Outside the Consensus
There is an old Jewish saying that says that if there are two Jews there will also be three political opinions. However, if one were to look at Israeli’s opinions regarding the War in Lebanon, one would be surprised to see how this expression no longer seems to hold any water. Personally, I am unable to conjure another period in Israeli history in which the consensus regarding a political action was so absolute. Recent polls showed recently that over 90 percent of Jewish Israelis were supported the War in Lebanon. This number is staggering. You could ask Israelis questions like “do you like Hummus?” or “ “and still never reach such a unanimous conclusion.
The unified consensus in regards to the justification of the war stems from how Israelis perceive the origins of the conflict. Most Israelis point to the fact that Hezbollah instigated the conflict by executing an unprovoked attack on IDF soldiers on Israeli Soil. While this is undoubtedly true, this outlook is rather shortsighted. Much like two school children who are sent to the principal’s office, Israelis continue to stress the fact that “they started it”. However if one looks at the timing of this attack, it appears that the causes of this attack are not so clear cut. In fact, it is in moments like this that the school principal would probably look at both children and say “he may have started it, but it takes two to tango”.
So what exactly was behind the timing of Hezbollah’s attack? Although many may have forgotten by now, it is not as if Hassan Nasrallah woke up one sunny morning and decided to attack Israel. The Hezbollah attack took place following a serious escalation in violence in, where else, the Gaza Strip. As we are witnessing once again - if all roads once led to Rome, today all wars lead to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is not to say the Hezbollah attack was justified – it clearly was not. However by turning a blind eye to the true circumstances leading up to the Hezballah attack Israel is not only missing the big picture – they are missing the point.
Obviously, both the Israeli government and its public would rather not remind themselves of the Palestinian connection to the Lebanon war. Linking the occupation of the Palestinian territories with the Hezbollah attack would severely weaken their righteous stance in the international arena. Yet on the other hand, perhaps if Israelis were to inculcate this link, they would finally understand the need for a true peace settlement with the Palsetinians. As the extreme Islamic factions in the world grow, and the threat of full scale war with Syria or Iran escalates, Israel will need the full support of the international community. To gain this support, and thus secure the future of its people, Israel must wipe away the one giant blemish that stands in their way – the Palestinian suffering. As we see in the concensus to the origins of the war, Isralies are living in denial. They are pretending that the occupation of Palestinian territories have nothing to do with the war in Lebanon. By buying into this propaganda, we are fooling no one but ourselves.
E. Cook
The unified consensus in regards to the justification of the war stems from how Israelis perceive the origins of the conflict. Most Israelis point to the fact that Hezbollah instigated the conflict by executing an unprovoked attack on IDF soldiers on Israeli Soil. While this is undoubtedly true, this outlook is rather shortsighted. Much like two school children who are sent to the principal’s office, Israelis continue to stress the fact that “they started it”. However if one looks at the timing of this attack, it appears that the causes of this attack are not so clear cut. In fact, it is in moments like this that the school principal would probably look at both children and say “he may have started it, but it takes two to tango”.
So what exactly was behind the timing of Hezbollah’s attack? Although many may have forgotten by now, it is not as if Hassan Nasrallah woke up one sunny morning and decided to attack Israel. The Hezbollah attack took place following a serious escalation in violence in, where else, the Gaza Strip. As we are witnessing once again - if all roads once led to Rome, today all wars lead to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is not to say the Hezbollah attack was justified – it clearly was not. However by turning a blind eye to the true circumstances leading up to the Hezballah attack Israel is not only missing the big picture – they are missing the point.
Obviously, both the Israeli government and its public would rather not remind themselves of the Palestinian connection to the Lebanon war. Linking the occupation of the Palestinian territories with the Hezbollah attack would severely weaken their righteous stance in the international arena. Yet on the other hand, perhaps if Israelis were to inculcate this link, they would finally understand the need for a true peace settlement with the Palsetinians. As the extreme Islamic factions in the world grow, and the threat of full scale war with Syria or Iran escalates, Israel will need the full support of the international community. To gain this support, and thus secure the future of its people, Israel must wipe away the one giant blemish that stands in their way – the Palestinian suffering. As we see in the concensus to the origins of the war, Isralies are living in denial. They are pretending that the occupation of Palestinian territories have nothing to do with the war in Lebanon. By buying into this propaganda, we are fooling no one but ourselves.
E. Cook
posted by voices from israel at 1:20 PM
4 Comments:
You really need to get new glasses cuz your view of reality is distorted. You r a trador!
You forgot to one small thing, Mr. Eli.
The day that Hizballah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers from Israeli soil, was the day of the G8 conference.
On this day the G8 were supposed to decide on the final course of action regarding Iran's nuclear plans.
Hizballah's attack was obviously a diversion!
You say Israelis live in denial, well, you must gather all the facts before you claim such a thing.
I do agree, though, that Israel SHOULD solve the Palestinian problem as quickly as possible.
But at the same time you should really ask yourself if the Palestinian "nation" really wants peace (and their own country), and as you do that, ask the same question about Lebanon+Syria+Iran+...+...+...+Malaysia - I am of course refering to the Muslim nations as a whole.
There is a problem here, it is worldwide, and giving the Palestinian their own patch of soil won't help in the short-run nor in the long-run.
But even though it won't help, we still have to do what is morally and ethicly right, and do it.
Hey Yoel,
I am glad you agree with me that the Palestinians deserve their own state.
You are perhaps right, the Iranians could have masterminded this whole thing before the G8 conference (although everyone knows that hizballah=iran so that wouldnt exactly create a 'diversion), but the fact that the "Iranian" hand had a pull in this is all over the media and streets , and I was referring to issues that are in denial. No one is denying that Iran is one cwazy place and they want us dead.
By the way, when you choose to generalize and talk about the "all muslim nations" who dont want peace are you also referring to Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey and a handful of other modernized countries in peace with Israel? What about Eqypt, Lebanon and Jordan? Are they out to get us too. Funny thing if they are since they were against Hizballah's attack.
I agree with you, their is a war brewing between islam and the west. But it a war against the extreme Islamists such as Hamas, Al-Qaeda,Iran and Syria. The only way to win this war is to get the moderate arabs who want peace (such as abumazen) on our side. By creating a palestinian state through abu mazen we would be empowering the moderates and - as i wrote in the article - would have a carte blanche to kick some extremist ass.
Hey Yoel,
I am glad you agree with me that the Palestinians deserve their own state.
You are perhaps right, the Iranians could have masterminded this whole thing before the G8 conference (although everyone knows that hizballah=iran so that wouldnt exactly create a 'diversion), but the fact that the "Iranian" hand had a pull in this is all over the media and streets , and I was referring to issues that are in denial. No one is denying that Iran is one cwazy place and they want us dead.
By the way, when you choose to generalize and talk about the "all muslim nations" who dont want peace are you also referring to secular, moderate and modernized countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey? What about Eqypt, Lebanon and Jordan? Or are all arabs the same and they are out to get us too? Funny thing if they are since these countries hate the extremist islam factions just as much as us and thus were against Hizballah's attack.
I agree with you, their is a war brewing between islam and the west. But it a war against the extreme Islamists such as Hamas, Al-Qaeda,Iran. The only way to win this war is to get the moderate secular arabs (such as abumazen and Syria) on our side. By creating a palestinian state through abu mazen and by signing a peace treaty with Assad we would be empowering the moderates and weakening the extremists. Then, as i wrote in the article, we would have a carte blanche to kick some extremist ass.
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