Opinion: Looking in the Mirror

By Sarah Bier
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
KOC Assistant Editor

The arrival of spring brings with it the marching season on Washington, Pesah and Yom Ha’atzmaut. On my campus, meetings have long been taking place to plan for Israel’s upcoming 56^th birthday and as I begin to prepare for Pesah, I’ve also been considering the themes of freedom that run through both holidays. Many Jews hail both as landmarks ending long periods of suffering in Jewish history. But with Pesah’s coming and the inevitable discussion of the troubles we currently face as Jews, I hear so much talk of the trials and tribulations we face on account of others’ oppression.

Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe, though there remains controversy over its extent and effects, and today’s largest box office hit is Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Jewish communities in South America are suffering (along with members of all other faiths and ethnicities) due to economic crises. Israelis are still waging their uphill battle for safety and stability against both themselves and Palestinian terrorist factions. Yet, in all the discussion I’ve heard, there is little ownership of the contributions we have made to the persisting violence in the Middle East. While few Israelis will deny the inevitability of the eventual creation of a state of Palestine, ever fewer seem prepared to truly contemplate, let alone support, the hard decisions and sacrifices Israel will be called upon, and forced, to take to actualize an eventual peace.

As a people, we seem so quick to blame others for the suffering we have endured (which may be historically accurate), but we shrink so quickly from taking responsibility for our actions, as is warranted in many cases. If, as some Jews claim, we are to be held to a higher standard, where does that go in times of errors of judgment? As we are so quick to point to others’ flaws, surely we ought to be prepared to highlight our own, lest we be viewed as hypocritical. Surely, the higher standard ought to be limiting the deaths of civilians – both Israeli and Palestinians - in the long-term.

We barely discuss how to end the violence

In our efforts to shield Israel from the seemingly never-ending barrage of criticism from the international community, we have neglected the very Jewish value of debate over the issues. Instead of truly debating the political options, we accuse those who disagree with our opinions of being naïve and ignorant of reality. Worst, we have become so entirely consumed with the debate over whether or not to defend Israel - hook, line and sinker - that we barely discuss how to end the violence. Ariel Sharon’s bulldozer attitude led him to first undermine Abu Mazan and now to ignore Ahmed Querea. He has rejected negotiations with the Palestinians only to unilaterally take action with similar outcome (i.e. pulling out of Gaza) and tighten the noose around the Palestinians’ necks until they explode. It seems to me that we are afraid that any validity we offer to criticism of Israel begins the slippery-slope argument against Israel’s existence.

But in terms of issues of freedom, there can be little doubt that both Israelis and Palestinians suffer tremendously. In our efforts to increase the likelihood of surviving shopping in Jerusalem’s downtown shuk (marketplace) or coffee in Tel Aviv, we have succeeded in rescinding Palestinians’ rights to work in order to safely shelter or provide food for their families. In exchange for my right to take buses in Jerusalem, Palestinians with no further connection to terrorism other than their neighbor’s affiliation with it must suffer. To what extent can we continue to limit the freedoms assured in a democracy, even to those living under occupation or military rule? Prioritizing the freedoms of certain members of a democracy is unethical and illegal, to say the least.

[Posted 4/19/04]