Writing in Ha’aretz today, veteran journalist Akiva Eldar argues that “Israel can be Jewish without being racist,” but admits that, in Israel, “there is no wall separating the religious from the secular.”
He writes, “Jewish ethnocentrism – and the desire to erase the collective identity of the Palestinians and take control of their land – have been a thread linking religious and secular over the past 44 years.”
Eldar is appalled by settlers, especially the so-called “hilltop youth,” who he calls “thugs” and “young Jewish terrorists.” He also condemns recent Knesset legislation:
The most racist legislative proposals have been the product of Knesset members such as Avigdor Lieberman, Avi Dichter, Danny Danon, Yariv Levin, Faina Kirshenbaum and Anastassia Michaeli, none of whom have religious motives.
He concludes thusly:
At the end of a meeting held last week with rabbis and settlement leaders, President Shimon Peres said: “There is one thing that unites us all: not abandoning this country to a group of people who constitute a major danger to the existence of the state.”
Mr. President, it is not a marginalized “group of people” that constitutes the major danger to the existence of Israel as a democratic and Jewish state, rather than a racist and Jewish one. The seeds of lawlessness were sowed by good secular people like you.
In the past, Eldar has recognized that the story begins in 1948, not 1967. He wrote, commendably, that his “primary mission is to leave behind for my children and grandchildren a state that is loyal to these principles and values. The occupation of a people, while denying its basic rights, robbing its lands and trampling its dignity, is turning us Israelis into prisoners–prison guards spend a significant part of their lives behind prison walls.”
He went on:
Occupation does not have two sides. There is no symmetry between the occupier and the occupied. This is true even if the occupied fight the occupier with despicable and contemptuous methods. The problem of mainstream politicians and journalists in Israel–including the Zionist left–is that for years, present day included, they have accepted the conversion of the occupation into an annexation process.
Has the US media ever presented Israeli Jews as anything but white?
Richard Witty
December 19, 2011 7:32 pm
And still a Zionist, a liberal Zionist.
john h
December 19, 2011 7:54 pm
“It was not religious people who coined the phrase ‘demographic problem’; it was not they who legislated the Law of Return [giving Jews abroad the right to immigrate to Israel]; it was not they who founded the Jewish National Fund; not they who declared the policy to make the Negev and Galilee more Jewish,” he [Prof. Ishay Rosen-Zvi] writes.
the story began in 1948, not 2967? no, the story began in the late 19th century, when zionism’s founders concocted their takeover of palestine. something that’s turned out to be an unmitigated disaster for humankind, what with the zionist conquest of palestine stoking the fear and hatred that underlies all the violent messianic movements in the mideast/south asia. one has to wonder what sort of world had zionism never existed? would wwii have taken place? it was the zionists, after all, who made an agreement* early on in nazi germany that helped the nazis break an international boycott, the aim of which was to force germany to back down on its brutal treatment of jews. and once hitler backed down, would he have been able to get up again, or would he have lost his “magic” touch. a fallen nazi germany, no ww ii, no ww ii no holocaust………
*see “Zionism in the Age of the Dictators”, chapter 6, Lenni Brenner (it’s online)
MRW
December 20, 2011 4:18 am
I just read this at +972, written by Lisa Goldman:
According to a recently-passed Israeli law, a citizen who advocates for a boycott of Israeli services, institutions or products, either in Israel or the West Bank, can be sued in civil court and a serious financial penalty imposed. A plaintiff need not show damages in order to win his case; it is enough to convince the judge that there is a potential for damage. Since +972 Magazine has no financial resources, we decided that we had no choice but to censor ourselves. None of the contributors to this site is permitted to express a position either against or in favour of the global BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) movement. Since +972 is also responsible for the comments, we delete any mention of BDS in the comment threads. I have never expressed my opinion on the matter in any public forum, and now I suppose I never will.
Goldman was born in Vancouver, educated in NYC, lived in Israel for 14 years, and now lives in Toronto, cowed.
Has the US media ever presented Israeli Jews as anything but white?
And still a Zionist, a liberal Zionist.
“It was not religious people who coined the phrase ‘demographic problem’; it was not they who legislated the Law of Return [giving Jews abroad the right to immigrate to Israel]; it was not they who founded the Jewish National Fund; not they who declared the policy to make the Negev and Galilee more Jewish,” he [Prof. Ishay Rosen-Zvi] writes.
And the same can be said for most religious segregation, http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-leaders-are-to-blame-for-the-religious-segregation-they-decry-1.402330
the story began in 1948, not 2967? no, the story began in the late 19th century, when zionism’s founders concocted their takeover of palestine. something that’s turned out to be an unmitigated disaster for humankind, what with the zionist conquest of palestine stoking the fear and hatred that underlies all the violent messianic movements in the mideast/south asia. one has to wonder what sort of world had zionism never existed? would wwii have taken place? it was the zionists, after all, who made an agreement* early on in nazi germany that helped the nazis break an international boycott, the aim of which was to force germany to back down on its brutal treatment of jews. and once hitler backed down, would he have been able to get up again, or would he have lost his “magic” touch. a fallen nazi germany, no ww ii, no ww ii no holocaust………
*see “Zionism in the Age of the Dictators”, chapter 6, Lenni Brenner (it’s online)
I just read this at +972, written by Lisa Goldman:
Goldman was born in Vancouver, educated in NYC, lived in Israel for 14 years, and now lives in Toronto, cowed.