I have spent the day in Washington, first at the Americans for Peace Now board meeting, where I am an officer, and later at the J Street conference, where I am a participant. I go to sleep tonight with this sentiment dancing on my brain: the promise of Israel needs to be embraced and supported, promoted and defended--fought for. That is not the case presently in much of American political discourse.
The surprising announcement of President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize received immediate headlines in Israel, with the right wing fearing that he will redouble his efforts to force a two state solution. Let's hope that is true. Arafat didn't deserve his award, we can see that in retrospect. And, it's not clear that Shimon Peres deserved his either. So maybe this prospective notion isn't such a bad idea.
This past week, Israel was afforded the visit by a group called "The Elders," comprised of former heads of state and moral leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Avnery, a former journalist and Knesset member and today, in his mid 80s, a leader of Gush Shalom, which is a fairly far left portion of the peace camp, writes a response to calls for global activists not to use an international boycott against Israel. He writes this for the Palestinian news agency, Ma'an and it can be accessed on line, but considering Avnery's prominence on the left in Israel and the respect he yields, too, among 'post-Zionists,' anti-or non-Zionists, in addition to many on the Zionist left, I am reprinting it here on the jump. It is, I think, an eloquent argument to the left on why Israel is not South Africa.
The only time I had the privilege of sitting with Senator Ted Kennedy in his Capitol Hill office was when I was in the company of another great American Irishman, Michael Harrington. Mike, who saw Ted Kennedy as akin to the sole politician who could bring social democracy to our shores, had gone to meet with Kennedy to discuss a project I was staffing, Democratic Agenda, our attempt to build a strong left-liberal/social democratic wing inside the Democratic Party. It was the mid 1980s and in the midst of discussing Kennedy's support for Democratic Agenda, he also discussed--with incredible ease--the ins and outs of social democratic governments and parties in South America and Europe.
Seasoned peace campaigners Rob Malley and Hussein Agha argue in a recent New York Times oped that the two state solution is doomed because each side's narrative stands in the way. You can read their argument and decide for yourself. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/opinion/11malley.html?_r=1
But Lara Friedman, the Americans for Peace Now lobbyist, makes an excellent counterargument on the APN Website.
Jerusalem is back in the news. It's probable that the government of Bibi Netanyahu decided to give the legal green light to settler-support Irwin Moskowitz to build in the mostly Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to strengthen Bibi's right flank. But, he is playing with fire to do this. I have an opinion piece in this weekend's Haaretz newspaper about the subject of Jerusalem:
The first time I ever visited Israel, friends gave me change to give to people in the street for 'tzedakah,' or charity. This was supposed to be a good deed-to give something to people in need in the 'holy land.' Through the years, I have come to realize that tzedakah is not an answer-instead of charity, people need 'tzedek,' or justice, not just in Israel of course, but around the world.
When people outside of Israel think about this country, they think usually of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, but there is another conflict internally inside Israel, regarding what kind of country it will be and how it treats workers, especially those from foreign lands.
Tel Aviv. The Americans have landed. George Mitchell, Sec'y Gates, Dennis Ross and more-they are all here this week to meet with Israeli government officials and try to secure an agreeement to get the peace process back in gear. While the street is quiet in Israel, everyone I talk to who supports the peace camp says that they are 'waiting for Obama.' There is support for what the President wants to do, but it hasn't jelled yet, at least not as action on the street.
There are many things about Jerusalem that make life very difficult for the average New Yorker--many inconveniences and annoyances, but one thing that is sooooo much better is the medical system. I now have clinic envy-and hope that President Obama can bring this easy bit of life to America: the walk-in health clinic.
I've been in Israel for a week now and as always, when I arrive, I'm trying to assess the mood in the street. Unlike most other American Jews who come to Israel, I also spend a lot of time with friends and colleagues in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian West Bank to assess both the Israeli and Palestinian temperature.
Everyone is asking the same question: is President Obama serious about pushing for a solid, negotiated peace? Does he mean business and how quickly will he get us there? This question is asked with more or less anticipation depending on where you fall in the political spectrum.
this is a very instructive Israeli TV tape, from Channel two in Israel, documenting Peace Now's "settlement watch" activity and a violent attack by a settler on a televsion crew and Peace Now activists. Worth watching.
A few readers asked to see a map of the West Bank and the settlements.
The best up to date information on the settlements is at the Americans for Peace Now website. They are the experts on the settlement issue (truth in advertising--I am an officer of APN in the US). Here is the link. www.peacenow.org
go to the focus on settlements page. there are maps, updates, photos of 'natural growth,' which is not natural at all, but expansion and building into a future Palestinian state.
As events continue to build in Iran, so do the settlers outside of Israel's Green line, the internationally recognized border between Israel and the Palestinian areas. The settlers are not feeling threatened by the Obama Administration nor by Bibi Netanyahu's speech. That is because they are so entrenched in the Israeli political establishment, especially now with the right wing government. And, Bibi's speech last weekend did nothing to dissuade them.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had a choice: President Obama or Benny Begin. He chose Benny Begin, the right wing member of Bibi's Likud Party. Rather than joining the international consensus and leading Israel to peace, the Israeli PM chose to stay trapped in his old ideology, treading water. The timid acknowledgement that he gave to a two-state solution is useless. It is a non-starter and he knows it. The question is, what next?
A quick post to respond to Josh and to some of the others who commented on my settlements' post and Friday's poll. The important thing to remember is that the Israeli public has never dropped below a majority of support for leaving the settlements; what that means ultimately is up to a political solution and a political leadership in Israel--along with a viable Palestinian leadership and US support to turn the majority into a politically viable reality.
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