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Palestine Monitor

Israel finally looking in the mirror

Sunday 26 October 2008

Things, and people change over time. As we grow older, we cling to the ‘glory days’ of our youth and our past self perceptions. In our minds we sometimes lock ourselves in at a certain age, usually our twenties, while our bodies and hearts continue to change with age. Then one day we look in the mirror and we can no longer recognize ourselves – our self-perception and reality have moved further and further apart. ‘Who am I? What have I become?’

This seemingly universal process may happen on more than an individual level and instead at the level of society, or even the level of states. Over the last few weeks I think we have witnessed the beginning of Israel undergoing this shock – looking into the mirror so to speak.

For decades now Israel has been clinging to the self-perception of their ‘twenties’ so to speak…a time when Zionism was a strong and unifying force which endowed the nation with a keen sense of purpose and righteousness. It was in their twenties when they stood up to all of the region’s armies and claimed their right not only to survive, but to exist. The proverbial ‘glory days’ if any existed.

It is important to keep this self-perception in mind when we reflect on the events of the last forty years in Palestine, and those of the last few weeks especially, which have forced Israel to stand in front of the mirror and see the awful truth. ‘Who are we? What have we become?’

Settler violence, with implicit support or cooperation of the IDF, is usually a mainstay of the Palestinian olive harvest. Year after year, Palestinian farmers must plead with soldiers to access their land, and then must plead with Israeli and international activists to come and stand watch over the harvest, with the slim hopes that their presences will dissuade the angry mobs of settlers waiting atop the hills of the West Bank.

Though this has always been the case, it seems that Israeli society as a whole, meaning those living within the 1967 borders assigned them, is finally waking up to the reality. So what has changed? The IDF reports on Army radio that settler violence is on the rise this year, but ask any Palestinian and they will tell you that it is the same as usual. What is different is the way in which Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists have armed themselves with the tools and equipment to broadcast this reality back over to their neighbors and around the world.
Over the last few weeks, and for many more to come, Israelis have been exposed to some of the brutality carried out in their names by their country men. It appears that this news was not welcome, and has prompted a national reflection period in which they have been forced to challenge their own self-perceptions with the videos, photos, facts and stories which are now pouring in on a daily basis.

These new alternative media outlets are showing a lot more than the mainstream had chosen to over the last few years. Instead of perceiving the ‘incidences’ as sporadic violence being carried out by a handful of zealots, Israel now has to digest the fact that groups of over a hundred settlers are carrying out separate attacks throughout the entirety of the West Bank. Even scarier is the fact that they will carry out these attacks against those who disagree with them within the 1967 borders – Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, or even against the Israeli military itself as we witnessed last week. They have to digest the fact that settler violence is not a rarity, that in fact, it is the norm.

Not only do they have to dramatically shift their perceptions of those living in ‘Judea and Samaria’, but they also have to look within their borders as well. The riots in Acre tore apart the belief in any type of coexistent city, and the ongoing beatings of Arab Israelis throughout Israel, including the dovish Tel Aviv, puts to the test the notion that the settlers are from ‘a different planet’ than that of the mainstream Israeli.
Well, it has been a long time coming, but it is time for Israeli society to have a look in the mirror once more. None of us will, or could, be there when this happens, but one can speculate on what they will see. Gone are the glory days and the honor of mere survival. In their place are the features of a society which they know only too well after such a long history of pain and persecution.

One must be doubtful about whether this period of reflection will be allowed to last long enough for Israeli society to have a good look though,as the army has already begun to recognize the ‘danger’ posed by camera wielding activists and Palestinians. According to Ma’an News Agency, “Israeli forces seized three Palestinian journalists who were attempting to document settler attacks on Palestinian farmers in the village of Kafr Qaddum in the northern West Bank on Tuesday.” This is the village where hundreds of settlers descended and wreaked havoc on Palestinian farmers and their supporters.
The message seems clear. If reality does not look good, one should simply sweep it under the carpet- or into prison- and pretend that they are still living the ‘Glory days’. In Israel, recently ranked 149th out of 160 countries in terms of press freedom beyond their borders according to Reporters without Borders, this stifling of reality should not kick up much of a fuss.