More than a year ago Peace Now in Israel (Shalom Achsav) posted the above video in Hebrew, calling on Israelis to save Israel from “downfall” by giving up the territories and working to establish a Palestinian state– two states for two peoples.
The video has lately been translated and reposted by leftwing Israelis critical of Peace Now. You will see that at :47 the video warns that if Israel annexes the territories, “Israel will become a binational state, without a Jewish majority.” At this point the wail of the muezzin, or Muslim call to prayer, is heard. So: A liberal group is employing Islamophobia. (The recent Nation issue on Islamophobia pointed out the connections between Zionism and Islamophobia.)
Also, the video says that there are 300,000 settlers. This is a vast understatement of the number that, among others, Trudy Rubin has used, 722,000. It surely leaves out all the East Jerusalem settlers.
I also think there is a socio-political reason why Peace Now have become so repugnant. Until a few years ago, they had grassroots activists. I was one of them. The activists always pushed in the direction of more genuine peace and human rights campaigning, not (just) sheer populism. Nowadays Peace Now is not a mass movement, and the show is run by PR hacks. It has never been a democratic movement, No official membership, and no elected board.
This is the same problem that I have had with J Street. It doesn’t represent the rank-and-file you see at the conferences, it’s non-democratic. And of course the same criticism is made of AIPAC; it doesn’t represent American Jewish opinion.
P.S. Amos Oz has long been associated with Peace Now and he also made the ethnic claim at J Street’s conference earlier this year: There is a Palestinian family and an Israeli family, and we can’t be in a state together. And liberal Zionists regularly say that there are “too many Arabs.” Here and here.
They should change their name to Peace 1982
Peace now looks like one person, one vote.
Very symptomatic- even the “Peace Now” are bad here. Surely there be more sympathy for you, Phil, in Israel- the only question I’m curious about, who will be your new friend? Fringe movements or infringed people?
It actually leaves out hundreds of thousands of illegal settlers. Israel has never legally annexed any of the territories it acquired by war by 1949. No borders were changed by the Armistice Agreements of 1949. Israel’s internationally recognized borders have not changed since the day they were first recognized by the USA 15th May 1948.
they also say, the common lib zio refrain-
“two states for two peoples”
WTF does that mean? 20% arabs in israel are just an unwelcome, unrepresented, marginalized vestigial organ from an incomplete ethnic cleansing in 1948-1951?
i’ve come to the conclusion, that the strain of zionism that emerged triumphant (over some benign forms) IS racism. yes it was largely a reaction to racism, but lets not ignore the fact that there always WERE and ARE jewish racists, well before israel, like in all ethno-religious groups. and israel with its strain of zionism, is irredeemably racist. the UN should revisit this concept, they seem to have had it right.
Why is it, that when the mask comes of, it is those on the Left who are the racists? The settlers, the Zionists as you like to call them on this site, are the ones who are far more open to living with others than what they are incorrectly painted to be.