[lbo-talk] Hamas explicates Hudna

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Wed Nov 1 19:37:31 PST 2006


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

The New York Times

November 1, 2006

Op-Ed Contributor

Pause for Peace

By AHMED YOUSEF

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 ones 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 its 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.



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