Delusional bubble of a 'united nation'
Articles on how the war is dividing Israel from Al Monitor, Haaretz and +972.
A still from a video posted by former Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari calling on Israel to conquer Gaza. Photo by YouTube/Nisim Dahan.
Intolerance becoming all too common in Israel
A heated public debate has been building between the extreme left and right in Israel, threatening to explode into violence.
By Mazal Mualem, transl. Danny Wool, Al Monitor, Israel Pulse
July 14, 2014
On the evening of July 13, former Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari, who now heads the Fund to Save the Nation of Israel, used his Facebook page, under the header “cut off their electricity,” to call on his followers to join demonstrations scheduled to take place July 16 at dozens of major intersections throughout the country. The demonstrators will call on the government to conquer Gaza and cut it off from the power grid.
It seems Operation Protective Edge has been good to Ben-Ari’s Facebook page. Over the last few days it has become a forum for vehement incitement against the left. Ben-Ari, who’s on the far right of the political spectrum, is constantly expanding his list of targets. In fact, he now calls for shipping the chairwoman of Zionist [sic] Meretz, Knesset member Zehava Gal-On, to Gaza. At the same time, he lashes out and curses, fouling the mood and further exacerbating the existing tensions between right and left over Operation Protective Edge.
On July 13, shortly before he made his call to “cut off their electricity,” Ben-Ari posted a video on Facebook explaining why Israel must conquer Gaza immediately. It’s an Internet manifesto seething with vitriol. He mocked the State of Israel, saying, “For over a week, a pathetic gang from Gaza has forced an entire country to its knees, despite its huge military budget.” He went on to accuse various news anchors, among them Channel 2’s Yonit Levy, of aiding the enemy and lashed out at the irresponsibility of the government in abandoning its citizens, saying, “No country in the world would agree to let its children come under fire.” He added, “They shoot at citizens; we shoot at citizens. That’s exactly what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin did in Chechnya.”
Then he turned to Gal-On, whom he calls “Zehava Occupation,” saying, “She works for the enemy every hour of every day. She is the enemy’s spokeswoman.” He addressed her directly, jeering, “We can’t defeat terrorism with war. I’m telling you, Zehava Gal-On, that for us to defeat terrorism with war, we have to defeat you first. We’ll send you to Gaza. You can be their spokesperson there, and we will take care of them the right way.”
“Let’s stop being suckers. Let’s take care of the enemy,” he continued, adding, “Those who pity their enemies end up being cruel to their own people. Those who are cruel to their enemies truly love their own people.”
Ben-Ari represents only a fringe political group, so the mainstream media, which he also considers an “enemy of the people,” prefers to ignore his provocative statements. The problem, however, is that since the kidnapping and murder of the three Jewish teens, the retaliatory murder of an Arab teen and the launch of Operation Protective Edge, provocative statements from the fringes, like those released by Ben-Ari and his supporters, expand the boundaries of this violence-drenched dialogue.
When Knesset members from the ostensibly center-right Likud Party, like Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, demand that Israel “stop providing fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip,” or Miri Regev promotes action to “prevent the people of Gaza from receiving basic goods and block the crossings and main roads,” it should be no wonder that in the midst of all the fighting in Gaza, the far left and right are fighting each other in Tel Aviv. Even with the air-raid siren wailing throughout the city, police were needed to separate the two sides.
The demonstration took place on the night of June 12, in Habima Square in Tel Aviv. Ever since it was renovated three years ago, the square has become a nerve center of political and social activism, particularly of the left — a “Tahrir Square” of sorts.
Demonstrators from radical left-wing groups poured into the square that evening to demonstrate against Operation Protective Edge. The signs they carried were provocative. They denounced the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and called on people to refuse to serve. There were slogans like, “The IDF is the most moral terrorist organization in the world,” “Racist regime,” “Stop the massacre in Gaza” and “Occupation is terrorism,” condemning the current operation that, according to polls, has widespread support among the general public. This is not the first time that the far left has demonstrated against the IDF, but without the right-wing demonstrators who came to confront them, the demonstration would have broken up as soon as the siren went off and received minimal media coverage, if any.
But things heated up that evening. Rapper Yoav Eliasi, known as “The Shadow,” showed up with a few dozen young people from right-wing organizations like Lehava (a group dedicated to preventing assimilation), wrapped in Israeli flags and some in masks. They started taunting the demonstrators from the left, with “traitor” and much worse. For the most part they cursed the leftist activists, wishing them any number of cruel deaths. It didn’t take much for the fracas to devolve into an all-out brawl.*
As someone who was present nearby, the feeling was surreal. Suddenly the siren went off. The leftist demonstrators were subjected to a barrage of curses and had things thrown at them as they ran for protected spaces nearby. The violence even reached a nearby cafe, when a right-wing activist who asked for some water was outraged when someone commented, “Maybe it will cool you off.” He burst inside and started a ruckus.
That evening in Habima Square was unusual in terms of both its level of violence and its timing. Traditionally, an atmosphere of unity has always transcended politics at the start of any military operation or war. As the old saying goes, “When the cannons roar, the muses are silent.”
Meanwhile, Eliasi continued to incite the crowds, boasting on his Facebook page, “Together we are a powerful force confronting the real enemy, who wanders freely among us: the radical left.” His post received extensive media coverage.
The outbreak of violence at the demonstration in Habima Square is reminiscent of the attempt to force out Minister of Economy and Trade Naftali Bennett from the Haaretz peace conference July 8 for being a “fascist.” They are part of the same violent dialogue from the far left and the far right alike that can easily make the leap from verbal provocation to real physical violence. We saw that happen only recently, when it turned out that Arab teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir’s killing was committed by young Jews seeking revenge. Regardless of how infuriating the signs held up by the radical left may have been to some, anyone who was at the demonstration at Habima Square could sense the violence mood incited by Eliasi and his friends. Anyone who saw it knows that we are standing before a slippery slope, which could end with people getting hurt in demonstrations. This should be a wake-up call to politicians on both sides of the political spectrum. It is incumbent on them to restore calm, even with all the passion that the war evokes. It is up to them to stop seeking to gain popularity by pandering to their electorates, right now. One Emil Grunzweig is enough.
Israeli rapper Yoav Eliasi, known as “the Shadow,” with fellow right-wingers in central Tel Aviv, July 12, 2014. Photo by Reuters
We’re winning, say Israel’s leaders, trumpeting the country’s unity under fire; thanks to the equalizing sirens, even Tel Aviv felt less alienated. But we’re living in a bubble that can’t see Gaza’s victims.
By Michal Yudelman O’Dwyer, Haaretz
July 15, 2014
When the sirens wailed in Tel Aviv last Tuesday, it seemed the famous bubble had finally burst, and we Tel Avivians were part of the country again. No more would we be called stuck-up and aloof – especially when Hamas gave advance notice that it was going to bombard the city at 9 P.M. the following Saturday night. But the bigger barrage that struck Tel Aviv was of text messages, phone calls and Facebook pleas from abroad, telling us to get out of this crazy place.
We tried to play by the rules – even went to the stairwell, cappuccino in hand, with the rest of the neighbors as the siren went off – just so we could feel at one with the rest of the nation, well used to the siren routine. But as a solidarity mechanism, it didn’t really work.
The previous day, Friday, sirens and rockets notwithstanding, the line at midday in the supermarket on Ibn Gabirol was as long as usual, and the streets were just as busy. Early on Saturday morning the old-timers and diehards were marching briskly along the Mediterranean promenade as they always had done, literally taking the situation in their stride.
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The prime minister and other ministers kept repeating on news stations, that continued broadcasting nonstop nothingness, that we are all united and the world supported us.
In a gesture of feeling one-with-the-nation, I switched on the television and zapped through the news channels. Channel 2 showed five images of the intimidating Arab affairs analyst Ehud Ya’ari, as though one wasn’t enough, while Channel 1, in a burst of creativity, went all “24″” on us and featured a quartered screen showing four different locations simultaneously. Hey, if I wanted to watch four places with nothing happening in any of them, I have the “real” Jack Bauer on Channel 14.
So, a quick flick to see what the foreign channels were doing. Were they still scarcely paying us any attention, as I heard a radio news broadcaster complain before the offensive began? That was when Israel was still turning the West Bank upside down looking for the three abducted teens whom the authorities already knew were dead.
A BBC TV crew was standing in the rubble of a home for disabled persons in Gaza, where locals were trying to dig out the bodies of those who couldn’t make it out on their wheelchairs in the less than 60 seconds warning they had been given before the Israeli bombardment. It’s hard to imagine how anyone in this building could have been a threat to anyone, the reporter said. Sky News showed more rubble.
Homes destroyed by air strikes and toddlers in diapers with no shelter to hide in, even if they did hear the warning in time. I didn’t have to switch to Al Jazeera to know what they’d be showing. Does the world really support us? Unless the cabinet ministers have their own exclusive news channel, what planet are they living on?
This is a battle Israel has already lost, and if it hasn’t yet, it’s about to. You can’t win against pictures of bombed streets and civilian casualties, no matter how right you are.
So who’s really cut off from reality and who’s living in a bubble? Is it really Tel Avivians and the many Israeli media columnists who see things in a wider context? More likely, the bubble boys are the ministers and generals who still think we’re winning, endlessly yakking away on TV.
After 9 o’clock on Saturday, we heard the sirens go. Hamas kept its promise. We considered going to the stairwell, to hear what the neighbors were saying, but then saw that Israel’s Channel 2 was broadcasting the Iron Dome interceptions of the rockets aimed at Tel Aviv in real time. Naturally, we stayed to watch. If we see the interception work, there’s no reason to go out, I said. If you hear the boom, it means you’re still alive, said my husband, who always knows what to do.
That same night, scores of incensed right-wing thugs stormed a demonstration of leftists at Habima Square who were protesting against the military offensive on Gaza. They shouted curses and racist insults about Arabs, pushed the protesters and threw eggs at them.
Eyewitnesses and protesters said the 20 or so police officers sent to safeguard the event did nothing to protect them. At some point, everyone ran for cover when a siren was heard. But the rightists chased after the protesters on motorbikes, armed with clubs, sticks and eggs.
“It was the most frightening thing, I’ve never experienced such violence in Tel Aviv at a leftist demonstration … we never imagined such a thing could happen in Tel Aviv. The police didn’t fight them off either,” a protester told Haaretz.
This Sunday, a trauma expert with kind eyes spoke on one of the Israeli TV channels about the distress that living under sirens can cause children. On Monday, on the radio a psychologist advised on how to deal with the fears of children and elderly people under fire or stuck in shelters and protected areas for prolonged periods of time.
Neither said a word about the hundreds – thousands – of children on the other side of the border who have no sirens to warn them, no shelters to go to, and no summer camps to be sent to outside the range of massive Israeli firepower.
So much for unity and solidarity, never mind basic compassion, under fire. I’m beginning to conclude it was always an illusion anyway. Those who babble on about unity all the time are the only ones living in unity, inside their own delusional bubble.
Michal Yudelman-O’Dwyer is a translator at Haaretz English edition.
Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Galon and opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog of Labor. Photo by Yotam Ronen / Activestills.org
When the cannons roar, the Israeli Left remains silent
It appears not much has changed since Operation Cast Lead, when opposition leader Haim Oron tragically decided to support the military offensive. Rather than apologizing and giving evasive answers to the media, the Left, led by the failed opposition leader, should be standing up to yell ‘enough!’
By Elinor Davidov, +972
June 23, 2014
It took seven days of “Operation Brother’s Keeper” for the leaders of the Israeli Left in the opposition to say, sofly, that there is a problem with the current military operation, with its goals and with its implementation.
For the first time, a week of collective punishment, a closure on the southern West Bank, assassinations in Gaza, violent house searches and the killing of five Palestinians, we read the words of Meretz leader Zehava Galon and Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz. Their statements were not delivered forcefully at rallies organized by leftist parties, nor were they made clearly and unequivocally in numerous media outlets. Instead, they were written on Facebook, as if it was about just another message to their constituents aimed at winning another vote or two come election time.
Their criticism followed an obligatory disclaimer, in which they stated they do not intend to justify the kidnapping or side with the Palestinians. After all, any statement critical of the state and the army necessitates an apologetic introduction, as if the Knesset members feel they are “traitors” themselves – the same way their friends on the right see them.
The weak Left has lost its ability to express an unequivocal and clear position – one that opposes military operations whose goals are fabricated and whose results are disastrous, not only for the civilian population in the West Bank and Gaza, but also for the possibility (which was destroyed long ago by Israel) to negotiate with the government that represents the Palestinian public. Even Meretz and Hadash, openly left-wing parties, did not release proper statements, did not clearly call to refrain from going forward with the operation, did not bother to do a thing aside from write a few hollow sentences on their personal Facebook profiles.
From ‘Cast Lead’ until today
As if we haven’t learned the lesson, and as if ingratiating ourselves with the Right will bring the Left to power, the left-wing MKs bury their heads in the sand, roll their eyes at the evil terrorism coming from Hebron, and refuse to point at the real problem: the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
It seems water hasn’t passed under the bridge of the most prominent leftist party in the Knesset, Meretz. As if we don’t remember the disgraceful decision by then-chairman Haim Oron to support the disastrous Operation Cast Lead, which claimed the lives of over 1,000 Palestinians, many of them civilians. Needless to say that Hamas recovered, and residents of Israel’s south are still suffering from rocket fire from Gaza.
Like its predecessors, the current Israeli government is acting all the more forcefully against those with whom it must sit and negotiate the end of the conflict. It has become pointless to repeat the ways in which successive Israeli governments acted against the PLO for many years, singlehandedly destroying the moderate, secular Palestinian Left, all while aiding and abetting the religious radicalization of Palestinian society. Now, when Israel is trying to dismantle the new Palestinian government, to sabotage the agreement ending internal Palestinian rifts and to destroy Hamas, do not be surprised when more radical organizations set the tone in the coming years.
Rather than apologizing and giving evasive answers to the media, rather than visiting the families in order to be seen as an integral part of the Israeli people and rather than spending all day condemning MK Haneen Zoabi’s comments in order to draw a thick, red line between us and her, the Left, lead by the failed opposition leader, should have stood up to yell “enough!” What’s the point of torturing millions? What is the point of depriving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians of work? Which military goals were achieved by searching 1,000 homes in one night while harassing a civilian population? What will we achieve by shooting live bullets at stone throwers? What is Israel’s interest in arresting hundreds of past or present Hamas members with no trial?
The government ministers approved an additional NIS 5 million for local settlement councils in the West Bank on Sunday. The reason given for the special supplement was the “the security situation that has been created against the background of the abduction of the three youths.” Next week they will decide on an additional budget increase. Now children, guess who already openly announced that he would support any supplement whose goal is to protect Israelis in the West Bank? That’s right! The honorable opposition leader, Isaac Herzog (Labor).
When military analysts are the ones writing the most critical articles against the operation, something is deeply wrong with the Israeli Left. And perhaps this is nothing new, but we are evermore insulted as time goes on. Just like we marched together during Cast Lead (another failed, cruel attempt at destroying Hamas), now we must raise our voices at every possible chance: in the media, in the Knesset and in the streets. We must say no to unnecessary violence, no the political cynicism of right-wing politicians, no to settlement growth and no to the occupation.
But it seems to me that left-wing members of Knesset are not interested in their voters, and that the winds of war still blow among and between them. When the cannons roar, leftists bow their heads in silence.
Elinor Davidov is a journalist and editor for London at Kirschenbaum.
* See an account of this from the Left in Conscientious objectors in Israel