The sleeping giant, the Egyptian people have risen to their full height. But was it just a mirage? Will they desert us tomorrow?
Peace is so far from these parts that everything is seen as the steps to the next war. On their side, the demagogues will have a fun time whipping up the crowd for Al Quds, but it will be mostly on Fridays and forgotten by Sunday, the way forward is not war and they know it. But do we in Israel know it?
“We cannot afford to forget the science of war,” our generals say. But why are the generals so prominent on the center stage. Not a good sign. Necessity is the mother of invention, but necessity says we must change. To others necessity says, ”We must be steadfast.”
My Arabic is “jadid”, new and “maksour”, broken, but here’s what I say to the Egyptian people,
“Ahlan v’sahlan, marchaba,”
“Welcome to the world of talkers, let us sit and talk.”
You are a large nation part of a larger nation part of a large religion.
We are a small nation part of a small nation of the mother religion.
The major power in Israel is fear.
If it were indeed hatred, then we’d “deserve our fate.”
But if it is fear, then we are just reacting to the reality.
And you can help form that reality.
A popular Israeli song from decades ago,
“Suddenly a man rises
in the morning
and feels like a nation.”
And this is what you are exhibiting.
rising from the despair of tyranny
and reaching for your full height.
May you reach your full height
and may it include openness to the other.
