Israeli Bashing

This time I will do the Israeli bashing.

The time I have spent blogging about Israel has somewhat changed my original stance on the Middle East. Books I have read have opened my eyes to an extent, and a greater understanding of the facts on the ground has forced me to take a more pragmatic stance on what needs to be done to end the stalemate. I have moved from the right to the centre, and now support a withdrawal from between 92-97 percent of the territories. My new stance led me to attend a left wing function (last week Wednesday night) at the Beychad Israel Centre.

I went with an open minded approach, but unfortunately can only describe the function as a blatant masterpiece of mendacity. The function was hosted by Jewish Voices, an anti-Israel, single state promoting, Jewish organisation notorious for joining the Palestine Solidarity Committee/MRN in a march against the Israeli security barrier. Even before the talk I had naked contempt for Jewish Voices but figured that their guests would be worth listening to.

They brought two Israeli “peace” activists to South Africa. The two Israelis, Eyal Hareuveni of Yesh Gvul and Nurit Steinfeld of Machsom Watch, it seems are here to further smash the already downtrodden Israeli whipping boy.

Their message is that South Africans should not be afraid to come out and criticize Israel. A paradox to the Jewish Voices take on SA Jews needs to be pointed out. There is a perception amongst the left here that the Jews in SA censor any form of criticism of Israel. Turning this myth upside down, King David School hosted the two Israelis, and allowed them to address the students accepting the Jewish Voices precondition that the students not be allowed to ask any questions or challenge any opinions presented. Talk about standards of discourse!

The event I attended was cunningly titled – “After Arafat, the prospects for peace in the M.E”. The title sounded interesting enough to draw my attention, but I was duped. Arafat’s name was not even mentioned once by the Israelis. The “prospects for peace” title was merely a front to draw people in order to spew an anti-Israel agenda. I kid you not, there was not a single sentence uttered in the context of the fictitious title.

The event was chaired by one of the Jewish Voices members and thankfully included Middle East expert Larry Benjamin (head of International Relations at Wits University) as one of the guest speakers. Benjamin described himself as left of centre in Israeli politics and said it was a pity that there wasn’t a broader perspective of views at the discussion.

The first part of the evening was mind numbingly boring. The Israelis rummaged through the stock standard typical Israeli bashing invective. Nothing new, just the same old stuff you read in the papers – apartheid wall is just a land grab, it’s a 9 metre high concrete structure, enclaves, Bantustans, greater Israel, Israeli fanatics support the wall, Barak made no real offer at Camp David…yawn.

Larry Benjamin then spoke. He was terrific, giving a detailed account of the current situation in the Middle East, providing at least two opinions on every issue. At one stage Larry noticed the anxious looks expressed by the chair and the Israelis as they realised the folly of their decision to include a real expert on the Middle East. I was filled with disgust at the unprofessional behaviour of the Israelis when Benjamin spoke -continuous murmuring, sneers and giggles.

They distributed a map of the West Bank just before the discussions began. The map depicted the West Bank divided up into the three areas left over from Oslo – area A where Palestinians have full civil and security control, area B where the Palestinians have civil control but the Israelis have security control, and Area C where the Israelis have civil and security control. The Israelis used the map deceptively and selectively. They neglected to explain the three areas set up under Oslo, instead counterfactually portraying the map as “Sharon’s offer”, describing it as nothing more than a bunch on enclaves and Bantustans.

Sharon has made no such offer. An argument can be made that he realises the impossibility of a 40% withdrawal from the WB (as depicted by their map). The Americans would never back such an unthinkable move, and the most moderate of Palestinians would laugh in the face of it. Ehud Barak in December 2000 agreed to withdraw from 97% of the territories and Sharon realises that he won’t get away with much less than what Barak offered. Withdrawing from 100% of Gaza is proof that he is heading down the path of compromise. What’s more is that the new route of the map flies in the face of the “Bantustans” accusations. All areas of the route that would create enclaves have been completely nullified.

I asked a couple of questions and got into some heated debates with the chair. This highlighted the mockery of a debate that the event turned into. The chair is supposed to mediate the debate, not take sides. He constantly responded to my questions, concentrating on alleged minor errors (i.e. when I accused Jewish Voices of having an ulterior agenda) in order to divert attention away from the real issues. One of my questions criticised the Israelis for their selective descriptions of the security barrier because they described the route of a fence as just a land grab, neglecting to mention its success in reducing terror and that the new route has renewed the chances of a two state solution similar to the Clinton parameters presented in December 2000. Their respone...there was no real offer by Barak. Yes, and Dennis Ross' 800 page book is just an account of a crack induced journey of hallucinations.

Eventually Larry Benjamin attempted to revert the discussion back to the original topic by asking the Israelis what Israel must accept as a final status agreement. They responded in low drooping voices “withdraw to the green line”. That’s it? They could have emailed that one liner to us! Who knew that the conflict was so simple that nothing should be expected from the Palestinians?

Here’s another example of the naked dishonesty on display. One lady asked whether Israel has complied with the ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court vis a vis the route of the barrier. The guests answered “No, that they still haven’t moved the barrier to the green line.” I retorted that the lady asked about the Israeli Supreme Court ruling NOT the ICJ ruling. Eventually the guests answered that Israel has moved the fence “A bit, near Jerusalem.”

What a lie. I explained (keeping my emotions in check) that Israel has complied, that the revised ruling brings the fence closer to the green line, it eliminates all routes that create enclaves and it now leaves, consistent with the Clinton parameters, between 5-8% of the West bank on the Israeli side, leaving 99.7% of the Palestinians on the Palestinian side. Take a look at the map; see the route changes for yourself. (Here is a more detailed version). See this post from OnlyInIsrael for more on this.

I was shocked at how the Israelis then studied their map as if with a fine toothcomb. How can they not already know about the new changes?

I wasn’t the only person who stood up and challenged the speakers; two other gentlemen stood up and gave a passionate defence of Israel.

The level of dishonesty portrayed by the Israeli guests was unacceptable and unjust. The grand premise of any argument may or may not be true, but its standing is certainly not bolstered by misinformation.

The difficult thing for me is that like many on the left I believe that the occupation is now harming Israel and it must end. Bringing about its end will not be simple and the idea needs to be sold to the majority of Israelis. Jewish Voices and their guests however only exacerbate the problems. By criticising Israel all the time, even when she is in the right, they further compel those on the centre/right to ignore the criticisms, even when she is in the wrong.

Comments

[Anti-UN]

Sounds like you did an excellent job. Shot!

Why not advertise these events on the main page so that we know when they are being held. I would like to check some of these talks out.

[jihadnick]

big up on the 2004 J&I Blog awards finalist!
shultz would howl with pride

[Nurit Steinfeld]

I happen to stumble across this article accidentally and since I personally am discussed in it, I feel that I must respond. My own and Ayal Hareuveni's statements are blatently misquoted and distorted as is much of what is "reported" here. Obviousely this writer is not interested in actually reporting what was said but in simply insulting myself and Ayal and Jewish Voices. The writer apparently states that he was at this meeting and it was rather a small meeting but I have no recollection of him. PErhaps he sat sullenly in some corner or made some comment that was totally unmemmorable. We were certainly available for discussion, should he have been interested in one and a deeper understanding of our message. We were, in fact, quite in agreement with the "expert" who was there, who took the liberty to speak for a longer time. We were told that we have 20 minuets to present our views and so had to make do with a brief statement.
In any case, I feel that all discussion is a good thing, especially within the Jewish community as the Jewish community is important to Israel. It seems the author concludes that withdrawl from the territories is a good thing, so oddly, we seem to be in agreement there as well. One of our main points is that the occupation of Palestinian territories is destructive to Israel. PErhaps the author was not listening.
It seems that the main point of this article is simply to insult myself, Ayal and JEwish Voices. PErhaps he simply needs to vent his anger on somebody as I can't make out any real point in his statements here.
As to the opposition to the separation wall. It is in fact a land grab and I don't see how the author can dispute that. It seems that his main objection is that Jewish Voices did something in cooperation with a pro-Palestinain group. In my opinion, cooperation is important and a step towards peace,which we so desperately need in our country.
Nurit Steinfeld

[Jodi]

The Jewish Voices lost all credibility way before this event. They marched against the "apartheid" wall with the PSC, who shares many members with the MRN.

I wish I had been there...and so Steve...I echo anti-UN's comment.