Shame on Israel

Quotes from “Israel, a History,” by Martin Gilbert, copywrite 2008


The book Gilbert quoted was written by Arie Lova Eliav in 1988, who had been Israel’s Ambassador in Moscow, as well as a member of the Knesset.

“Of the fourth goal of Zionism ‘the goal of peace’, Eliav wrote that not only was it not achieved but, following the Six Day War, Israel ‘became a conqueror and an occupying power’, with subsequent evil consequences that had, he argued, lasted for two decades:

The results of the brilliant victory achieved in the 1967 war included a horrifying exposure of all the evil impulses hidden within Israel as human beings and as a people: arrogance, vanity, indifference to the fate of the defeated, a strong desire to control the conquered territories and to enslave their population to the economy of the victors, and a mystic ritual of ‘sanctification’ of the conquered lands. And one more thing: the insouciance of those who led the victory.

Drunk and dizzy with glory and fame, gorged on the fruits of victory, the leaders imagined themselves all-powerful and believed that time was bound to work on their behalf. They began to think, speak, and act in terms of the supremacy of force, of ‘might is right,’ to which they added a sort of ‘The sword shall devour forever’ fatalism on one hand, and a belief in divine miracles, which would hasten the coming of the Messiah, on the other.

These patterns of thought, speech, and action have led ever-increasing sections of Israeli society, and primarily Israeli youth, to hate the ‘strangers’ in their midst, and to increase
their hostility toward the Arabs. This, in turn, has engendered the settlements on the West Bank—some of them built upon the tricks of land speculators.

The ‘Greater Israel’ movement, whose main goal is to incorporate the West Bank and Gaza into the nation’s borders, has led Zionism and Israel astray, diverting them from their proper path and deflecting them from the achievement of their fundamental goals.

We must now ask ourselves some painful questions: Is Israel still a Jewish state? Is Israel still a democratic state? Are Israel’s economy and society still productive? Is Israel a state—or a society—of tolerance? And is Israel approaching peace?”

ARW
1/5/09