I came of age politically in 1968. I was 12 years old. Primaries in the democratic party were taking place for the Office of President of the United States. The civil rights movement was in full bloom and young Americans were taking to the streets against the war in Vietnam. My congressman was Allard Lowenstein, who was the leader of the anti-war movement in Congress.
Lowenstein was supporting senator Eugene McCarthy from Vermont for president. I met Lowenstein and spent a few weekends campaigning door-to-door with him in my neighborhood. One of my neighbors sponsored an event for McCarthy and I got to meet him, as well. I enlisted my parents to drive me to demonstrations against the war and to civil rights events. On weekends, a friend of mine and I campaigned for McCarthy and Lowenstein in the largest shopping mall on Long Island.
I remember watching the news every night following the senseless and very painful war in Vietnam. Most Americans had no idea how many young boys were losing their lives in a war that was thousands of miles away from home. But each night, president Johnson or one of the candidates on the Right supporting the war would make boisterous speeches and declarations about the absolutely essential need for America to stand up against communism.
Finding peace in a war-torn country
Each night, they reported about thousands of the enemy being killed and only a few American soldiers were reported killed. By the end of the war, 15 years after it began, about two million Vietnamese and almost 60,000 American soldiers were killed.
I am writing this article from Vietnam. The war here ended 48 years ago. America lost and the people of Vietnam won. I am in the north of Vietnam and I haven’t seen any war memorials but I am sure that they exist. The local people with whom we have spoken don’t speak about the war. You don’t see the results of the war in the streets. It is part of the past and legacy of a nation that fought against foreign invaders for freedom and liberation.
Vietnam was liberated but under the communist regime, it is difficult to say that people are free. There are very strict limitations on freedom of speech and organization. Our local tour guide asked about the demonstrations taking place in Israel. He commented that “we never have any demonstrations against the government in Vietnam.” It is illegal and unthinkable.
Yet since the mid-1980s and much more in the 1990s, economic reforms were made that opened the economy. Old inefficient cooperatives, especially cooperative farms were closed down and private enterprise was encouraged. Now Vietnam is a manufacturing powerhouse. Recently, the government here made a decision that the new Vietnamese automobiles, Vinfast, manufactured here will all be electric powered.
Visiting the places I recall from the war days is a bewildering experience. My associations and memories with the names of those places are with death, destruction and horrible suffering. Today, they are beautiful sites bustling with life, protected nature reserves and tourist spots with tourists from all over the world coming to enjoy what Vietnam has to offer.
LIFE IS normal. People are happy and working hard to provide themselves with the comforts that this world has to offer. It is not a wealthy country but its economy is growing. There are many places in various stages of development and sometimes it reminds me of some Arab villages and towns in Israel or in the West Bank.
But the sharp difference is the lack of tension and the aura of peace. I can’t avoid contemplating what our reality would be like if we enjoyed decades of peace. I especially can’t avoid thinking about how fruitless our ongoing war with the Palestinian people is and how much suffering is caused because we are unable to achieve peace.
There are no winners in war. The Americans lost the war in Vietnam but so did the Vietnamese – from both sides. Israelis and Palestinians continue to fight, hate and kill. Neither Israelis nor Palestinians will surrender and they are not going to leave.
The futility of our conflict increases with each passing year and the possibilities for a peaceful resolution that was once on the table are more remote than ever. The war in Vietnam ended when a right-wing US President came to his senses, declared victory and exited the war as soon as possible.
The distance between where we are and where we could be – moving towards peace – is leadership. Unfortunately, Israelis and Palestinians lack leadership that is mature and intelligent enough to understand that neither of them will win our war. We have no choice but to live together. We both have interests to protect our identity, culture, religion, and rights.
The resolution to our conflict will only be found when both sides recognize that we all possess the same right for the same rights. There is no one with more rights than the other. With almost equal numbers of Israelis and Palestinians living on the land, millions of people, we must come to our senses and understand that if we want to create a future for our children and their children that is worth living for, we must begin a process of seeking to live for our people and our land instead of dying for them.
We need leaders to declare victory and put an end to our conflict so that we can negotiate the end of the occupation and the liberation of Israelis and Palestinians from each other.
The writer is a political and social entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to Israel and to peace between Israel and its neighbors. He is now directing The Holy Land Bond and is the Middle East director for International Communities Organization (ICO).