There has really been a recent dovetailing of Israel related issues. From a Bulgarian friend quizing me on Israel to a discussion among NYC bloggers (offline and private, so none of your business) about Israel/Palestine, to some rather disturbingly anti-Israel diaries on Daily Kos with some outright anti-Semitic overtones. (Note: This statement in NO WAY implies an anti-Semitic bias of dKos in general. The opinions were those of particular individuals, not the community as a whole). And, of course, my recent writing about Jewish issues, including what seemed to be a not so well received piece on the depth and persistence of anti-Semitism historically.

In the context of all of this, I find an editorial that gets to the crux of one key issue in Israeli politics: the balancing of equality for Israeli Arabs with security of Israel as a whole. In an ideal world these two things would not need balancing. But the Middle East is not and never has been an ideal world even if you look back thousands of years.

This is from Abraham Foxman and Ken Jacobson, both of the Anti-Defamation League, and originally appeared in The Jerusalem Post on March 5, 2007:

For those of us who are seriously committed to creating equality for Israel's Arab citizens but who are also highly concerned about assaults on the legitimacy of the Jewish State from without and within, recent articles in The Jerusalem Post by representatives of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and the New Israel Fund (NIF) leave a feeling of discomfort.

The ZOA article by Lori Lowenthal Marcus, the President of the Philadelphia district of the organization, takes shots at Jewish funding that goes to Israeli Arab groups that are against the Jewish state. Unfortunately, in the article one hears nothing about the importance of Israel addressing the issue of inequality. The Interagency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues was created to address this very issue understood that the problem of inequality and discrimination against Israeli Arabs is a matter of great concern and should be a priority for Israel.

This is so for strategic reasons - while much attention is drawn to extremist statements and activities by some Israeli Arabs, the real story is that during decades of conflict between Israel and the Arabs, for the most part Israeli Arabs have remained loyal to Israel. The Or Commission, after the shootings in 2000, made it clear that this loyalty should not be taken for granted and that Israel must do far more to create a sense of continuing ownership in the country by Israeli Arabs through financial, education and cultural steps toward equality.

It is also important for reasons of principle - Israel is a state predicated on the belief that it must be Jewish and democratic as described in its Declaration of Independence. Israel has a moral obligation to make sure that democracy is fully realized by combating any form of discrimination or unequal treatment.

And, it is important regarding Israel's image in the world, not among its enemies (for which only Israel's disappearance would satisfy) but among those who hold more complicated views...

If I may add at this point an anecdote I read where an Israeli expert on Israel-Arab issues, speaking to fellow Israelis, expressed that 99.9% of Palestinians (not exactly the same as Israeli-Arabs, but let's leave that can of worms aside for the moment) he was confronted by an audience member who disputed this because it didn't agree with what she "FELT" was true. This feeling of universal, mutual hostility between Muslims and Jews is part of the whole problem, and it is this part of the problem that this part of the article is trying to influence. Back to the article. The article later turns to the inverse issue, as it is seen by many:

Unfortunately, the New Israel Fund piece by Larry Garber and Eliezer Ya'ari fails to take seriously enough the challenges and dangers embodied in the opposition to a Jewish state as reflected in the Future Visions document. We agree that the need to progress on achieving equality for Arabs should proceed despite such positions. But how to proceed, the impact on the possibilities of achieving broad Jewish support in light of these positions, and the question as to whether economic and educational equality will even satisfy such groups are all important issues that NIF ignores.

It is critical that American Jewish organizations, particularly those in the Task Force, who are committed to equality, send a very clear message to groups like Mossawa, an Israeli Arab civil rights group, and the other authors of Future Visions, that their views on the Jewish State and its symbols and policies are unacceptable and will inhibit the ability to get broad support for programs we believe in...

The simple truth is that the denial of a Jewish State is not merely something we should "disagree" with. It is, in fact, a challenge to all the work that we engage in to realize to the greatest extent an Israel that is both Jewish and democratic.

For our part, we will strenuously continue our work to achieve the goal of true equality, but let us not minimize the very real threat that Future Vision presents to finding reasonable solutions and reconciliation...

I was not able to track down online the original opinion pieces that this one was addressing, but what struck me is that this piece exactly hits on two points that have come up in recent discussions and which those who are moderate have a hard time conveying to those with less moderate views. A bottom line is that equality for Muslims, and I would add a viable state of Palestine, is a vital thing for the future of the Middle East. But the viability and security of Israel is also a vital thing for the future of the Middle East. I have been attacked quite virulently by both extremes: I have been attacked because I am pro-Israel, but I have also been attacked because I am pro-Palestine and in favor of rights for Arabs. Don't get me wrong. I don't think there are easy answers to these issues. But I do think that answers must be found for long term stability and prosperity in the area. For BOTH Jews and Muslims.

I think it is terrible that Israeli Arabs are second class citizens. But they DO have voting rights in Israel but Jews do NOT have such rights in most Muslim nations and even many of the Muslims currently under Israeli jurisdiction (either as citizens or refugees) would not have voting rights in many Muslim nations. Furthermore, in almost every survey of Israeli Arabs (who have citizenship and voting rights, unlike many Palestinians) they have expressed a preference to staying in Israel even if they had the chance to move to an Arab nation or to an independent Palestine. This is because their rights are greater within Israel than outside Israel, paradoxically. And yet, they are second class citizens. Even if their fate in Israel is better than their fate outside Israel, this inequality is untenable for the reasons outlined in the article.

But there is also the issue of the security and viability of a Jewish state of Israel. This also has to be guaranteed or peace is impossible. I usually interpret the oft-repeated Jewish statement of "Never Again" to be a general statement of purpose to oppose all genocide, something which many view as the proper meaning of the statement, but something that we continue to fail to achieve. From Cambodia to Rwanda to Darfur, we keep missing our chances to stop genocides before they get going. But I will say that with Darfur Jewish groups have taken the lead, and maybe, that meaning of "Never Again" can be fulfilled in this particular case.

But "Never Again" can have a meaning that only recently was pointed out to me. Never Again will Jews go quietly to destruction. The difference between then and now is the existence of Israel and it's strong defense force. The one thing that defense force is dedicated to is to make sure that Jews will survive and have someplace to go whatever happens.

Equality and Security. Israel is a Democracy...and a Jewish state. Even more paradoxically it is avowedly a SECULAR Jewish state, something some, including some Jews, would consider an oxymoron. And yet these are the very things Israel has always tried to balance...and must balance. In an ideal world these ideals of equality/democracy and security/identity would not be difficult to balance. But in this world they are and this balance is the challenge that I hope the 21st century can find. The century is young. I hope by the end of it, a long-term solution to this Gordian knot can be found.

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