Reading another article in today’s Ha’aretz titled Israel's radical left has given up on taking power I felt compelled to write a comment for the article.
The article talks about the Israeli left’s failure to make a real impact in Israel and dwindling relevance in the Israeli political scene. It reminisces about the 1992 elections, and how Yitzchak Rabin managed to round up the troops and win an election. One in which there was a wide consensus both among Israeli Arabs and Jews that wanted to move the country towards peace. And how after Rabin’s assassination the Israeli left lost its sway.
The article talks about the Israeli left’s failure to make a real impact in Israel and dwindling relevance in the Israeli political scene. It reminisces about the 1992 elections, and how Yitzchak Rabin managed to round up the troops and win an election. One in which there was a wide consensus both among Israeli Arabs and Jews that wanted to move the country towards peace. And how after Rabin’s assassination the Israeli left lost its sway.
What’s remarkable to me, as an American born Jew raised in the bosom of liberal reform Jewish values and one that still holds to this day respect for all peoples of all races and religions, gender, nationality and sexual orientation (or at least those that respect me), is that I still have these values. Yet the current Israeli left, and the world opinion of Israel would seem to believe that I no longer embrace these values. And they are wrong.
And I can tell you that I’m not alone in this position. I personally know many Israelis of all colors and nationalities, genders and yes, sexual preferences, that feel this same way that 18 years ago went out and supported the Oslo process, the peace movement, and historic reconciliation. After Yitzhak Rabin was murdered, we mourned and for years attended protests, still holding onto the belief that peace was possible. Still clinging on to the hope that those on the other side of this implacable conflict wanted the same thing that we did, peaceful coexistence mutual respect of each other’s right to live freely in one’s own nation, and control of our own destinies.
And what hasn’t changed are my values, or those of the other hundreds of thousands of Israelis that went out and protested with me, of our believing that everyone is equal, or our desire to live in peace. Of believing that in the end the ideal solution would be to come to a peace agreement with the Palestinians, so they can have their own nation to build and be in control of their own destiny. No, I also haven’t abandoned my liberal values in believing that all people are created equal, and everyone should have the right to determine their own destiny, contribute their unique contribution to society, and be whatever it is they want to be.
What’s changed is that I no longer believe that the Palestinians, whether it is individuals, Palestinian society, their culture, or their government, hold these same values. Over the course of the past 18 years, with the second intifada, suicide bombings, Palestinian children murdering young Jewish couples in the forests of Jerusalem, Yasser Arafat releasing hundreds of Hamas terrorists from Jail, Palestinians electing Hamas as their government, or Palestinians Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas refusing to even sit an negotiate peace, it’s become hard to believe that the Palestinians are interested in peaceful co-existence .
And it’s not only the Palestinians that have led to this change. The international community is also responsible through broken promise after broken international promise, whether it was their promise to monitor the entry into Gaza through the Rafiah crossing to prevent the smuggling of weapons after an Israeli withdrawl, which they unilaterally abandoned at the first sign of a fight, or their broken promise to not let Hezbollah rearm after the second Lebanon war.
And of course, the growing international deligitimization campaign taking place against Israel has also had its impact, whether it be through the growing consensus among "enlightened" European nations that suggests Israel, even with a strong and independent judiciary doesn’t have the ability to make critical moral judgement for itself, the questioning of its right to define itself as a Jewish state, and even Israel's very right to exist is being questioned. Add to that the repeated public questioning of Israel's desire for peace all while the Palestinians, while completely refusing to negotiate and having clearly abandoned any pretense of coming to a negotiated peace settlement, being given unwavering support in their drive for independence inspite of their rejectionism.
Yes folks, it’s me. The same guy that believes we all deserve equal bidding in this world. I’m not alone here. I’m with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of other Israelis that still hold these same values. And contrary to what Ha’aretz is trying to brainwash you into believing, we haven’t abandoned the left. We haven’t abandoned what some call liberal values, but what I prefer to refer to as respecting everyone’s right to human dignity, regardless of their political leanings, religious beliefs, race, nationality, and so forth. No, the left has abandoned us.
In Israel, Ha’aretz newspaper repeatedly tries to portray not only me, but the entire Israeli people, as a band of racist fascists. Sure, we have our serving of those, much like any country, even the United States of America, but it’s far from all of us, also like the good old US of A.
Yes, the Israeli left has abandoned the Israeli people, they aren’t even Israeli anymore. They’re ashamed of being Israeli. As opposed to trying to productively contribute to open dialog in Israel among all peoples of all faiths, nationalities and religions, they actively work in the international arena to delegitimize Israel, our actions, and our right to self defense, even our right to self determination.
The Israeli left has become extreme, and fragmented. They’re the old kooky professor you once admired in the University for his ideals, but realized he probably should have retired long ago. For while they seem to have lost their belief in Israeli society, mistakenly claiming that we’re not the same society we once were, we still stand here with the same values we’ve always had. We’re still that same group of people that went out and supported peace with all our hearts because it’s something we so desperately wanted, and wanted to believe in. It’s not our values that have changed, it’s our faith in those that were supposed to be our partners in peace, it’s our faith in those in the world that were supposed to defend our rights, and not just those of the other side.
We didn’t abandon the left. We’ve been forced to deal with a reality that shows that our partners in peace don’t even want to talk to us, aren’t interested in mutual, peaceful coexistence, and just might not have the same values for tolerance and mutual respect as we do. Just take a look at their EU funded schoolbooks. No, it’s the left that has abandoned us. And that is what has rendered them irrelevant.
Yes folks, it’s me. The same guy that believes we all deserve equal bidding in this world. I’m not alone here. I’m with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of other Israelis that still hold these same values. And contrary to what Ha’aretz is trying to brainwash you into believing, we haven’t abandoned the left. We haven’t abandoned what some call liberal values, but what I prefer to refer to as respecting everyone’s right to human dignity, regardless of their political leanings, religious beliefs, race, nationality, and so forth. No, the left has abandoned us.
In Israel, Ha’aretz newspaper repeatedly tries to portray not only me, but the entire Israeli people, as a band of racist fascists. Sure, we have our serving of those, much like any country, even the United States of America, but it’s far from all of us, also like the good old US of A.
Yes, the Israeli left has abandoned the Israeli people, they aren’t even Israeli anymore. They’re ashamed of being Israeli. As opposed to trying to productively contribute to open dialog in Israel among all peoples of all faiths, nationalities and religions, they actively work in the international arena to delegitimize Israel, our actions, and our right to self defense, even our right to self determination.
The Israeli left has become extreme, and fragmented. They’re the old kooky professor you once admired in the University for his ideals, but realized he probably should have retired long ago. For while they seem to have lost their belief in Israeli society, mistakenly claiming that we’re not the same society we once were, we still stand here with the same values we’ve always had. We’re still that same group of people that went out and supported peace with all our hearts because it’s something we so desperately wanted, and wanted to believe in. It’s not our values that have changed, it’s our faith in those that were supposed to be our partners in peace, it’s our faith in those in the world that were supposed to defend our rights, and not just those of the other side.
We didn’t abandon the left. We’ve been forced to deal with a reality that shows that our partners in peace don’t even want to talk to us, aren’t interested in mutual, peaceful coexistence, and just might not have the same values for tolerance and mutual respect as we do. Just take a look at their EU funded schoolbooks. No, it’s the left that has abandoned us. And that is what has rendered them irrelevant.
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