generalspeaking

Friendly Persuasion

Israel has long extended the equality of citizenship to its Palestinian-Israeli citizens. And doubtless there are countless Palestinians who derive a good measure of satisfaction from that, feeling that their lives as Israeli citizens are infinitely more valuable as measured in freedoms, security, economic opportunities, than their counterparts elsewhere in the geography.

But resentment of Palestinians for the very presence of the Israeli state remains a stab in the heart, even though, if given the opportunity, few would opt to move to the Palestinian Territories, even if and when a Palestinian state is achieved.

The greater measure of the perceived versus the real state of accommodation by Palestinians of the presence of the Jewish State can be seen by the popularity of Marwan Barghouti, an imprisoned, convicted terrorist, found guilty of the murder of Israeli Jews. Seen as a 'moderate', he was elected in absentia - given the inconvenience of his five life sentences - to ruling Fatah's central council.

With the authority of his position within Fatah's central council, he is publicly advocating that the PA resume support for terror attacks on Israelis.

Simple enough: to achieve its goals toward a national entity, and receiving agreement from Israel for all Palestinian demands; the surrender of the Old City of Jerusalem, the right of return, the return to 1967 borders, and whatever else the Palestinians feel newly emboldened to demand as their just due, it is his heartfelt opinion that gains can only be made by negotiations leavened by terror attacks against the 'Nazi occupiers'.

In other words, a two-pronged approach to peace: the pursuit of peace talks alongside terror attacks.

Compellingly persuasive. Israeli Palestinians, who have elected their own representative Members of the Knesset, traditionally mourn what they call "The Nakba", a monumental disaster which overtook Palestinians, with the establishment of the State of Israel. This tragedy for Palestinians dating from 1948, is a ceremonial acknowledgement of great grief and huge moment for Palestinians.

Within the State of Israel, Palestinian children use textbooks in the school system which outline this portion of their history. All taxpayers in Israel pay for the publication of this kind of school curriculum. Dangerous to the State of Israel, since along with mourning of the Nakba is the premise that Israel's existence is illegitimate, and this feeds directly into the Palestinian Authority's institutional teaching defying Israel's existence on land rightfully Palestinian Arabs'.

There has been some movement in Israel, resulting in a new law that exempts taxpayers from paying for materials damaging to the institutions of the State; specifically anti-Zionist propaganda, leading to activities that ultimately result in violence against the state. The new law would prevent state funding of "Nakba Day" ceremonies, as well as paying for such dysfunctional school curricula.

Government funded groups would no longer receive public funds to assist them in spreading the purposeful messages of anti-Zionism, and demonstrations harmful to the state, such as the burning of the Israeli flag. In effect, denying the the rightful existence of a Jewish state.

This initiative does not sit well with Israeli-Palestinian MKs, who feel entitled to decry the existence of the State of Israel, and insist that freedom of expression should include secessionist goals, alongside a refusal of the very citizens of the state to recognize that it is primarily, and was originally established to exist as, a Jewish state.

"One cannot ignore the context and initiators of the law. The identity of its proponents [is like that of] the party to which they belong: the Jewish fascist party", fumed Ahmed Tibi, a Palestinian MK.

His outraged comment took place during a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee discussion. The bill in question was diluted from its original reading which would have resulted in up to three years' imprisonment for consigning the Israeli annual celebration of Independence Day, to a day of mourning for a significant proportion of the population.

The bill's purpose is to prohibit funding for essentially colluding to destroy the legitimacy of the Jewish state.

The new law, this Member of the Israeli Knesset, said reminded him of the "thought police" in George Orwell's dystopian novel, 1984. Whereas, were Eric Arthur Blair alive today, he would have marvelled at a situation that existed whereby a legitimate state funded activities meant to degrade its existence.

He might have remarked that such a state was a self-defeating one, a hapless enemy to itself, constrained by political correctness and ultra-liberal excess to assist its enemies who slander it, who seek to sabotage its existence, who engage in criminal sedition.

Labels: Israel, Political Realities, Traditions, Troublespots

posted by Pieface @ Monday, October 26, 2009