a visionary book about The New Middle East, in which he proposed that the border areas between Israel and its neighbors be made into free trade zones. Foreign investors who set up joint Israeli-Palestinian and other regional ventures would be given priority access. Though initially well received, the proposals were soon forgotten as the course of Middle East events took a nose dive. Now that the march of events is positive again, we need to swiftly move forward before the hardliners on both sides have a chance to derail the peace process as they have so frequently done in the past. Let us revive Peres’ vision and implement Isaacson’s excellent proposal. I am sure SEEDS of PEACE and others are more than ready. Let’s give them an over-due chance.