Why We Must Speak Candidly About Israel/Palestine
Some time a little prior to Yitzhak Rabin's tragic assassination a cross-section of us from various CUNY colleges were engaged in a once a week, year long seminar focused on various forms of discrimination, racism, and bigotry, and ways to cope with them in the classroom and in the wider world.
By chance late in the spring that year there had been a report that IDF troops had been encouraged/permitted to smash the hands of young Palestinians throwing rocks at them with two-by-fours. Someone mentioned this and almost spontaneously a round of comments went round the table reporting bad experiences that various seminar members had had with Jews -- ranging from landlord-tenant disputes to other things that I don't recall. Someone asked who supported Israel and who did not. I was startled to find the seminar divided almost exactly along ethnic/religious lines. All the Jewish members (plus me) indicated that we supported Israel (if not in this particular instance) and all the rest -- about half reported that they did not along with the negative comments I have just mentioned.
This experience echoed my childhood memories from Connecticut and Vermont where anti-Semitism -- not the killing kind fortunately -- was nearly universally manifest along with comparable prejudices against other groups -- newer immigrants (Italian, Irish and Polish at that time) and African Americans who were locked into our New England urban ghettos.
I offer this background because I sense that there is deep unvoiced U.S. criticism -- some of it justified -- of Israel's occupation tactics and expansion into the West Bank with their disastrous effects upon the Palestinians living there. Lest we forget, Bush's right wing fundamentalist supporters are looking forward to the restoration of Israel -- followed by its apocalyptic destruction along with all the unconverted (to Christianity) Jews! This is not the sort of support that I would welcome!
From the reports from friends there Israel is running on a parallel course with the U.S. It, too, is an aggressor, Its split between poverty and wealth is dividing it. Its military, too, is drawn mainly from the "lower classes" with the children of the well off finding a variety of escapes from military service -- or at least dangerous military assignments.
The bottom line here is that, as we criticize U.S. policies that violate human rights and international conventions, we must do the same with Israel/Palestine -- as well as the oppressive Arab states over there. But caveat: 'democracy', as is all too well known, can degenerate into tyranny of the majority, can be one of the most dangerous forms of government prone to sliding easily (as Plato noted) into demagoguery. Lest we forget, Hitler was democratically elected -- if not by a majority of Germans -- to the office through which he converted Germany into a totalitarian horror.
There is nothing more dangerous than silent, subterranean racism -- or anti-Semitism -- which I fear still haunts us here in the U.S. We are seeing this sort manifested in the all too typically American anti immigrant uproar -- how many actually favor the Republican Congressional vote to declare 11 million residents felons? We shall see.
I am fully aware of the deep animosities between the Israelis and Palestinians. But Israel is the dominant presence there and I see no alternative to it taking the initiative towards 'truth and reconciliation'. Such has been achieved elsewhere. Israel must find its own Nelson Mandela.
Lest we forget -- xenophobia and the disposition to oppress and start murderous wars are inherent flaws in human nature. We have no other alternative but to expose them for what they are so that we can counter their deadly consequences -- which we can only do by speaking out candidly while there is still time.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
By chance late in the spring that year there had been a report that IDF troops had been encouraged/permitted to smash the hands of young Palestinians throwing rocks at them with two-by-fours. Someone mentioned this and almost spontaneously a round of comments went round the table reporting bad experiences that various seminar members had had with Jews -- ranging from landlord-tenant disputes to other things that I don't recall. Someone asked who supported Israel and who did not. I was startled to find the seminar divided almost exactly along ethnic/religious lines. All the Jewish members (plus me) indicated that we supported Israel (if not in this particular instance) and all the rest -- about half reported that they did not along with the negative comments I have just mentioned.
This experience echoed my childhood memories from Connecticut and Vermont where anti-Semitism -- not the killing kind fortunately -- was nearly universally manifest along with comparable prejudices against other groups -- newer immigrants (Italian, Irish and Polish at that time) and African Americans who were locked into our New England urban ghettos.
I offer this background because I sense that there is deep unvoiced U.S. criticism -- some of it justified -- of Israel's occupation tactics and expansion into the West Bank with their disastrous effects upon the Palestinians living there. Lest we forget, Bush's right wing fundamentalist supporters are looking forward to the restoration of Israel -- followed by its apocalyptic destruction along with all the unconverted (to Christianity) Jews! This is not the sort of support that I would welcome!
From the reports from friends there Israel is running on a parallel course with the U.S. It, too, is an aggressor, Its split between poverty and wealth is dividing it. Its military, too, is drawn mainly from the "lower classes" with the children of the well off finding a variety of escapes from military service -- or at least dangerous military assignments.
The bottom line here is that, as we criticize U.S. policies that violate human rights and international conventions, we must do the same with Israel/Palestine -- as well as the oppressive Arab states over there. But caveat: 'democracy', as is all too well known, can degenerate into tyranny of the majority, can be one of the most dangerous forms of government prone to sliding easily (as Plato noted) into demagoguery. Lest we forget, Hitler was democratically elected -- if not by a majority of Germans -- to the office through which he converted Germany into a totalitarian horror.
There is nothing more dangerous than silent, subterranean racism -- or anti-Semitism -- which I fear still haunts us here in the U.S. We are seeing this sort manifested in the all too typically American anti immigrant uproar -- how many actually favor the Republican Congressional vote to declare 11 million residents felons? We shall see.
I am fully aware of the deep animosities between the Israelis and Palestinians. But Israel is the dominant presence there and I see no alternative to it taking the initiative towards 'truth and reconciliation'. Such has been achieved elsewhere. Israel must find its own Nelson Mandela.
Lest we forget -- xenophobia and the disposition to oppress and start murderous wars are inherent flaws in human nature. We have no other alternative but to expose them for what they are so that we can counter their deadly consequences -- which we can only do by speaking out candidly while there is still time.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 11:05 AM
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