Maybe we do have someone to talk to

by Menachem Fruman

from Ha'aretz December 2005

Is peace possible with Islam? The question that I wish to pose is the opposite: Is peace possible without Islam? Ever since the beginnings of Zionism, the best of Israeli thought has dealt with the question of how to live in peace with the reality in a country surrounded by another nation - the Arabs. Is it possible to live in peace with the Arab reality without trying to get to know the life of the Arabs? Can anyone who opens up to Arab society deny that religious life is central to it? In Israeli society the secular element is dominant and therefore it was natural that leading Israeli thinkers would assume that Palestinian society is also led by secular thinking. But is this the Palestinian reality?

I would like, from my experience, to address the burning question of the week: Is it possible to live in peace with Hamas? However, I would like to begin by relating something from my own dealings with the Palestine Liberation Organization. I invested a great deal (in opposition to the opinion of my community and friends in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and to the opinion of the governments of Israel) in speaking at length with Yasser Arafat. Did I find at the head of the PLO a secular leader who was prepared to suppress the Islamic forces for the sake of the future of the two peoples? It is hard to find words to express how far the man was from this miserable delusion. It may be put quite strongly: Denial of the man?s religious character, which is the denial of the religious character of his people, is the main reason that the goodwill of Israeli, American and European peace-seekers led to the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Over the years I have sent greetings to religious Palestinians on the two main holidays of Islam, Id al-Adha and Id al-Fitr. In recent years - ever since the terror attacks on the United States - I have repeated a single idea in my greetings: Both of our peoples are small peoples, but they could have a great role. The Israelis as representatives of Western culture and the Palestinians as representatives of the Muslim world can build the bridge between the two worlds. Indeed here in the Holy Land it is possible to build the inter-religious bridge that is so needed for peace in the entire world. The chairman of the PLO became enthusiastic anew each time at this religious vision, and again and again would order the publication of the letters of greeting in the Palestinian press.

Thus far I have dealt with the easier part: making the case that the Muslim element is very strong in the heart of the PLO and not only in the Islamic movements. But here, of course, it is necessary to ask the harder question: If this is the case - is peace possible with a people in whom religion is so strong? And this week, of course, it is necessary to concentrate on the question of whether it is possible to live in peace with Hamas.

First of all, gratitude must be expressed to Shimon Peres. It was he who (despite the objections of the Shin Bet security service) opened the gates of the prison to me to enable long discussions with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and I will offer something of these discussions here. The truth must be acknowledged: Those (secular people?) who think that a devout Muslim will have a profound problem that is not just political in associating with an Israeli who sends out a message of atheism, and also often scorn, with respect to religion in general and Islam in particular - are correct. But what can be done? More than once I have heard in conversations with Hamas leaders the extravagant witticism: "With you we could make peace in five minutes."

We talked for many long hours. I spoke with Yassin about a truce on a religious basis. The religious leaders clearly heard the statement: "We Jews believe in our vision of the future, and you Muslims believe in your vision of the future. All believers know who runs the world. Why not leave something to him, blessed by he? The prophet said: 'He that believeth shall not make haste' (Isaiah 28:16). Why be infected with the impatience of the Western atheist who wants people to solve all the problems right now? Perhaps it is right and worthwhile for the believer to expect strengthening and revelation in the future, and in the meantime to live with arrangements that take into consideration the sensitivities of religious people and enable every religious community to live within its faith."

When I sat with the head of the Shin Bet, I told him what Yassin said. He did not believe it. I suggested to him that he send someone on his behalf to our conversations, to listen and report back to him. He considered this and decided not to, and said that he did not believe the religious can make peace with one another.

When Nachshon Waxman was kidnapped by a Hamas cell, I spoke with Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, who agreed to a cease-fire as a result of which the two hostages would be released from both the sides. But the government of Israel replied: We do not make agreements with a terror organization.

When Israel was compelled to release Sheikh Yassin in the "Khaled Meshal affair," I went to visit him in his home in Gaza with a letter from the chief rabbi of Israel and requests from many rabbis to turn over a new leaf in the relations between the religions. He received me publicly and before the eyes of hundreds of his followers and many representatives of the media, whom Hamas had invited mainly from the Arab world, and declared: "This is the rabbi with whom I had conversations several times in prison. He always suggests a cease-fire on a religious basis. And I agree to a cease-fire on a religious basis."

But the government of Israel did not respond to this declaration. And afterward quite different pronouncements were made.

If the government of Israel gives the rabbis of Israel the opportunity to act for peace within their field, the inter-religious field, perhaps we will be granted peace with Islam, which is so needed for this holy land. The entire world will be grateful to us for that.

The author is the rabbi of Tekoa in the West Bank.