Opinion | Columnists
Lessons to learn from Israelis
Unlike the Palestinians, the Jews are united. Thanks to this unity, they were successful in achieving their goals and in founding the state with a name associated with their faith.
- By As'ad Abdul Rahman, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:24 August 25, 2007
- Image Credit: Illustration by Dwynn Trazo/Gulf News
A wise man once said that "if you know your enemy, you would gain half the victory; but when you come to know both yourself and your enemy, then you have total triumph".
For decades, we were told there is nothing called Israel, and liked to label the Israelis as groups of aliens who were brought together from all corners of the globe and who formed the Jewish state.
We saw the social structure of the Zionist state, with all its divergent components - Ashkenazim and Sephardim, destitute and wealthy Jews - and concluded that they were nothing more than an incoherent conglomeration of people, in a state where there was racial discrimination. We saw it as a place that would ultimately accelerate the pace of its own destruction.
But even though Jews were never classified as one nation throughout their long history, as each group maintained its own political and religious features, one is amazed by their unity and the desire to adopt an identical course.
No Jew tries to eliminate or defame another. Thanks to this unity, they were successful in achieving their goals and in founding the state with a name associated with their faith.
Meanwhile, Israel, probably, has no fundamentally controversial issues internally. The Israelis only differ on means of realising their goals.
And Israel has done a good job of mobilising Jewish communities abroad, which have always stood by its side, rendering financial and other forms of aid, and establishing a solid political support base for Israel abroad.
The fact is that Israel's political system is designed to accommodate its political and ethnic contradictions. Hence the Israelis are all concurrent on important issues, and ultimately unified in face of what they call external threats.
In spite of being brought to believe there is nothing positive about Jews, we must take the example of Israel and review the values that govern Palestinian (and Arab) society in dealing not only with political issues, but also our day to day lives.
That would enable us underline many a flaw and heel many a wound. Divisions and differences are so abundant in our life that some of us cannot tolerate others. We forget that pluralism is actually desirable.
How long will we be content with words and slogans while the Palestinian people are being slaughtered daily by their own people in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip? How long will the mentality of exclusion and non-engagement persist? Do a few conspirators within Hamas and Fatah aim to transform us into the new aliens in this land?
Obstinacy
We have become contaminated. Under distrust and obstinacy, which run counter to leniency and wisdom in dealing with the other for the sake of the national interest, fratricide has brought us to a temporary separation between the West Bank and Gaza, and our daily living conditions have fallen under domination of warlords, murderers, mercenaries and arms dealers.
So much has changed. The popularity of the just Palestinian cause in the world has declined; many of its supporters feel discouraged.
As a result, we have found shelter in illusions, and have killed each other in the name of freedom and the homeland, and ultimately lost even more through the Hamas-Fatah fighting.
It's a regrettable situation that urgently demands a solution. We need to probe the actual reasons of this deviation in our course and find effective and prompt solutions.
True, human history knew no injustices as those that befell the Palestinian people. Neither does human tragedy record catastrophes as those inflicted upon the Palestinians. But it is absolutely unacceptable to turn the Palestinians to new aliens.
Let's differ, but in the "Jewish manner" this time: when killing a Jew is forbidden for another Jew. Whereas Israel was fortunate in bringing Jews together, inside and outside Israel, we have failed to unify the Palestinians inside the homeland itself.
While the Jewish state has adopted pluralism, we are still addicted to tribalism, factionalism and blind partisanship. While every corrupt leader in Israel, including its head of state, is brought to justice, we've rejected a necessary building process based on transparency and democracy.
And finally, whereas the Israeli public go to the street demanding the punishment of every erring official, we have refused accountability and collective examination. Jews were the "aliens" in the past, and today we are how they were. Can we accept that?
Professor As'ad Abdul Rahman is the Chairman of the Palestinian Encyclopedia.
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