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Woche der Brüderlichkeit Projekte |
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Israels Muskeljuden |
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My people and the war we must end Lotahn Raz Israel, my country, my home is now fighting a war it does not need. We are fighting a war that is not helpful or beneficial in any way to my people who are fighting it. We are in effect fighting a war against ourselves, and our own best interest, while all the while many of us believe it is useful, and indeed necessary. As the war continues, more and more Israelis, and especially young Israeli men are flung into it, putting their lives on the lines, and compromising their humanity. These people participating in the war are good people. Good, scared and confused. I would like to show how it has come to be that my people have come to fight in such a war again their own good, and how I think it will be possible for us to lead ourselves out of this situation. Israeli Jews feel very scared today. As the reality of terror continues within Israel more and more people are scared of leaving their homes. Parents are scared of letting their children leave their homes. Streets that were once bustling with people are now almost empty, with only few people wandering around them, often quickly and in fear. My neighbors, for example, have changed their life style and habits completely. During this recent school vacation, my 9 year old neighbor hardly left his home, except for quick walks with his mother, while she decided to stop going to the market for food supplies, and only goes out to near bye small vendors. This is not an uncommon thing. People are feeling scared. As Jews, we have a history of being scared for our lives. Jews throughout history have been running for their lives, scared of what other people might to do them. For many centuries, Jews were scapegoated by the rulers of different nations and kingdoms as the objects for attack when things go bad. Jews were often places in economic and social positions which made them an easy target for attacks and for blame, if it was needed to assign blame for peoples hardships. So when people had had enough of the oppressive situations they were put in and the lousy conditions they were living under, the authorities were able to manipulate the uprising people's feelings of anger and despair and make them blame the Jews for their troubles. Instead of attacking the real problems - the oppressive institutions which kept people down, people attacked the Jews, who than lost the defense of the ruler, and were isolated and attacked, and often times killed and hurt badly as a result. And so for centuries Jews have had stories of being isolated and attacked, and having to flee for their lives and not trust anyone. It has often happened that the very rulers who have given Jews security - temporary as it may be - were the ones who then betrayed them and manipulated their fragile position to save their oppressive regime. These stories of being attacked again and again, and the fears that have accompanied it have been told and passed from person to person for many years. It has invaded how we as Jews feel about ourselves and those around us. It has made us feel constantly scared and unsafe. It has made us feel as if we cannot trust anyone, and that in order to survive we must always be weary of others and their intentions. It has made us live as if we are under constant threat of annihilation. The state of Israel was born as an attempt to stop this constant danger Jews have been living under. In many ways it made sense to try and create a state where Jews will have their own homeland and be safe within it. This homeland, however, was built on the ruins of many Palestinian's lives. There are many reasons for this, and we shall not dwell into them at the moment. The early days of Jewish settlements of the land of Palestine in the late 19th century and early 20th, brought about many different attempts at living together between Jews and Arabs, as well as conflicts, misunderstandings, and situations where people were not treating each other well, or thinking in the long term about real prospects of living together. In addition, foreign powers that were fighting for their own interests in the region only made things worse. Israel evolved and formed its policies on the basis of our fears of being annihilated, and our insecurities about trusting another people. We have become a militaristic nation, which lives in many ways on its armies, and is constantly thrown into wars. This did not happen in isolation from the world. Upholding the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as the rest of the Arab world, has served the interests of foreign powers, especially the United States, whose weapons' industry has made enormous profits from the conflict and its sustenance. In many ways, Israel has been manipulated on an international level to play the same role Jews have been positioned to play in their past. The Arab world, and especially Arab citizens have been pushed to blame Israel for all their hardships, while the United States gains control over the oil industry in the Middle East, and the Arab people live under oppressive, dictatorial governments. This has all resulted in a history of conflict and war for Israel and its neighbors. Through this, Israel has developed a policy of war and militarism. Since its creation, Israel has held a general conscription for all Jewish young people eighteen years of age, aside for orthodox Jews, and including Druze Arabs, who are also conscripted. This enlistment to the army, and the constant fighting, supposedly for our lives, has gone almost unquestioned for many years. My people have been manipulated and scared into going to war. Growing up Israel as a young Jew, one is told that we cannot trust Arabs, that they want our land. We are given the message that they are not to be trusted as potential allies, and that their word cannot be counted on. We are taught to be racist against Arabs. It is clear this way, how both the Israeli and the Palestinian people have been pitted against each other, despite their own interests. Every time a terror attack happens, we feel our fear of annihilation again. We remember what we have been told or showed in many ways, and scared into believing, that the Palestinians want us out, that they will not agree to live with us, that they want our homes. Driven by this fear that has been installed on us for centuries by oppressive forces, we are manipulated into fighting wars, into being oppressors ourselves, as our supposed only way to security. We are made to forget that our only security is in our alliances. This fear has kept our people from seeing what our army is actually doing in the territories. It has kept us from realizing that we are acting in oppressive ways that we would never have allowed happen had we not been so frightened to blindness. We forget to notice that no one would do such terrible acts of terror had they not been terribly hurt and desperate. As a result we are manipulated in believing anti-Arab racism. We forget, here in Israel, that our young people who are giving their lives in this fighting are too precious to be lost in this war. And in order for these young men to be willing to fight these wars, we scare our young people, we raise them to take on the world in an isolated way, on their own, to be tuff and strong, and always ready to fight back. These young people are dreadfully hurt in order to agree to be a part of this war. This war we are currently fighting is unnecessary and dreadfully hurtful for all involved. The possibilities and prospects for ending it, however, are in many ways much clearer than ever before. It will not be possible to wipe out either of the people living on this land, and the only way to find a solution will be to find a way in which both people can share the land together in cooperation and security. When people do not feel scared or angry, they know this quite well. The outlines of the eventual agreement are already outlined both in people's minds and in actually negotiation tables, much more than before. The amount of young Israeli people who have been refusing to serve in the Israeli army or in the occupied territories has risen to an unprecedented level. This is proof to the integrity and intelligence of my people. It is a good sign that people will not willing to fight unnecessary and hurtful battles for very long. That people care enough and are strong enough to make the worst injustice fold to bits and pieces. The Jewish and Palestinian people belong together. We have a glorious future awaiting us both. Now what is left is for us to stop fighting and bring about hope together. Kontakt: gsanktmich@freenet.de Freundeskreis für Re´ut/Sadaka e.V. |
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