A Palestinian-Israeli Peace Agreement? Ask Dr. Schueftan.

Okay, so who is this Dr. Schueftan?

While perhaps his is not a household name, it probably should be. He's the head of the National Securities Center at Haifa University. In earlier times he advised Itzhak Rabin as well as Ariel Sharon regarding matters of national policy. Indeed, his arguments helped Sharon decide to remove Jewish settlements from Gaza. It's a move Dr. Schueftan still cheerfully argues was exactly the correct move.

Just recently, Dr. Dan Schueftan has come out with a new book, "Palestinians in Israel - The Arab Minority's Struggle Against the Jewish State." It's based on his extensive interviews with Jews and Arabs. And, it presents a disturbing picture of Israeli Arab attitudes.

Schueftan has found that Arabs don't recognize the existence of a Jewish people. They do, of course, acknowledge that there are people who practice a Jewish religion, but the Arabs don't see them as a "people." From the Arab's point of view, Israel is little more than a manifestation of European colonialism. It's founding was illegal. It continues to lack legitimacy. And, the values it is based on are not authentic to the region.

Arab elites in Israel would like to see the destruction of everything the Jews have built. They then would like to build an Arab society on the ruins of the Jewish state. For the Israeli Arab, these are more than wishful thoughts. This is their identity.

In his study of Israeli and Arab society, Dr. Schueftan has observed the following:

1. The social divide is not between the Jew and the Arab, but rather between the haredi Jew and the non-secular Arab on one side and the secular Jew and the Christian Arab on the other.

2. Poverty, such as it is, is not really what divides the Arab and the Jew. He finds that Arabs are not as poor as generally believed. However, the haredi Jews and the Muslim Arab are indeed generally poorer than their more secular counterparts. But this difference in levels of income is not due to discrimination but rather to the social and political choices they have made.

In the families of secular Jews and Christian Arabs, women enjoy greater rights. In such families both the man and the woman work. They also tend to have fewer children.

3. But while secular Jews and Christian Arabs share many social values, Arabs, whether Christian, secular, or Muslim, view Israel as illegitimate.

Schueftan's book provides an analysis that is divided into three parts; 1. the Arab-Jewish relationship, 2. political insights into the Arab and Jewish positions, and 3. a social and economic analysis of the parties.

In the end, Dr. Schueftan concludes that there is no solution. Israel must carry on and be satisfied with what amounts to damage control. Self destruction is not an option.

Credit for the material in this review must go to the article in the Jerusalem Post written by Ben Hartman.