Apr 24 2009
The Verbal Killing Fields of Europe Are No Circus
Three months after Israel’s bitter Operation Cast Lead ended, the war is still being waged on the verbal killing fields of Europe.
This week’s joke conference in Geneva has been labelled ‘a circus’ – which is deeply opprobrious to the Cirque du Soleil.
For my part I wish Israel’s supporters would refrain from describing the near- juvenile invective as ‘antisemitism’ as many of the Jewish State’s greatest foes are ‘semites’. We’re examining good (sic) old fashioned Jew-hatred that sometimes gets better, too often gets worse but never goes away. In fact the late Rabbi Felix Carlebach who escaped the Nazis for the UK was wont to remark: “A little antisemitism keeps us on our toes”. It certainly stops the majority of Jews from becoming totally ‘un-Jewish’.
One of the chief battlegrounds continues to be the U.K. where the British Zionist Federation has been forced to move the booked venue of next week’s 61st anniversary Yom Ha’aztmaut (Israel Independence Day) celebrations from the Bloomsbury Theatre to a secret location. Why? Because the cast includes an Israel Defence Forces’ troupe.
ZF Chairman Andrew Balcombe said: “It is a sad day for Britain when ill-informed minority lobbies attempt to limit freedom of expression in a family cultural programme that has had a similar format for many years”.
A Jerusalem Post report explained that after University College London’s Bloomsbury Theatre received complaints from anti-Israel groups, the ZF agreed to exclude an IDF entertainment troupe that had been scheduled to take part. However, following further protests, theatre director, Peter Cadley, decided to cancel the event completely.
A letter sent to the theatre by The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network demanded: “How will you monitor that IDF performers will not appear under another guise? On a matter so serious as entertaining the presence of those accused of genocide by the UN and others respected for human rights monitoring, surely you don’t intend to be satisfied that the IDF’s removal from the ZF’s publicity is enough”.
Exactly three years ago, the Bloomsbury hosted an event to commemorate the events of Deir Yassin. Entitled How Palestine became Israel, it was organized by a fringe group, Deir Yassin Remembered (DYR), led by Paul Eisen.
DYR’s board of advisers includes Swedish journalist Joran Jermas, also known as ‘Israel Shamir’. Both Eisen and Shamir have been accused of Holocaust denial.
Meanwhile, the eternally courageous and hardworking OneVoice Group has published the results of a poll showing a popular mandate for a two state solution to the Israel- Palestine conflict. What’s more, the study was led by a nice chap from Liverpool!
It was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Colin Irwin of the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool and in conjunction with Dr. Nader Said of Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) in Ramallah and Dr. Mina Zemach of Dahaf Institute in Tel Aviv. The methodology, which had been piloted by Dr. Irwin in Northern Ireland and subsequently used in places as varied as Sri Lanka and Macedonia, involved a questionnaire designed through a series of interviews with civil society leaders and political figures on each side. The field work was conducted by Zemach in Israel and by Said in Palestine during February 2009, in the wake of the Gaza war and the Israeli elections.
The results indicate that 74% of Palestinians and 78% of Israelis are willing to accept a two state solution (an option rated on a range from ‘tolerable’ to ‘essential’), while 59% of Palestinians and 66% of Israelis find a single bi-national state ‘unacceptable.’ Additionally, according to the data, 77% of Israelis and 71% of Palestinians consider a negotiated peace ‘essential’ or ‘desirable.’ Ninety-four percent of Palestinians and 74% of Israelis think that the people must be continually informed on the negotiations process.
BUT THE POLL ALSO REVEALS THAT A CONSENSUS STILL NEEDS TO BE BUILT.
The findings imply that mainstream Israeli and Palestinian populations still have yet to acknowledge the significant priorities and fears on the other side. While the issue of greatest significance for Palestinians is freedom from occupation (94% deem it a ‘very significant’ problem in the peace process, ranking it the primary issue on the Palestinian side), only 30% of Israelis find it to be ‘very significant,’ ranking the issue 15th on the Israeli side.
Similarly, the primary issue on the Israeli side is stopping attacks on civilians (90% rate it a ‘very significant’ issue). This issue meets with 50% approval on the Palestinian side, and ranks as 19 in a list of 21 issues. Significant gaps in public consensus persist as well on the issues of settlements and refugees – two issues on which there was no single proposed solution which met with majority approval on both sides.
To address the critical gaps that still exist on some recognition and final status issues, OneVoice is launching a Town Hall Meetings Series in Israel and Palestine to present the findings of the poll and discuss the various issues – from mutual recognition to settlements, refugees, and Jerusalem – that both sides will need to confront in order to reach a two state agreement.
Progress at the negotiating table is only one step in the process of reaching an agreement that can be implemented. An end to the conflict will only come when the leaders come to an agreement that their peoples are ready to understand, accept, and support. The series will be launched in May and will be implemented throughout the rest of 2009. It will use the findings of the poll as a starting point for discussions.
Five hundred interviews were completed in Israel and six hundred in the West Bank and Gaza to produce representative samples of both populations in terms of age, gender, social background and geographical distribution. As the polls were conducted during a particularly difficult time on both sides – immediately following the Gaza war and the Israeli elections – the continued insistence of both sides on a negotiated and mutually-acceptable resolution could offer significant legitimacy to political leaders looking to push for negotiations toward a two state agreement.
msniw
