Now This Isn't Good
Here's an example of why those of us who persist in our belief in possible peace with the Palestinians sometimes wonder if we should just throw in the towel and swing right. This is just the kind of slap-in-the-face reality check that makes us wonder whether we really are creating our own starry-eyed narrative, and whether our very optimism is dangerous.
The Palestinian Authority -- not Hamas, now, but our alleged partners for peace -- have just reaffirmed an old law calling for the death penalty for any Palestinian who sells land to Jews. The law describes the sale of land to us as an act of "national treason."
Real estate sales to Jews, which were deemed a capital crime by the Jordanians decades ago, had been demoted to a "minor offense" by a Palestinian court. But PA Prosecutor-General Ahmed al-Mughni appealed the ruling, arguing that the act must remain a "major offense" punishable by execution. The PA states that the object of the law is to prevent the spread of Jewish settlements into the occupied territories, a formulation that enjoys vast international approval. Its more insidious deeper meaning is easily elided: that the ultimate object is a Palestine that is Judenrein, or cleansed of all Jews.
Israel has already participated in the ethnic cleansing of Jews from occupied territory by forcibly removing the Jewish settlers from Gaza in 2005. That gesture of conciliation was rewarded by a sharp and immediate increase in violence against sovereign Israel from Gaza and a successful power snatch by Hamas. I and other Israelis want to believe that the Palestinian Authority, with whom we're now negotiating, genuinely aspires to peace between the nations. This statement by the PA that those Palestinians who are willing to have Jewish neighbors in Palestine should be shot at dawn does little to encourage our faith.
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Jun '10
Re: Now This Isn't Good
Judith, as I sit here and sigh, while composing my thoughts, my emotions are bubbling. First let me praise you for having the honor and courage to occupy the front line. Oh I know you love Israel and wish to live nowhere else. But you could live right here in the security of the USA and you choose Israel. I have also admired you and questioned your ability to maintain a positive attitude towards the possibility of a peaceful resolution. My patience has been stretched to its limit long ago. You have personal interactions, I assume, while I do not. In that regard, your opinion carries more substance than mine. You know all the arguments better than I, for these things are life and death to you and all of those around you. Unfortunately, I see nothing improving. I see the world becoming more anti-semitic yearly. I see Jews being outwardly harrassed in Europe. Claire just recently wrote a column on recent attacks on her home town synogoue right here in the States...attacks that she would never have dreamed possible while growing up. This is happening because Muslims, especially Arabs, are emboldened. We were weak once before...
Jul '10
Re: Now This Isn't Good
Is acknowledging that the only difference between Hamas and your peace buddy is that the former wants you dead unconditionally whilst the latter is willing to chat you up, tantamount to throwing in the towel and tacking right? In an existential struggle is being of the left or right that important? What did Israel get for its own ethnic cleansing of Gaza and all its other concessions? You can say one thing for the Palestinians, they don't mistake surrender for victory.
By all means, the Israelis should negotiate with the Palestinians. But hope is not a policy. Is it now too indelicate to inquire what the ultimate goals of your peace partners are before making deals with them? I must be naive to think that were I an Israeli I would like some things to be perfectly clear before I decided what my options are and what I can or cannot negotiate.
Edited on Sep 20, 2010 at 10:32amMay '10
Re: Now This Isn't Good
I still can't imagine the internal struggles endured by those settlers while they were being evicted by their own government and by the soldiers who had to forcibly evict their fellows. Has that action had a lasting effect on Israelis' faith in their government and the peace process?
So many Jewish and Christian settlements in the Middle East lasted for centuries until the present hatred finally forced them out. I fear most Americans raised today will never learn of that fearful exodus.
May '10
Re: Now This Isn't Good
A little off topic, and I apologize if you've covered this (though I don't find anything on it) but, Judith, what do you make of the rumors of a Netanyahu proposed (and positively brilliant, to my mind) exchange of a 3-month settlement building freeze for the release of Jonathan Pollard? Talk about finding out how much Obama is willing to "sacrifice" for peace! Heck, Israel (and Jews the world over) have sacrificed plenty of blood to the Arabs. What's so hard about releasing a little spy among friends after 25 years imprisonment?
Re: Now This Isn't Good
Only problem with that, Caryn, is that Jonathan Pollard was a spy. He broke the law. He broke his pledge to protect classified information. He betrayed his country. He was fairly tried and convicted, and he should stay in jail--not least, as far as I'm concerned, because he made reality out of the anti-Semitic fantasy that Americans in those positions cannot be trusted because of their "dual loyalty."
Aug '10
Re: Now This Isn't Good
What harm would a few thousand Jews do in a post-settlement Palestinian state? What harm would be done to them??