By: Dr Zeki Ergas

IMAGINE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL …

                                                               By Zeki Ergas * 

Imagine people of Israel … that the Age of Innocence of the heart-warming days of nation-building at the end of the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th centuries, at the times of the Ottoman Empire and of the British mandate, had not gradually lost its meaning after the establishment of the State in 1948, and had not come to an abrupt end after the Six Days War of 1967.  

Imagine people of Israel … that the values of idealism, equality and justice that prevailed in those days in the Jewish settlements of the Yishouv 2 were not destroyed and replaced by the values of pragmatism, realism and cynicism. Nostalgia is not what it used to be, but still, you know, or you remember, if you belong to the older generations, people of Israel, that, during the Age of Innocence, thousands of young people from around the world came every year to spend time in the kibbutzim in Israel to experience there that exhilarating feeling of happiness and joy that comes from doing something that is healthy and beautiful. They were, these young people, the best ambassadors that Israel could have. Because they had a high opinion of the Jews and the Israelis and went on to become the leaders and the citizens of their own countries. They became, these young men and women, politicians, business people, artists, teachers and administrators who admired the Jews and the Israelis. That was an invaluable achievement which cannot be measured in material terms, in terms wealth or power, or any combination thereof. Because it was a qualitative achievement.  

Instead of that, of the admiration, the empathy, and even the love, the young people of today from around the world, especially in the western world, are busy organising boycotts, divestment and sanctions (known as BDS) against Israel. Because they increasingly see it as an apartheid state oppressing the Palestinians and discriminating against the Israeli Arabs.  

The Gaza War, the cruelty, the insensitivity and the extreme disproportion in casualty levels, of 100 to 1 against Palestinians,  that characterized it was the last straw that broke the camel’s back, or rather, the last nail on that coffin. It is, for the Jew that I am, painful to observe that Israel has lost practically all that used to make its aura, its special appeal.  

It truly hurts to say it, but Israel is no longer beautiful. It has become ugly. It may still have physical beauty. Its men and women may be healthy and good-looking, and the country may be beautiful. But it no longer has the beauty of the soul, the beauty of the heart and the beauty of the spirit which count far more than physical beauty. How can we deny that the Israeli government and the  Israeli settlers in the occupied territories are, in that respect, largely, made up of ugly people. Even the Jewish religion, that beautiful religion that is the originator of the other two monotheistic religions, Christianity and Islam, has been, by religious fanatics, turned into an ugly religion. And that, not only in the occupied territories, but also in political parties, in universities, and even in the army. 

It did not have to be that way. It does not have to be that way.  

Imagine people of Israel … that, after the great military victory of 1967, a truly wise political leadership would have realized the dangers that lurked behind it, and that it had the potential of changing – like the man in Kafka’s famous story, The Metamorphoses, who changes into an insect -- into a political disaster, and would have immediately entered into negotiations with the Palestinian people: to give them the territories conquered from Jordan and Egypt, and help them to establish a truly viable and independent state.  

But that did not happen because that required vision. And the Israeli leadership, unfortunately, did not have vision. It had vanity and arrogance, but not vision. In fact, many in Israel, especially the religious fanatics, but not only them, saw that victory as a sign, a message, from God that He wanted the Jews to recreate the Greater Israel from the Mediterranean shore to the Jordan river. Some still do. As a result, Israel finds itself in an impasse, an impossible situation that can only get worse with time.  

But is that situation really impossible? Is there really no solution? Has, in other words, the two state solution become impossible? Probably, hopefully, not yet. But it is getting closer to becoming impossible. Perhaps in a year or two it will become impossible. But today the two-state solution is still a possibility. Two states, one Israeli, the other Palestinian, could still exist side by side in harmony and brotherhood. The two peoples are closely related, they have many things in common, as a recent book written by an Israeli historian has shown.  

But it would take a strong leader, a very strong leader, a leader like Charles de Gaulle proved himself to be, when he realized that France could not keep Algeria from becoming independent, drew the logical conclusions, and gave a departure date to the million-plus French settlers there, some of whom have been living in Algeria for several generations. The French army, he said, will withdraw, at that date, and you will have three options: becoming an Algerian citizen, a French citizen in Algeria, leave Algeria and come back home. The large majority of French settlers chose to go back home.  

So the two big and relevant questions are: Is there, today, in Israel such a leader? Obviously not. Will there be one tomorrow? Maybe. It will have to be if Israel is to be saved from self-destruction. 

Imagine people of Israel … that such a leader materializes, and that a peace treaty is signed between Israel and the Palestinians. A peace treaty that puts an end to more than a hundred years of wars, hatred and hostility. What would happen then? Simple: people would be dancing in the streets. Israelis in the streets of Tel Aviv, Haïfa and West Jerusalem; Palestinians, in Ramallah, Jenin and Nazareth and East Jerusalem. People would be hugging and kissing one another in scenes reminiscent of the liberation of the European cities at the end of the second world war. Fireworks would illuminate the starry nights of many cities the Middle East. Singers would sing, orchestras play. Everywhere else in the world, Jews and Palestinians would be uncorking bottles of champagne to celebrate.  

And after all the celebration …  

Imagine people of Israel … that borders would not exist. That there would be no check points, no road blocks and no military patrols. On a sunny Saturday, Israelis would be able to go to Ramallah to visit friends, buy fruits and vegetables, go to the same restaurant, called Villa Vachi by Europeans and Hakura by Palestinians, that Mahmoud Darwish used to patronize and taste the delicious fuhara cooked in a clay pot that he was fond of. The following Saturday, it would be the turn of the Palestinians to visit their friends in Tel Aviv, to go to the beach with them, and crack jokes and burst into guffaws while the children would be running around and playing. They would also be chatting and exchanging information on the different customs and traditions concerning dating, love, marriage, family relations, and so on. Wouldn’t all that be wonderful?  

Imagine people of Israel … that for the first time in your lives, you would be able to visit Arab and Islamic countries where you will be welcome. Where people will smile at you. Where they will shake your hand, even perhaps give you a bear hug. You would be able to visit Egypt’s pyramids and temples, and the remains of the great civilisations in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq without fearing that some fanatic can any time stick a knife into you. And, in Europe, you will not have to lower your voice when you speak Hebrew, you will not have to look back over your shoulder to see if anyone is listening. 

Imagine people of Israel …  you will have proved that swords can indeed be turned into ploughshares. That you can be again a light unto nations.   

You will be proud again to be a Jew and an Israeli.  

* Zeki Ergas, a writer, scholar and peace activist is Secretary General of PEN International’s Swiss Romand Center, and a leading member of that organisations Writers for Peace Committee. 

                                                      NOTES 

1. Imagine is, of course, the name of the famous Beatles song (written by John Lennon). And the following sentence has inspired this short essay : You may say I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one ; I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will be as one. 

2. The Yishouv is the name in Hebrew of the Jewish community or society in Palestine that existed before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

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