The secret to a lasting Israeli/Palestinian peace.....

Only democracy can provide the necessary means for the public ownership of a peace process that will ultimately define the Palestinians' fate as a nation

With the international community working full speed to prod the Israelis and Palestinians into renewed peace talks, it is critical to take a hard look at the obstacles that stand in the way of lasting peace. It is genuine Palestinian democracy that could mean the difference between a shaky deal with Yasser Arafat and a lasting peace with the Palestinian people. Only democracy, with its built-in accountability mechanisms and capacity for incorporating disparate points of view can provide the necessary means for the public ownership of a peace process that will ultimately define the Palestinians' fate as a nation.

Fortunately, the building blocks of Palestinian democracy already exist. The Oslo agreement contains a road map to Palestinian democracy that includes the creation of the institutions of an eventual Palestinian state. The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), a part of the Oslo plan and formed after open and contested elections in 1996, has been an active, if marginal player in Palestinian politics. Arafat's own position as "Ra'ees", or President was legitimized by the same 1996 election. International donors and organizations, including Canadian and American development agencies, have attempted to reinforce emerging Palestinian political institutions through technical assistance and advice.

What happened? Why, with the institutions of democracy at their disposal, have Palestinians taken so vehemently to the streets to disabuse their leaders and the international community of any comfort that the latest deal will hold?

There are two interconnected and overriding factors at play, both virtually guaranteeing that yet another shaky peace deal will be struck that can be blown apart by virtually any provocateur, be they Palestinian or Israeli. An increasingly authoritarian Palestinian Authority has marginalized the PLC, Palestinian civil society and media, making allusions to the need for Palestinian solidarity in the face of Israeli power, as they push aside moderate opinion and dissenting voices. Diplomats and deal makers, seduced by the simplicity of negotiating with a handful of key Palestinians, have given short shrift to the long-term implications of a bargain struck without the consent of the population of one side.

No one doubts that Israeli politicians are constrained by an unruly Knesset, shaky government alliances and volatile Israeli opinion. No one doubts that Israelis agonize over the details of the latest potential compromise. Ultimately, however, any deal Ariel Sharon makes will be scrutinized in great detail and loudly debated in every forum. A peace plan will have to pass muster in the Knesset, in a referendum and ultimately, in an election. All Israeli voices will be heard, extreme opinions moderated, every view taken into account, and, finally, an arrangement adopted which will likely stand the test of time.

Yasser Arafat is similarly constrained by the Palestinian "street". Rumors of deals that don't go far enough mobilize thousands, including the young, willing to martyr themselves for the cause. Unlike Israel, however, there is no forum for moderate voices to be heard, no political crucibles for the shaping of difficult tradeoffs, and, at this writing, no plans for a referendum or election to confer the ultimate legitimacy on a deal. The rigid Palestinan political system, unlike a democracy, cannot absorb outside blows and the people have no outlet but the street. As William Butler Yeats put it, "The best lost all conviction and the worst are filled with passionate intensity".

Pressured by the understandable urgency to resolve the Arab/ Israeli conflict, and, perhaps, worried that a messy Palestinian democratic process will undermine an already difficult negotiating climate, the international community has dramatically underestimated the importance of Palestinian democracy - to ill effect. In future negotiations, democracy can and should be pushed as part of the package that will bring lasting peace.

A democratic Palestinian Authority is not a panacea for the ills affecting the peace process and it would be naïve to think that democracy alone could have prevented the breakdown we are witness to today. However, democracy could go a long way in building the foundation of a stable state in which the average Palestinian, rather than feeling the perpetual victim, would be a citizen with political rights on par with that of his Israeli neighbors. Canadians know firsthand that democracy is not only a moral position, but a pragmatic device to enable peoples of different nationalities and religions to co-exist in peace and prosperity.

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