UN-Truth

In Haaretz today, there is an interesting essay by Uzi Benziman, entitled, The core issue is not Jerusalem, in which he reflects on the murderous attack on a Jerusalem yeshiva last Thursday evening.

In the essay, Benziman writes that “On the other hand, even when the political gains MKs Zahalka, Mohammad Barakeh and Ahmad Tibi [all Israeli Arab members of the Knesset] are trying to reap among the Arab population are taken into account, there is no doubting the authenticity of the way they perceive the IDF raids in the Gaza Strip. They see these actions as expressions of racism, aggression and arrogance, and of the profound hatred Israel’s Jewish citizens and their leaders feel for the Palestinian people.

“It remains to be seen who, if at all, dispatched [the apparent attacker] Dhaim from the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood in Jerusalem to open fire on students at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva. Clearly, however, he was driven by an enormous hostility for all Israelis. In the more than 100 years of their conflict, Israelis and Palestinians have not found a way to limit their mutual suspicion and prejudices. On the contrary: As the years pass the hatred grows, the frustration intensifies, the desire for vengeance increases, and each side becomes less and less able to develop an understanding for the distress and anxieties of the other.

“The core issues of the conflict are not Jerusalem, the right of return or the question of borders; the reactor that generates the energy which feeds and intensifies the conflict is located in the mutual perception of Israelis and Palestinians. As long as Israelis are described in Palestinian textbooks and discourse as demonic conquerors, as an alien breed that must be driven out, as defilers of the holies of Islam – as long as that is the case, there can be no basis for reconciliation. As long as Israelis are unable to shake off the image of the Palestinians as being solely a menacing force that should (and can) be eradicated by any means, because it refuses to accept the very existence of the Zionist state – until then, the conditions for arriving at an understanding will not be formed”. This essay can be read in full on Haaretz’s website here .

What is also very striking is how much bad-mouthing and contempt for Islam is expressed in Israel these days. Islam is now clearly seen as the enemy — though this is an extremely dangerous phenomenon. Did it start with George W. Bush’s designation of “Islamo-Fascism” as the enemy? Or, did it merely become bolder afterwards?

Here, I often hear very troubling opinions expressed by Israelis — educated and influential Israelis — to the effect that: “Islam has a culture of death”. Or, “We have a problem with radical Islam”. Or, “We are facing a religious enemy, not a political enemy”.

In a briefing for journalists last week in Jerusalem, Mark Regev, who is Prime Minister Olmert’s spokesperson, said “We have to maintain the initiative, in a fluid process, and a situation where the other side remains on the defensive, as long as Hamas is as we see it today — stuck in an extremist, anachronistic, theological world”.

Filed under: Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians