There is no king in Israel

November 4th, 2006

6 Comments

So said the Israeli author David Grossman, at the Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Rally held tonight in Tel Aviv.

Hi. I’m Lilu (Liora), 25 years old, a Visual Communications Design student from Tel Aviv. I’ll kick off with an apology to Esra’a and everyone else, I got my invite to write here ages ago but have only now finally sat down to publish already… if it’s any consolation I’ve been plagued with guilt for over a month now

Here’s a little background on how I ended up here in the first place – I spent last year, my first year of university and my first year living independantly, in a small bubble of denial. I pretended I could live my life within a comfortable distance of the political problems of my region. Summertime came and proved me wrong.
The war kicked off for me a venture in communications – I started blogging on Ramsay Short’s blog Beirut Live, which led to a friendship I developed with a Lebanese, Bashir, which then developed into joint blogs we co-authored (not to mention an open channel of discussion). The war ended and the discussion slightly withered, as people went back to re-building their everyday lives and living them. The productive dialog was somewhat abandoned. To me this was and is a shame, because I find I can’t put aside the lessons the war taught me. I can’t go back to the apathy I still see among those surrounding me. Communication among the civilians, listening and understanding, is essential – I see it as the only path out of the mess we are in, and it is a big mess which is only on hold temporarily, it is not over yet.

But now back to tonight’s events. In 1995 Yigal Amir, a right wing extremist, murdered PM Yitzhak Rabin. 11 years later our country is a mess – we are lost and confused, our government and military looks accordingly, and Amir is being allowed to have children. I went to the rally mostly because of the freedom and rights Amir is being granted slowly and the way public attitude towards him is shifting. We are on a path towards a political assasination regaining legitimacy. So I went to the rally to make a stand. Unfortunately it was more of a Rabin-fest, the majority of the program consisting of songs by Israel’s hottest pop singers, and all my friends agreed it was pretty ridiculous. The turn out was also less than in previous years. Pessimism is heavy in the air… the only sense came from David Grossman, a talented and respected left-winged author who lost his son Uri in Lebanon this summer, and called out directly for Olmert to choose a path of dialog and peace. Can we vote Grossman into office maybe?

Tonight, it has struck me that 11 years ago, when Rabin was assasinated, it wasn’t just a gifted and rational leader that was taken away. It was a promise of the country we would be, could be, should be, but now perhaps only would have been.

I really miss him.

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Esra'a

November 4, 2006

Lilu! You’re amazing. Thanks for finding your way back to Mideast Youth.

I canâ€™t go back to the apathy I still see among those surrounding me. Communication among the civilians, listening and understanding, is essential – I see it as the only path out of the mess we are in, and it is a big mess which is only on hold temporarily, it is not over yet.

Very well said my friend. This is the whole point of this open group blog. It’s worth noting that it also matters how we choose to communicate. With respect? With anger? With hatred towards the other person merely because of their nationality? With the willingness to listen and debate in a civil manner while appreciating those who oppose our opinions? When is communication truly helpful and constructive? We hope to answer that question by achieving valuable things through Mideast Youth, and I’m so glad that you’re taking part in our mission. The results will be outstanding if we keep our efforts up. We just need consistency and involvement.

Don’t be a stranger. Keep us updated on what’s going on, both in Israel and in your head.

Esra'a

November 4, 2006

Also, if you can submit a short bio about yourself for the ‘Authors’ page that would be great. You can use parts of this entry to write it.

EdoRiver

November 4, 2006

Yes, I am also glad to read your work. I was commenting on a few Lebanese blogs during the war. I was disappointed at the intensity of the young Israeli attitudes towards Lebanon. So its nice to read the petals of a flower than the closed leaves of thorns.

Andrew Brehm

November 4, 2006

“it wasnâ€™t just a gifted and rational leader that was taken away. It was a promise of the country we would be, could be, should be, but now perhaps only would have been.”

I doubt Rabin could have stopped the onslaught that followed.

If anything he might have given away more land quicker than Sharon did.

And whenever Israel gives back land, Israel pays dearly for it; at least since 1980.

Before you can convince me of Rabin’s wisdom, and I don’t doubt the man’s sincerity and honour, you will have to show me how giving up land actually IMPROVES the situation, for either side or both.

(The intensity of my attitude towards Lebanon is directly proportional to Lebanese tolerance for people throwing rockets at me from their land. And I am not an Israeli, I was just a guest target during the war.)

Lilu

November 4, 2006

I happen to think that with Rabin the onslaught that followed 1995 would at least be of a lesser magnitude.

The thing with the popular equation “land = security” is that it may be a nice ideal but it is wholly unrealistic and outdated, certainly in this region. It is not a matter of what we think the ideal situation is, but a matter of what the reality on the ground is. The reality is that this land we are disputing on will have to be divided in order to make any sort of progress, because both sides have a legitimate interest in it that has to be reckoned with. If we want to achieve peace and agreement both sides will have to compromise. To believe otherwise, I’m sorry to say, is to be in denial.

And that was the wisdom of Rabin – he faced the facts, he understood that the reality of having no choice but to take into account the other side’s wishes in order to achieve a solid agreement. As for the extent of the compromise and how much should be given up, well that’s another issue we can argue about, but it can’t be denied that a compromise will have to be made.

And if you want an example of how giving up land can work, how about the peace agreement with Egypt which holds well to this day? certainly it provided collaboration and cooperation between the sides in following years.

There is more in the equation than just land, it is such a complex situation with so many different changing factors, even down to symbolism.