Theo Klein is a lawyer and honorary President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France. His letter was published in the Paris daily Le Monde of Sept. 6, 2001, and translated by EIR.
Ariel Sharon, if I have decided to address this letter to you publicly, as head of the government of Israel, by way of Le Monde, it is because I have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to say loud and clear that Israel's policy of réplique [response] has reached its extreme point of absurdity.
This is no longer a policy—which would imply thinking, and an objective considered possible—it is a tragic brawl which is, unfortunately, engulfing all our moral values.
Yes, this action is absurd, because it only fuels passions and hatred, because it rallies the Palestinian population around those they consider to be their fighters, and because it holds the Israeli population in the illusion of a false security.
When will you admit that it is Israeli tanks and missiles that stir up the winds of revolt which is daily fed by fighting, searches, and a systematic mistrust that gives our neighbors the impression of being constantly suspected of being terrorists, simply because they are not Israelis? How can you not understand that even this so-called security action, if it is done every day, ends up being an element of insecurity?
This understandable, but insanely carried-out action—which is necessarily brutal given the lack of appropriate men and means—has become a goal in itself, and repeating it again and again arouses, among the youth, an even stronger will to fight and to sacrifice.
How could we, who, through pain and suffering, learned how to survive against brutal force, forget that a people never bows down without fighting? You, who claim to represent the Jewish tradition, should remember the words of our prophets: "For it is not force that makes the conqueror," Samuel said; whereas Zacharias stated some centuries later: "Neither by force nor by the army, but by the mind."
It is up to you as leader of a state—with all its history and the creativity of its citizens, it is up to you to make the political gesture which would end the hopeless spiral of violence. It is incumbent upon you to take the difficult but necessary initiative. Stefan Zweig wrote, "For intelligent minds, ending a conflict by arms can never be moral."
May I reaffirm the conviction that I had the privilege of telling you personally, on the eve of your election: the first step to be taken, one that is both a historical necessity and, above all, a moral imperative, is to recognize that the Palestinians have the freedom to proclaim their state. It is necessary to go even further and claim for Israel the privilege of being the first state to recognize the legitimacy of this State of Palestine: A state with which Israel must share common land.
The representative authorities of both states must negotiate a cease-fire: then, later, the drawing of the border. The Palestinian nation was born on the same upsurge as the one that allowed the birth of the Israeli nation. Putting an end to the fratricidal struggle that sets the two inheritors of the same land against one another can only be accomplished by a fair division. Jerusalem, to which we have never stopped looking and which we have longed for, must become the symbol of a shared future. We must stop this blind confrontation, which feeds on blood, suffering, and hate.
Today, you alone carry on your shoulders, voluntarily, the supreme responsibility. Your problem is not to measure the credibility of the leader of the Palestinians—that is their business. Your duty is to offer them, as equals, the dawning of a new era, in which both peoples can live and develop within the borders of their state. Israel's honor, which you are responsible for, must be to offer peace, without subjecting it or abandoning it to the good will of extremists.
What about terrorism, you might ask? It can only be fought, as you well know, within each people—once they no longer consider it as a form of combat. If a terrorist is supported by the people, he becomes a combatant.
As you well know, in order to impose a return to "absolute calm for seven days" on a Palestinian Authority whose structures have been destroyed, requires recognizing the state whence that authority must issue.
This historical role imposed on you by Israeli democracy can only be assumed if you realize that the decision can only depend upon you alone.
You know it, you have told me so: It is neither tanks nor missiles that provide a solution to this deadly conflict, rife with fear and hatred. You are no longer that daring general. You are not crossing the Suez Canal for a second time! Today, Ariel Sharon, you are responsible for the history of Israel; its honor is at stake. Tear down the wall of hate, overturn the barriers of rejection, go and offer the Palestinian people, in the name of the Israeli people, the bread and salt of peace and good-neighborliness.
Yes, I admit it, my words do not have the same apparent solidity as military action. They run the risk of being misunderstood, but all of human history teaches us that only intelligence can conquer violence. Be firm and courageous.
