Hope not Hate

Harry’s Place 4/13/12

Over on +972 magazine last week, Ami Kaufman did a great service to all non-Hebrew speakers by translating a Channel 10 segment on the racism and dehumanization that is infecting the youth in Israel. No one could help but be disgusted by the comments voiced by these teenagers and share with the anguish of the teachers who wonder why the educational system is flawed in civic education.

Yet along with the horror of ones response we need to examine how we can root out the hate. The people on this video are not adults, they are kids, and condemnation is not enough; boycotting teenagers in this regard will only make the situation worse.

Nothing justifies the racism that is displayed. It is important to remember however the conditions that these kids grew up in between the ages of 4-7. As young kids they lived through the 2nd Intifada, a psychologically scaring event for every civilian in the region. Though the Israeli public response was an attempt to get back to normal after every bomb as soon as possible, each terrorist attack in a civilian area left ripples and scars in society.

What words were said to these young kids at the time by terrified parents who would not allow them out by themselves? For those who did not live it, it is hard to fathom the daily stress and fear of wondering if today would be the day that the coffee shop, bus or gas station that you visited would be your last. Much has been said of the trauma that 9/11 or 7/7 did to the Americans and British respectively in terms of their psyche. The 2nd Intifada was a constant unrelenting period in the lives of Israelis for two years.

Though the image of the super human Israeli has often been cultivated, there is no super human response to this level of trauma. These experiences do not serve as a justification for the racism that we saw on Channel 10, nor the racism that one does hear causally around Israel. Yet if we are ever to move beyond it, something that needs to happen regardless of what end you are pursing, we need to move the youth of today to hope not hate.

The best remedy to hate is exposure to the other, yet it is something that is being restricted by the political leaders in Israel and civic leaders in Palestine. In Israel the government nixed the project of the Bereaved Families Forum schools projects due to the complaint that it drew equivalences between terror victims and their perpetrators.

In Palestine, the experiences of the 2nd intifada did not stop with its ending. Though the intensity and level of violence dramatically decreased, the impacts of the occupation, land confiscation and humiliation continued. Though there were many attempts since the Oslo process to foster civil bridges between the two peoples, they did nothing to help the ordinary lives of Palestinians and were used by a few to try and normalize the occupation.

With the start of the international BDS movement in 2005 the anti-normalization movement started to grow in strength through its sister BDS movement. Though one can see the appeal and internal intellectual coherence in those who propagate anti-normalization, it is ultimately destructive. Whichever end to the Status Quo one is pursing, campaigning to end all interactions between Palestinians and Israelis (barring those who already agree with a full right of return) makes any end less likely. The Israeli electorate needs to see those it is going to live among or beside, not be restricted to fleeting media glimpses. The Bereaved Families Forum project falls afoul as much the PACBIboycott lines as it does the Israeli Government regulations.

The latest polling snap shot shows how dire the situation is. 54% of Israelis are worried or very worried that they or a family member will be attacked by an Arab in their daily lives. 75% of Palestinians are worried or very worried that Israel will attack them or confiscate their land or that of a family member in their daily lives.

The response to young hate is education, dialogue and experiences to combat the fear that generated that hate. Our response cannot be restricted to just condemnation when we see such vile words leaving the mouths of the next generation. While condemnation is vital it is not enough.

Has the Third Intifada Already Started?

Huffington Post UK 28/2/12

“Time is running out for the two-state solution” is perhaps one of the most over-used phrases in the diplomatic sphere today. For the past few years the chorus of voices chanting this mantra have increased and have warned of dire consequences if this hourglass run out of sand. One of the threats they foresee on the horizon is a third Intifada (uprising) in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Not withstanding whether the two-state compromise has a sell by date, one could argue that the third intifada is already underway. Unlike its violent predecessor, the third intifada is mirroring its original as a non-hierarchal mostly non-violent protest against the occupation and its by-products.

Signs of this uprising can be seen across the events of the past few weeks. Khadar Adan’s 67 day hunger strike put a spotlight on administrative detention orders and created parallels to Bobby Sands. Adan’s protest went global, trending worldwide on Twitter and gathering media attention. His success at getting a release date has lead Hana Shalabi – another detainee – to strike, which has now been going for two weeks.

Rock throwing and protests on Temple Mount are also on the rise. These can be traced back to a forged leaflet. The Electronic Intifada picked up this leaflet and created a Twitter rumor of imminent take over. Though the rumours were quashed, last Friday there were riots at Al-Aqsa as a group of religious Jews ascended Temple Mount. Jews and tourists ascending is nothing new, but in the current climate it was seen as a fulfillment of the rumor. Thinking that they were trying to take over the site, stones were thrown and the police got involved.

This past Friday also marked the anniversary of the massacre in the tomb of the patriarchs in Hebron. Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Palestinian worshippers and lead to the closing of Shuhada Street. During a demonstration to re-open it on Friday Fadi Quaran, a Palestinian-American who is a leader in the non-violent protest movement was detained. His case, like Adan’s has also gone global.

People visiting the West Bank have noted the tension in the air and the protests that are happening week in and week out, increases in rock throwing and spontaneous protests. The Israeli’s are also not deaf to this noting that the status quo is leading to violence. This awareness however has not stopped some parts of the government fanning the flames with plans for a rail network across the West Bank surfacing.

Like many of the protests around the region a big kick off event was not required. Tunisia had a single spark that grew into a conflagration and the West Bank is simmering. More important then noting its start, the real question is what will end this new intifada?

Diplomats like saying that the Middle East Peace process is like a bicycle, you must keep cycling or you fall over. To people on the ground the bicycle fell over in 2000 and despite various diplomatic efforts, has not recovered since. The first Intifada awakened Israel to the Palestinian national desires in a real way. The second Intifada killed trust between the peoples, what will the third bring?

The vacuum of vision and action at an elite level has led Palestinians to looking for new options. A leaderless, non-hierarchal movement can certainly motivate a frustrated people to protest and rise up, but the real challenge is to where.

Many in the non-violent movement focus on a rights based discourse and are ambivalent on the final political settlement. Protester’s experience will determinate their support for various positions rather then a vein hope of the establishment of a particular political goal.

Returning to the two-state compromise, this third Intifada could be the final part in the trilogy; all be it with two alternative endings. The first closes the circle that the first intifada started and manages to motivate the pieces on the map to move into the mutually acceptable two-state compromise that has the full backing of the international community and is enshrined in various UN resolutions and peace treaties.

In the other ending the third intifada implodes the two-state compromise, kicked off 20 odd years ago, with Palestinians moving away from self-determination and into uncharted territory.

The two-state compromise has not run out of time, the status quo of conflict management has. As true urgency and pressure returns alongside this new uprising, we should not see the removal of options, but the death of the status quo.