Can Israelis and Palestinians See Each Other's Concerns?

This article first appeared in the Times of Israel website on November 4, 2015.

In a Times of Israel blog post, Aaron B. Cohen wrote about a Chicago mock mediation event that involved a small part of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and a dinner I had with him last week. In the article, he quoted what I wrote to him in an email as a prelude to the dinner. He challenged me, in the article, to post this statement on my Facebook page, which I accepted.

The statement which Aaron quoted was:

"Something went wrong along the way. Without putting blame on anyone — because each of us can point to atrocities committed by the other — we need to find common elements that bind us together. We can and should be able to find a solution to this mess but only if we leave our emotions at home or if we both understand each other’s emotions. What is missing is the human element. Each side is not seeing the tragic divide from the other side’s eyes.”

Saying that each side needs to see the conflict from the other’s eyes is not a hard statement to make.

If we are ever going to come to a peaceful resolution, we need to see the conflict from each other’s perspective. Rather, politicians on both sides are trying to appease their respective political base and thus statements which neither advance the peace nor calm the boiling tensions are made in the heat of passions and thus flame an already tenuous situation. This, of course, has tragic consequences.

The current crisis is a situation where the extremists on both sides of the conflict have, once again, ultimate control. The extremists on both sides continually destroy any hopes for peace, while the silent majority in the region composed of both Israelis and Palestinians in Israel and Palestine are standing idly by as mere spectators. This majority needs to recognize itself as the majority in Israel and Palestine and needs to join forces in order to isolate the extremists; and need to demand of their leaders to finally conclude a peace — not talk endlessly to no end.

Enough is enough!

I can say categorically that rockets launched at Israel are wrong. But can Israelis say that the siege of Gaza, Palestine is also wrong?

I can say categorically that when a Palestinian killed Israeli parents on October 1, 2015, it was wrong and I condemn it. But can Israelis say that the “price tag” attack by the settlers who burnt to death the infant, Ali Dawabsha and his father and mother in Durma, Palestine while sleeping in their home on the night of July 31, 2015, is also wrong and also to be condemned?

Can we not see that the “price tag” attacks by Israeli extremists settlers are terrorist acts just as the stabbing of Israelis on a bus by a Palestinian extremists?

Can we not see that the burning of Palestinian Christian churches is just as wrong as the burning of Joseph’s Tomb?

No one can deny that Israel needs security. But can Israelis deny that within the context of peace there is security?

Israelis need to have their first day of peace. Palestinians need an end to the decades old occupation and need their freedom.

Can both sides see the humanity in these statements?

Seeing the conflict from each other’s eyes is a must in order for peace to have any chance. The Palestinians know that the conflict was, is and will always be about the occupation of Palestine by Israel. The Israelis know that Israel needs to be a safe haven for Jews around the world after centuries of worldwide persecution.

The Palestinians have a fundamental right to acquire their freedom. Israelis need to understand this.

Israelis need to feel secure. Palestinians need to understand this.

Can both sides see the other’s concern?

For peace to have a chance, the Palestinian/Israeli majority needs to understand the conflict from each other’s perspective. They need to come together. American Palestinian and Jewish leaders need to join forces to bring the majorities in Israel and Palestine together. It is imperative that these two groups break their silence because the alternative is the continuation of the status quo — which is not a sustainable option, especially given the Palestinian population growth;
the continuation of more children on both sides being killed — which means more bloodshed; and the continuation of playing into the hands of the extremists — which means no peace.

The Palestinian and Jewish peace loving majority in the US and in the Holy Land must come together for peace.

Those who will undoubtedly criticize me for taking this stance, and perhaps Aaron as well, are thinking through a limited view, a periscope aimed at a dark tunnel, when they should open their eyes and see the panoramic landscape of the human dimensions involved.

Those who truly want peace need to stand up and be counted. I believe there is a majority of Palestinians and Israelis who want peace.

Alone they are each overwhelmed by the extremists on their respective sides.

Together, they can isolate the extremists on both sides.

Peace loving Palestinians and Israelis need to join forces.

Israel's Shakespearean Plot to Punish Palestinians

It has not been proven to me that members of Hamas or any other Palestinian committed the alleged murder of the allegedly missing Israeli teenagers. The scenario put out by the Israelis just does not make sense. Given the diplomatic failures or setbacks that Israel has suffered in the past several months leads many to believe that this kidnapping was an Israeli fabrication that was conjured up to achieve Israel’s real aim without bringing on the wrath of the world leaders.

Israel is vehemently upset at the Palestinian unification government that ended the 7 year rift between Fatah and Hamas, the two leading political rivals in Palestine. This is no secret. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to world leaders not to recognize the new Palestinian unity government was rebuffed, including U.S. and Western European leaders.

It is also no secret that Israel wanted to punish the Palestinian Authority for bringing Hamas into the Palestinian government. Israel, as the collector of duty fees on products imported to the Palestinian Authority, is withholding those fees as one form of punishment. But Israel wanted to do more.

The concoction of having 3 Israeli teenagers go missing was pre-told by non-other than the head of the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, one week before the alleged kidnapping. This “terrorist” kidnapping plot against 3 Israeli teenagers would elicit the support not only with Israelis but with foreign governments—a much needed element in order for Netanyahu to carry on his plan to punish the Palestinians for its unity government with Hamas. He needed to punish the Palestinians without engaging the wrath of the US and Western powers. Thus the Netanyahu government was presented with a story about 3 missing “innocent” Israeli teenagers—what a wonderful Shakespearean plot.

So Israel carried on with this Machiavellian scenario. A news blackout was imposed during the initial hours or days of the search. The plot was developing. The sympathy from around the world was pouring in as the Israeli media broadcast the names and images of the teenagers. Their mothers were crying.

The mothers even went to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland to plea for help. They left behind 198 Palestinian mothers whose children innocence was wasted in Israeli Military jails and over 1500 Palestinian mothers whose children were killed since 2000. Motherly instincts are not exclusive to Israeli mothers and thus I wonder if they spoke on behalf of all mothers.

This Shakespearean plot was such a masterful plan aimed at achieving two results. It would elicit the sympathy Israel needed after months of diplomatic setbacks and it would allow Israel, under the cover of “rescuing” its children, to punish the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for the unification government that Israel opposed.

Israel was suffering in public opinion. In April, 2014, Israel was blamed by U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, for the collapse of the “peace” talks; settlement start announcements by Israel was hurting its image; the Palestinians united; and Palestine applied to 15 international agencies for membership. Divestment victories at U.S. campuses were gaining steam for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. The Presbyterian Church voted to divest from 3 U.S. corporations that are profiting from the Israeli occupation. Western European countries called upon their businesses to refrain from any business with corporations that profit from the Israeli occupation.

Israel could not accept any more condemnation and needed a sympathetic ploy to do what it wanted. Thus the plot to punish the Palestinians for the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah needed a cover. The scenario of having 3 Israelis being kidnapped by Hamas proved to be the cover Israel needed to carry on with its plot.

Under the cover of the alleged kidnapping and after gaining the needed sympathy of world leaders, Israel launched its media campaign and its Operation Brother’s Keeper, eloquently named to elicit maximum sympathy. It called up an army brigade which consists of 5,000 soldiers. Israel was going to war against the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli soldiers, in the past several weeks since the alleged kidnapping, freely and indiscriminately entered into over 1,000 Palestinian homes without any search warrants; killed 8 Palestinian children; arrested hundreds of Palestinian men; and ransacked homes—many times just in search of a TV which carried the World Cup games. Thousands of pictures where posted on social media sites showing Israeli soldiers blindfolding and dragging Palestinian children, as young as 7 years old off to prison. Israeli has bombarded an already devastated Gaza relentless for over the past week. The collective punishment against the Palestinian people was being carried out relentlessly and not a word was heard from world leaders.

When news broke that the 3 missing Israeli teens were found dead, Israel’s bombardment of Gaza escalated and the indiscriminate collective punishment against the Palestinian people went unabated and again without any condemnation by world leaders. Israel had achieved its objectives: gaining sympathy and punishing the Palestinians.

In analyzing the events of the past several weeks, the Shakespearean plot put out by Israel seems unrealistic. Killing the teenagers would not have served Hamas’ interests as the value of abducting Israelis is in the prisoner exchange. Murdering the teenagers has no value to Hamas, as the merciless bombing of Gaza has proven. Israelis did not like the prisoner exchange that was made to entice the Palestinians to renew the peace talks last year. In fact, Knesset members introduced legislation this year to prevent the Israeli government from agreeing to prisoner exchanges. Thus the chance of knowing that the teenagers were alive and held as a bargaining chip to exchange prisoners was not in Israel’s self-interest. Israel would have been in a real dilemma had the children been alive and it could not bargain for their release.

Thus the allegedly kidnapped teenagers were found dead. But Hamas never claimed responsibility. Again, it was not in Hamas’ interest to kill the teenagers.

Israel, a mastermind of staging media events, did not provide a picture of the bodies of the teenagers. They did not offer any evidence that members of Hamas committed the alleged kidnapping other than the preordained accusations by Netanyahu and his war hawk ministers.

The question is really not: Where is the proof that members of Hamas committed the alleged kidnapping and murder of these Israeli teenagers? The question should be: Who has the motive to present a scenario to the world that would gain sympathy for the preordained Israeli desire to punish the Palestinians for uniting? Shakespeare could not have written a better plot.

(Fadi Zanayed is an attorney and a Palestinian-American community activist. He blogs at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/ and his poetry collection is at http://poetrybyfadizanayed.blogspot.com/. He can be reached at FadiZ4u@yahoo.com)

Leaders Need to Sow Love Not Hatred

Nine Palestinian children and a teacher were killed on Thursday morning, February 17, 2012 when an Israeli truck carrying a fuel tank crashed into the school bus transporting the kindergarten children near the Qalandia checkpoint in Ramallah.  May they rest in peace. May God give solace to their families and to all Palestinians as this is a national tragedy.

Such a tragedy should have international coverage. Yet, a search of the internet revealed very little was posted except for the Arab press. It's hard for me to accept this discrepancy in news coverage, especially when this tragedy involves 4-6 year old children and their teacher. Additionally, what I cannot understand is some Apartheid Israelis rejoicing over such a tragedy and thanking God that it was not Jewish children who had perished in this horrific accident. Are we not all of God’s children and every human life is sacred.

I posted this incident in my Facebook status.  I expressed my sympathy and revealed the reaction of some Israelis. One person made a comment condemning the Israelis’ open praise of such a tragedy and then praised how discreet Hitler was in his actions. I did not see the connection with Hitler so I immediately deleted the comment. 

I then commented: “You cannot condemn hatred if you have hatred in your heart”

Yes the reaction of some Israelis was abysmal and I cannot understand it. What eats at my soul is not only that it was a reaction in of itself but that it was a reaction from some Jews when their ancestral history teaches the entire world that racial hatred stands contrary to human values. Because of the hatred inflicted upon Palestinians, mainly because Israelis have painted all Palestinians as terrorists, I will not tolerate Palestinians who advocate hatred of Jews or any other race, ethnicity, religion or any other group. My use of the term apartheid in reference to Israelis in my articles is not hatred, it is telling the truth—Israel is the Apartheid State of Israel.

Eventually the apartheid system that Israel continues to try to perpetuate will come to an end and Palestinians and Israelis will then live together between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean just like the different races in South Africa now live. Nelson Mandela, having been imprisoned for over 27 years by the White South Africans because of the color of his skin has taught us the following in his Autobiography:

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.  People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its’ opposite.

            

             Palestinians should not return hatred for hatred. Palestinians should forgive those who cheer at the death of  innocent kindergarteners.  In a previous article entitled “Palestinians Can Teach Jews Forgiveness”, I wrote:

A human element needs to be a part of the Palestinian struggle to be free of the Israeli apartheid practices.  If there is no human element than the Palestinian struggle will not have been worth the effort……Palestinians cannot be like the Apartheid settlers who are using their cars to run over Palestinian children.  http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/01/palestinians-can-teach-jews-forgiveness.html

            I am sure that this message resonates in a significant number of Palestinians and Israelis. Leaders on both sides need to listen to this message and start seeking the votes from people who have this human element rather than pursuing the votes of people who hate. Leaders need to teach love rather than hatred. 

            Nelson Mandela had every reason to hate his White captors and no one would have been against him had he hated them.  However, he would have never been any better than the apartheid regime that he sought to replace had he sowed hatred in his heart.  Rather, we sowed love and lead his people to love and prosperity.

            Both Palestinians and Israelis need a Nelson Mandela. Both need to sow love.



(© Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)

ييمكن للفلسطينيين تعليم اليهود الصفح

(قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. كما هو محدود لغتي العربية، لا أستطيع أن يشهدوا على دقة الترجمة.)

            مكبر الصوت في العديد من علق على WhenPalestineisFree # (عند فلسطين حرة). تويتد الأول ما يلي : "سأقوم WhenPalestineisFree # الدعوة الغفران. لن أكون مثل الصهاينة الذين يقتلون # # الفلسطينيين بعد تعرضهم للقتل في المحرقة #. "سعينا لتحرير فلسطين أن يكون العنصر البشري الذي يقول اننا لن نكون مثل الصهاينة الفصل العنصري. فإننا سوف يغفر ولكن تماما مثل يهود العالم ، ونحن لن ننسى لا.

            وتويت قرأت الفرح والسعادة وأعرب في الفكر لتحرير فلسطين. كتب hodanxo "لن يكون هناك يبتسم الاستعاضة عن الدموع ، والمحبة محل الكراهية والحرية في الماضي". SoumaiaHashad قال "أخشى أن أموت من السعادة". rolla_ramadan ببساطة ، "أنا لا أعتقد أنني يمكن أن تفسر كيفية سعيدة وأود أن يكون ".

            وأعرب مكبرات الصوت الآخر زوال إسرائيل والصهيونية. بينما أنا لا أعتقد أن هذا هو الشعور منتجة ، لا أستطيع فهم الإحباط. ترى أنا لا أريد أخوتي وأخواتي الفلسطينية للقيام الصهاينة على ما فعلت الصهاينة على الفلسطينيين.

            كان الهولوكوست حدثا مأساويا للغاية في تاريخ البشرية. يدرس البشرية التي ينبغي معارضة أي محاولة لارتكاب جريمة الإبادة الجماعية على أي شخص في جميع التكاليف. حتى الآن لم يتم غرس هذا الدرس في عقلية الصهاينة.في حين قالوا "أبدا" ، فإنه يعني فقط "مرة أخرى أبدا" فقط لإبادة اليهود لسنوات قليلة فقط بعد اكتشاف غرف الغاز في معسكر أوشفيتز ، وقادة المستقبل للدولة الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل الفظائع المرتكبة التي لا يمكن للمرء تصالح مع المحرقة التي ارتكبت ضد اليهود. كان النفاق في شكل الحقيقي لها.

            كما سيكون من النفاق بالنسبة للفلسطينيين لارتكاب أعمال عنف ضد اليهود عندما تقوم دولة فلسطينية تأتي إلى حيز الوجود ، وأنه سوف يأتي إلى حيز الوجود. نحن الفلسطينيين بحاجة إلى أن نتعلم من التاريخ والحاجة إلى إقامة عالم أكثر اللائق الذي نعيش فيه جميعا. نحن الفلسطينيين بحاجة إلى مساعدة جنسيات أخرى الذين يتوقون إلى أن يكون حرا. مثلما نحن الفلسطينيين يسعون إلى أن تكون خالية من التمييز العنصري إسرائيل ، ونحن بحاجة للحفاظ على حرية الدعوة للبشرية جمعاء.

            والعنصر البشري لابد أن يكون جزءا من النضال الفلسطيني ليكون خاليا من ممارسات الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي. وإذا لم يكن هناك العنصر البشري من نضالنا لم يكن يستحق كل هذا الجهد. إذا كان لنا أن الفلسطينيين يريدون ارتكاب الفظائع ضد الاسرائيليين بعد قيام دولة فلسطينية تأتي إلى حيز الوجود ثم فإننا سوف يكون هناك أفضل من الصهاينة الفصل العنصري الذي يرتكبون الفظائع ضدنا الآن.

            يمكننا أن الفلسطينيين لا يمكن الفصل العنصري مثل المستوطنين الذين يستخدمون سياراتهم لدهس الأطفال الفلسطينيين. هذا أمر سخيف. تتم هذه الأعمال يائسة من قبل الصهاينة الذين يعرفون أنهم لا يمكن أن يستمر أخلاقيا لنظام الفصل العنصري في فلسطين. بحلول عام 2016 يتوقع أن السكان الفلسطينيين في اسرائيل والضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة سوف يفوق عدد اليهود. أخلاقيا ، أخلاقيا وسياسيا ، والفصل العنصري الإسرائيليين يعرفون أنهم لا يستطيعون الاستمرار في نظام الفصل العنصري في الضفة الغربية ، لا يمكن أن يستمر الحصار على قطاع غزة ولا تزال تميز ضد 20 ٪ (أو أكثر بحلول عام 2016) من السكان في إسرائيل الفصل العنصري.ومن المعروف على نطاق واسع هذا. التركيبة السكانية تتحدث عن نفسها. عندما كنا الفلسطينيين أحرار من القمع من الإسرائيليين الفصل العنصري ، ونحن ، الفلسطينيين المضطهدين ، لا يمكن أن يصبح الظالم.

            وأعتقد أنه من واجب الأغلبية لحماية الأقلية لأن الأغلبية يمكن أن تصبح أقلية بمرور الزمن. في الوقت المناسب ، والفصل العنصري الإسرائيليين تصبح أقلية في التوصل إلى حل دولة واحدة. انه أمر لا مفر منه! عند هذه النقطة ، يجب على الفلسطينيين ألا تصبح نظام الفصل العنصري أنهم يقاتلون الآن للتغيير.

            يمكن للفلسطينيين أن يظهروا للعالم أن مفهوم التسامح هو عنصر قوي فقدت حتى على الإسرائيليين الفصل العنصري.بينما حاول اليهود لتخليص فلسطين من الفلسطينيين بعد تعرضهم لannulation القريب من خلال المحرقة النازية ، لا يمكن للفلسطينيين أن يعلم اليهود الصفح هو العنصر البشري الذي هو الحلقة المفقودة التي كان يمكن أن تمنع الفظائع التي ارتكبت في العقود السبعة الماضية.
 ثم يمكن للفلسطينيين والإسرائيليين على حد قول RobaSalibi "العيش بسعادة وبعد :)"
(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).

Palestinians Can Teach Jews Forgiveness

            On Tweeter many have commented on the hashmark #WhenPalestineisFree.  I tweeted the following: “#WhenPalestineisFree I will advocate forgiveness. I won't be like the #Zionists who kill #Palestinians after being killed in the #Holocaust.”  Our quest to liberate Palestine has to have a human component that says we will not be like the Apartheid Zionists. We will forgive but just like the Jews of the world, we will not forget.

            The tweets I read expressed joy and happiness at the thought of a free Palestine.  hodanxo wrote “there will be smiles replacing the tears, love replacing hatred and freedom at last.” SoumaiaHashad stated “I'm afraid I would die from the happiness.” rolla_ramadan simply stated, “I don't think I can explain how happy I would be.”

            Other tweeters expressed the demise of Israel and Zionism. While I do not think this is a productive sentiment, I can understand the frustration.  You see I do not want my Palestinian brothers and sisters to do onto Zionists what Zionists have done onto Palestinians.

            The Holocaust was a very tragic event in human history.  It taught mankind that any attempt to commit genocide upon any people should be opposed at all cost. Yet that lesson was not instilled in the mindset of Zionists. While they said “never again,” it only meant “never again” only to the annihilation of Jews for just a few years after the discovery of the gas chambers in Auschwitz, future leaders of the Apartheid State of Israel committed atrocities that one could not reconcile with the Holocaust committed against Jews. It was hypocrisy in its truest form.

            It would also be hypocritical for Palestinians to commit acts of violence against Jews when a Palestinian State comes into being, and it will come into being.  We Palestinians need to learn from history and need to forge a more decent world in which we all live. We Palestinians need to assist other nationalities who long to be free.  Just as we Palestinians seek to be free of apartheid Israel, we need to keep advocating freedom for all mankind.

            A human element needs to be a part of the Palestinian struggle to be free of the Israeli apartheid practices.  If there is no human element than the our struggle will not have been worth the effort.  If we Palestinians want to commit atrocities against Israelis after a Palestinian State comes into being then we will be no better than the apartheid Zionists which commit atrocities against us now.

            We Palestinians cannot be like the Apartheid settlers who are using their cars to run over Palestinian children. This is absurd. These acts are made by desperate Zionists who know that they cannot morally continue the apartheid system in Palestine. By the year 2016 it is expected that the Palestinian population in Israel, West Bank and Gaza will outnumber Jews.  Morally, ethically and politically, Apartheid Israelis know that they cannot continue the apartheid system in the West Bank, cannot continue its siege of Gaza and cannot continue to discriminate against 20% (or more by 2016) of its population in Apartheid Israel.  This is widely known.  The demographics speak for themselves.  When we Palestinians are free from the oppression of the Apartheid Israelis, we, the oppressed Palestinians, cannot become the oppressor.

            I believe that it is the duty of the majority to safeguard the minority because the majority can become minority over time. In time, Apartheid Israelis will become the minority in a one state solution. It is inevitable! At that point, Palestinians must not become the apartheid regime that they are now fighting to change.  

            Palestinians can show the world that the concept of forgiveness is a powerful element so lost upon the Apartheid Israelis. While Jews tried to rid Palestine of the Palestinians after they were subjected to near annulation through the Holocaust, the Palestinians can teach the Jews that forgiveness is the human element that was the missing link that could have prevented the atrocities of the past seven decades.

Then Palestinians and Israelis can in the words of RobaSalibi “live happily ever after :)” 

(  © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.) 

الكراهية والتفوق وعقلية الإسرائيلية

( قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. كما هو محدود لغتي العربية لقراءةالكلام والقليل جدا، لا أستطيع أن يشهدوا على دقة              الترجمة، وأنا لا تقدم سوىأنها على سكن لقرائي.)                                           

الكراهية والشعور بالتفوق عنصران رئيسيان التي تحول دون التوصل إلى حل للنزاع الإسرائيلي / الفلسطيني. بعد 62 عاما من الفظائع التي تصيب بعضها البعض ضد البعض الآخر ، فإن الاسرائيليين والفلسطينيين هي تغلي بالحقد. خلال هذه العقود من حكم حجية على الفلسطينيين ، اكتسبت الإسرائيليين نوعا من الشعور بالتفوق. سوف تحصل على ما وراء هذه الصفات يستغرق وقتا طويلا وكثيرا قبل الشفاء سيكون هناك حقا شعور من الثقة والتعاون حتى بعد السلام التملص من أي وقت مضى يصل في نهاية المطاف.
الكراهية هي سمة مقلقة للغاية التي لا يمكن تجاهلها بسهولة. في حين أن التجربة اليهودية هو الكامل من الأمتعة المؤسف الكراهية التي لحقت بهم على مر التاريخ ، يبدو أن جميع قرون من الانتقام حتى المخزنة قد حان للخروج ضد الفلسطينيين.الفلسطينيون هم الذين يدفعون ثمن معاداة السامية في التاريخ.ويجري انتقم كل الكراهية التي يتعرض لها الشعب اليهودي على مر التاريخ في شكل الكراهية تجاه الفلسطينيين.
في عام 1948 حاولت الأمم المتحدة ، وهي الهيئة العالمية الجديدة التي تشكلت بعد حربين عالميتين مدمرتين التي شهدت طبيعة القبيح للكراهية والذاتي الصالحين بتفوق عرق واحد أكثر من كل الآخرين ، في محاولة لعكس الإيثار التاريخية لمعاداة السامية جرائم الحاضر والأجيال السابقة من خلال إنشاء دولة إسرائيل بناء على الأراضي التي كانت في الغالب أن للفلسطينيين. بينما كانت تلك المحاولة النبيلة وضمن المنطق لإنشاء الأمم المتحدة ، من أجل حل ومنع النزاعات في أنحاء العالم ، فإنه المخمرة الكراهية الحالية بين الاسرائيليين والفلسطينيين.
في حين أن الأمم المتحدة حاولت لتعليم العالم بأن طموحات هتلر الألماني التفوق العنصري كانت خاطئة تماما ، لم يكن هذا الدرس تغرق في التفكير الإسرائيلي. الاسرائيليون يعتقدون أنهم متفوقون على الآخرين ، وخاصة الفلسطينيين. ما إذا كان هو التوراة التي تعطي للشعب اليهودي هذا الشعور أو يرون أنفسهم على أنهم أكثر ثقافة وغربية من الفلسطينيين والاسرائيليين لم يتعلموا من التاريخ ، وبالتالي يتم تكرار التاريخ السلبية التي ارتكبت ضد اليهود على الفلسطينيين.
قبل وبعد إنشاء إسرائيل ، كان واحدا الفظائع التي يرتكبها طرف واحد هوانتقم من جانب آخر الفظائع. بغض النظر عن الذين ارتكبوا الهجوم الأول ، وتصاعد دورة دائمة من العين بالعين عقلية تخرج عن نطاق السيطرة. الراسخة في هذه الحلقة المفرغة هي عقلية الاستعمار الغربي الذي يحتاج لاستغلال "دونية" الناس لتحقيق مكاسب اقتصادية وسياسية. قرون من الشتات اليهودي داخل المجتمعات الغربية التي استغلال الشرق الدول الغربية كانت هي القاعدة ، أي هيمنة الأوروبيين جنوب أفريقيا والهند ، وضعت في نفسية الإسرائيلية التي تشجع على الاعتقاد لا أساس لها في الأخلاق من سيطرتها على الفلسطينيين.
الهيمنة الاستعمارية وعقلية والايديولوجيات القديمة من القرن العشرين ، وأوقات سابقة. حتى الآن ، فإن إسرائيل على التشبث لنظام الفصل العنصري في السيطرة على الفلسطينيين لا يمكن تحمله طويلا. في حين كشفت الثورة التكنولوجية وقبل سيطرة اليهود على الصحافة وسمحت اسرائيل لاخفاء أي وقت مضى توسيع استعمارها للأراضي الفلسطينية ، والتوسعات الاستيطانية ، أي في عصر جديد من الانترنت حيث كل شيء في أي مكان يمكن أن تبث إلى العالم على الفور لإسرائيل ما هو حقا AN - نظام الفصل العنصري الذي لا يختلف عن "غراند الفصل العنصري" مخطط لعام 1960 التي تنفذها الأقلية الأفريكانية في جنوب أفريقيا ليؤكد الانفصال الإقليمية والقمع العسكري.
في سياق حل الصراع ، ويجب على الفلسطينيين عدم السماح للإسرائيليين أن يشعر متفوقة. وكميا عندما تتفاوض اسرائيل من اجل الافراج عن احد جنودها للأسر المئات من السجناء الفلسطينيين على قيمة أكبر من اسرائيلي فلسطيني. هذا خطأ.وبالمثل ، عندما الفلسطينيين يسمح لإسرائيل تشريح أراضيهم إلى مناطق وتسمح اسرائيل لمنحهم صلاحيات محدودة والسلطة تشعر بالانزعاج المساواة بين الشعبين. الفلسطينيون هم مثل الأطفال ، مطالبين "الفضائية الخاصة" مثل الطفل ، مطالبين "الفضائية له / لها" من أحد الوالدين. ليست هناك علاقة الأم / الطفل بين الاسرائيليين والفلسطينيين ويجب على الفلسطينيين وقف يتصرف مثل الأطفال.
هذا التفوق الإسرائيلي علم النفس هو في قلب الصراع. بيان المهاتما غاندي بأن "ثقافة الأمة تكمن في قلوب وروح شعبها" يصف الشعور بالتفوق الحالي ضمن عقلية الإسرائيلية. عندما يشعر متفوقة ثقافة واحدة لأخرى ، الكراهية يتطور. التمييز يلي.يتم تطبيق القوانين وتفسيرها بطريقة مختلفة عن ثقافة واحدة على حساب الأخرى.
الإسرائيليون بحاجة إلى أن يفهموا أنهم بحاجة إلى التوصل إلى اتفاق مع مشاعرهم ، مع الاحتلال غير المشروع والسيطرة على الفلسطينيين ، تماما مثل البيض في الولايات المتحدة جاءت الى اتفاق مع قرون من التمييز ضد الأميركيين من أصل أفريقي والأفارقة مثلما جاء إلى اتفاق مع نظام الفصل العنصري في جنوب افريقيا.
يجب على الإسرائيليين أن تتصالح داخل "القلوب والنفوس" من اجل انهاء الاحتلال لفلسطين.

(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).

Hatred, Superiority And The Israeli Mindset

This article was written in Oct., 2010

Hatred and a feeling of superiority are two core elements that prevent a solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  After 62 years of mutually inflicted atrocities against each other, the Israelis and Palestinians are seething with hatred. During these decades of authoritative rule over the Palestinians, Israelis have acquired a feeling of superiority. Getting beyond these attributes will take time and much healing before there will truly be a feeling of trust and cooperation even after the ever eluding peace finally arrives.

Hatred is a very troubling attribute that is not easily dismissed.  While the Jewish experience is full of unfortunate baggage of hatred inflicted upon them throughout history, it seems that all the centuries of stored up vengeance has come out against the Palestinians. The Palestinians are paying the price for history’s anti-Semitism. All the hatred inflicted upon the Jewish people throughout history is being avenged in the form of hatred toward the Palestinians.

In 1948 the United Nations, a new world body formed after two devastating world wars that saw the ugly nature of hatred and self-righteous superiority of one race over all others, tried in an altruistic attempt to reverse the historical anti-Semitism crimes of present and past generations by creating the State of Israel upon a land that was predominately that of the Palestinians. While that attempt was noble and within the reasoning for the creation of the UN, to solve and prevent conflicts around the world, it fermented the present hatred between Israelis and Palestinians. 

While the UN tried to teach the world that Hitler’s German aspirations of racial superiority were absolutely wrong, that lesson did not sink into the Israeli mindset.  Israelis believe that they are superior to others, especially the Palestinians.  Whether it is the Torah that gives the Jewish people this feeling or they see themselves as more cultured and Westernized than the Palestinians, the Israelis have not learned from history and thus are repeating the negative history perpetrated against Jews upon the Palestinians.

Before and after the creation of Israel, one atrocity committed by one party was and is avenged by another atrocity.  Regardless of who committed the first assault, the perpetual cycle of an eye for an eye mentality has spiraled out of control. Entrenched in this vicious cycle is the Western colonization mindset that needs to exploit an “inferior” people for economic and political gain.  The centuries of the Jewish diaspora within Western societies in which the exploitation of the East by Western nations was the norm, i.e. Europeans domination of South Africa and India, developed into the Israeli psychic that encourages the unfounded belief in the morality of its domination of the Palestinians.   

Colonial dominance and mentality are antiquated ideologies of the twentieth century and earlier times. Yet, Israel is clinging onto to an apartheid system of control over the Palestinians that cannot be long endured. While the pre-technological revolution and Jewish domination of the press allowed Israel to hide its ever expanding colonization of Palestinian land, i.e. settlement expansions, the new age of the internet where anything anywhere can be broadcast to the world instantaneously has exposed Israel for what it truly is—an apartheid regime which is not unlike the “Grand Apartheid” scheme of the 1960’s executed by the Afrikaner minority in South Africa to emphasize territorial separation and military repression.

In the context of resolving the conflict, Palestinians must not allow the Israelis to feel superior.   When Israel negotiates for the release of one of its captured soldiers for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners the value of an Israeli is quantified greater than a Palestinian. This is wrong.   Similarly, when the Palestinians allow Israel to dissect their land into zones and allow Israel to give them limited powers and authority the equality between the two peoples is disturbed.  Palestinians are like children demanding “their own space” like a child demanding “his/her space” from a parent.   There is no parent/child relationship between Israelis and Palestinians and the Palestinians must stop acting like children.

This Israeli psychology of superiority is at the very heart of the conflict. Mohandas Gandhi’s statement that “A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people” describes the current feeling of superiority within the Israeli mindset.  When one culture feels superior to another, hatred develops.  Discrimination follows. Laws are implemented and interpreted differently for one culture to the detriment of the other.

Israelis need to understand that they need to come to terms with their feelings; with the  illegal occupation and domination of the Palestinians—just like the Whites in the United States came to terms with centuries of discrimination against African-Americans and just like the Afrikaners came to terms with its apartheid system in South Africa.

Israelis must come to terms within their “hearts and their souls” to end the occupation of Palestine. 


(  © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)