Sunday, June 17, 2007

Whoa

I ran across this video today and just had to share it. If there are any Palestinian women who undergo this kind of treatment and do not become active supporters of violence against Israelis: you have my personal admiration. [(update): I'm adding the following clarification because of Stefanella's comment below] I'm not suggesting that the Arab women should turn to violence. On the contrary. I admire any one of them who doesn't turn to violence. [end of clarification]



And my note to the settler girls in this clip: you are not defending Zionism by acting like this. You are giving Zionism a bad name, and are encouraging hate. You are have become active carriers of the same violence that you fear.

A great number of Israelis would be disgusted by this sort of behavior.

So why are the soldiers permitting it? Why is the Israeli society permitting this?

My answer: because the Israeli society is afraid of Arabs. Israelis see the Palestinian women in the video clip, and immediately associate them with the images of the Hamas militants in Gaza throwing people off rooftops, the memories of exploding buses, and the promises by Hamas to eradicate Israel.

Any change in the situation must come from reciprocal action. For us Israelis to take the Arab side - and actively prevent the behavior demonstrated in this clip - we need to witness Arabs actively taking our side too.

8 comments:

Stefanella said...

The video is horrendous - unless you understand hebrew/arabic or understand the dynamic of where this was shot and what's going on, it's difficult to tell what is happening in the video.

But yes, it's stomach turning. Your suggestion, though, that Arab women turn to violence against Israelis as a result of such treatment is rather out of place and inflammatory, though, don't you think?

Israeli Blogger said...

Stefanella: please allow me to clarify: IN NO WAY AM I SUGGESTING THAT ARAB WOMEN TURN TO VIOLENCE!

I was saying the exact opposite: I personally admire any woman who can take this kind of treatment and still not turn to violence.

I will stress this in the text above.

nominally challenged said...

Send all these girls to do community service in a Palestinian hospital.

Israeli Blogger said...

@NC - LOL... :-) Good thing you can keep your sense of humor!

Nizo said...

You want Arabs to actively take your side?

Arabs perceive themselves as the underdog and aren't likely to give Israelis free ammo even if they may see virtue in an action that Israel takes. Keep in mind that you aren't necessarily privy to what goes on among Arabs behind closed doors, you'd be surprised at the full range of opinions that exist.

On a flippant note:

You have:
Two Jews, Three opinions.

We have:
Two Arabs, shhhhh the mukhabarat (secret service) is listening.

Israeli Blogger said...

Marhaba Nizo! Good to see you here again!

> Keep in mind that you aren't
> necessarily privy to what goes on
> among Arabs behind closed doors,
> you'd be surprised at the full
> range of opinions that exist.

So are you saying there are actually Arabs who agree with Israel, but are afraid to discuss this openly? Interesting point.

Anyways, I'm not saying that Arabs should support Israel's actions - just that they be much more vocal and consistent in condemning violence against Israeli citizens. Such behavior would seriously strengthen the forces within Israel that oppose the occupation.

Unknown said...

kids exhibit learned behavior from adults. so the question is how does one explain immoral behavior from such young children? why are the palestinian people treated with such lack of respect? from whom did these kids learn this inexcusable behavior?

Israeli Blogger said...

@scottie: I suppose it's the result of over 100 years of mutual violence. This sort of attitude has gotten deeply embedded into the culture (on both sides).