My blog is screwing up; perhaps Benedict XVI has formally excommunicated me like he always threatened to do on his LiveJournal. Oh well.
In studying (or being forced to study) the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one very strong theme emerged: there were two Israels. One was Israel as it truly is, the other a deeply distorted picture of the country as many saw it.
The False Israel: A blood-drenched, aggressive, imperialist state, usually run by a council of bearded Elders of Zion who revel in the suffering of the Palestinians. Probably there’s some puppet or marionette reference in regards to Israeli’s relationship with the United States.
The Real Israel: Peaceful, altruistic, socially progressive, agnostic, and wholeheartedly dedicated to democracy. As Martin Buber one said, a Jewish state could never be a goyishe nation, "with cannons, flags and military decorations". People like Ben-Gurion were trying to build a society such as has never been seen before on earth. Of course, political realities made such a civilization practically impossible, and it’s not complete yet, but progress had been made.
Yet as i sit down to my improvised seder tomorrow, here’s the really striking thing about the whole situation:
Palestinians in general, fed on a diet of Dark-Ages PA media and constant contact with the rougher elements of Israeli policy (security barriers, continued military presence in Palestinian territories, etc.), hate the imagined picture of Israel and refuse to acknowledge that the true Israel exists.* This makes sense if one considers that if people see the country as it really is, they would neither want to harm it nor blame its defenders for wanting to preserve it. Of course, to the critics it doesn’t matter that huge majorities of Israelis oppose such measures, as 80% want to withdraw from Gaza, 2/3 want the settlements dismantled, and 75% desire a two-state solution (all poll numbers are according to the Israeli policy Forum). Even though almost all of Israel wants only the best for their Palestinian neighbors, they've never gained the security needed to let that altruism come into full effect..
To various degrees, Ultra-orthodox Jews and their allies among right-wing American Zionists idolize the gruesome caricature of Israel and despise the real thing. How could they not? It’s the embodiment of everything they stand against: peace-loving, feminist, secular, environmentally conscious, socially liberal, emphasizing cooperation over competition, and with no great desire to impose their particular Gospel on those who don’t want it.
Even today, it’s the religious settler types who demand money and protection while contributing absolutely nothing to society, and it is they who are responsible for why Israel still does not have a real constitution (“Israel’s constitution is the Torah!!”) and lacks some basic liberties, such as civil marriage.
Some people accuse me of being anti-religious; I’m not. I’m anti-clerical, because I don’t think dedication to higher calling should be about enriching yourself, and I’m anti-dogmatic because I don’t see the point of having faith if it doesn’t make you a better person. And any true understanding of Judaism cannot fail to instill one with a sense of social justice. After all, doesn't the Hagadah say (roughly) "Oppress no stranger among you, for remember that you were once strangers in the land of Egypt."
One might say there’s not really an equivalency between what the two groups would do to Israel if they had the chance. Fine, but the fact remains that neither outcome is desirable, as the spirit and value of Israel would still be utterly destroyed.
Ariel Sharon might be the darling of the Project for a New American Century, but if he (much less someone like Ehud Barak) tried to suggest Israeli domestic policies here, he’d be called a Communist and get death threats from Ann Coulter. And Sharon is to the right of most Israelis!
If Israel were magically moved from the Middle East to Western Europe, they’d become just another part of ‘Old Europe’ and be deemed irrelevant. If Israel were in South America, Bush would declare Sharon ‘a Hugo Chavez wannabe’ and try to spark a coup. Conversely, if American-style democracy and economics were imposed on Israel, the whole country would collapse tomorrow.
I really cannot wait for peace in the region. It’s going to be very interesting.
*Actually, I’m not entirely sure how effective PA propaganda is, as 70% of Palestinians want to end attacks on Israeli civilians. Still, it’s definitely there, and it’s hard to have a decent society where a minimum of 30% of the people want to kill civilians.
