“Our side or theirs”

I was pondering whether to put this link or not. Focusing on the exception would virtually mean assisting to framing this kind of different voices outside the mainstream. But, after all, it is indeed a legitimate view that I believe should be getting more exposure. So I ended up writing this post anyway, acknowledging the fact it was simply yet another example for a feeling I had during the past three weeks.

So, check out this letter addressing the Israeli government and published Sunday on The Observer  (again, thanks goes to Lisa). It’s not the first or only call for ending this war coming from Jewish or Israeli people. But it is this mutual hatred and common hostility toward each of the peoples of religion or nationality involved that is so intensively promoted these days and hopelessly manages to inflame masses of educated and intelligent people across the region and the world.

This propaganda too easily happens to blind people with some of the most significant facts. Even if I’m way far from advocating for the Israeli government, one thing that people tend to refrain from tackling is the Hamas’ responsibility of the lives of the people in Gaza, namely the implications of his terroristic strategy. Another would be the Egyptian stand, namely the lack of a clear one. But it goes further. Too many Israelis, and pro-Israelis, fail to differentiate the Hamas from other Palestinians, and even from the rest of the Arab world. This is exactly this kind of generalizations that doom this conflict for a long time to come. And the same goes for sloppy Israeli journalists who report on “anti-Semitic” demonstrations held around the world, failing to remember that Jewish people and Arab people actually share the same Semitic origins.

But, back to that letter, I would like to point out a certain case of wrong generalization I have noticed during the past three weeks. I frequently receive emails from Arab friends of mine, in which they highlight, apparently in amazement, objections to the Israeli aggression voiced by Jews or Israelis. And there’s a reason why I just wrote “or”. It might not be clear to many, but although the majority of Israelis are indeed Jewish, the majority of Jewish people do not live in Israel. Some of them, though very few, still live in countries Israel labels as “enemy states”, even in Iran.

Therefore, it’s rather natural that not all Jews – and even not all Israelis (!) – share the same views. Yeah, it’s exactly the same way not all Americans have the same opinions, and not all the Arabs think the same way. As obvious as this might be – this is a point that too many people constantly tend to repress, and move aside in regard of the current issue and others. Moreover, objecting the war doesn’t necessarily mean you’re supporting Hamas.

But taking it back to the Jewish aspect, being secular myself, my very personal relations with Judaism are more of a tradition rather than a religious practice. But without going too deep into the numerous different streams in Judaism (mostly because I’m not much of an expert on that), it is important to mention some significant things in the current context.

While it is common to say attribute religious Israelis with the political right-wing, there are some exceptions. I’ve seen quite some photos of ultra-orthodox Jews protesting the war (mainly in the U.S). In most cases, if not all, these are the Neturei Karta. In short, some of them live in Israel consisting the only Jews who don’t acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state and strongly support anti-Israel initiatives (at the time, they even met with Iran’s Ahmadinejad at the conference of Holocaust denial – unlike the Iranian Jews, as far as I know).  Due to their extreme perspectives and being a mere minority, they’re completely discarded among the Israeli public opinion. However, a lot more relevant, though lacking a proper presence among the Israeli debate, is the Rabbis for Human Rights who offer a rather different approach, when basing their understanding of the situation according to their interpertation of the biblical texts and the Jewish belief.

As a journalist myself I’m very aware of the need to simplify such complex situations in order to make it accessible for audiences not directly involved. However, it is when those people who are truly interested, sincerely asking to be fully informed, tend to narrow down the things to “the good guys vs. the bad guys”, that any feasible solution is practically banished.