Peres Expresses Hope for Mideast Peace

Former Israeli Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Shimon Peres conveyed a message of hope for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a the Institute of Politics (IOP) yesterday.

“We have to make peace now and as difficult as it may sound, I believe it’s possible,” Peres said, speaking to a packed IOP forum.

In his speech entitled, “Challenges of Democracy in the Twenty-First Century: An Israeli Perspective,” Peres, who recently served as foreign minister under current Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, discussed the evolving causes of conflict and terrorism from the 20th to 21st centuries.

Peres explained that we have “a war of terror, basically suicide bombers who can cause a great deal of death and destruction and danger. We are lucky to have the United States taking the lead to bring an end to this war.”

He emphasized the importance of land in war, calling it one of the central causes of war and obstacles to peace.

Peres then described an evolving and increasingly more globalized world, one driven by modernity and not by land.

“You cannot go back to the age of the stone and the age of land. Either you go and move with the new development and new cause and potentials,” Peres said.

He recognized that modernity is an issue in many Muslim countries, but said, “There is not a contradiction between being modern and being Muslim.”

Pointing to Turkey, Peres described a Muslim government that is taking great strides to move toward modernity.

“More and more of [Muslims] understand that they have to go and enter the new age and new opportunities,” Peres said.

Focusing his attention on Israel, Peres divided the history of Israel into two parts.

“Until the [Yom] Kippur War in 1973, Israel was fighting for its life. Its main challenge was survival.”

However, after the Kippur War, Peres described a shift in policy.

“We made peace with Egypt and gave back all the land, all the peace. We did the same thing with the Jordanians. We gave back all the land, all the water and we have a peace—at least no war—with the Jordanians. Now we are trying to reach a peace with the Palestinians.”

Peres described a culture of mistrust and dislike between Israelis and Palestinians.

“I am not sure the Palestinians like us, I’m not sure we like them…[But] you cannot change your parents, and you cannot change your neighbors… Some of us say let’s wait for the next generation. There is no guarantee that the next generation will be more flexible. We have to make a peace now,” Peres said.

He cited that the Middle East accounts for 8 percent of the world’s population, 2 percent of the world’s economy and 65 percent of world terrorism. “Solving Middle East terrorism is important for the world,” he said.

Peres added that Israel’s acceptance of the creation of a Palestinian state was an important step toward peace.

“You know the basic fact is that Israel has accepted [President Bush’s road map for peace] publicly and must follow it...Israel acknowledges the need to create a Palestinian state. It is up to the Palestinians and the problem with the Palestinians is that they don’t take their own fate in their own hands.”

Peres added that Israel had committed to dismantling the settlements, but recognized opposition.

“In Israel, we are trying to retreat from the settlement map… to dismantle settlements. When it comes to peace, you make concession, and you think you have to negotiate not only with the opposite number. The truth is you have to negotiate with your own people. It is very difficult to explain to somebody that if you want to make peace, don’t win too much.”

Audience reaction to Peres’ appearance at the Kennedy Forum was generally positive.

“He spoke very convincingly. He was very inspiring. I thought that the large forces leading to the state of terrorism that [Peres] spoke of made a lot of sense,” said Rob P. Varady ’06.

Rebecca M. Rohr ’08. a member of Harvard Students for Israel—one of the student organizations sponsoring the event—praised Peres’ speech even though she said she often disagrees with his political views.

“I thought that it was encouraging to hear an Israeli leader so optimistic about the peace process,” Rohr said.