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Contributor: jwitt
Date: 2003-03-27 20:05:07
Vox,
Once again, I understand the spirit of your arguments, but believe some of your suggestions will remain impractical for the forseeable future. I must agree that the "hardline Jewish cultural elements" have a resoundingly disproportionate influence in Israeli politics, but would strongly disagree that this represents a desire among the preponderance of Israeli society to subjugate another people. Israel has a proportional democracy, which works somewhat differently than Canadas representative democracy. The result is a bewildering array of political parties, and coalition governments where the really hardline parties, which represent a small minority end up with real power.
In fact, Canada could learn something by monitoring Israeli political outcomes. I have heard much discussion of Canada moving toward a similar system over the past few years, and although such a system may seem to have merits on the surface, we could end up with a situation where the 'Family Action Coalition' and other far right religious parties have real and disproportionate power.
As for the the location of the State of Israel, hind site is 20/20. It is interesting to note that before the 'Balfour Declaration' the British offered the Jews what is now Uganda to develop Israel, but my guess is that this might have resulted in some problems as well. Regardless, we can't turn back history and must focus on the here and now. I of course understand completely your emphasis on a need for secularity, this meshes well with my personal beliefs and those of the majority in the West. However, this won't work at all in most of the mideast for the forseeable future (if ever at all). Much as I am personally quite contemptuous of all forms of organised religion, it has formed the cultural foundation of the entire mideast to a far greater extent than the west, principally because it is the birth place of three of the worlds major religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism and is home to their major spiritual sites). A secularized Israel which encompasses both the Israelis and the Palestinians would not only require the Israelis to de-emphasize Judaism, but also the Palestinians to de-emphasize Islam- both of which will be an impossible sell. So, I think a two-State solution will remain the only course which has any hope of success in both the near and long term. My French is not the best, but I believe the ideas given in the Israel and Palestine posting in this forum offer the best hope for a lasting solution. To answer your first question: What do your Palestinian friends think of the Israeli government? On the whole, I'm surprised you really need to ask. BUT, having said that, It is definitely my experience that the Palestinians really do try to see the difference between policies resulting from political processes and Israelis as individual people (this was absolutely true of those I knew). The media has a feeding frenzy on what is not positive as opposed to what is positive. The right wing media would have us believe that the Palestinians are a faceless mass of suicide bombers, and that the West Bank is a giant Islamic Jihad Rally- an utterly absurd contention. While the left wing media would have us believe that the Israelis are all frothing with hatred, and itching to turn the West Bank into a parking lot- an equally absurd contention. Both sides are represented by REAL PEOPLE, not badly embellished abstractions which can be turned on and off with a remote control. Real people who in many cases have an enormous amount in common and really ought to be friends, but extremists on both sides and the Western Media focus only on their differences instead of what they share in common.
Let me conclude by telling you about what in many ways I regard as my greatest personal failure- the day I had beers by myself. First you must know that I am a drummer, and a big fan of Jazz music. I came to know two other drummers, both Jazz fans, with a strong degree of overlap in their cassette tape collections. One was Palestinian, the other Israeli. After some hesitation from both, I got them to agree to meet, and set up a time in a small bar near the Israel/West Bank border (both very much enjoyed having a couple beers and sitting back and relaxing, hence becoming friends with me). Neither showed up, and both gave me really lame excuses as to why, but it became clear that the real reason was fear- not of themselves or even of each other, but rather by how it might be perceived by their peers should they find out. This is why I despair when I read polarized statements which feed this mentality, and the horrible grip which extremists have on both sides. You may have initially thought that when I made reference to your earlier statements serving extremist elements, I was referring to only Palestinian extremists, however those comments serve "hardline Jewish Elements" equally as well. They provide them with the "see, the world hates us and is out to get us" ammunition which was born in the holocaust, and has since been twisted to serve the interests of a small minority of right wing ideological expansionists. So I request that you take a more nuanced approach to the middle east, and not inadvertently serve the purposes of extremists who have created a climate which keeps people who really should be friends from becoming just that.
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