I think the following gchat conversation gives some insight into Israeli leftist thinking. The irony of this conversation that sticks out most is that in visiting various villages in the West Bank, it is notable that Israel does not at all differentiate itself from the dozens of settlements it has built inside the West Bank & East Jerusalem, where police officers wear the same uniforms and use the same data systems for information sharing. Notably, Palestinian citizens of Israel are referred to as “Arabs 48” (in Arabic) and many Palestinians elsewhere refer to Israel as ’48 (the year the land of Palestine was declared the State of Israel), noting that Israel is yet to recognize their rights and their existence.
me: hey
me: I am going to be in ’48 for a stretch soon I think, because people here will begin with Eid al-Adha. So maybe I can come by and see the office during that time?
israeli leftist: yes, I am here everyday
me: k :)
me: i got detained for the 1st time yesterday btw
me: which was sort of ridiculous. i was with some farmers helping, and got detained
israeli leftist: sorry to hear that
me: no biggie. only upset bcs they took my info
israeli leftist: oy
me: writing it up now
me: army came to get us – then transfer us to police… which was odd
israeli leftist: maybe they heard you cannot utter the word “Israel” out of your mouth and decided you want to destroy Israel
me: lol
israeli leftist: seriously, why can’t you say the word “Israel”?
me: what r u talking about?
israeli leftist: you just wrote “I am going to be in ’48”
me: yeah, what’s wrong with that?
me: and why does that indicate that I cannot utter the word Israel out of my mouth?
israeli leftist: it does not indicate it, but still the use of the expression “’48” to indicate that you are going to Israel, might, albiet not necessarily, indicate that you don’t want to use the word Israel
me: first off, if you were to visit your chat history I’m sure you can find instances of me using the word Israel. second, if I said I never wanted to use the word Israel because Israel stands for the destruction of peoples’ land, ethnic cleansing, and millions of refugees both here in the west bank and across the world. If I said that I didn’t want to use Israel because my family doesn’t share equal rights there, because my uncle, a man of musical brilliance had his instruments cracked open by racist police officers there – because he was beaten brutally by a racist cop for being a Palestinian. If I said I didn’t want to say Israel for all those reasons – would that be a problem for you?
israeli leftist: yes, it is a problem for me you cannot use the word Israel.
israeli leftist: Next time I visit 1776, I will look for Guantanamo Bay
me: I have a lot of respect for you and the work you do. But please, only IM me when you’ve looked over how ridiculous this conversation is and when you start seeing me as an equal human being. If a native-american came to me tomorrow and he called the land I lived on “1776” – I would never have the audacity to have this disgusting conversation with him – and he’d be more than welcome to call it that as it’s his fuckin land I’m living on and my country that’s oppressing him.
me: Especially if my country was still actively taking his land, oppressing him, and there were laws that discriminated against him/her inside the country and a military occupation of the land he had retreated to.
israeli leftist: I wish you all the best. I am with you in this struggle, but I have no patience for this bullshit.
Andraos Tarshihee is a diaspora Palestinian human rights activist whose family are Palestinian citizens of Israel.
