A non-Jewish, non-Christian friend who has no ax to grind against either Jews or Muslims has friends in both circles.
One Jewish friend whom he describes as “a friendly radical” is vehemently anti-Arab, and whenever the two meet for lunch, he embarks on a rant about how all Arabs are killers who want to murder all the Jews.
My friend listens, then gently changes the subject, whereupon there is a change in the demeanor of the friendly radical, whose anger dissipates.
On one occasion, the rant became too much for my friend to tolerate, and he asked the friendly radical what his reaction would be if he repeated exactly what had been said but substituted the word Jew for Arab.
The friendly radical was taken aback, but didn’t argue. He merely stopped his rant.
Head of the Balad party MK Sami Abu Shehadeh arrives to cast his vote a voting station, on November 1, 2022; illustrative. (credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)
But he is far from being the only Israeli Jew who is anti-Arab.
There is a move afoot by right-wing parties to disqualify the Arab parties from running in the Knesset elections. Such a measure is unlikely to succeed, though individual Arab politicians have been disqualified in the past.
To disqualify citizens who have done nothing to endanger the state, and whose only “sins” are to support the notion of a Palestinian state and to refuse to publicly say that Hamas is a terrorist organization, is totally undemocratic.
We should remember that 80 years ago, secular Jews who did not believe in the Bible and were Jews in name only were among the most active campaigners for a Jewish state, even though there had not been one for two millennia.
So why should Palestinians who were born in Israel, and whose parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were born in what was British Mandate Palestine, not campaign for a Palestinian state?
It may be argued that Mandate Palestine was not a Palestinian state. It was under Ottoman rule for 400 years, and before that, the region was ruled by a series of foreign conquerors, and at one stage by the Hasmoneans, who were equivalent to the Jewish people.
There never was a Palestinian state as such, but Palestinians did hold high positions in the land, and some can trace their Israel-Palestine ancestry back to the 14th century.
As for calling Hamas a terrorist organization, the reluctance is born out of fear. We do not know how many Hamas operatives live in Israel. The high rate of violence and killings in the Arab sector is usually attributed to criminal gangs and feuds between families.
But it’s possible that some may also be related to criticism of Hamas.
Some Israeli broadcast journalists, when interviewing Arab politicians, persist in asking, “Why can’t you say that Hamas is a terrorist organization?”
The question may be asked repeatedly in the course of an interview, even though the politician may have publicly condemned the October 7 attack and called for the release of hostages in Gaza.
The interviewer doesn’t take into account that the politician may have relatives in Gaza, and that any criticism of Hamas on his part will put the lives of his relatives at risk.
Getting back to the attempt to disqualify Arab parties from running in the Knesset elections, what would happen if a domino effect were to follow if such a proposal is accepted?
Arab contributions to Israeli society
First and foremost, it would affect the Arab vote. Then let’s suppose that all Arabs working in Israeli enterprises would go on strike. Arabs serve as doctors, nurses, judges, lawyers, technologists, construction workers, street sweepers, and more.
In other words, they occupy positions at all levels of society and community.
How would it affect the country if they all stopped working? Some of Israel’s leading medical experts are Arabs.
That’s not surprising, as medicine and law are among the two most sought-after professions by minorities seeking a foothold in mainstream society.
Children and grandchildren of semi-literates who migrated to New York’s Lower East Side became prominent in medicine, law, economics, and academia, and in Israel the ratio of Arabs in medical professions is higher than in the overall population. Visit any hospital to check.
What would we do without them? As things stand, Israel suffers from a severe shortage of medical professionals.
An inferno can start by striking a single match. A single dislodged rock can start an avalanche. A collapsed building can cause damage to an entire neighborhood. By depriving the Arab sector of representation in the Knesset, we may be creating a demographic tsunami.
Instead of progressing, we will be regressing, and may be responsible for what future historians will call “the destruction of the Third Temple.”
We are already on that path by allowing Israeli anarchists to continue engaging in violent persecution of Palestinian villagers. This is outright racism. It goes against the principles of both Judaism and Zionism. Allowing it to continue is outrageous.
These anarchists are Jewish terrorists and should be punished in the same way that Arab terrorists are punished. Terrorism is terrorism is terrorism.
Terrorism is not mitigated by religious, national, or ethnic pride. Terrorism is a vicious, inhuman act that must be dealt with accordingly.