EDITORIAL - 54 years of Israel

As Israel marked the 54th anniversary of its independence, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat emerged from a two-hour meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, raging against his isolation by Israeli troops at his headquarters in Ramallah. Powell failed to end the standoff in the West Bank, and Israelis marked the 54th year of their independence wondering where Palestinian suicide bombers would strike next.

Not that Israelis are strangers to violence and war. Their history in the 20th century was one of great persecution that culminated in the Holocaust. The Jewish diaspora started long before six million Jews were exterminated in the Nazi ovens, and their horrific plight prompted the United Nations to quickly partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in 1947. Arabs, unhappy with the partition, invaded the Jewish territory as soon as the British left Palestine. From its victory in that war the state of Israel was born in 1948.

Israel’s fight for its existence continued through the years. In 1967, threatened by Egypt, Israeli troops launched preemptive attacks, occupying Egypt’s Sinai Desert, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Arab East Jerusalem. Egypt would later make peace with Israel and get back the Sinai, but Israel continued to live with hostile neighbors. The hostility was fueled by the failure to create a Palestinian state, and Israel’s refusal to leave the occupied territories.

Even with such problems, however, a generation of Israelis grew up in relative peace. Backed by US military might, Israel managed to prosper and take its place in the community of nations. Until 18 months ago, when a visit by Ariel Sharon to a disputed holy site launched the Palestinian intifada. The toll to the Palestinians has been much higher, but this uprising has shaken Israel like no other in the past. The intifada is being carried out by suicide bombers into the heart of Israel, blasting buses, shopping malls and pizza parlors.

Whether or not Arafat is directing the attacks has become a secondary issue. What the world is seeing is the desperation of people longing for their own land. This time it’s not desperate, persecuted Jews looking for a home, but Palestinians. Israelis are dying in the streets and living in the shadow of constant terror, and they have a right to defend themselves. But their nation’s survival will depend on their willingness to allow Palestinians to create their own state.