Israel's Secret Fears

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Written by Haim Baram In New Statesman (United Kingdom) Haim Baram In New Statesman (United Kingdom)

Published: 15 May 2008 15 May 2008

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Israel marks its 60th birthday in a climate of increasing racism, intolerance, corruption and militarism. A nation that has long seen itself as one of the most misunderstood is now almost unable to understand the world beyond its borders. Fear and anxiety provide the mood music of the celebrations.

The past decade has brought a sharp increase in anti-Arab sentiment, which finds many forms of expression, from sordid chants at sporting events ("Death to the Arabs") to blatant racism and attacks on Arab colleagues by right-wing pol iticians in the Knesset. In such an atmosphere, it is almost impossible for Arab citizens (or 1948 Palestinians) to identify with the state of Israel, despite the terms of their legal status. Indeed, it is increasingly difficult for them even to protect their civil rights and express themselves freely in public.

Anyone who doubts the depth of anti-Arab feeling has only to scan the internet. On 8 May, I was commissioned by the popular news site Walla! (associated with the newspaper Haaretz) to write a short column about the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikva" (or Hope). Haaretz had asked another writer to support the anthem. I was commissioned to write against it and to suggest a more suitable one.

My main point of opposition was that the opening words - "As long as deep in the heart/A Jewish soul yearns . . . towards Zion" - excluded the more than one million Arab citizens of Israel. Walla! debates are allocated some two hours' airtime and previous ones, for example on economic issues or the evacuation of the Jewish settlements in Gaza, have generated talkback that was overwhelmingly right-wing. However, the anthem debate exceeded even my pessimistic ex pectations.

Within an hour 481 comments had appeared, 472 of which were vehemently anti-Arab and abusive of "bleeding-heart leftists". Some of the comments were simply racist, but the majority were nationalistic, betraying deep hatred of Israel's Arab citizens.

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Palestinians mourn 60th anniversary of 'the Catastrophe'

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Written by Rachel Stevenson and agencies Rachel Stevenson and agencies

Published: 15 May 2008 15 May 2008

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While Israelis celebrated the 60th anniversary of their nation's birth with fireworks and barbecues, sirens wailed across the Palestinian territories today in mourning.

It was a day of grief for Palestinians, who refer to the founding of Israel as the Catastrophe, or al-Nakba.

Thousands took to the streets to commemorate those exiled or killed in the conflict that followed the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. More than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled, their property was expropriated and they have not been allowed to return.

Nearly 5 million Palestinians and their descendants still live in makeshift refugee camps across the neighbouring region.

President Mahmoud Abbas today spoke of the "pain and suffering" of the Palestinians.

"There are two peoples living on this beloved land - one celebrates independence and the other feels pain of the memory of its Nakba.

"We mark this anniversary not for the sake of consoling ourselves but as a reminder of the long and glorious struggle of the Palestinian people whose wounds, pains and sufferings have not dissuaded them from rising like a phoenix."

To mark the anniversary, schools and universities were closed for the day and people marched to Israeli checkpoints. At noon, traffic came to a standstill and sirens sounded across the territories to mark the start of a two-minute silence.

This year marks a particularly dark period for Palestinians. Hopes of an independent state appear dimmer than ever and fighting between Palestinian political factions has left the territories crippled.

Hamas, viewed as a terrorist organisation by the west, took full control of the Gaza Strip by force from its rivals, Fatah, in June last year, causing Israel to seal off the territory and its 1.4 million inhabitants to all but humanitarian supplies.

Mass demonstrations were held today in Gaza to protest against the blockade. Israel sent military reinforcements to the border and warned that any Palestinians who tried to break through the fence would be risking their lives.

In the West Bank, about 20,000 people joined a rally in the town of Ramallah, where the pro-western government of Abbas is based, waving Palestinian flags. Thousands of black balloons, each denoting a day since Israel was established, were released and schoolchildren walked the streets in black T-shirts that read "1948" on the back and "Not for Sale" on the front. Some carried old keys to the homes their grandparents left behind in Israel 60 years ago.

However, the continued tensions between Hamas and Fatah were also evident today. In Gaza, Hamas police prevented marches by political rivals, including the Fatah movement, according to reports by the Associated Press.
where the pro-western government of Mahmoud Abbas is based.

Jimmy Carter, Hamas. Hamas, Jimmy Carter.

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Written by George Bisharat counters Judea Pearl George Bisharat counters Judea Pearl

Published: 14 May 2008 14 May 2008

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LA Times: DUST-UP
May 13, 2008


Jimmy Carter, Hamas. Hamas, Jimmy Carter.

George E. Bisharat says the former president assumed the pragmatist 
role that the Bush administration refuses to play. Judea Pearl sees 
wishful thinking behind Carter’s actions, as well as a willingness to 
accept terrorism as a legitimate tactic.


Today's question: What's up with Jimmy Carter and Hamas? Later in the 
week, Pearl and Bisharat will discuss the United States' role in 
facilitating the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, their personal 
connections to the Holy Land and more. Click here  to read Monday's 
exchange.

Point: George E. Bisharat

Former President Jimmy Carter is a pragmatist who understands that 
conflict resolution requires negotiations between enemies, not friends. 
That simple wisdom, unfortunately, eludes our current administration, 
which has attempted to ostracize and intimidate anyone, including 
Hamas, who opposes our Middle East policies. As a result of Bush's 
confrontational and unconditionally pro-Israel stance, our image in the 
Arab and Muslim worlds is at a historic low. Yet there is no indication 
that this policy has appreciably weakened our ostensible foes. 
Meanwhile, Carter's courage has been rewarded with little but 
condemnation from our politicians and media pundits adhering, as 
always, to a suffocating pro-Israel orthodoxy.

  Hamas, the acronym of the Islamic Resistance Movement, emerged out of 
the Gaza Strip branch of the Muslim Brotherhood shortly after the 
beginning of the first Palestinian intifada ("uprising") in 1987. 
Hamas' professed aim is to establish an Islamic state in all of 
Palestine (that is, Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). Its 
ideology, particularly as expressed in its charter and early 
communiques, is regressive and anti-Semitic. I abhor these 
characteristics as much as I abhor racism in any other context.

  Hamas' goals, however, are little more than the mirror image of 
Zionism. Where Hamas seeks an Islamic state, Zionism seeks a Jewish 
state. Each promotes a vision that privileges one group over another. 
Both impulses are illegitimate. There is no room in the 21st century 
for ethno-religious exclusionism as espoused either by Hamas or by 
Israel.

  Still, I would not counsel that either be barred from negotiations.

  Hamas has evolved greatly from its early days as a resistance 
organization against Israeli military occupation. It has developed an 
extensive social service network that dispenses medical care, 
education, child care and food to the poor. In doing so, it has 
consistently outperformed the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority. 
Hamas has, in recent years, also demonstrated considerable ideological 
flexibility -- for example, proposing a long-term "truce" with Israel 
that was tantamount to a peace agreement. Although public opinion polls 
show that as few as 3% of Palestinians support Islamic rule in 
Palestine, a plurality of Palestinians voted for Hamas in their 2006 
legislative elections. They did so believing in Hamas' "change and 
reform" platform and trusting that Hamas would stand up strongly 
against Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.

  Over the last eight years, Israel has repeatedly ruptured cease-fires 
unilaterally adopted by Hamas, arresting or killing the group's leaders 
-- and often family members, friends and other innocent bystanders. 
Why? Quite simply, Israel's politicians hope to control all of 
Palestine, and conflict provides the cover for continuing territorial 
expansion. Stirring the pot always distracts attention from Israel's 
relentless drive to colonize the West Bank.

  Judea, based on your last post, it strikes me that the difference 
between us is that you support a form of "separate but equal" in Israel 
and Palestine, whereas I support equal rights for all. The experience 
of the United States should help us understand that separate is never 
equal, and yours is a prescription for perpetual injustice and 
continuing conflict.

George E. Bisharat is a professor of law at Hastings College of the Law 
in San Francisco and writes frequently on law and politics in the 
Middle East.

Counterpoint: Judea Pearl

Hamas seems to be doing something right after all.

  Carter tells us that we should negotiate with Hamas because he is a 
"friend of Israel," and Hamas, Carter discovered, "was willing to 
accept the Jewish state as neighbor next door" (if certain conditions 
were met). The whole world cheered Carter for this discovery because it 
understands that satisfying the national aspirations of all people in 
the region, aside from being the key to peace, is a moral and 
historical imperative. George, you tell us that we should negotiate 
with Hamas, but for the exact opposite reason: The state of Israel 
should be dismantled and giving Hamas legitimacy is the best way to 
advance this noble cause. I tend to agree with your assessment of 
Hamas, and for two reasons.

  First, I have found Carter's sincerity to be questionable. Second, I 
have found Hamas to be quite consistent and explicit in its claims, 
methods and final aims. So bringing it into peace negotiations will 
make the prospect of destroying Israel appear within better reach to 
Palestinians, weaken Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other 
peace-minded Palestinians, and make the dream of a Palestinian state 
another century removed from reality.

  But before we discuss Carter and Hamas, I would like to correct 
another one of your misconceptions, George, of which you are perhaps 
unaware having made the grotesque comparison, "Where Hamas seeks an 
Islamic state, Zionism seeks a Jewish state." The "Jewish state" sought 
by Zionism has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity. Theodore 
Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, was an atheist.

  About 70% of Israeli Jews are secular (they do not practice Jewish 
laws and do not believe in divine supervision or in the afterlife) and 
comprise dozens of ethnic groups, including black Jews from Arab 
countries and even Afghan Jews, thus making up one of the most open, 
pluralistic, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural societies in the world.

  To Israelis, a "Jewish state" means "a state for the Jewish people," 
based on shared history, not religion. This is no different from any 
other state. Take Spain, where holidays and textbooks commemorate 
milestones of Spanish -- not Portuguese -- history, where streets are 
named after Spanish -- not French -- writers, and where the 
Portuguese-speaking minority enjoys the same rights as the 
Spanish-speaking majority. Spain and Portugal (or the U.S. and Mexico) 
provide a good model for the kind of neighborly relation that the 
two-state solution offers Israel and Palestine, and which Hamas (and 
evidently you, George) are laboring to caricature as exclusionist, 
ethno-religious and even racist.

  George, if there is racism in this conflict, it lies with the ideology 
of anti-Zionism, which grants all nations in the world the right of 
self determination except one -- the Jewish nation.

  Back to Carter. My problems with the former president lie on two 
planes: first, his apparent blindness to the immorality of terror, and 
second, his imprisonment by wishful thinking. To understand the moral 
mind-set of Carter vis-a-vis terror, I invite readers to look at page 
213 of his infamous book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," and to try 
and figure out what he means by saying, "It is imperative that the 
general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it 
clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of 
terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap 
for Peace are accepted by Israel."

  To me, it means that terrorism is a legitimate tactic to pressure 
Israel to behave according to Carter's interpretation of the roadmap. 
Put more bluntly, it is like telling a rapist, "It is imperative that 
you and your entire gang make it clear that you will stop raping the 
woman when she conforms to standards of good behavior." Carter's tango 
with Hamas is a further proof that the man is oblivious to what the 
culture of terror is doing to society.

  Finally, on wishful thinking, Carter's assessment of Hamas as a 
partner for negotiations lies crucially on the hope that Hamas will 
some day accept Israel. George, you tell us that Israel is an 
irredeemable, criminal, imperialist and racist state that should be 
dismantled immediately and will never, never be accepted by any 
honorable Palestinian. Now, please help me with my logic: If an 
educated, secular professor like yourself (as well as the overwhelming 
majority of your Palestinian colleagues) sees no chance nor moral 
license for accepting Israel, can we assume that Hamas will?

Judea Pearl, a professor of computer science at UCLA, is a frequent 
commentator  on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is the president and 
co-founder of the Daniel Pearl Foundation  -- named after his son -- a 
nonprofit organization dedicated to dialogue and cross-cultural 
understanding.


»to read the discussion postings or add your comments go to

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-pearl-bisharat13
-2008may13,0,1301730,full.story

Members of Oregon’s Arab-American and Jewish Communities Support Steve Novick As A Candidate...

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Written by Novick for Senate Novick for Senate

Published: 14 May 2008 14 May 2008

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2008

Contact: Jake Weigler, 503-236-7289

Members of Oregon’s Arab-American and Jewish Communities Support Steve Novick As A Candidate Committed to Peace in the Middle East

{josquote}“For too long, Arab Americans have felt like election season was more like ‘open season’ on our community.  By standing here with us today, Steve has made clear that he represents a break from this type of divisive politics.  I am glad to be able to support his bid for the Senate.”{/josquote}Portland – Members of Oregon’s Arab-American and Jewish communities joined together today to announce their support of Democrat Steve Novick’s candidacy for the United States Senate at a press conference in Portland.

“We are confident that Steve is committed, as we are, and as most Israelis and Palestinians are, to the goal of peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” said Hala Gores, a Palestinian-American activist who had previously supported another Democratic Senate candidate, Jeff Merkley. “I am proud to support a Jewish Senate candidate whom I know I can count on to work to ensure that the United States is an engaged and supportive partner for peace, sensitive to the concerns of both Israelis and Palestinians.”

{josquote}Steve understands that the United States does not have to choose between being ‘pro-Israeli’ and ‘pro-Palestinian.’  To play a constructive role in resolving the conflict and bringing peace and security to the region, the United States must be both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian.”{/josquote}The public endorsements followed several meetings between Novick and advocates for the Palestinians and Israelis in recent months. Activists from both sides emphasized their appreciation of Novick’s consistency and candor in discussing Israel, a Palestinian state and the Middle East Peace Process.

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