Words, Words, Words

THIS RAISES the question about the Wall.

When the government decided to create a physical obstacle between Israel and the Occupied Territories -- partly for expansion, partly for genuine security reasons -- a name was needed. It is built mainly on occupied land, annexing in practice large areas. It is a fence in open areas, a wall in built-up ones. So we simply called it "the Wall" or "the Fence," and started weekly demonstrations.

The "Wall/Fence" became odious around the world. So the army looked around for a term that sounded non-ideological and chose "separation obstacle." However, this term now appears only in official documents.

WITH WHOM are we negotiating about the Political Settlement? Ah, there is the rub.

For generations, the Zionist movement and the State of Israel denied the very existence of a Palestinian people. In the 1993 Oslo Agreement, this idiotic pretense was dropped and we recognized the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people." But the Palestinian state was not mentioned, and until this very day our government abhors the terms "Palestinian state" or "State of Palestine."

Even today the term "Palestinians" evokes conscious or unconscious rejection. Most commentators speak about a political settlement with "our neighbors" -- by which they do not mean the Egyptians, Jordanians, Syrians or Lebanese, but You Know Who.

In Oslo, the PLO negotiators strenuously insisted that their new state-in-the-making should be called the "Palestinian National Authority." The Israeli side vehemently objected to the word "National." So the agreement (actually a "Statement of Principles") calls it the "Palestinian Authority" and the Palestinians themselves call it the "Palestinian National Authority." Palestinians who need urgent medical treatment in Israeli hospitals are turned back if they bring financial documents signed by the "Palestinian National Authority."

SO THE fight goes on along the semantic front. For me, the really crucial part is the fight for the word Peace. We must reinstate it as the central word in our vocabulary. Clearly, loudly, proudly.

As the hymn of the peace movement (written by Yankele Rotblit as an appeal by the fallen soldiers to the living) says:

"Therefore, sing a song to peace / Don't whisper a prayer / Sing a song to peace / In a loud shout!"