ConflictBlotter: Personal impressions from Gaza

Charles Levinson brought more amazing impressions from Gaza.

Here's an excerpt from a post he wrote 2 days ago:

... At the Erez crossing today we met a Palestinian looter who made us look at some of the looters at least in a slightly different light. He was tearing out copper wiring from under the pavement at the Erez border tunnel. He was working his way down the walk, and at every spot where an electric light had been, he had used a hand held hammer to smash through a foot of concrete. He then dug into the ground another three feet perhaps until he found the underground wiring and tore out the copper. He had done this in at least a dozen different locations so far. Each kilo of copper wire he pulled, could be sold for 10 shekels ($2.50). In four hours of digging he had pulled 3 - 4 kilos, he said.

I mean, this guy was working tirelessly and doing back breaking work to get this wiring. This wasn’t some looter who thought he’d grab a quick TV when no one was looking. I just thought it very telling that one of Gaza’s hardest working people had no other options than to loot for $2.50/hour.

Apparently Charles has left Gaza (at least for now). Dion Nissenbaum describes why he and Charles Levinson decided to leave Gaza - not necessarily the reasons you'd expect!

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.

If you're wondering what's happenning in Gaza

Conflict Blotter is an amazing blog by Charles Levinson, the Mideast Correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph.

He is currently in Gaza, and reporting from there.

From his latest post:

Hamas TV broadcast disturbing and gruesome footage of Fatah commander Samih al Madhoun, famed for ruthlessly confronting Hamas in northern Gaza, being dragged into the streets, shot repeatedly and the stomped by a swarm of people

I want to take this opportunity to answer a comment made almost a year ago by Mohamed Maher from Egypt to a post of mine. In my post, I wrote that Israelis are afraid of Arabs, and that the Israeli violence towards Arabs is driven by that fear. Moahmed Maher commented:

i'll tell u something about arabs, all the arabs feel that they are brothers , they talk the same language ,they have the same history same culture and allover history we there were no borders between us... so we are the same

Well, Mohamed - if you're reading this, the pictures from Gaza should explain to you why Israelis are afraid of the Arab brothers. If Arabs are willing to murder and drag their brothers, we don't want to imagine what they will do to us - people who are not their brothers, who have done many wrongs to the Arabs, and who are (mistakenly) seen by the Arab world as vicious murderers.

I take it back

Yet again, I find myself learning a lot by trying to listen to the people behind the comments posted on my blog.

A few days ago I tried to answer a question raised by Nizo: "What do Israeli Arabs need to do in order for them not to be perceived as a threat?"

I thought that Israeli Arabs understand the fears of the Israeli Jews, and can become a bridge between Israel and the Arab world. I thought they could explain the rationale of Zionism to the Arab world, something that would cause Israeli Jews to see them as partners, rather than a threat.

I suspect I was way way off with this suggestion.

I now think that Israeli Arabs have too many bad feelings against Israel. If I try to put myself in their shoes, I can see why this would be so. They are citizens in a country that does not let them identify with it. How can someone be a "proud Israeli Arab"? What symbols of this country can they identify with? They are citizens in a country that does not make it easy for them to contribute to it, and treats them as second grade citizens.

I don't know if the statistics that Khaled quoted are accurate - but I suspect that they represent how Israeli Arabs feel.

So it seems we have another vicious cycle here:Boy, are things here complicated!

What do Israeli Arabs need to do in order for them not to be perceived as a threat?

UPDATE 28/4/07 - Everything I suggested here: I take it back. It can't happen - at least not in the foreseeable future. But I'm glad I wrote this post. I learned much from the Arab response to it. [end of update]

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The Azmi Bishara videos inspired Nizo to raise several very interesting questions regarding the pervasiveness of the perception that Arabs are a demographic time bomb.

His 8th question was "What do Israeli Arabs need to do in order for them not to be perceived as a threat?"

I'd like to suggest an unusual answer to Nizo's question. I don't know if what I'm suggesting can ever happen, but hey - if the idea is never raised, it certainly won't happen.

I think that Israeli Arabs can undo this "threat perception" by adopting the role of the ambassadors of Zionism to the Arab world. [correction: I was extremely naive in suggesting this. I agree with NC's comment on this post: Arabs can do a great service to humanity if they simply explain to the Arab world that Zionism doesn't aim to destroy the Arabs[.


In that role, they can explain to the Arab world that Jews have no other country. They can explain that Jews all over the world fear persecution, and feel that without a Jewish homeland, they will never be truly safe anywhere in the world. They can also explain to the Arab world that Israel wants to live with them in peace.

If they do that openly and sincerely - and accept this role as a primary part of their identity as Israeli Arabs - then Israeli Jews will stop fearing them.

Amongst Arabs in general, Israeli Arabs are in the best position to understand Israeli Jews. They are Israeli citizens. They can travel freely to any part of Israel. They speak Hebrew. Many of them study in Israeli colleges. Some of them work in Jewish Israeli companies. If they choose, they can become interested in how Israeli Jews feel.

They can understand our fears.


If Israeli Arabs understand the Zionist cause, they can support it. And if they support it, Israeli Jews will no longer fear that Israeli Arabs will undermine that cause.

Of course, this is not simple. Many Israeli Arabs feel they are neglected by the country. Some feel that their nationality is betrayed. They see the Israeli Army mistreating their Arab kin. It is much more natural for them to adopt the nationalistic views represented by Bishara. But these nationalistic views only increase the tension and fear.

It will take true greatness of Israeli Arabs to actively supportexplain Zionism in this atmosphere - but if they can amass such courage, they will gain a great deal (as will the entire region).