I think I've been hesitant to continue writing because I've been in denial that I'm actually back at home going through the routine I had before I left, before so much more came into my life.
No longer walking the streets of East and West Jerusalem, taking in the sights and sounds of two peoples living side by side with so much tension in the spaces between and within, I find myself letting go of the intensity. What I mean by this is simply that when not embroiled with news of police beatings, random checks and arrests, and the faces of those going through such humiliation, it is easy to detach from it all.
In fact, being home in the States reading the news from Haaretz, Al-Jazeera, the Alternative News Center, and the Palestine News Network, I find my defenses going up in the face of a world that doesn't necessarily accept a Jewish State.
Just this weekend I attended a conference hosted by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). This is a Bay Area founded and spearheaded organization whose main mission is officially to work to end the occupation. (I'm still working on finding the JVP definition of occupation.) Unofficially, from what I gathered at the conference, its mission is to act as the counter, on the opposite end of the political spectrum, to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
JVP is easily classified as falling to the far left, or progressive as we call such leanings these days. AIPAC is traditionally perceived as representing the right on the political spectrum and the much-vilified in recent years-- neocons and other hawkish leaders and members of American society. I definitely have my issues with both organizations, while grateful that they both exist.
Back to the conference. Admittedly, I couldn't stay for the whole day long event. I was experiencing very visceral, unpleasant reactions to the materials presented. I suppose what I assumed going into it is that a Jewish organization allegedly one for peace, would be more forthright about the legitimacy and establishment and MOST importantly the reality of a Jewish State. However, as I sat in a small discussion section exploring options for statehood- two states, one state, federation, confederation, condominium (no joke)-- it was the "no-state solution" that really incensed me.
The "no-state solution" calls for no Israel and no Palestine and in those countries' stead, a system of municipalities, urban centers that would be managed by respective leaders of the majority of the area. In my mind, and I believe that I try to listen without judgment most of the time-- as much as humanly possible--- this proposal completely disregarded the past 59 years of Israel's existence, the people living there, the language spoken, the culture, the history, the very fact that Israel and Israelis are part of the international community distinctively and uniquely. Also, I felt it diminished the struggle of the Palestinians whose entire argument and rallying cry is to have a right to self-determination, a nation of their own. How could such a proposal be presented? And how naive.
At the beginning of the discussion a packet of proposals for the resolution to the configuration of future Palestine and present Israel was distributed for the participants to peruse. There were perhaps twenty different ideas. Speaking to this the one Israeli in the room, which I guessed from his name, Eitan, and his faint yet audible accent, commended the effort and added that it's a process in which Israelis and Palestinians must be involved. Furthermore, he supported this packet as a springboard for dialogue amongst people in the region. This statement was echoed by the others, Palestinian and Israeli participation!...But I really don't think Eitan's point was absorbed.
I felt most uncomfortable by the discussions around me because I felt as though those who spoke were acting as puppet masters. Israel is attached at the end of the strings pulled by America and the performance is chosen based on who is producing, i.e. putting up the money for the show. As though American Jews through JVP, and by extension other interested Americans have the power to end this occupation, end this struggle, end the conflict if only it can find more effective strategies to combat AIPAC.
If I think of the Israeli whom I am dating, and I think of his strong and distinct identity as Israeli, living in Israel, the only home he's ever known, and then I think of these people sitting in Oakland speaking as though they know what's best for all of Israel and Palestine, I laugh. It's not feasible, reasonable, and quite frankly it's hypocritical because most of these people claim to be anti-colonialist and other such noble and righteous identities when they are sitting there speaking of Israel as though it is a colony of the United States. And I know some people think this to be true but all you have to do is go to the country and see how it's just not. It is no more influenced by America than India or Singapore or Turkey...there are aspects of America's globalization influences that permeate but also the distinctive characteristics as well. Is this an American colony or merely another country in the world whose technological advances and innovation have allowed it to join the elite club of the Global North? I believe the latter, I'm happy to argue about it.
If one argues the amount of money, the billions of dollars that Israel receives annually from the States as proof of Israel as America's puppet theory, I recommend one to visit the Library of Congress website and search in the legislative annals for records of all funds allocated to foreign countries and programs by the United States, including funds to Palestinian organizations.
This is not to say that I agree with billions of U.S. dollars going toward Israel for defense budget purposes meanwhile Israeli schools have extremely poorly paid teachers, overcrowded classrooms and, I hear, some of the highest numbers of traffic fatalities every day. Conditions and negotations on this large sum of money ought to take place instead of carte blanche U.S. to Israel monetary transfers. However, I don't know that I'm accurate on this fact, I will probably have to research it at some point. Regardless, all policies require review and reform at some point in the trajectory of their implementation.
Beneath all of this frustration and anger however, there is fear. And I'm really not thrilled about fear surfacing in me with regard to the Jewish State of Israel. I admit to have criticized and questioned many a friend and elder on the issue of Israel and what I consider to be this Jewish community sense of urgency and ongoing threat to the Jews. In the past few weeks, I have come to believe that, if certain organizations like AIPAC and UN WATCH don't continue their work, the citizens of the world may forget that the Jewish people too, have a right to self-determination and the right to a nation. And while it may not be perfect as it exists at present, it is an international duty to see to its improvement, but not to its demise.
