Israeli Arab Leaders Defending Hezbollah

"The policies that the Israeli political establishment is pursuing [are] leading us all into a dead end," says Odeh [Ayman Odeh's campaign]

It does not seem logical let alone very destructive for the Arab leaders of the Joint List in the Knesset to proclaim that Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization. The Balad and Hadash factions in this list are pressurizing the Joint Arab List to support Hezbollah and legitimize it. What is the purpose of doing this? Hezbollah has a history of firing rockets into Israel and injuring Arab citizens of Israel as well. Rockets fired into Israel kill and destroy and make no distinction between Jews and Arabs. In this respect it is not apartheid-friendly.

The Joint List is the third largest party in the Knesset. It is in the unique position of representing the Arab Israeli minority’s interests and fighting for equality with its Jewish counterparts in Israel. There is much that can be done in that sphere. Combating social and work discrimination as well as improving socio-economic conditions for the Arab community they represent is a formidable task. It should work in improving relations between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel and acting as a bridge between the two communities. Ayman Oudeh, the Joint List leader prior to his election to the Knesset, appeared to move along the path of coexistence, promoting dialogue between the communities  and certainly deserved support for taking the line of tolerance in outreach.

What has happened to Oudeh? Why is he not showing the leadership qualities for which he was elected? He is being led into a direction which is creating distrust between his party and Jewish Israelis. He is not forthcoming in representing his electorate’s interests of coexistence and socio-economic improvement as well as integration into being Israel Citizens with equal human rights and dignity that the Arab Citizens of Israel are entitled. The Balad factions of his party are pandering to the peers of Palestinian terrorists, who come into Israel on lone stabbing sprees. Instead he and his party are antagonizing Jewish Israelis as well as many Arab Israelis by wasting unnecessary energy on standing to attention and sympathizing with parents of Palestinian terrorists whose sons and daughters were killed while committing terrorist acts. This is no way to gain the trust of Jewish and Arab Israelis. 

Added to the behavior of the Joint List, which seems to represent Palestinian interests in the Knesset rather than Israeli Arab interests by the rhetoric in support of viewing Hezbollah as a movement devoid of terrorism creates an unnecessary schism between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

If he wishes to regain the trust of Jewish Israelis as well as many Arab Israelis, who have also suffered at the hand of Palestinian terror, he should retract the statement declaring Hezbollah as not being a terrorist movement and be more forthcoming in condemning Palestinian terror against innocent citizens by not getting involved in returning terrorist Palestinian corpses to their families. There are channels in Israel whereby this is being done without Joint List sympathy and activity. 

Recognizing Israel's Right to Exist

nakba woman jug 1948 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The last few articles written on this blog were devoted to the feasibility of ending the occupation as well as a possible scenario that could occur if Israel would end the occupation and withdraw from territories occupied in the Six Day June 1967 War. It is really a vicious circle and we always seem to return to the same problem. The problem of the inability of the Arab States to recognize Israel's right to exist is an engraved mantra going back over 100 years. It is NOT the occupation since the Six Day June War of 1967. As mentioned in previous articles, wars were fought prior to the Six Day War. History has illustrated this. The occupation is a result of a Israel's strike against Egypt as Egypt had closed the Tiran Straits to Israel's shipping after ordering the UN to remove its UNICEF from there.  Jordan and Syria joined Egypt in an attempt to destroy Israel. Israel could not afford to lose this war. Had Israel lost, it would cease to exist.

If we go back before the establishment of Israel in 1948, we notice that the Arabs were consistent in a rejectionist attitude towards the establishment of a Jewish state in their midst. When Israel was established on 14 May 1948, the Arabs referred to it as Al Naqba - the Catastrophe, and since then wars were fought against Israel in an attempt to destroy the Jewish State.

The history of the Arab-Israeli conflict reveals 24 major junctures when compromise was offered since the 1920s, dating from pre-state, League of Nations Mandate to the present time. Plan after plan, including patently pro-Arab proposals, were put on the table. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, 15 agreements and memorandums have been signed. 

If we examine the history of this conflict, it is not difficult to realize that the conflict did not begin with the occupation of 1967 but many years before Israel's establishment. The emphasis on the occupation being the cause of the conflict is simply because of political interests and the desire to delegitimize Israel. This does not mean that the "occupation" is justified if it allows Jewish settlements. After all, it is disputed territory. Establishing settlements simply weakens Israel's case in that it turns Israel into an occupying and colonizing power on the ground, ruling a people that are hostile.

Today with the uncompromising attitude of Hamas, the duplicity of the PA, and the radical changes in the Arab environment around Israel, including Daesh (ISIS) and various other Islamist terror groups, creates great instability. This is not conducive to solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Peace negotiations between the two sides are moribund. 

It is obvious, despite the very bleak situation that a solution to this conflict lies in negotiations between the warring parties. Hamas has closed the doors to that and the PA has no authority to jump start negotiations without Hamas support, which will just not happen under the present environment.

Maybe there is another way of facilitating the initiation of negotiations. A hint of this could perhaps come from the Joint List in the Knesset. They are in an ideal position to be mediators or facilitators. These Knesset members speak Arabic and Hebrew fluently. They support the Two-State Solution, interact with Israelis and understand the Palestinian position. They also do have Palestinian support in the West Bank. This mediation position that they could take stands a greater chance of success towards solving the conflict than if a third country, ignorant of the Palestinian and Israeli psyche, would ever have. Giving the Joint List more responsibility in peace negotiations has never been tried and perhaps there is a possibility that they can really play a positive role. 

The Joint List is composed of an alliance of Balad, Hadash, Ta'al and the United Arab List (the southern branch of the Islamic Movement). Balad is the most radical partner in this list. Three MK's from this list, Hanin Zoabi, Jamal Zahalka and Basel Ghattas, visited the parents of the terrorists, who stabbed and killed innocent Israelis, to sympathies with them and stood in silence as a mark of respect for these "shuhada (martyrs)". The excuse was to negotiate the return of their corpses for burial in the territories. When interviewed over TV Arutz 2, Jamal Zahalka, said that he viewed the stabbings and killings of innocent people whether Jewish or Palestinian as "Victims of the Occupation". (This interview is in Hebrew) He did express his disapproval of murdering innocent people for what it is worth. One may argue as to what the occupation is - whether it is the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 as appears in the Hamas Charter or the territories occupied in June 1967 War. The Joint List does support the Two-State Solution, so it does recognize Israel's right to exist. 

The avoidance by the Palestinian Leadership of critical issues over many years of dead-end negotiations is because they cannot come to terms with Israel's existence. It is perhaps on these issues that the Joint List has the potential of being a facilitator in future peace negotiations. The issues are so crucial for both Israelis and Palestinians and lack of vision for new ideas on both sides do not give much promise on making peace. The Joint List option could be a new direction that may produce positive results as they are not viewed as enemies of the Palestinian people in the PA-Hamas controlled areas. The Joint List, even though they are regarded with suspicion and the action of the three MK's mentioned was not productive, created further animosity as a really bad tactic that was unnecessary and achieved nothing. After the hype of this unfortunate meeting will blow over and the possibility of Joint List participation in bridging the wide gaps between the two sides can be given more serious consideration.

Related articles

• The Demise of the Two-State Solution and Israel's Culpability
• Is it Feasible to End the Occupation?
• BBC News promotes 'one-state' stepping stone and political messaging

Independence Day - 67 Years - Yom Ha'atzmaut

Flag of Israel. Shows a Magen David (“Shield of David”) between two stripes. The Shield of David is a traditional Jewish symbol. The stripes symbolize a Jewish prayer shawl (tallit). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Israel is celebrating its 67th year of independence. Lots of pageantry, TV shows speeches, firework displays and traditional barbecues. The public parks are packed to capacity with picnickers who litter the parks without any consideration for the environment. Litter bugs leave garbage in the parks in every bit of square space available. My desire on Independence Day is rain to dampen the spirits of barbecuing litterers to keep them at home in order to give a breathing space for the environment.

The litter bugging picnickers bring their accessories such as loudspeakers, blaring at a decibel rate that almost bursts the eardrums. Civic consciousness and consideration for others is on the bottom rung of their frolicking agenda. The scene in the public parks and nature spots is macabre if not bizarre.

 Another characteristic of Independence Day is that approximately 20% of Israel's citizens do not feel any identification with Israel's independence. This is sad. We have not done enough to bring many of Israel's minority non-Jewish citizens closer to a common civil identification with Israel as their country no less than it is for Jewish Israelis. The narrative of both  peoples should be taught in schools  in an objective manner. This would help to heal the historical rift between the two peoples The Independence Day celebrations are viewed by the Arab community as "the Naqba (Catastrophe(

"

In the diaspora, Jews, who are citizens of the countries of their birth, share a common civil identity with the majority non-Jewish citizens. There is no conflict of interests. Many Jewish citizens living in the diaspora are supportive of Israel, but have no desire to immigrate to Israel. They enjoy their standard of living and quality of life. Many who are traditional or observant have a very satisfying Jewish communal life affiliated with the synagogue, where they are members.

 While most Arab citizens are loyal to Israel, they do not share the Jewish majority's identity with Israel and its symbols. This is very noticeable on Independence Day. There is no Israeli pageantry displayed on the street light poles or hanging from the homes of Arab citizens. There is even a certain fear entering the Arab villages and displaying Israeli flags on one's vehicles, which could be viewed as a provocation by the Arab villagers. It is as if Israel is divided into two entities - Jewish and Arab, with a schism between the two communities which is disadvantageous to both.

How can we unite the various communities in Israel so that a common patriotism is forged between all irrespective of race, color and creed? Perhaps a start can be made in education by establishing integrated schools from the age of 6 years until matriculation. All Israel's citizens should be taught the same common secular subjects including the Hebrew, Arabic and English languages as compulsory subjects. When it comes to religious studies, each religious group should have its own religious leader teaching a few hours a week the precepts of the various faiths to each religious group. This is similar to the state schools in the diaspora, where the rabbi, priest or imam gives lessons to the various religious groups in each class.

The national anthem of Israel should remain unchanged, but an additional stanza or two could be added to represent the non-Jewish minorities. If this is done with discretion by a composer the result could also help initiate a common patriotism. It will also improve relationships between all Israel's citizens without compromising on each group's heritage. Additional symbols like olives and the olive tree could also be incorporated into a common Israeli heritage inclusive of all groups.

 When South Africa became a democracy in 1995 under late President Nelson Mandela, the national anthem became all-embracing of a multiracial society and united all South Africans. The South African National Anthem was re-arranged by Jeanne Zaidel Rudolph and is a great success. This example could be taken by Israel. The ingenuity of a composer that can arrange Hatikvah with a tune that can keep the old as well as adding the new in an all-embracing musical arrangement can go a long way in uniting a very fragmented society into a common loyalty.

We all need to pledge ourselves in creating a just and fair society in a very tough part of the planet - The Middle East! 

Related articles

• At 67th Birthday, Israel's Population Stands at 8.345 Million