Linda S. Heard

Israelis go to the polls next Tuesday to choose a new leader. Ahead is Benjamin Netanyahu, a right-wing hard-liner who has little time for the two-state solution, was vehemently against Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and, who, for years, has been banging the drums of war against Iran. This silver-tongued, ruthless individual is highly dangerous. Choosing him is tantamount to choosing war. What are they thinking?

Successive Israeli governments have proved over and over again that they’re not interested in relinquishing land for peace. Instead, “peace process” has become nothing more than a carrot held up as balm for Palestinian discontent and to appease the international community. Israelis have lived in a state of conflict for so long it has become the norm. For most, the status quo is safe and familiar.

Peace would hurtle them into unknown territory. Peace would mean Israel could no longer paint itself as the eternal victim. Peace would erode the emotion felt by its international supporters. Peace would pressure Israel to abide by international laws and conventions and would remove cover for its nuclear weapons program. In short, if peace were ever to reign, tiny Israel would no longer be in the spotlight; no longer of importance on the world stage. Over the decades, Israel has become addicted to its drug of choice: raw military power that shapes its identity, allows it to be a law unto itself and punch above its weight.

Israeli children are indoctrinated in schools to believe that Eretz Israel is the be all and end all of everything. I once asked a seemingly well-balanced Israeli teenager whether she would like to visit Paris, London or Rome one day. “Oh no!” she said. “Our country is the best in the world. Why would I want to go anywhere else?”

Of course, this ultra-nationalist mindset gets softened later on. But not before those young people are thrust into the military for up to three years when they are prematurely allowed to make life or death decisions.

Just imagine, while their peers abroad are playing at war on their computers, these kids are handed real guns and tanks along with the power to use them on an occupied captive people without any real rights. For many, this must be quite a heady experience. One minute they’re in school or playing basket on the beach and the next they’re uniformed and manning checkpoints where, if they feel so disposed, they can give “the enemy” a hard time without repercussions to themselves. This is akin to handing revolvers to 18-year-old European football supporters and expecting them to behave responsibly.

For young Israelis, the army is like a giant social club and its hardware their playthings. Most find the experience pleasurable. If you had tuned into to the Israeli channels 2 or 10 during the recent incineration of Gaza, you would have seen Israel’s grinning finest piling onto tanks with lollipops or cans of soda for photo-ops. There they were looking as though they were enjoying a fun-packed jamboree instead of destroying lives and livelihoods. It is little wonder they grow up to become immune to the suffering of the other when the other has been systematically dehumanized in their eyes.

Moreover, throughout Israeli society the army is a revered institution that cements an otherwise disparate society against a perceived existential threat. This is why Israelis draw their leaders from people they call war heroes, who are very often known to the rest of the world as war criminals or even terrorists.

Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, both former prime ministers, led terrorist groups and who was Ariel Sharon if not a war criminal when he was found to be responsible for the massacre of Palestinians in the Lebanese refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila by the Israelis themselves?

And what should we call Ehud Olmert who facilitated the murder of 1,200 Lebanese civilians and 1,300 Gazans on his watch? The only Israeli leader who proved serious about peace. Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated, which speaks volumes. If the climate within Israel were otherwise, a two-state solution would have been achieved decades ago. After all, it isn’t rocket science. All Israel has to do is move back to borders rightly or wrongly legitimized by the United Nations and return the Golan Heights to its rightful owner, Syria.

With the right will and a spirit of compromise the issues of Jerusalem and the Palestinian right of return could be successfully negotiated. The Arab peace initiative that was unveiled at a 2002 Arab League summit offers Israel normalized relations with all of the league’s 22 members along the above lines. Until now, this important olive branch on the part of the region’s main players has been spurned.

Israeli intransigence cannot go on forever. People everywhere are becoming sickened by the devastation wrought by its military while regional leaders are growing impatient. Saudi Arabia recently made it clear that its peace offer won’t remain on the table forever.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed off the stage at Davos in frustration at having to listen to Shimon Peres justify the killing of Palestinian children without being given time to counter his arguments.

According to the Jerusalem Post, a senior Israeli official has characterized Erdogan’s outburst as “encouraging expressions of anti-Semitism.” But this old canard used by Israelis to fend off legitimate criticism doesn’t wash any more. Israelis should be made to realize that nothing ever stays the same. The war that they want is one that is on their terms, but if they carry on indefinitely stomping on any chance at peace, they may end up with more than they bargained for. As the new Obama presidency has shown us, the tectonic plates of our world are shifting and with them new attitudes. Israelis need to change their own else wait for the day when the piper will finally have to be paid.

Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.

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Source:
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4318.shtml

Via:
http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2009/02/israel-is-addicted-to-war.html

Photo:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iDJcH8u9NV0/SYoY8zAyE6I/AAAAAAAAC4k/jkYpibD9mz4/s1600-h/tadamonhadeebphoto.jpg