Embracing Israel’s Diversity

by Samantha Vinokor on January 23, 2012

Israeli Druze

Some of the most frequently used party lines of Israel advocates are words that highlight Israel’s diversity. Supporters and defenders of Israel, and Israelis themselves, constantly reference the incredible diversity of the population of the State of Israel when singing its praises. When one visits Israel, it is common to be struck by the image of Jews of every race, every color, of Jews whose religion is marked in their dress and Jews who are veritable fashion plates, indistinguishable from Americans or Europeans. Interspersed in this multitude are a plethora of non-Jews who call Israel home-Muslim Arabs, Christian Arabs, Ba’hai, Orthodox Christians, African refugees, and so many more, are integral parts of the multifaceted society that comprises modern Israel.

While Israel’s strength is in its diversity, many Israelis take issue with their fellow citizens on a variety of issues. Lately, it has been these clashes between various groups that have marked Israeli news. With ultra-Orthodox Jews and secular Israelis clashing over issues including the status of women in society and who should be required to serve in the army, it is clear that the Israeli public has to figure out how to live with the diversity of Israel, not just physical but ideological as well.

The Zionist experiment worked because of its inherent diversity. From the beginning of the formal movement to establish the State of Israel, there were various streams of Zionist thought and ideology. While they clashed at times and contradicted frequently, the multiple forms of Zionism, joined together, created the modern State of Israel. In a vacuum, Religious Zionism, Cultural Zionism, and Labor Zionism, could not have created a functioning nation. Israel’s strength comes from the varying ideologies that served to create it. It is due to the fact that from the beginning, Zionism and the State of Israel have been products of the efforts of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds that Israel is a champion of diversity and democracy today.

It is easy to be intolerant. It would be easy for Israeli government and society to exclude individuals and groups that disagree with its mission or beliefs. But then, Israel would not be able to honestly uphold its democratic character and progressive nature. Promoting Israeli values is made easier by the knowledge of advocates that Israel is the only country to airlift blacks out of Africa into freedom, that Israel is a pioneer in the rights of women and homosexuals, that the Israeli parliament and Supreme Court contain Arabs, Jews, and Christians. While certainly this provides for a great deal of internal turmoil and conflict within the halls of Israeli bureaucracy, and leads to interpersonal conflicts in society in general, it is far preferable to the alternative.

The diversity of Israel is what enables supporters of Israel to hold their heads high when facing the international arena. It is the indisputable fact that Israel has such ethnic, religious, and ideological diversity that flies in the face of the apartheid accusations so often thrown at it. Israel’s diverse composition is the source of its power and its ability to bring together individuals from so many different backgrounds under the banner of Zionist life and expression.

Image by Or Hiltch

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Hamas Reaches a Fork in the Road

by Anthony Reich on January 22, 2012

It has been interesting to watch developments within Hamas over the past few months, and especially since the prisoner exchange deal which saw the release of Gilad Shalit.  For Hamas, this has been a significant political event and has driven the organisation’s popularity to new heights amongst its Palestinian constituency.  It seems as though this popularity has not reached all parts of the organisation, and that this great political event may even cause something of a split within Hamas.

Since Hamas was founded in 1987, there has been some tension between the so-called Gaza leadership, and the leadership based in exile.  Until recently, the base in exile has been situated in the Syrian capital, Damascus.  This is where Hamas Political Chief and Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal has been based, together with his exile leadership team.  On the other hand, Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his cabinet are the ones who are ruling over the Gaza Strip on a day-to-day basis, close to the grass roots support that keeps the organisation so popular.  While Haniyeh does turn for guidance to Meshal in his capacity as the leader of the organisation, the truth of the matter is that the Gaza team is a fairly autonomous entity.  Since the Gaza team succeeded in winning control of Gaza from Fatah in a coup d’état in 2007, they have steadily risen in stature within the Hamas organisation.  Recent events have served to strengthen this position even further, to the point that the overall leadership of Hamas may see itself moving from the base in Damascus back to Gaza.

The rise in power of the Gaza leadership really began back in 2005, soon after the death of Yasser Arafat.  This event gave the leaders in Gaza the opportunity to raise their profile on the ground, starting with the assertion of their authority against arch-rivals Fatah.  The legislative elections held in 2006 were easily won by Hamas even though Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas managed to hang onto the presidency of the Palestinian Authority.  A year later, Hamas supporters rose up against the Fatah rulers in Gaza, and asserted their authority on the streets. This brought their victory at the ballot box to reality.  During this time, Hamas operatives kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, and held him as a bargaining chip for more than 5 years.  All the while, Hamas was firing missiles from Gaza into Israel and keeping the organisation’s name on the international stage.  These events have helped to popularise Hamas amongst its supporters in Gaza, and amongst extremist Muslims around the world.  This popularity has come at the expense of Fatah, but has also caused a split within the Hamas organisation itself.  There is no doubt that the Gaza leadership has taken all the credit for these events at the expense of the Damascus leadership.

The Arab Spring has further weakened the Damascus leadership in a few different ways.  It is reported that the instability in Damascus has resulted in the exile leadership being forced to move their office elsewhere.  Although there is no confirmation of the new location for their office, they may be forced to remain fairly mobile in light of the events of the Arab Spring moving around the Middle East fairly rapidly.  Meshal has also been influenced by the Arab Spring and decided to try to use its impetus to suggest the use of non-violent protest against Israel.  This suggestion has been forcefully rejected by the Gaza leaders, who continue to subscribe to violent protest and ongoing firing of missiles towards Israel.

This is not the only major disagreement between Damascus and Gaza.  The Damascus leadership has been very active in working on the negotiations with Fatah to reach an agreement on a unity government for the Palestinian Authority.  Besides the compromises that each side has been forced to make to reach an agreement with the other, there is another key elephant in the room.  This is the issue of the talks with Israel which are back on the table, albeit at a very low level.  The Gaza leadership remains absolutely opposed to reaching any agreement with Fatah, all the time that Fatah is willing to enter into negotiations with Israel.  This view seems to have prevailed over the past few weeks.  Despite having signed an agreement to enter into a unity government with Fatah amidst some fanfare in Cairo, Hamas has taken no active steps towards making this agreement a reality.

These events culminated in an announcement last week that Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has decided not to see re-election as the movement’s chief in elections which are due to take place later during 2012.  This seems to be an acknowledgement on Meshaal’s part that he will be defeated in the election.  Rather than be defeated, he would prefer to bow out in a more elegant way.  Favourite to replace him is Ismail Haniyeh, leader in Gaza.

All of this indicates something of a radicalisation of Hamas in the future.  The Gaza leadership is naturally much more radical than that in Damascus, and the future path of Hamas is bound to be strongly influenced by this.  In addition, the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood across the border in Egypt is ominous.  Hamas was founded as an off-spring of the Muslim Brotherhood, and continues to have a close relationship with this organisation.  The Mubarak regime succeeded to some degree in limiting the flow of arms into Gaza from Egypt, but the floodgates will be open now that the Muslim Brotherhood is calling the shots in Cairo.

While there were indications of compromise and understanding coming from the Damascus leadership, this appears almost certainly to have been overruled by the approach of conflict and confrontation dictated by the Gaza leadership.  This almost certainly means a continued schism within Palestinian politics between Fatah and Hamas.  For Israel, this probably means that another Gaza operation, similar to Operation Cast Lead, is inevitable in response to the continued missile attacks that seem almost assured.  In Middle East politics, this is a huge opportunity that will be missed.

Image by corbis.com.

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Fear of Flying

by Andyboy on January 19, 2012

This is a post from contributor Andyboy. You can visit him at the Andyboy blog.

No – this is not another review of the famous book by Erica de Jong. It’s just a memoire of my introduction to the wonderful world of flight.

So, it is both appropriate and ironic that I am beginning to write this article seated in a departure lounge at Ben Gurion airport. I’m not off to anywhere exotic – just waiting for a domestic flight to take me home to Eilat.

In almost 50 years of trusting my body to the abilities of men (and, occasionally, women), to keep machines that are heavier than air from falling out of the sky, I have been involved in a few events having Jewish or Israeli connections.

What better place to start than with my first flight ever. As fate would have it, this maiden voyage was with none other than our dearly beloved El Al, flying from London to Tel Aviv. Younger readers may not be aware that, in those days, the acronym for El Al was jokingly defined as: ”Every Landing, Always Late.” Or, alternatively: ”Everyone’s Luggage, Always Lost.” Creative definition were all the rage then. I particularly liked the one for the Belgian National Carrier, SABENA: ”Such A Bloody Experience, Never Again”.  And, sad to say, these witticisms were not without a grain of truth.

But I digress.

Boeing 707

The El Al Boeing 707 was considered ”state of the art flying” in 1964.  Although I think that this actual plane was probably one of the first off the production line, and had seen better days, for me it was all wondrous. By the time I returned to London a week later, after an exhaustive (and exhausting) JNF study mission I certainly had a better understanding of Israel and Israelis.

Nevertheless, it was only after I subsequently flew with other airlines, that I learned that it was not the norm for most of the passengers to leave their seats immediately after take off, and to spend most of the flight wandering in the aisles, holding loud conversations with all and sundry. The makeshift “praying area” at the rear, occupied by dozens of black garbed men mumbling and rocking back and forth, (and, incidentally, blocking access to the toilets) also turned out to be unique to El Al.

The exasperated cabin crew had to resort to the deception of announcing approaching turbulence in order to get the passengers to sit down and fasten their seat belts. . This ploy was to enable them to serve the “delicious”Kosher meal. The food trolley was wheeled along the aisle with the crew intoning “Beef or Chicken” at least 200 times. Much has changed at El Al in the past 50 years, but this mantra has not. It is now repeated thousands of times daily to a whole new generation of air travellers.

Douglas DC 3

My second flight took place during the week of the mission. This was with Arkia, in its early years. The aircraft was a Douglas DC 3 which had been built during, or just after, the Second World War. It was operating on the route from Eilat to Tel Aviv, which, in those days, flew via Be’er Sheva. Even I, air novice that I was, suspected that it was not usual to see daylight between the fuselage and the window frame. Evidence of temporary repairs was all around. The passengers treated the trip more like a bus ride than a flight. To this day I still have a mental picture of standing on the tarmac at Be’er Sheva ”airport”, waiting to board, and watching in bemusement whilst a young man struggled to manoeuver his motor cycle up the plane’s steps and into the aircraft. It seems that “hand luggage” had a different definition for Israelis even then.

The return flight to London was pretty much a repeat of the outbound journey. I did, however, reflect again on the creative interpretation of  the term “hand luggage” as applied to El Al flights. Especially since the shelf above the passenger’s heads was open – and over laden.  Bin covers that could be closed and locked had yet to be invented.

Vickers Viscount

The Jewish connection to my next flight was that I needed to travel on JNF business from London to Glasgow, Scotland. The Aircraft was a Vickers Viscount; the standard workhorse for BEA (now British Airways) on its domestic routes. The outbound flight was uneventful; the return flight was not. I had to return on the last flight at around 11.00 at night. The weather was cold and wet – as is normal for Scotland in the Autumn, but inside the plane it was warm and comfortable and I settled down for a short sleep after a tiring day. Soon, the plane was rolling down the runway,  heading for its takeoff speed.

Just at the moment of rotation, one of the engines failed. The pilot, left without sufficient power, had to abort the takeoff. As he braked frantically, the sudden deceleration caused me to slip under my seat belt, which I had only fastened loosely, and caused my legs and lower body to become jammed under the seat in front. We bumped along, ran out of runway and finished up stuck in the mud beyond the runway end. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries but there was no way that this plane was getting to London.

We were taken from the plane back to the terminal. Actually I am not sure whether a tin hut, next to an airstrip, which was Glasgow airport in 1964 could reasonably be described as a “terminal”. So there we were, a planeload of shocked passengers, stuck in a tin hut at midnight with not much more than a kettle, a few biscuits, and a long wait ahead of us, whilst another plane was flown up from London to collect us.

The queue for the one public telephone grew as each man tried to explain to his wife, girlfriend or mistress why he would not be home that night. It seemed that the explanations were received with varying degrees of disbelief. One might have supposed that the news of this escape from death could have been treated more sympathetically. I remember being on the receiving end of a similar response from my (then) wife. I suppose that behavioral psychologists would explain these reactions as expressions of relief and anxiety – just poorly expressed.

Eventually, the substitute aircraft arrived. and we found ourselves trundling down the runway again. Looking back I think that it was just as well that I overcame my trepidation, and did not not allow this incident to deter me from ever flying again. Otherwise I would have deprived myself of more adventures in the future. But those I will recount at another time.

To be honest, the title of this article is a bit of a misnomer. I was never really afraid. Today it’s not the flying I hate – it’s the security and check-in procedures and regulations.

That’s the true fear of flying!

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Racism Has No Place in the State of Israel

by Anthony Reich on January 15, 2012

Israel is frequently accused of racism, particularly by those who continue to undermine her right to exist.  Despite being forced to fight a war of survival against the Arab nations since independence in 1948, Israel continues to come under a microscope for the way in which she behaves towards Arabs who are Israeli citizens, and those who are not.  It is a complex analysis, and not simply an issue of racism.  Arab citizens have a completely different status in Israel.  Their allegiance to the Jewish state in which they live and which feeds their every need, continues to be under suspicion.  They have frequently been found to assist those who wish to destroy Israel.  They are not obliged to serve in the nation’s army in the same way as others citizens are required to do.  The relationship between Jew and Arab in Israel is not simply about race, but more about Jewish survival in the Jewish homeland.  There is, however, another sort of racism that has reared its ugly head in Israel in recent times, and which needs to be stamped out before it is becomes unmanageable.

It seems that the practice of attempting to elevate the status of one population group at the expense of others is almost part of human instinct.  Historically, Jews have been victims of those who have tried to increase their own social standing by putting down other weaker groups. The African nation has also suffered from this problem almost wherever their people have found themselves, both within Africa and elsewhere.  In modern America, the Mexicans play the role of the fall guys, in India the caste system defines those who are at the bottom of the ladder, Gypsies in Europe are frequently discriminated against and Philippino workers in the countries of the Gulf of Arabia take their place at the bottom of society.  This instinct has unfortunately not by-passed Israel.

In the early years of the State of Israel, the country was populated by two distinct groups of Jews.  The first group escaped many years of persecution in Europe, and arrived in Israel out of the ruins of the Holocaust that ravaged their population and people.  The second group had made their homes in Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa, and had been forced to endure discrimination for many years, especially during the period when the Holocaust was ravaging Europe.  This discrimination became even more acute after the birth of the State of Israel, and many were expelled from their homes.  Those in the European group were generally better educated and were well versed in European culture, while those in the Middle Eastern group were less exposed to western values, education and culture.  Many clashes took place between these groups, and the human instinct came out in their attempts to elevate themselves to make themselves better than the others.  The horrific discrimination that each group had been forced to endure in the years prior to their arrival in Israel had a significant influence on their attempts to better themselves, even at the expense of others.  After having been treated as the dregs of society for so long, each group was eager to elevate themselves to the top of society.  To be at the top, you need to have somebody who is below you.  Hence was born racism and discrimination in Israel, which manifested itself largely in the form of European Jews discriminating against Middle Eastern Jews.  The fact that the Middle Eastern Jews were also generally darker skinned than their European counterparts also somehow fitted the standard expectations of discrimination, even though the darker skin was not the source of the discrimination.  Despite the fact that these discriminatory views have presented their problems over the years, it is pleasing to note that the problem has been substantially diluted by inter-marriage and the blurring of edges between the two groups.  It is also notable that representatives from both groups have reached the upper echelons of business, politics and academia.  Nobody will ever forget where they and their families have come from, but the future in Israel looks less defined by these two groups than was previously the case.

Recently, however, racism has again become evident, this time against another weaker population group in Israel.  In operations starting in 1984, Jews from Ethiopia were airlifted to Israel in large numbers.  Operation Moses saw some 8,000 people brought to Israel and this was followed up with further operations which brought a total of about 80,000 people to Israel.  Today, the Ethiopian community in Israel numbers over 120,000.  The Ethiopians have become easy targets for discrimination for a number of reasons, and many have taken advantage of this situation

Upon their arrival in Israel, the Ethiopian community was forced to take on an entirely new environment.  Many of them had never seen a flush toilet in operation or slept in a bed that was not on the ground.  This learning process put them in a very weak position, and made it easy for others to take advantage of them.  The Ethiopians show a gentle and mild temperament, and are not outspoken or loud in their actions.  In the Israeli aggressive and rough-and-tumble environment, their gentleness is interpreted as weakness.  In the Israeli context of whoever screams loudest and shows most aggression will get what they want, the Ethiopian community has lost out significantly.  Even though the Ethiopian community has been forced to take on many of the ways of the modern Israeli environment, they have still done their best to maintain some of their traditions and practices from their days in the deserts of Africa.  Many of these practices are very different from those in use by other Israelis, and cause some level of friction in residential neighbourhoods.  This friction crossed the line last week when it was revealed that residents of some apartment buildings in Kiryat Malachi, had banded together in a pact not to sell apartments in their block to Ethiopian families.

What these people had not realised, is that there is a new type of person that has arisen within the Ethiopian community over the past ten years or so.  This is a group of teenagers and young adults who were born in Israel, and have grown up with Israeli style of doing business.  While these people are strongly influenced from the home by the traditional Ethiopian style of living, they also know the kind of action that is needed in Israel to be heard and to get what they want.  These young adults led other members of the Ethiopian community out onto the streets in protest against the racist practices that are making things difficult for their community.  This protest captured the attention of the media and of the nation.  It reached the highest levels of the political establishment, and President Shimon Peres responded by visiting a school in Jerusalem that caters to a large number of Ethiopian students.  He shared with them his experiences of coming to Israel from Poland at the age of 11, and the taunts that he was forced to endure as a result of his lack of Hebrew and different style of dress.  He reassured the children by saying that he found his way of fitting into Israeli society, and he is proof that they can achieve whatever they want – even becoming president of the state.

The Ethiopian community includes some of the most genuine people to be found in Israel today.  They gave up everything they knew and their style of living in Africa to come to the Jewish homeland.  Despite the fact that their lives and communities have literally been turned upside down by moving to Israel, they are delighted to be in Israel to be allowed to practice their Jewish faith and peace and without the fear of anti-Semitism.  They have suffered every sort of discrimination known to any group of people in Israel.  Even the Israeli government stands accused of discriminating against the Ethiopians in terms of the help and assistance provided to them.  Many were forced to convert as the Jewishness was not recognised at the same time as blood relatives had been accepted as Jewish.  The amount of money allocated to the process of acclimatising the Ethiopian community has been a fraction of that required.  And yet, they are simply delighted to be in the Land of Israel.  While it is understood that not everybody can feel comfortable with the style of living and practices of the Ethiopians, this cannot be the cause of racism.

No matter what the cause of racism, it needs to be stamped out.  This is particularly true in a country like Israel where racism has no place at all.  The weaker members of our society, usually those who are the victims of discrimination, require greater help and support rather than actions to increase their hardship.  This is particularly true of groups like the Ethiopians who have been forced to undergo dramatic changes to their way of life and to the environment in which they live.

It is only by banding together and strengthening the weaker parts of our society, that we will also have the strength to fight the war of survival.  The Ethiopians have more than demonstrated their allegiance to this cause, and their willingness to participate in the defence of the State of Israel.  The other citizens of Israel need to do all that they can to support and respect this.

 

Image by reutrcohen.com

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Flashing Jewish People

January 12, 2012

Hi friends, I recently spoke at “Ignite Chanukah” about flash mobs. Ignite is a speaker series where people make 5 minute speeches on interesting topics. This was a Jewish Ignite event, so I had to sprinkle in some Jewish humor and talk about Israel. Enjoy the talk.

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Casablanca – Not The Movie!

January 11, 2012
Thumbnail image for Casablanca – Not The Movie!

This is another little anecdote from my first visit to Israel 47 years ago, when I participated in a study mission, organised by the JNF of Great Britain.

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Justice Prevails

January 8, 2012

The meeting of the Judicial Appointments Committee on Friday turned out to be something of a pleasant anti-climax.  In a meeting that lasted only 90 minutes, four new justices were duly appointed to the bench of the Israeli Supreme Court.  The cordial nature of the meeting and the appointments seemed to conceal the less-than-cordial path [...]

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The Best and The Worst of 2011

January 1, 2012

As we welcome 2012, it gives the opportunity to reflect on the best and worst parts of 2011.  In Israel, 2011 was an eventful year, including a number of interesting and challenging events.  For some, it was a year that they would prefer to forget.  Despite many negative aspects to the year, I think that [...]

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Gaza: The Countdown to War

December 29, 2011
Sderot Red Alert

Anyone who reads the news in the United States or Europe might think that the Gaza border has been calm lately. That is far from the case. Terrorist rocket fire has been escalating and the IDF is preparing for a new war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

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Gender Segregation Pushed Too Far

December 25, 2011

Despite many indications that Israel is a country that appears to promote gender equality more than most other countries around the world, there have been worrying signs of greater gender segregation creeping into some aspects of Israeli society recently.  Israel’s Golda Meir was only the third female prime minister in the world, and Israeli women [...]

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