Shavua tov. Today, 12th of Heshvan according to the Hebrew calendar, marks the memorial day (yahrtzeit) of Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister who, for many, represented Israel's "best [hopefully not last] chance for peace". (According to the Jewish calendar, each day begins at sunset, so the 12th of Heshvan, which began at sunset today, will continue until sunset tomorrow (Sunday)). It is a sad fact that the extremist who killed him, Yigal Amir, saw fit, ironically, to attempt to assassinate him at Yad Vashem, the Israeli National Holocaust Memorial. (His third, final, and ultimately successful attempt was at a rally attended by Rabin in Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv, now renamed Yitzhak Rabin Square in his honour). The Knesset, or Israeli Parliament, has established the 12th of Heshvan as his official memorial day in Israel, although many apparently also observe the 4th of November, the date of his assassination according to the Gregorian calendar, as a day of remembrance. It is probably a mark of my attachment to Judaism that I remember hearing of this assassination long before I even consciously decided to convert, and although I pray that he is wrong I can't help fearing that, unlike then, Jimmy Carter's assertion that the opportunity for a two-state solution is now fast disappearing may unfortunately be right, the continued building of settlements, especially in the traditionally Arab-majority East Jerusalem, being one of the reasons for this sad state of affairs.
Although admittedly I have never been to Israel, a fact I hope may be rectified as soon as possible, I consider myself a passionate Zionist and the fact that I am dead set against settlements - the building of Jewish-majority villages outside the 1967 borders of the State of Israel - may seem to contradict that assertion. But the Jewish State was established to provide a home for Jews in which they could feel safe (not to mention Jewish), the way an American, a Frenchman or an Englishman can (or should) feel safe in their home countries. Whether or not one agrees with the establishment of the State, one must at least acknowledge that the State of Israel is a "fact on the ground", and I think that that entails trying to find a solution that will suit both parties (or, in the cynical interpretation, which suits neither). It seems to me that the idea that the Jews and Arabs could exist, side-by-side, peacefully in the same state is more of a pipe-dream than even the two-state solution ever was. This of course would mean that Israel would need to recognise both the right of the Palestinians to exist as a nation-state, and their right to establish that state, and the Palestinians would have to do likewise for Israel. But whilst Israel continues not only to occupy Palestine, but to build on land in the Occupied Territories, it is difficult to see how this can happen. One must also acknowledge that, unlike the original 1947 UN partition plan, the '67 borders do not divide Israel/Palestine equally into four quarters, each quarter occupied by either a Jewish or an Arab majority. The latter borders, which are now a starting point for any negotiations, it seems, are the borders of Israel after it won the War of Independence - which, like perhaps all wars, resulted in a gain of territory for the winning side and a loss to the losers - but before it occupied the West Bank and Gaza. I have long had misgivings about the practicality of a state divided in two by another, (it didn't work in Pakistan), and, like apparently the Emir of Qatar, believe that ultimately, Gaza and the West Bank will become two different states. (A three-state solution, I guess).
It must also be acknowledged that some sectors, at least, of the Israeli public refer to the "West Bank [of the River Jordan]", the larger of the two, disconnected areas of the Occupied Territories (leaving aside the Golan Heights, which were originally Syrian territory) as Judaea and Samaria, the origins, of course of the terms "Jew" and "Samaritan" - and thereby indicate their historic significance for the Jewish people. However, I think ultimately we will, if we ever reach a two-/three-state solution, have to acknowledge that "Judaea and Samaria" must remain a Palestinian territory - and whilst we are perhaps the only people to have survived the wholesale displacement of our population into exile, we are certainly not the only people to have to come to terms with the loss of a defining portion of our territory. One hopes also that the legacy of Rabin will not be lost, and Israelis will see the grievous error in believing, as apparently one third of them do, that Israeli Arabs (those who live in territory internationally recognised as Israeli, therefore not in the Occupied Territories) should be denied citizenship or the right to vote. To be sure, like all countries, Israel has many, many more problems, but despite the fact that it ranks at 17, a staggering 11 places ahead of the United Kingdom, in the United Nations' Human Development Index, it has one big problem that of course the UK does not have - although there are independence movements in various parts of the UK, almost no-one questions the basic right of the English, Welsh, Scots and Irish to exist nor seeks to eliminate them by violent means. Let's hope that Israel and Palestine can eventually come to an agreement - the sooner the better. Shalom/Salaam, peace out.
No comments:
Post a Comment