by Jalal Bana
An extremist and militant minority is winning an imaginary war, and the sane, moderate and pragmatic majority is losing a war it never started.
Anyone who read Arnon Itiel's opinion piece on these pages ("Israel is in a state of civil war") but is unfamiliar with the State of Israel or the Arab population here, could have come away with the menacing impression that Israel is on the brink of disintegration, not unlike Lebanon, Libya or even Iraq – and that any minute now the Arabs, the "enemy" in his words, will carry out a revolution and that not one Jew will remain here as a result.
More than seven decades since the state's inception, this prevalent sense of fear, or more precisely fear-mongering, predicated on ignorance or refusal to accept reality – is sad.
"The State of Israel is in a state of civil war," Itiel affirms, expanding that "our children" – and the reference is to Jewish children only – "are used as punching bags in the services of a government no one voted for." This is the root of the error, and the deception: The State of Israel is not in a civil war, although this very description provides a glimpse into what many people think about the state's relationship with its Arab citizens. This worldview, which is entirely mertitless, whereby a war, religious war, or national war is taking place here, is essentially a victory for those who truly want to foment strife here. An extremist and militant minority is winning an imaginary war, and the sane, moderate and pragmatic majority is losing a war it never started.
Itiel's determination that "vast swathes of the State of Israel's territory are a kind of no man's land" and therefore are essentially not a part of Israel, while perhaps correct from a civic perspective is wrong from a security perspective. Yes, the state abandoned entire areas comprising dozens of Arab communities, relegating these Arab villages and towns to the country's backyard regardless of whether they are located in the far-flung periphery in the Negev or Galilee, or closer to the country's center. This was intentional policy in the 1960s and 1970s, and the state realized the enormity of its mistake less than two decades ago, perhaps in the wake of the October 2000 riots that shook the Arab public and the country, its institutions and the Jewish public.
The brutal assault on the police officers in Kfar Qasim wasn't particularly surprising. The Israel Police, which has failed to eradicate the violence in Arab society, is already perceived, whether justifiably or not, as part of the problem and not the solution. It has been consistently losing its deterrence capabilities for years now, and many Arab youths document and upload to social media any instance of friction and contact with an officer with the intention of shaming him. Any attack on police officers must be condemned, but the fact is that many youths in Arab society believe they are more likely to have a violent or even fatal interaction with a police officer, even a random one, than a helpful encounter. This lack of trust can and must be addressed, ideally without unnecessary evocations of war.
As someone who lives in the Galilee area, works with Jews and has Jewish neighbors and friends, I also don't accept Itiel's determination that a Jew who enters an Arab town is putting his life at risk. You don't need more than a few hours in any Arab town in the Galilee to see and understand just how deep Jewish-Arab relations are and the degree to which coexistence is expressed in every facet of life, business, healthcare and institutions of higher learning. Specifically now, as the State of Israel faces such a complex challenge, it is incumbent upon us, and especially the government and its branches, to deepen Jewish-Arab relations and strengthen coexistence everywhere and in every field.
Jalal Bana
Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/you-can-leave-your-bunkers-this-isnt-a-civil-war/
No comments:
Post a Comment