Nissim Dahan
Admin
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01.10.2008 16:17
As usual, Valentin, some very insightful comments. I wish other viewers catch your ?bug,? and become more forthcoming in their comments.
There is a sense of frustration that is implicit in what you have to say. You feel that Israel is at risk of losing its ?moral center.? You want Jews to maintain their values by acknowledging the suffering of others, by ceasing construction of new settlements, by containing religious extremists, and the like.
However, you also acknowledge that ??the other side?s tactics are barbarous?? and that Israel faces existential threats in the form of ??overwhelming and sometimes inhuman odds??
You say that, ?History has become irrelevant.? But keep in mind one thing, Valentin; history is a reminder of what can happen to people when they can no longer defend themselves. The Holocaust is perhaps the quintessential case in point. You also say that, ?The distinction between right and wrong/ good and bad, has been blurred beyond distinction.? Well maybe the distinction is blurred, but it remains important nonetheless, if we are ever going to find a just solution. What is justice, if not the search for what is right and good?
Let?s try to sort this thing out. I agree with you that the ?Palestinians? right to exist is just as strong as the Israelis??? The trouble is that there have been, and continue to be, leaders on both sides who have seen it as in their best interest to subordinate Palestinian rights, and to use that sense of frustration to their advantage. And I?m not talking just about Jewish leaders, but Arab leaders as well. For these leaders, the oppression of Palestinians was used as a way of keeping the rage alive, diverting attention from internal problems, and thereby consolidating political power. And now, after years of anger, we face an ideological impediment to peace, based on countless instances of broken dreams and dashed hopes.
So what is the answer? I agree with you that you are not going to break the ideological gridlock head on. Instead, you can undermine the foundations of an ideology of hate; by creating facts on the ground which speak louder than words, which eventually lead to new ideological perspectives, and which will one day point to the possibility of peace.
What can we do on the ground? Plenty. Speak to one another with common sense and with a sense of personal dignity. Start investing in projects which resonate with hope, which create jobs, which protect the environment, and which allow people to become who they want to become, even if they want to become different from us. Use Ideology and Investment to sell people on a Vision of Hope. Sustain the hope with Public Diplomacy, including the empowering of women. And when necessary, fight, and fight hard, but position the fight within a Vision of Hope. Raise the fight on the ground to a higher moral plain by giving the fight a moral clarity of purpose.
In this way, Valentin, Israelis and Palestinians will reclaim their sense of humanity, by creating realities on the ground which will reconfigure the ideological imperative, and which will condition people to embrace the illusive dream of peace.
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