Culture and Art - The Monopoly of the Right?

David Grossman, Edit from a image from flickr, see below en wikipedia: David Grossman he wikipedia: דויד גרוסמן (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Amos Oz (b. 1939), Jewish writer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over the last few weeks, the right wing Government has been labelling various left wing-oriented NGOs (Breaking the Silence, B'tzelem, Peace Now and New Israel Fund) as moles (traitors), who are accused of spreading falsehoods against Israel and doing much damage to Israel's image and working for the interests of Israel's enemies. 

This phenomena has know spread to culture in Israel. It all began with the Minister of Culture and Sport threatening to withhold state subsidies to cultural activities such as theatre productions that do not tow the "patriotic" line of thought and are viewed as hostile to Israel's existence in the widest possible interpretation. This is one stage before censoring theatre productions that do not tow the ruling right wing coalition line. This is happening in the education system under the auspices of the Minister of Education, Naftali Bennett, who has an agenda of dovetailing education to suit his right wing views on religious National Zionism and the settler movements encouraging settlement in the occupied territories. The civics textbook "To be a Citizen of Israel" that is in draft form and will become the "Bible" of civics education of pupils is apparently full of inaccuracies tailored to suit the world view of Naftali Bennett.  This is the trend that one finds in dictatorship ruled countries and not in democracies. 

Some Artists Blacklisted by Im Tirtzu

In dictatorships, culture and education is dovetailed to suit the ruling political party outlook. They change history, ideology as well as educational values in order to prolong their power by brainwashing with party propaganda. Culture and education become political and the property of the dictatorship in power. Some examples of this in history were in Communist and Fascist States. It is hoped that Israel's democracy will not change towards soft-serve totalitarianism and witch-hunt techniques as was in the US under the influence of McCarthyism. Education must be truthful and not be influenced by politics of ruling parties. The same must be applicable to culture. The right to criticise is part and parcel of democracy. Diversity in vibrant culture patterns, even avant garde ideas should be encouraged provided that they are not racist or insulting to the kaleidoscope of cultures existing in Israel. Society is always evolving and not static. This should apply to education and culture as well.

A worrisome trend is the ideology of an extremist right wing organisation or NGO, Im Tirtzu, that is obsessed with the idea of "moles" undermining Israel in the left wing NGO's and is encouraging hatred of those who do not hold their extremist, fascist, nationalistic world view. They have now attacked Israeli artists, who are the backbone of Israel's artistic talent in writing and theatre. Im Tirtzu accuses them of being "left wing moles" working against Israel. They published a Blacklist of Israeli artists and intellectuals.

                                       Im Tirtzu is what Netanyahu supports

Miri Regev and Naftali Bennett have both opened the Pandora's Box and Im Tirtzu, the pseudo-fascist organisation, jumped out, spewing their hate and paranoia towards those that do not hold their world view in Israel's cultural world. Amos Oz, David Grossman (whose son was killed in the last Lebanese war), A.B. Yehoshua are viewed by this organization as traitors. In the theatrical world, Gila Almagor, Rivka Michaeli and a host of others, who are the backbone of Israel's culture, have been accused of being traitors.The root of this shocking organization comes from the ruling right wing Israeli government. This organization became an embarrassment to the "Netanyahu - Bennett - Regev Triumvirate" that they condemned Im Tirtzu.  This is perhaps to their credit. The most outspoken statement against this nefarious organisation came from the Likud Member of Knesset, Benny Begin. These Israeli artists are a credit to Israel, and have worldwide recognition for their contributions to culture. Israel would have been poorer culturally if not for these Israeli artists whose love and concern for Israel is unquestionable.

Who is Im Tirtzu? A miserable, hateful, pseudo-fascist, racist organisation that does much damage to Israel. The sooner they disappear from Israel the better for Israel and its citizens.Their tactics of hate for those, who do not hold their McCarthyite world view, has exploded in their faces, even more so because of condemnation from those right wingers in the Knesset, who are also responsible for their creation. This shocking organisation is no credit to Israel or to the Jewish People.  

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Dilemma - Possible Human Rights Abuse or anti-Israel Activity?

Lately there have been a lot of emotional discussions as to whether the NGO - Breaking the Silence - is investigating soldiers’ testimonies on human rights abuses of the IDF on a defenseless, innocent Palestinian population and using these testimonies to bash Israel internationally. There are people, who define the activities of Breaking the Silence as treasonable or treacherous. Those who do so have no understanding of the word “treason”

This word has been used colloquially in Israel to label anybody who does not agree with the Netanyahu Coalition Government line. Netanyahu Coalition pundits are giving “treason” a very wide definition, encompassing those who oppose the government line. Labeling Breaking the Silence and weakening their activity by passing laws that are close to outlawing them is detrimental to Israel’s vibrant democracy.

Breaking the Silence does pose a problem as it can be viewed in two ways:

1. It can be viewed as a watchdog for upholding human rights of innocent Palestinians in a war situation where Israeli soldiers enter Palestinian homes with search warrants for weapons or signs of hostility and prevention of looting by IDF.
2. It can be viewed as an NGO whose main purpose is to gain testimony from soldiers, who had served in the various campaigns in Gaza, claiming human rights abuse that are made public, even to countries who seek every opportunity to bash Israel on these issues. Hostile countries do wait for opportunities like this.  

Testimonies of soldiers made public are also available to those, who are hostile to Israel. This, unfortunately, is the price that is paid by a democratic country - the price of openness. This does not negate the importance of watchdog activity by an NGO such as Breaking the Silence. It is no less important that the IDF does examine itself in this sphere, despite the problems, and establish a committee to investigate the authenticity of these soldiers’ testimonies. It is not enough to say that “The IDF is the most moral army in the world.” The function of human rights NGO is to ensure that this statement remains true. This does not mean that all those, who serve in the IDF, have committed crimes against innocent Palestinians.  

If high ranking generals in the IDF, who had served with distinction, such as General Amiram Levin, support Breaking the Silence, we must bear in mind that they know what they are talking about. I do respect the high ranking officers’ decision in supporting Breaking the Silence. If these generals feel the importance of this NGO, who are we to question.   These high ranking generals are not traitors to Israel. They held responsible positions in the IDF and in the intelligence service as well as being entrusted with state secrets. In an ad in the liberal Haaretz daily titled “I too am breaking my silence,” former Shin Bet security service director and navy commander Maj. Gen. (res.) Ami Ayalon, and retired Northern District police chief Deputy Commissioner (ret.) Elik Ron wrote that Breaking the Silence, which is at the center of a fierce debate on the limits of free speech in Israel, strengthens the IDF and its morality.

Most human rights NGOs receive funds from the EU, US and some countries who have a political agenda against Israel. The NGOs involved in pro-Israeli government activities such as Im Tirtzu and other pro-settlement activity beyond the green line, receive funding from private donors (or “philanthropists” such as Irwin Moskowitz) as well as government subsidies. (In 2009, Im Tirtzu’s largest donor was the John Hagee Ministries (JHM) via the Christian-Zionist organization Christians United for Israel (CUFI). Im Tirtzu received US$100,000 from JHM and $34,000 from other sources. In 2010, The Jerusalem Post reported that JHM "expressed deep displeasure" with Im Tirtzu after its campaigns against the New Israel Fund and Ben-Gurion University and announced the cessation of its funding. A JHM spokesman said that Im Tirtzu "misrepresented its focus when they told us their mission was strictly Zionist education."^[55]

The group's spokesperson, Erez Tadmor, was found guilty of embezzling munitions from the Israeli military.^[56]

The organization was accused of acting in an Anti-Semitic fashion, including emulating Nazi propaganda, in its criticisms of U.S. Ambassador Martin Indyk and of the New Israel Fund.^{[57][58]  From Wikipedia )}

All NGOs, irrespective of political leanings, accept donations from any source sympathetic to the causes they represent. They are not concerned with the origin of donors’ funds. The main point is that the sources should be transparent and be held accountable for the amount of money they donate.

Another evil, racist organization, Lehava, is also involved in preventing assimilation of Jews in Israel with Arabs. They are more militant in contrast to Bayit Hayehudi of its leader, Naftali Bennett, and now the Minister of Education. The latter wants to instil a religious right wing Zionist education in the Department of Education and prevent students from gaining access to books or novels that are about intermarriage between Arabs and Jews. Here the similarity to the Lehava ideology is blatant.

In a democratic country, education should be non-political. Healthy discussion with responsible, objective moderation should be encouraged. The same is true of Breaking the Silence. There should be NGO monitoring of activities (not concerned with security secrets) in the IDF as well as the government law-making process to ensure that democratic values and transparency remains paramount. 

Right Wing Incitement against the Moderates in Israel

English: Breaking the Silence (BtS) (in Hebrew Shovrim Shtika) logo. Shovrim Shtika is an Israel human rights organization. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One can heap much criticism on “Breaking the Silence” as well as many other NGOs that are not using accepted methodology in their claims of ill treatment of Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation. There is a report that Breaking the Silence received money for interviewing soldiers that have served in Operation Protective Edge in July/August 2014 about their experiences of abuse of innocent Palestinian citizens.

Those right wing NGOs such as "Im Tirtzu" and others also receive funds from oversea donors sympathetic to their causes. (Check out NGO Monitor on my Blog page)

Be that as it may, the right to criticize IDF behavior towards a defenseless, innocent Palestinian population in a war situation where justified, should be maintained. The statements of the Minister of Defense, Moshe Ayalon, claiming that the IDF must have internal investigations that are not open to public scrutiny in cases of ill treatment of innocent Palestinians. In other words, if there are cases of soldier abuse, it must be swept under the carpet from the public. Internal investigations of public institutions or in this case, the IDF for individuals, who are suspected of abusing civilians, are bound to result in cover-ups. Soldiers, who are guilty of cruelty towards innocent Palestinians, will go unpunished. Transparency in the IDF does not mean that Israel’s security is compromised. Transparency means the right of the public to know if any abuse against innocent civilians has occurred and that those responsible are brought to justice. It certainly does not mean that the public must be informed of military secrets for obvious reasons. The IDF will be viewed as being sensitive to basic human rights and its claim of being the “most moral army in the world” will have more credibility.

This will also enhance Israel’s world image in the long run that has taken a severe battering because of self-righteous, hypocritical, double standard humanists that are funded by countries that are not Israel friendly. At least the findings of NGO watchdog groups in an atmosphere of openness will make it more difficult for Israel to be accused of human rights abuses at the International Criminal Court.  

Betzelem and Breaking the Silence organizations do have a positive role to play by exposing basic human rights abuses towards innocent Palestinian civilians. Internal inquiries by the IDF usually result in cover-ups, where abuse and torture is suspected. These two organizations are a thorn in the flesh of the self-righteous, ruling right wing coalition. They view them as traitors to Israel and against the IDF. It is an excellent propaganda ploy that the right wing coalition uses to justify themselves and their rule. Some right wingers take it even further. They incite against the moderates on the political spectrum with hate clips and use the social media to condemn watchdog groups sensitive to human rights abuses.

The right wing Israeli Government condemns “Breaking the Silence” and anybody who has contact with them as being traitors that must be put down. According to an Haaretz report 17/12/15, they are the most hated group in Israel.

The President of Israel, Ruby Rivlin, who addressed the Haaretz Q conference in New York shared a platform with “Breaking the Silence” and was severely criticized for doing so. The firebrands of the right wing went on a verbal rampage of incitement against him. Rivlin is no left winger. He exercised his democratic right to share platforms with all members of the Israeli spectrum, irrespective of their political views. He represents all Israel’s citizens, irrespective of their race, color or creed and political views. This of course does not suit the right wing Netanyahu Coalition that claims the moral high ground. They do not like criticism and do all in their power to delegitimize those who do not agree with them by labeling them as traitors that are working against Israel in collusion with Israel’s enemies. Is Israel on the road to becoming a totalitarian state by compromising on democracy? Hopefully this is not the case. However, we must be aware of the danger sign in that direction.

The signs of erosion of democracy are occurring in the Education Ministry. The Education Minister, Naphtali Bennett, has banned “Breaking the Silence” from visiting schools. “Jewish” values or rather his narrow right wing interpretation of them is encouraged and is considered appropriate beyond criticism.

Even Yuval Diskin, the past head of the Shin Bet, believes that “Breaking the Silence” is a legitimate organization that poses no threat to Israel. He admits that he does not agree with their methodology and ideology, but they do serve a positive role. If he admits this then why consider them as hostile to Israel and treacherous? Who are we to judge?   

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