Arab Initiative, Israeli Choice
Haaretz / Akiva Eldar
26-Jan-2009 (6 comments)

For the third time since the Arab League unanimously voted in favor of the peace plan with Israel, the people here are being called upon to vote for a new Knesset. In a normal country, the various parties' positions on this important initiative would be on full display. In Israel, for the third time, the Saudi initiative is being pushed to the margins. It is far easier to sell fear of the Iranians to the voters and to promise "a strong Israel." What does a peace plan made in Saudi Arabia have in common with an Iranian-produced bomb? Plenty, it would appear.

>>>

Share/Save/Bookmark

 
default

I'll chase it up there

by mehrnaz (not verified) on

Thanks Rosie, that's fine. I will read it the discussion there.


rosie is roxy is roshan

Okay, Mehrmaz, so I was going to reply to you here but the

by rosie is roxy is roshan on

issue of potential bias in moderation just came up on a new blog with someone I'd been discussing it with who is of an entirely different political viewpoint from ours, so I wrote about it there instead. I referenced and linked our conversation here. I hope you don't mind. The whole forum is an open book anyway. This is the new blog w/a long comment by me & who knows what's coming (or not) next:

//iranian.com/main/blog/samsam1111/jj-arabo-ommaties-have-hijacked-your-site#comment-132444

Roxane


rosie is roxy is roshan

No that part of the post was directed to the general

by rosie is roxy is roshan on

readeership to siupplement your post by saying that beyond the specific policy issues which you pointed out in your post about this iopinion piece from Haaretz,, that there are also specific HUMAN points in it about Israelis which some readers tend to be unaware of or ignore. Not you.

Thx

R


default

Look forward to it ..

by Mehrnaz (not verified) on

OK, Rosie, look forward to it ..

I never doubted that in Israel people were human (I am not sure whether some parts of your letter was directed at me but just in case!) but exactly because of that, as the opinion poll indicates, under pressure of fear (real or manufactured) they split and project and become even more terrorised. You acutely referred to this process of psychic splitting in one of your previous posts, and it seems the attack on Gaza planned and carried out so near the elections, has served just that purpose.


rosie is roxy is roshan

Well you bring up several important issues here Mehrmaz

by rosie is roxy is roshan on

which I would like to explore, on two separate fronts: one of them related to the conflict and the feed, and one related to the site itself.

What I find particularly significant for the astute reader of the feed (that is, the one who wants to see what's on the page, not in their heads) beyond what it discloses about the geopolitics itself which you note,  is that 1) the Israeli liberals-not even the true left-do not think of themselves as Zionists, they use that term for the right; 2) the Israeli liberals loathe and detest these horrible settlers and consider them responsible for a lot of the conflict (naturally these settlers are aided and abetted by the government which brings us back to our ongoing discussion about how we have to be very careful with our language use to stop those centrist Israelis from going to the right, I mean for a lunatic wing-nut extremist like Netanyahu to be elected again is just incredible, that man should've gone the way of the dinosaurs years ago, my god , etc.is bad enogh..this is very terrible, Israel is within its borders a democracy, the center must not be polarizable to the right every time the sh-t hits the fan), and 3. Israelis are human and the discussion over there is nuanced. More nuanced than in the US in general.

These three factors (not all Israelis identify with themselves in whole or in part as Zionists; many hate the settlers, and Israelis are humans, these three things, are very important. To anyone who WANTS to see the spectrum, not just black and white...

The second front that is very significant is the issue of potential bias in moderation here which you bring up again after I had left it  by the wayside last week for very specific reasons. Well I want to come back to it here with you but it will require another and more carefully crafted post from me. So please check back, I will have it written by tomorrow.

Thx a lot,
Roxane

 


default

It is far easier to sell the fear ...

by Mehrnaz (not verified) on

Thanks, This confirms clearly that the current slaughter in Gaza was meant to derail the prospect of peace, because of course, Hamas had wanted to negotiate with Israel and had accepted the principle of a two state solution, that is recognition of Israel, if Israel withdrew from the occupied territories. The article says it is far easier to sell fear of Iran's nuclear programme. I think it is true, it is also far easier and more preferable to sell fear of anti-Semitism. I have repeatedly written comments on Haaretz pieces, whenever I have seen the many anti-Semitic remarks which are published readily, however, my strong rebuke of anti-Semitism when it is clear that it comes from someone who is strongly in support of Palestinian rights and not hostile to the citizens of Israel, is not published. Even my comments on good articles if it goes beyond, "thank you, great article", are blocked. It is more convenient to have stupid anti-Semites and Islamic extremists 'frothing at the mouth', rather than a secular Iranian woman and a feminist challenging inhumane and racist colonial designs feeding on hatred and fear of the Other. It is very worrying that Natanyahu has gone up so much in the polls. Very dangerous times ...