Dear Sir,

Here is a story for Mr. Bragg in response to his article 'The desert conscience of Israel' in last Sunday's Observer (November 12th,2000): Check it out.

You own a 4-story house in London that has been owned by your family for hundreds of years. An Italian comes to you and claims that the house belongs to him, as his ancestors (the Romans) lived there 2,000years ago. He offers you to keep two floors, with him taking the top two for himself. As the rightful owner of the house, you reject and put up a fight. He is stronger than you, and beats you up. He takes over all 4 floors, and kicks you out into the basement. Your attempts at regaining the top 4 floors fail, as you are still weak and he is much stronger.

The Italian eventually takes control over the basement, but allows you to stay there. However he restricts your movement and activities. He controls when you sleep, wake-up and eat. He takes over some of the rooms in the basement and tears down walls, builds new rooms and opens new hallways that he fully controls. For you to go from your bedroom to your son's room, you have to take permission from the Italian. To go to the bathroom, you might be banned because you have been 'bad'. To leave the house to go shopping or visit friends, you have to apply for a permit that takes weeks to get, as he controls all entrances and exits. He brands you as a terrorist every time you try to fight for your basic rights. The years pass by and you come to accept the new reality on the ground. For the sake of your family and peace, you tell the Italian that you are willing to recognise his occupation of the 4 floors if he gives you full rights in the basement. In return you ask him to evacuate all the rooms that he has taken in the basement.

You spend 7 years negotiating, with Italian's banker playing the role of the 'honest broker'. At the end of the seven years, you receive the Italian's final offer. He is willing to give you full control over some of the bedrooms in the basement, and offers to withdraw from the kitchen, and bathroom. However, he still maintains control over the study, reception and dinning rooms. Furthermore, he controls all entrances to the basement. You reject. The banker and his friends blame you for the failure of the 'peace' negotiations, as the Italian has gone further than any of his family members were willing to go.

Mr. Bragg, if you actually understand the history of the last 52 years as you claim, then you would understand that what Israel has ever offered does not meet the basic requirements of the Palestinians: their right of self determination and their right to live in dignity and freedom in their homeland. The question is not weather Ehud Barak gave more than any Israeli was willing to give, but rather did he give enough? Maybe if you owned the house you would realise that the basement is not too much to ask for!

Sincerely,

Nabil Tarazi
London

Print this page