Reflections after Sepember 2019 second elections

ספטמבר 2019, בחירות בפעם השנייה תוך 5 חודשים, יומיים אחרי.

מה יש לנו? מדינה חצויה והפער בין שני החציים רחב ועמוק. זה לזה קוראים בוגדים. האם שכחנו שניתן לא להסכים מבלי להפוך לאויבים?

ישנם דברים שחייבים להבין – במדינה הזאת, מדינת ישראל, חיים חילונים ודתיים, מערביים ומזרחים, יהודים, ערבים ונוצרים... אמונות שונות תרבויות שונות, מסורות שונות אבל כולנו אזרחי המדינה. כולנו רוצים מדינה שכל אזרחיה שווים, מה שמגיע לאחד מגיע לשני, מה שחייב האחד, חייב גם השני כי אחרת לא נשרוד את הפלוג וההסתה שכולנו כואבים היום.

אנחנו חייבים להכיר בעובדה שהמפלגה השלישית בגודלה הינה המפלגה המשותפת, מפלגה שבעצם היותה חברה בכנסת ישראל והעומדת בבחירות דמוקרטיות, מכירה היא במדינה. לדעתי זה ברור ולא צריך לעלות זאת שובו ושוב. תפקידה בכנסת לעשות את המירב להטיב עם האוכלוסיה שבחרה בה לייצג אותם כמו כל נציגות אחרת. עליה לדאוג לרווחתם, לחינוך ולתרבות, למקורות פרנסה ולבריאותם ולבטחונם. הרי בשל כך נבחרו  כמו כל מפלגה אחרת במדינה המייצגת ציבור זה או אחר. על כולנו לזכור שמקום בכנסת מקבלים מאזרחי המדינה בזכות, לא בחסד אבל לזכות הזאת יש גם חובות – חובה להכרה ולכבוד של השני גם אם יש אי הסכמה על דרך זו או אחרת, חובה לפעול למען בטחונינו מפנים ומחוץ, חובה לשמור על יושר והגינות, חובה לסגת מדרך האלימות כי היא לא מביאה תועלת לאיש, וגם לא לקידום אינטרסים אלא רק להגברת השנאה והרצון לנקם. כל מילה כאן נכונה גם לגבינו לבין שכיננו אבל לא פחות לגבינו לבין עצמינו כי האחד משליך על השני, לדעתי.

כשעליתי ארצה בשנת 1951, סבי שחי בארץ עוד שנים רבות לפני כן, לקח אותנו לטיול בארץ. בדרך עברנו בבית ליד ליד בית הכלא וסבא אמר: "תראו הכלא הזה ריק מאדם, אבל יבוא יום ונהיה כמו כל העמים, ובתי הכלא יהיו מלאים אנשים שסטו מדרך הישר". נכון שהרוע, השחיתות והאלימות לא נולדו היום אבל היום הם מעין נורמה חברתית שהורסת אותנו מבפנים. ואף על פי כן, זאת כן המדינה שלי ולכן כל כך איכפת לי ואני מאמינה שאפשר אחרת ויהיה אחרת.

September, 2019, Elections the second time within 5 months.

What have we? A nation split in two with a deep and wide gap in between. One calls the other a traitor. Have we forgotten that one can disagree without becoming the enemy?

We have to understand – in this state, the State of Israel, live people who are secular and those who are religious, from east and west, Jews, Arabs and Christians… different beliefs, different cultures, different traditions but we are all citizens of this country. We all want a nation where all citizens are equal, sharing both rights and obligations because we cannot possibly survive the division and incitement, we are all experiencing now with great pain.

We have to realize that the third biggest party today is The United Arab List, a party that the actual fact of them being in the Knesset and standing for democratic elections means that they recognize the State of Israel. I think it is obvious and does not have to be brought up again and again. Their obligation in the Knesset is to do their utmost for the people that voted for them to represent them, their welfare, their educational and  is the people who give one a place in the Knesset, in their own right not in grace but having rights also means obligations – the obligation to accept and respect the other even when you do not agree on this or that way, the obligation to act for our security inside and out, the obligation to be honest and fair, the obligation to refrain from violence that does no good to anyone nor does it promote interest but only  increases  hate and vengeance. Every single word here is true to us and our neighbours and also to us amongst ourselves and certainly casting one on the another, I think.

When I came to live in Israel, in 1951, my grandfather who had been living here long before, took us on a trip. On our way we passed a jail house in Beit Lid and he said: “look at that jail house. It is empty but a day will come and we’ll be like all other nations and the jails will be full of people who turned from the path of justice. It is true that wickedness, corruption and violence were not invented today but, I think, it has become a social norm that is eating us up from inside. Nevertheless, this is my country and that is why I deeply care and do believe that things could and will be different, for the better of all concerned.  

New Years's Resolution

As 2019 is here, I choose to look ahead and not reflect to the past.

This past weekend I was talking to a group of tourists visiting our village.  After them hearing from me about the tension we are living under, not knowing from one moment to the next what to expect, we went to an overlook to see how close we are to our neighbors in Gaza. While standing there we suddenly focused on a balloon in the sky. What do you think of when you see a balloon? You think, I am sure. of a birthday party or some other celebration. You think of the poor child who let go of his or her balloon and it went higher and higher in the sky but not here, not us. We immediately think of an explosive attached to it and wonder fearfully where it will fall. We call security right away. They start following up on the situation and we prefer to just get on our way. This specific story does have a happy ending and as any normal human being would have thought, the balloon was from a birthday party, there was a poor little girl that was crying because she lost her balloon. Sad as it was, there was no fear and no anxiety.

Yesterday was a completely different story. A huge bunch of beautiful, colorful balloons fell in a field nearby. This time it did carry an explosive that exploded as the security officials were trying to neutralize it. Luckily no one was hurt but it did start up the inevitable: First the retaliation from the IDF – “they have to be taught a lesson, again”. Then the retaliation to the retaliation – a missile launched from Gaza towards Ashkelon, our nearby town, “We’ll show them who’s who” and so on. Retaliation after retaliation and as I am writing these lines, I hear explosions, Boom! Boom! Is it us, is it them? I do not know. What I do know is that it has to stop here and now.

We have to come to terms with the fact that there is another people, the Palestinian people, who have a right to live in this region, on this piece of land with liberty, dignity and security. The Palestinians need to come to terms with the fact that Israel is here to stay in its own right too. We both have a history that ties us to this land. We both don’t feel that we belong in any other place. Each one will tell you why it is the other who has go elsewhere. The Palestinians say “go back to where you came from before Israel became an independent state”.  The Israelis say “You have the whole of the Arab/Moslem world to call home, we don’t have any other”. Both of us know in ourselves what is good and right for the other, why the other is to blame for the situation.

Maybe we could both make a New Year’s resolution to lay down the arms, leave behind the hate, the violence and vengeance and start working on a format that can allow both people to live a secure meaningful and successful life. Yes, it means to stop bringing up the past. It means to look open eyed into the future and decide to talk positively about how we make this work and not stop until we find the way. It is there we have just got to want to reach out to it. There will be obstacles, there will be disagreements, there will be challenges but none that we cannot overcome. Let us prove to ourselves, to the world that it can be done. The leadership that will pick up the gauntlet will be the true hero, not the one who wins the next round of violence.

I am not a dreamer! The dreamers are those Palestinians who say they want to drive us into the sea – that is not going to happen. The dreamers are those Israelis who believe that another 50 years of occupation and 15 years of blockade will bring about a solution or a way out – no, not that way.

Speaking Tour in Germany

Hannover, Gottingen, Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin.

Palästina Initiative Region Hannover, Stiftung Leben & Umwelt / Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Niedersachsen, Göttinger Bündnis für Gerechtigkeit in Palästina und Israel; Nahost-Forum-Bremen, AK Nahost Bremen,                                        Umdenken e.V. / Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Hamburg, Alsharq e.V.

Ten days in Germany, travelling from one town to another, at the invitation of the above organizations, an ordeal I took upon myself not quite knowing what to expect. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was going to present my picture of the Middle East with the ongoing conflict that unlike many others, I believe can end if only both sides really want to and realize that the only way is to recognize each other’s right to exist in mutual respect, dignity and security. In other words, Life here = Life there from whichever side you look at it. Living on the border of the Gaza Strip, being attacked and attacking back, never quite sure who “started”, familiar with the suffering on both sides, hurting for us both, I know it has to stop. I know that we have to change our strategy we have to join forces, the sane, too quiet, people on both sides, in order to change the lose - lose situation of war into a win – win situation of peace. I am not dreaming. It can be. The dreamers are those Palestinians who still say that they want to drive us into the sea. That is not going to happen. They are dreaming. The dreamers are those Israelis who think we can continue another 50 years of occupation and another over ten years of blockade and eventually the Palestinians will beg for peace. Not that way, they are dreaming, not I. What I say can become a reality – two people side by side making a life they do not want to lose, respectful, dignified and secure.

In one of my talks, someone asked me why I do this. Why do I travel to various places in the world to talk and present my case, so to speak? The thing is I believe I have a message that has to be heard. A story of a Jewish woman who came as a child to Israel from England because her parents understood that the only place in the world for the Jewish People to feel at home, without explanations, excuses and/or favors, is in Israel – the Promised Land. Familiar with the Jewish history – the Diaspora, the Holocaust and the establishment of a Jewish State for the Jewish People – I had no doubts.  It wasn’t until much later due to the journey of my life that I realized that my redemption was someone else’s disaster. How do I live with that? How do I deal with it? During my talks I was asked why we do not go back to where we came from and I reminded them that we were not really wanted there. I was accused of stealing people’s homes and expelling them from their land. Yes, I know. Wars are ugly. Terrible things happen at war. Today we are two peoples/two nations with a tie, historical and theological to this same piece of land. It is never ever going to be one instead of the other so is it not high time we learn to live side by side and we can. I was asked if I was a Zionist. My answer was that if Zionism is the belief/recognition that Israel is the true homeland of the Jewish people, then I am. If Zionism means that we, the Jewish people, cannot recognize another people’s right to live here in their own rights without discrimination, with equal rights, in whatever format is agreed upon by both sides, then I am not. I do not believe the latter to be a correct definition of Zionism and therefore I see myself as a true Zionist.

I met people who understood what I was saying. I met people who found it difficult to accept. I met people led by hate and mistrust and I met people led by love and understanding. I met people who despised me for thinking that I can “steal” someone’s home and then ask him to talk and make compromises. I met people who had never come in contact with an Israeli before and dared to take a chance and during the conversation mistrust and tears turned into an understanding, a smile and a hug.

This is why I go on these journeys. To meet people I may not have any other chance of meeting. To put across the message that we should be there for one another because we are always going to be there on that small piece of land which like one of my dear friends in Gaze recently said: “It is a small piece of land but there is room for both of us”. We can find a just and long lasting solution/understanding if we only stop blaming one another and for a brief moment look inside ourselves and ask, where did I go wrong? What can I do to make a difference? This is what I believe. This is my message. And I will go far and wide to make it heard as long as I can.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for listening, understanding even when not agreeing. Thank you all for making this voyage possible. I personally learnt a lot and hope you took something into your hearts and minds too.

Other Voice, the organization I did my best to present in the best possible way, is a group of people living around the Gaza Strip, suffering from the fear of the next alert, the next rocket, the next sleepless night and yet realize that as long as our neighbors live in the despair, the rut, they are living in today, nothing will change. We demonstrate, we try to help our friends across the border in different ways, we make our voice and theirs sound loud and clear “Violence is not the answer, dialogue, acceptance is”. LIFE HERE =LIFE THERE.

ראו הוזהרתם

איפה המנהיגים שלנו שאמורים לדאוג לביטחוננו? יכול להיות שהם לא יודעים או פשוט לא מבינים מה שקורה היום בעזה? אני יודעת שיש מי שלא רוצה לשמוע על זכויות הומניטאריות מינימאליות שמ גיעות לכל אדם באשר הוא אדם אם הוא יושב בישראל או בעזה. אנחנו מתכחשים לזכויות ההומנטריות. אין מנוס מענישה קולקטיבית. הייתכן? נראה לי שאנחנו עיוורים, מסונרים מהצידוק העצמי. האם אנחנו כל כך לא בטוחים ביכולתנו להגן על עצמנו שהדרך היחידה היא לסגור מיליוני אנשים  בדלת אמותיהם במצוקה כלכלית, נפשית ובריאותית– בכלא , הגדול ביותר בעולם וזו לא קלישאה? קרקע פורייה לצמיחה של רצון עז לנקמה וחרישת מזימות של הרס והרג.

האם לא רואים ולא מבינים שכשאנשים חיים בתנאים לא תנאים – שהיום חיים עם 4 שעות חשמל ביממה ללא יכולת לעבוד ולהתפרנס, מנותקים מן העולם ללא אפשרות לצאת לביקורים, ללימודים ולעסקים – בהחלט לא יחזירו אהבה. השנאה הולכת וגוברת, התסכול והייאוש מביאים לכך שאנו יושבים על חווית של אבק שריפה שעלולה בכל רגע להתפוצץ בפנינו. כן אני מפחדת ואני חושבת שאנחנו עושים טעות עצומה. אנחנו שורפים קשרים עם אנשים, כן אנשים טובים. אנשים שמבינים שאנחנו כאן להישאר אבל רוצים שנזכור שגם הם שם רוצים לחיות, ממש לחיות, לצדנו.

כרגע הם רואים בנו אויב לא פחות מאשר אנו רואים בהם אויב ובאויב נלחמים, גם הם וגם אנחנו. חייבים לשים סוף למעגל הדמים בו אני מסתובבים, מאשימים האחד השני ומתבצרים בעמדות צודקות יותר וצודקות פחות. חייבים להכיר בזכות של כל אחד מאיתנו, בין אם יהודי ובין אם מוסלמי, להגדרה עצמית, לאפשרות לחיות בארצו ולבנות כלכלה פורחת, מערכות חינוך ובריאות שניתן להתגאות בהן.

האמינו לי, זה אפשרי, זה כדאי  ואסור לנו לוותר. אם נשכיל להבין זאת יהיה לנו יותר ביטחון כשחברינו בעזה יוכלו להיות עסוקים בבנייה והתפתחות ולא בפיתוח יוזמות מלחמה. נכון יש הרבה רוע בעולם אך יש גם כל כך הרבה טוב צריך לתת אפשרות אמיתית לטוב לגבור והוא יכול אם רק ניתן לו באמת ובתמים וגם זו לא קלישאה זוהי אמת צרופה.