On Arabs who feel persecuted by Jewish symbolism in Israel

An article in the Times caught my attention. “A group of prominent Israeli Arabs has called on Israel to stop defining itself as a Jewish state and become a ‘consensual democracy for both Arabs and Jews.’” Commissioned by Israeli-Arab mayors, “The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel” was the product of efforts of some 40 Arab academics. “They call on the state to recognize Israeli Arab citizens as an indigenous group with collective rights” arguing that Israel “inherently discriminates against non-Jewish citizens in its symbols of state, some core laws, and budget and land allocation.”

Immediately I wrote to Prime Minister Helen Clark, President Pervez Musharraf and Governor Rick Perry demanding that they rename, respectively, Christ Church, Islamabad and Corpus Christi. So far, no response. By my very unofficial count, 8 national flags fly a version of the star and crescent of Islam, 18 some form of the cross or other symbol of Christianity.

Recently nationalists were incensed when an Arab, Ghaleb Majadele, of the Labor Party, was offered and accepted a position in the Israeli cabinet. Jewish nationalists don’t trust Arabs, and Arabs don’t want other Arabs to join mainstream Israeli parties, preferring instead the martyrdom of marginalization. Yet even Majadele said that he was “uncomfortable with national symbols like the flag...and the anthem, which speaks of the ‘Jewish soul’ yearning for Zion.”

According to the Times, “most Arab Israeli politicians have rejected the document as unrealistic, exposing divisions within the Arab community.” This attitude of the politicians reflects the general Arab mood. According to a recent poll, only 14% of Israel’s Arab population think Israel should remain a Jewish state as currently constituted; 25% want a Jewish state that guarantees full equality to its Arab citizens, and 57% want a bi-national state. What this all means, from the Arab intelligentsia and the Arab street, is, at best, a rejection of the two-state solution propounded by moderates on both sides.

Yasser Arafat (may soon he have many interesting conversations with his pal Osama in a hell unimagined even by Dante) used to claim that the Palestinians were what their name purports them to be, descendants of the Philistines who were living in the land when the Jews first dared show their faces back around 1250 BCE. This, of course, is historical nonsense, but it’s convenient nonsense, the sort that people who want to believe will believe. I don’t. Even Arabs don’t believe it. Zahir Muhsein, a member of the PLO Executive Committee said in an interview with a Dutch newspaper in March 1977: “The Palestinian people does not exist... In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism ... The moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.’” That was thirty years ago. Muhsein (who was the Fatah commander of the Palestinian forces which massacred over 300 Christians in the town of Damour, Lebanon the year before) is dead. In their hearts do Arabs still believe that there is but one Arab nation? Are the Palestinians part of the whole or independent? Do they want peace with Israel or haven’t they figured it out yet.

What is Israel to do in this circumstance of ambiguity? Preserve its will to exist; preserve the intention of the founders that Israel be a state dedicated to “full equality in social and political rights to all inhabitants,” Jewish, Muslim, Christian. Arab jihadists and intifadists have that will for their people. It is not now the time for Israel, the Jewish state, to surrender its identity to those whose parents wanted to destroy it aborning. In the 1948 war some Arabs were killed, some fled, some fought. Those who stayed, stayed as citizens of a republic that assures them autonomy—they don’t go to Jewish schools unless they want to; they don't serve in the Jewish army, but they do vote in Israel’s elections and they do elect their own people as mayors and Members of the Knesset. Israel has since 1967 had problems with the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza. Is this survey the opening shot in a campaign to weaken the internal relations between Israeli Jews and Arabs? I wish I knew.

A pagan friend on monotheism

Some don't disbelieve me; others mock me. The one camp thinks that somewhere deep within the bowels of my home or office there's a computer upon which I write. The scoffers say things like: “Josh, [I've asked them to call me 'Excellency' but to no avail] I just hit the 'send' button and whoomph, my letter is received.” Maybe, I mentally concede, but I'm a Luddite because I know that when the Postal Service mail arrives at my door, there's more than just bills, circulars and occasional invitations. There are letters from friends and relatives, long epistles I can open, and read, and savor. The joy of receiving real mail trumps the speed of truncated missives. Over the years I've collected hundreds of letters from correspondents who took the time and trouble to write to me. I suppose you can save E-mail as well, but it's not the same. You don't get the tactile sensation of holding the paper, the same hint of the sender's fragrance lingering.

One fellow I've known since before high school recently came out of the closet. Not gay, pagan. This surprised me. I didn't think there were pagans in my old neighborhood, but he assures me that there were and are. I tease him about sacrificing goats to mythical beings long since discredited; he denies the goats but insists that paganism is much to be preferred to monotheism. What follows is recently received:

“Excellency:

“Do you really think your god is the only one? Pshaw. I don't know if any god exists but to play it safe I'm worshiping Zeus this week. What harm can it do? Look at the universe. It's 14 billion light years from here to wherever. That's roughly 5 trillion miles times 14 billion miles of space. Do you really think there's one god who not only created it all, but governs the life of every creature within it? Double pshaw. OK, maybe there's one god per planet, but even that's a stretch. (Can you imagine the despondency of the poor schlub of a god who created Pluto? Barren, cold, and now not even a planet!)

“And what benefit is there to humanity to impose the one god theory? When we pagans ruled the roost we had wars, and you have wars. Our wars, however, were never to impose a religion on anyone else; yours are often enough just about that. Muslims conquered the Middle East and North Africa and imposed their religion; Christians launched a series of Crusades to kill infidels (and Jews). And if that's not bad enough, within the monotheistic religions, but never amongst us polys, people kill each other over the proper belief and practice of the one true religion. Christians used to massacre other Christians over such arcane questions “as is god the son equal or inferior to god the father,” and “does the bread become the body of Christ, or not?” Barrels of blood flowed over these questions. Have you seen pictures out of Baghdad recently? Sunnis are killing Shiites and Shiites are killing Sunnis and then if they remember, almost as an afterthought, they kill Americans. We pagans never imposed our beliefs. We're immoral, you read? And the proof of that is condoning homosexuality? Pshaw. Just ask your Reform and Conservative rabbis about that one!

“You might point to the bible and say, 'see, here are examples of pagans persecuting Israelites.' Ah, verily, I say unto you, not so. Pharaoh didn't try to impose his religion on his slaves, he just wanted them to work harder. He didn't deny your god, he just didn't know about him until Moses showed up—and neither did the Hebrews, if I remember correctly. The Amelikites didn't try to impose their religion, they fought to prevent illegal immigrants entering their territory. Canaanites didn't impose Baal, they were interested in re-conquering land. The Greeks didn't impose paganism on the Jews, Some Jews thought pagan practices would get them in the good graces of their conquerers, at least until the fanatics stepped in and went to war against both the Hellenists and the Hellenized Jews. Until that nut Nero, the Romans didn't persecute Jews and yes, they did persecute Christians, but Christianity was illegal and subversive—the way Communism was seen to be here in the '50s, and persecuted.”

I wrote back and asked if I could use his letter in my column. A week later I received his response:

“Sure, why not. God willing it will provoke some intelligent discussion.”