(Unidentified Israeli activist, arrested last weekend in Safa, the West Bank. Photo by Laura Weisman.)
Joseph Dana writes:
There is a minority in Israel that is willing to risk life and limb to stand up to the occupation at its core. Multiple times a week, groups of Israelis venture through checkpoints into the West Bank in order to meet with Palestinian counterparts and help them maintain the basic necessities of livelihood and hold on to what little land they still legally own. We are continually attacked by settlers and harassed by Israeli authorities, which try to restrict our efforts and often use excessive force. Despite the constant obstacles and fear of arrest, court dates and injury, we continue to fight the occupation with nonviolence.
As an Israeli actively contesting the overt and covert policies of my government, I have been struck with a feeling of familiarity and identification with the events that have been unfolding in Iran. The images of young people flooding the streets, confronting the authorities and standing up for the rule of law is similar to the Israelis who confront the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank. I see students in Tehran, of the same age as myself, using twitter and blogs to communicate information from the ground in the face of great censorship. I have been watching the YouTube videos from the front line and it conjures up the same feelings as the videos that we are making in the West Bank. It is a different situation in Tehran but one cannot ignore the common determination to challenge governmental policies, take risks and get the word out. In both countries, the only way to do that is to make your presence known in the most corporeal way.
Iran and Israel are different countries with different systems of government, histories and values. The current regime in Iran is authoritarian while in Israel we have democratic systems, at least as far as the Jewish residents are concerned. But there are also similarities: both countries’ national characters stress the bond between religion and state and are ideologically driven, such that both societies necessarily have elements of oppression and movements against that oppression. The struggle that many young people are taking up against the current Iranian government regarding the election has never taken place in Israel. But Israel’s parliamentary system is horribly flawed and it is widely agreed in Israel that it is in desperate need of reform.
Both Israel and Iran have sizeable populations of people under the age of thirty. These populations carry an unusually heavy burden. In Iran, as in Israel, the country places on its youth the weight of defending its country in the military. The obsession with defense and strength falls directly on the shoulders of the countries’ youth. With responsibility comes voice. In Iran, the youth has been finding its voice quickly and strongly in the past weeks. In Israel it has been a long process, but in both places, it requires the steadfastness of defiance.
If you feel solidarity with the struggle in Iran over elections, don’t forget that in Israel we have our own resistance, a homegrown and genuine resistance. In both countries, law-abiding citizens are looking to reform their governments’ policies out of a commitment to make their country a better place to live in.
Related posts:
- American activist critically injured by Israeli troops in the West Bank village of Ni’lin
- Israel’s ongoing colonization of the West Bank and saber rattling over Iran exposes the ‘fiction of US-Israeli mutual interest’
- West Bank protesters imagine a binational future (with only Arab media watching)
- Activists stage picnic to show Israeli military’s double standard when it comes to West Bank settlers
- Israeli army ups the violence against activists in the West Bank
{ 32 comments }
Reading John McCain's strident criticism of Obama's measured stance on Iran, it occurs to me that he is unable to grasp the concept of negative moral authority. He assumes that a stern lecture against the repressive government from the US President will support and encourage those in the streets in fighting on against oppression, completely unaware that it is more likely to have the opposite effect. As Joe Klein points out today, the Iranians all know the US supported Iraq in its invasion of Iran, and most believe in their hearts that the US supplied the chemical weapons that left a generation of survivors with painful disabilities. The threat of US and Israeli action against Iran is the great fear mongered among the Iranian people by Ahmadenijad and other hardliners to silence opposition. McCain is a hothead who picked a lot of fights in his life, basically to show everyone that he is a bad ass and a fighter. John, you have to pick your fights carefully, if you are to be an effective leader.
I hate to say it, but it's not a very sound comparison. Although one can draw parallels between many different popular resistance movements around the world, advocating the rights of others (whether it benefits you or not) cannot be compared with a movement that is demanding rights for itself. The momentum, energy and power of the two will not come close. The closest thing that we have had here in Israel were the demonstrations in 1982 against the war in Lebanon. However, those protests had much more to do with sending Israeli kids off to war and government accountability (being lied to by Sharon) than advocating the rights of Lebanese. I really don't mean to take away from the Israeli groups and movements that are on the ground trying to change the reality, but it's not the same thing and it can never be the same thing. The only comparable type of movement around here exists among the Palestinians, but let's leave that alone for now.
Although it's more related to the Iranian protests than the settler violence, this article is a must read: Asia Times: 'Color' revolution fizzles in Iran By M K Bhadrakumar.
RE: "Unidentified Israeli activist…" MY COMMENT: No offense intended, but he looks like an Arab. Are you certain that he's an Israeli? (an attempt at levity)
Dickerson3870 "No offense intended, but he looks like an Arab. Are you certain that he's an Israeli? (an attempt at levity) " Are you KIDDING!! What a stupid thing to say. I dont even know why it matters. Yes, he is definitely an Israeli, but it is sometimes difficult to see any difference and you know why….because WE are ALL HUMAN. And deserve to be treated as such. Peace to all.
Thank you, Joseph. We need to be reminded that Israel is not monolithic, not the brutal reality it's leaders prefer to seem, but a country of people with differing views. Thank you for being someone I can trust.
You are speaking to an obtuse man–I almost kicked my TV in this morning when McCain was live on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. He does not have the imagination or empathy to imagine himself a born and bred Iranian for even a second, looking out through Iranian eyes at what the US has done directly and indirectly to Iran, and what it has done to the neighborhood by its slavish support of Israel–not to mention what our foreign policy has done to his own country's once noble reputation. He's what's known as "a thick mick." I can say that as I am mostly Irish myself.
He sure looks like plenty of American Jewish guys I've known, right here in the USA. Besides, aren't both Arabs and Jews semitic–except the ones that were born of intermarriage in Western countries? So the DNA is closer accordingly… hence the looks.
Yes. Thank you, Joseph.
It was a legitimate question Dana. Your empty platitude aside, yes we are all human.
Um, last time I checked most Israelis were polled as being in full support of the Gaza massacre. Most Israeli Jews that is of course. 80-85 %. So technically it's true that there are differing views but it's more along the lines of whether the Jews should exterminate or ethnically cleanse the remaining Palestinians. It's like people saying our media represents a wide range of views. No, it's left and right tho, just within narrow parameters. 40+ years of Occupation. Israeli Jews live in an entirely different world. They live next door to this on-going war crime and do little to nothing about it. This is when peoples' true character is revealed. When you lose everything or have everything. The Jews have 'won' and have everything. Money/political immunity/affluence. The Palestinians have lost everything. This is why the issue of terrorism is such a fucking joke. Militant nationalists use terror. That's how it is. Why is it exotic all of a sudden when Islamists do it? Dishonest little fascists like Witty always bring up Hamas terror tactics as if it's an alien technology. People like him have to expound on the concept too because the logistics of the conflict paint a completely different picture. It's only when you begin painting it with that dishonest Zionist narrative that simple facts become controversial.
Give me a break. There is no comparison unless that Israeli is being duped by the West as well.
another protestor identifying with the iranians is the Shah! thr flag here is the Shahs very own http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3735417,00.html http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3735417,00.html That should tell alert people who the protesters really are.
'The threat of US and Israeli action against Iran is the great fear mongered among the Iranian people by Ahmadenijad and other hardliners to silence opposition' WHY do people keep calling president Ahmadinjad 'hardliner'??? what ever do you mean by it? He is no hardliner heres a defn: hardline refers to the doctrine, policy, and posturing of a government or political body as being absolutist, or authoritarian\ Now how is Ahmadinejad hardline?
@ Dana: "WE are ALL HUMAN. And deserve to be treated as such. Peace to all. " I'm with Strahl on this one. I think his analysis of "empty platitudes" and how Israelis "live next door to this on-going war crime and do little to nothing about it. This is when peoples' true character is revealed. When you lose everything or have everything" is right on. The same might be said for the Israel lobby and Jewish Zionists in America, who have so much, yet insist on wringing the U.S. and the Palestinians for ever more. More and more. Never enough. Yes, they are human. But do Zionists and their Left/Right collaborators deserve to be treated "peacefully" if doing so means they will only ratchet their murderous abuses ever tighter? [cont'd]
Your Age of Aquarius slogans might be well intended, but they convey, unfortunately, the kinds of naive and intellectually lazy attitudes that allowed political Judaism to infiltrate the U.S. power structure and, working in conjunction with its Left/Right collaborators, co-opt its resources for its own benefit and murderous agenda. Empty platitudes and assumed postures of gullibility and naivety as a strategy for confronting aggressively malicious ideologies and their corrupt (and corrupting) agendas is no long term answer. Zionists inevitably interpret it as a sign of weakness, which in turn encourages another offensive.
Who gives a husky fuck what John McCain thinks? Only American media, desperate to maintain Republican equivalence. Nobody else.
"Empty platitudes and assumed postures of gullibility and naivety as a strategy for confronting aggressively malicious ideologies and their corrupt (and corrupting) agendas is no long term answer. Zionists inevitably interpret it as a sign of weakness, which in turn encourages another offensive." Ed, when Mondoweiss explains to the Israelis and American Jews just what the facts are, and how much suffering they are causing, they will come to their senses, and be filled with remorse and regret. And the whole world will see it, and respect the Jews even more. Than the Jews will elect Phil Weiss as their King, with Adam taking up the Vice-King role. The upside potential of gently "correcting" Zionism is tremendous! And you, my friend, are in on the ground floor! The stock options alone will make you secure for life.
I agree, Mooser. Our situation is dire enough under Pres. Obama. I shudder to think how truly screwed we would be now if Sen. McCain had been elected.
Brian, there is no Shah. I can call myself the Shah, but that doesn't make it so. The last Shah is dead, and his son is a pathetic pretender for a throne that no longer exists, and will not be re-created. There is variance within any large group of people. The fringe do not define the mainstream, and your attempt to do so is disingenuous at best.
Uh, he support use of torture as a tool of governance. Hmm … Israel does the same. While it may be incorrect to credit him with the authoritarian decision to send the Basiji, a poorly trained and un-uniformed militia, into the street to exercise the states monopoly of violence, he certainly didn't publicly disagree with it. He has no command authority, in spite of ridiculous repetitive claims to contrary, over the Iranian army, he may however have such over the Revolutionary Guards and Basiji; I don't know. I also don't know who is at the top of the chain of command of their state, as opposed to local or regional, police.
I was reminded this weekend why I stopped watching cable news. Turned on NBC cable news saturday morning to see what was happening. They were in the middle of a very sycophantic interview with a Pahlevi spokesman about the riots in Tehran. Yes these people will raise their ugly heads now and then, but the are totally irrelevant.
The State of Israel within pre-1967 borders has no more legitimacy than Germany in Occupied Poland in 1940. For an Israeli Zionist interloper to protest only the Occupation is comparable to the protesting of a Geman during WW2 against the invasion of the Soviet Union when he still wants to keep occupied Poland. Palestine Think Tank: Susan Abulhawa – Does Israel Really Have a Right to Exist?
And Mooser will be the Shakespearean jokster in the grand finale, he likes to think. Actually Mooser is no better than an old trailer park guy, though he imagines himself differently.
I agree. If McCain had won we'd be in four wars now. Not only Iraq and Afghanistan but also Georgia and Iran.
Except, apparently, Dickerson3870.
US also uses the tool of torture to govern.
Just to clear up those questions about who exercises authority over whom, the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guard) is structured parallel to the Armed Forces, with its own commander-in-chief, but he ultimately answers to the Supreme Leader as does the commander of the Armed Forces. The Basij militia is subordinate to the Revolutionary Guard, functioning as a reserve unit, so it ultimately answers to Khamene'i as well. All law enforcement, on the other hand, including the riot police, fall under the authority of the Ministry of Interior, which answers to the President. Most of this information can be found in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (the duties of the Supreme Leader are found in Article 110, the Pasdaran is described in Article 150, and "appointment of ministers" [by the President] is in Article 133). Note: I used different sources for the one-document Constitution link and by-page Chapter links, and haven't verified the exactness of each.
', he support use of torture as a tool of governance' where has he ever said or done this , Colin? 'While it may be incorrect to credit him with the authoritarian decision to send the Basiji, a poorly trained and un-uniformed militia, into the street to exercise the states monopoly of violence, he certainly didn't publicly disagree with it.' how do you know? But your climbdown is nice…What other lies can you invent about president Ahmadinejad?
I wonder where this Israeli activist would rather live, in Iran or the West Bank? My guess is that if given the choice many West Bank Palestinians would prefer the so-called reformist struggle in Iran over their struggle against the Israeli occupation…
Fascist scumbag Israelis protesting aide being sent into Gaza in solidarity with a SOLDIER, Gilad Shalit: http://www.imemc.org/article/57691 Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinian CIVILIANS are held in Israel's 'detention centers' and are regularly tortured. Oh and Israel routinely kidnaps Palestinian children: http://www.imemc.org/article/57691 Typical Zionist double standard. Sanctimonious scum.
Funny, I posted a reply to this, now it's vanished. Oh well. Let's try again. There is no evidence that Palestinians are routinely tortured. The articles I saw on it provide only the self-serving statements of released Palestinian criminals. One woman (given a light 6 year sentence for attempted kidnapping, and apparently not charged with whatever torture, or murder she and her terrorist comrades had planned for later) was complaining that the Israelis put her in with Jewish criminals like prostitutes. Also that they wouldn't let the Palestinians watch al-Jezeerah, so they had to watch al-Arabia instead. Oh, and other reports say that the Palestinians get food that is "unappetizing". The Israelis should be careful, apparently Terry Nichols (Oklahoma bombing conspirator) is suing his prison in the U.S. for that. Also you seem to have posted the wrong link about Israel routinely kidnapping children. The story that leads to describes children committing crimes in Jerusalem (disturbing the peace, obstructing bulldozers engaged in lawful demolition) and being taken away by the police. Here in America we call that "being arrested". Not "being kidnapped". The kids in the story were probably back home within a day or two.
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