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Pause for Peace
By AHMED YOUSEF
The New York Times
1 November 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/opinion/01yousef.html

Gaza--HERE in Gaza, few dream of peace. For now, most dare
only to dream of a lack of war. It is for this reason that
Hamas proposes a long-term truce during which the Israeli
and Palestinian peoples can try to negotiate a lasting
peace.

A truce is referred to in Arabic as a `hudna.` Typically
covering 10 years, a hudna is recognized in Islamic
jurisprudence as a legitimate and binding contract. A
hudna extends beyond the Western concept of a cease-fire
and obliges the parties to use the period to seek a
permanent, nonviolent resolution to their differences. The
Koran finds great merit in such efforts at promoting
understanding among different people. Whereas war
dehumanizes the enemy and makes it easier to kill, a hudna
affords the opportunity to humanize one`s opponents and
understand their position with the goal of resolving the
intertribal or international dispute.

Such a concept -- a period of nonwar but only partial
resolution of a conflict -- is foreign to the West and has
been greeted with much suspicion. Many Westerners I speak
to wonder how one can stop the violence without ending the
conflict.

I would argue, however, that this concept is not as
foreign as it might seem. After all, the Irish Republican
Army agreed to halt its military struggle to free Northern
Ireland from British rule without recognizing British
sovereignty. Irish Republicans continue to aspire to a
united Ireland free of British rule, but rely upon
peaceful methods. Had the I.R.A. been forced to renounce
its vision of reuniting Ireland before negotiations could
occur, peace would never have prevailed. Why should more
be demanded of the Palestinians, particularly when the
spirit of our people will never permit it?

When Hamas gives its word to an international agreement,
it does so in the name of God and will therefore keep its
word. Hamas has honored its previous cease-fires, as
Israelis grudgingly note with the oft-heard words, `At
least with Hamas they mean what they say.`

This offer of hudna is no ruse, as some assert, to
strengthen our military machine, to buy time to organize
better or to consolidate our hold on the Palestinian
Authority. Indeed, faith-based political movements in
Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco,
Turkey and Yemen have used hudna-like strategies to avoid
expanding conflict. Hamas will conduct itself just as
wisely and honorably.

We Palestinians are prepared to enter into a hudna to
bring about an immediate end to the occupation and to
initiate a period of peaceful coexistence during which
both sides would refrain from any form of military
aggression or provocation. During this period of calm and
negotiation we can address the important issues like the
right of return and the release of prisoners. If the
negotiations fail to achieve a durable settlement, the
next generation of Palestinians and Israelis will have to
decide whether or not to renew the hudna and the search
for a negotiated peace.

There can be no comprehensive solution of the conflict
today, this week, this month, or even this year. A
conflict that has festered for so long may, however, be
resolved through a decade of peaceful coexistence and
negotiations. This is the only sensible alternative to the
current situation. A hudna will lead to an end to the
occupation and create the space and the calm necessary to
resolve all outstanding issues.

Few in Gaza dream. For most of the past six months it`s
been difficult to even sleep. Yet hope is not dead. And
when we dare to hope, this is what we see: a 10-year hudna
during which, inshallah (God willing), we will learn again
to dream of peace.

Ahmed Yousef is a senior adviser to the Palestinian prime
minister, Ismail Haniya.

ID
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