Musings of a Palestinian Princess: Changing the World

Musings of a Palestinian Princess

I'm just your average princess just under occupation...

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Changing the World

I don't think I am going to be able to do it. I know I am not. Hate is so strong, people. When I come on this blog to read the comments left to me, some of them are so self defeating that I wonder why I even bother to write. But then I remember, the purpose of this blog is my journal of what goes on inside my head, a kind of therapy.

Its so silly. When I write about how I feel what the Israel government is doing wrong, I am attacked by every Israeli Government supporter trying to find ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to justify how they are SOOO right and how I am SOOO wrong. Fine, you are right. You win. Thats the only way to win with people like that anyway. Tell them that they are 100% right and that you don't know what the hell is going on in your own country and that every bit of retaliation you personally feel is a figment of your imagination. Go ISRAEL. My new slogan for all the people who want to make me feel like I am wrong for what I go through at the hands of the Israeli government. Ofcourse, silly me, Israel is a PERFECT goverment, now how the hell do I get out of my own home so that all the zionists can come take over everything I have known my whole life and that my ancestors knew there whole life, a country where I supposedly dont belong and that was given to the Jews... (banging head on desk).

And then its so silly. When I write about how retarded I think Palestinians are when they don't follow established rules and guidelines of proper conduct so that we can maybe get somewhere peaceful and they resort to backwards and stupid stupid moves like throwing these stupid homemade missles into Israel. Ok, I understand that Palestinians are stressed out about the situation and feel total and absolute hopelessness but we are in a different era, the information era, and we can win this by peaceful, intelligent and informative ways. I hate it when I am attacked as a ZIONIST when all I want to do is better my people so that we can live normal like people in any other country. We need to educate and bring our communities to a respectful and respectable level. We are not ANIMALS even though we so feel like we are treated like one! The only slogan that would help me stay in tact with the people that criticise this is "Long Live an ONLY Palestine."

PULEASE PEOPLE... If I am going to get comments so deranged and one sided as the ones being left lately. Leave my blog and don't come back.

I am moderate, kiss my ass if you think I am a zionist or a jew hater.

63 Comments:

At Thursday, July 06, 2006 1:24:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Lucy,

I don't think you should give up!! NEVER GIVE UP! That has always been my personal moto. I found your blog today on jpost.com, so see your blog is already getting attention and if you continue to push your peaceful ways, more and more people such as myself will follow. Your blog even inspired me to start my own blog.

Let me tell you about myself a little bit: I am currently a student at University of Washington in Seattle. About 7 years ago I came to US from Russia as a jewish immigrant. I know exactly what you are talking about when you talk of opression and being scared to go outside, I had experienced some of that growing up as a jew in a very anti-semitic country. Now, I have been always passionate about Israeli-Palestenian conflict, I have written tons and tons of essays on ways to resolve this conflict back in high school and university but intill now I never really had courage to express my opinions in public. After reading your blog I am starting to realize that I have wasted a lot of years. I have been to Israel back in 96 and 97 when palestenians and israelis got along just fine, it was a beatiful time and I want that time BACK!!!! Back then, I visited west bank and Israel and I felt secure, I want to be able to go back to Israel and feel the same way.

I wanted to ask if you ever watched movie called the promise project? If not I advise you to do so, especially since you are in US right now and it is available in every blockbuster. In short, it is about solving the conflict not politically but getting kids involved. Great project and if you are interested we can get something like this going among young adults.

In every major university in US there is a jewish organization called Hillel, I am sure a lot of people will be interested in discussions on conflict resolution because today this conversation is being avoided like fire!

Thanks for your attention, I am looking forward to your feedback and I will have my own blog up and running soon.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 2:58:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lucy,

Take a deep breath.

I don't recall calling you a "Zionist" or "Jew hater", but if folks did...that's their own issue or dosage level of ritalin.

During my time in the IDF, I never served in the West Bank, but only in the Golan and a limited amount of time in Gaza. I've been all over the West Bank, but never in Nablus.

I don't know how old you are, but I suspect that I have at least 10 years on you and remember a different period of calm.

I am a student of both history and geography (the only things I ever stayed awake for in school...okay, and pretty girls in English class) and one of the things that has always bothered me about our conflict is that I could not look at Israel from "your" perspective. I may not agree with your point of view, but I always wanted to see how things looked from a different angle.

There was a time when I could have come to Nablus and had dinner with Arab friends (contrary to whatever crap like Al-Jazeera publishes), because I wasn't afraid of being murdered. That can't happen anymore. There is no trust.

I lived in Northern Israel in a very mixed community. Russian Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Druze, Christian Arabs, Muslim Arabs, etc...

Folks may not have truly "liked" one another, but we got along.

There wasn't enough space to hate everyone.

There were days when I disliked my fellow Israeli and only wanted to deal with the Druze and Arabs, and there were days when I wanted to give the middle finger to all of the Arabs.

It sorta sounds like NYC.

I don't know if there will ever be peace between Israel/Palestinians, but I do think that a few things need to be made clear to the folks in charge on your side.

1. No matter how hard you try, no matter how many evils acts you perpetrate, we are not leaving Eretz Yisroel. Ever.

I was still in Israel during the first wave of suicide bombings in 1995 and I remember the carnage on the buses in Jerusalem. I seriously wondered how many people would stick around if that was going to be the future. Even after the last 5 years, MORE Jews are leaving cushy lives abroad to make aliyah to Israel.

2. Our restraint won't last forever. I had a crazy argument with a guy on the bus about what Israel is doing right now in Gaza. He was frothing at the mouth about "Zionist" aggression. When I asked him about how many civilians we've killed inIraq/Somalia/Afghanistan or how many people have been killed in Algeria or in Lebanon in comparison...he shut up.

Israel has weak leaders right now. The nutzos on the left think they are too tough, and the nutbars on the right think they are too weak.

Weak people tend to do stupid things to prove that they are not weak.

I'm not sure what Hamas thought would happen by attacking the post and kidnapping Gilad, but I can tell you as a former IDF soldier (armor), that no other army would hold back in the manner that the IDF has. I've lived abroad and have plenty of friends in the military. They think Israel has gone soft.

I'm babbling, I know...

I think you genuinely want peace and desire a normal life like the rest of the normal people.

The key will be convincing more people on your side that life via the gun/suicide bomber/Kassam will only bring death and destruction.

Israel has already proven that the opposite is true.

Think about what you could have if you reversed course.

If you honestly feel that most Israelis want to kill you, steal your land, push you into Jordan...you're nutz.

Desire success, a just society, freedom of speech, religion, expression, the right to get up in the morning and have breakfast overlooking the Med with Israelis and Arabs, to right to make love under the stars...etc...

Why do we fight still?

Because you make us.

Safe journey.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 3:14:00 AM, Blogger Palestinian Princess said...

Above commenter:

If you honestly feel that most Palestinians want to kill you, steal your land, push you into the sea...you're nutz.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 3:16:00 AM, Blogger Palestinian Princess said...

ooopppsss... wrong way to put it, I meant...

If you honestly feel that most Palestinians want to kill you, take their land back, push you into the sea...you're nutz.

We ALL WANT PEACE MR. People like who refuses to believe that Palestinians are as moderate as their wonderful Israelis counterparts who make this endless cycle ENDLESS.

Try to be more open.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 4:59:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lucy,
The previous comment about the time before the first intifada is interesting. I've heard of the business relationships that developed between Israelis and Palestinians after 67 when the borders were all opened up, and Ghassan Kanafani's "Return to Haifa" (عودة الى حيفا may be the Arabic, I'm not sure) is surely only one of many short stories that show the freedom of movement across the Green Line that existed then.

Is this time ever discussed in your community or your circle of friends? Does anyone ever compare and contrast life under the Jordanians to the current state of affairs? I suppose I ask just because I just read Kanafani's story and I feel like the interactions that occurred between the Israelis and Palestinians in those years are not something I hear Israelis, much less Palestinians, reflect on often.

Thoughts?

By the way, I'm Rachel, I'm an undergrad in the States in history, and Arabic, new to your blog but very intrigued.
مع ان هذا ال"دفتر" هو مكتوب في اللغة الانجليزيّة، فهل يمكنك ان تكتب يالي جملة واحدة في العربي؟ =)

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 5:38:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that some very important topic has been raised by aharon's post:

Yes indeed Israel has demonstrated on many occasions that all it wants is peace. As you all know Israel gave away the whole sinai after it conquered it from egypt. Why? Because it was promised peace with Egypt and my hat goes out to them for trying to keep it that way. But, also, let's not forget the palestenians including Abbas during the Oslo accords era. Israelis and Palestinians contacted each other through unnoficial channels spending years in negotiations. Back then PA's leadership was based out of Tunis and not in the territories as it is now. So it should be easier now. I think both sides need to come back to the negotiations table, push their differences aside and figure out how to live in the future! Most importanly, it has been done BEFORE!!!!

On the same note I am completely unhappy with the way anti- Palestinian views are being passed in jewish organizations at the United States. I remember ones finding myself arguing with a bunch of jews (and I am one of them) about how close minded they are and that the only opinions they have are the ones they read in anti-palestinian press.

Education is the main issue here, same goes for palestenians... I heard they have textbooks where Israel is not even mentioned on the map. Anyway my main point is, the new generations of palestenians and jews (Israeli or US) need to start communicating.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 5:47:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry one more thing i wanted to add. I am in the mood today I guess. I can understand how depressed Lucy is. Can any of americans understand what it is like not to be able to leave your house and go shopping or go see your friends? I dont think so. So instead of arguing and arguing the hell out of each other, let's get the dialogue going and actually try to do something! There!

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 5:48:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lucy,

I think you missed my point. Sorta.

Having lived where I did (and having not based my impression of all Arabs from newspaper editorials and lunatic politicians on all sides of the spectrum), and having enough day-to-day experience with people from all over, I'm very aware that a majority of Palestinians are not blood-crazed suicide bombers.

However, I do think the various groups such as Hamas/Islamic Jihad/Hezbollah have done a superb job convincing a lot of impressionable and frustrated Palestinians that killing Israelis is going to get them a country, or even better, that Israel is going to vanish.

I have no doubt that a column of Merkavas and APCs would scare the crap out of most people, especially children.

You strike me as an intelligent and reasonable person.

Answer me this...

Could you and I walk down the street in Tel-Aviv as a couple and not have to worry about being hassled?

Could you take me to Nablus and do the same?

I suspect that you would have less of a problem than I would.

The question is how one changes the atmosphere so that people on both sides can have that type of relationship.

I feel as if we're having a 1960s U.S. civil rights debate.

When does it all end?

Creating a Palestinian state is not going to end this.

You know that.

It may be enough for you, but that's because you don't buy into the martydom BS and can think and chew baklava at the same time.

Israelis are a lot of things, but naive isn't one of them.

What is the next demand going to be after you create a real state?

I'm not saying this to be a jerk or condescending.

Are Hamas and IJ going to abandon their desire to rid all of Israel of its inhabitants.

The smart money knows that they can't.

So fucking frustrating.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 6:16:00 AM, Blogger Palestinian Princess said...

Alex... I like your comment. And Aharon, I am glad you cleared things up a bit.

Aharon, to answer your question what sucks is both of us can not hang out together, well, unless its in New York. Last time I was in Tel Aviv, which was when my Dad was on his death bed almost, and we were at the hospital, and my brother was spit on by an orthodox man. I can not say that I have had such great experiences with orthodox in Jerusalem either, or settlers around Nablus. So I dont think I can come to Tel Aviv to party with you and I sure as hell know I can't bring you to Nablus.

Its a sad and frustrating world.

But atleast we are talking and I hope there are a lot of more of us that are encouraged to keep up a dialogue.

Inside, I know we are all a little confused. I mean how can all this be happening for so long!

Although I was fairly young when things were good around here, but, yes, people still talk about those days and they have good memories.

Ahhhh, the good old days.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 6:20:00 AM, Blogger |3run0 said...

Lucy, internet debate has this tendency to atract extremists and morons. They are neither affected nor informed by facts or reason, so the best policy is to just ignore them.

Still, it seems to me that most posters here largely agree on what the solution to the conflict should be, even as they debate how to get there, and who is to blame for the present situation. You have created a space where real Palestinians and real Israelis (and the occasional Brazilian ;-) ) can talk, and listen. After following blogs like this for a while, only the terminally stupid can still believe that the usual
caricatures of 'Evil Zionists' and 'Palestinian Terrorist' are really representative of either Palestinians or Israelis.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 6:44:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lucy,

I'm glad that I cleared things up, if only just a bit.

I suppose I qualify as a modern Orthodox Jew, but I also don't care for the folks in Mea Shearim in Jerusalem either. Every religion has its own levels of hypocrisy, and I find that crowd quite disturbing.

BTW...Ever have a word that you can't spell properly the first time you write/type it?

I always write "distrubing" the first time.

It's not as bad as the old Monty Python joke about not being able to say "C" and always using "B".

"When I was a Sbhool Boy I was attacked by a Bat".

I understand your point about Tel-Aviv/Nablus, but I still think you would pass rather easily as some mysterious Sephardic woman with hypnotic eyes.

Progress.

A Jew offering a sincere compliment to an obviously intelligent Arab woman.

When will it never end?

Did you attend Columbia? Good Sbhool!

Shitty neighbourhood.

Aharon

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 7:12:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

|3run0,

You forgot americans too ;)!! Can't forget the americans hehe. After all jews in America are the ones who support the land of Israel and providing financial aid.

So I like how everybody agrees on the dialogue. By the way Lucy, how are things with internet access in the territories. If you can get more youth to read your blog that might start changing things, at least their perception.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 7:19:00 AM, Blogger BHCh said...

Hmm.

Actually it does not matter whether Israel has a perfect government or not (it does not) and whether the Israeli Government is doing wrong or not.

As long as we can agree that ALL attacks should stop, there is a way forward. The trouble is you have no power because you are outnumbered by Palestinians who think that violance should continue.

Once attacks and the threat of attacks Israel is over, any Israeli Government, good or bad, would leave Palestinians alone.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 7:41:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

At the same time you have to imagine that palestenians really dont have that many choices. It is either corrupted like hell Fatah or less corrupted but more extremist Hamas. I think they need a new party.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 8:20:00 AM, Blogger Moses said...

Yes indeed Israel has demonstrated on many occasions that all it wants is peace
Israelis don't want peace with you. Israel wants you to leave, Lucy. More settlements were built under the liberal Barak than Netanyahu. According to a recent poll Israeli Jews want you transferred(paging Mr. G. Orwell).
They will continue to destroy ancient olive trees and steal land and make life hell for you until you do.

I cannot entirely trust myself to post.
I am sick to death of the "cycle of violence"/"two sides" crap.

An entire population of 1.3 million is being attacked, terrorised, deprived of water, for the actions of a few.

Lucy, I suggest you turn on the comment moderation option.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 8:34:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

abu shaar,

You know that you are completely wrong! At least Israelis politicians do not go around saying destroy Palestine and kill them all but Hamas does!! I dont approve of a lot of things that IDF does and the way they do it but I have to admit they are one of the most held back armies in the world. Look at what Russia did to Chechens look at what is going on in Iraq right now and other places in the world. I know this for a fact, I have relatives who live in Israel and served in Israeli army. None of them want to go Gaza to be killed or kill innocent palestenians. Everybody wants peace!

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 8:59:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885930609&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Is Hamas that dumb to bombard Ashkelon to provoke a harsher reaction from Israel? What da hell is going on?

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 11:50:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Heya,

Maybe you should move to Norway, Princess :-) Plenty of nice people here, but i guess that's also the case in Palestine... And far away from Israel too.

Keep up the good work with your blog though. Its nice to read your view on this never ending conflict.

Best regards from the beautiful west coast of Norway.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 1:46:00 PM, Blogger tafka PP said...

You rock, Lucy! Don't let the idiots grind you down. Stay informed and stay yourself.

When I get round to setting it up, you are welcome to join my Joint Israeli-Palestinian Moderates Mutual Support Circle: I think we all need it!

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 4:10:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Abu Shaar is SO wrong, Lucy! We DON'T want to kill Palestinians, we don't want you to leave, and the vast majority of us (okay, we have our few nutso fringe members also) don't want you 'transferred.' I live in fear that my bus will blow up on the way downtown in the morning; I live in fear that my son will be kidnapped and killed walking to school. I get searched before entering every building because of the pervasive fear of suicide bombers. The fear and oppression isn't all one-sided. Both sides can swap horror stories and claim to be wronged--but it solves nothing. What you've done is wonderful--I wish that everyone in Israel and Palestine who wants peace could blog each other and talk instead of letting the leaders of various factions in Israel and Palestine do our talking (with spectacularly unsuccessful results--too much posturing on both sides) for us.....

I don't hate anyone. I have tremendous respect for the Arab and Druze population around me, but I am also tired of living in fear with the expectation of random death at any moment.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 4:35:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

From Bruce W. in New Jersey (just moved out of NYC)

Dear Princess: Best of luck to you. Interesting string of comments here so far. This is the third time I'm trying to post a comment (twice yesterday: once at JPOST, once here...neither seem to have appeared...have I been blacklisted?). Anyway I hope this one makes it.

It shows courage to reach out a hand of potential friendship and willingness to discuss the situation in the way that you have. I am concerned, however, that this forum is not as anonymous or untraceable as you might think. Unfortunately, there are those who cannot put politics and hatred aside who may have the ability to find you and attempt to stop you in ways other than words. So please be careful, (and if you havent done so already, or you are not such an expert yourself, please seek out super-expertise in computer technology to help ensure your anonymity). I say this also for selfish reasons--voices such as yours are a precious necessity.

As for your general premise of putting politics aside, I think that a knowledge of politics and history of the last 100 years is vital to understanding how we got to where we are now, and is key to helping figure out how to make a better "future history" for our children (and theirs). It is in this regard that I think many on the Palestinian side are more disadvantaged than the Israeli side, as I firmly believe that the real truth of the past has been kept from the Palestinian population far more.

And here is the heart of what I am getting at:

If the people that ran Israel for the last 60 years were Muslim, but a different "ethnicity" than the Palestinians, and in all other respects ran the country as the actual Israel has, few could (in my view) reasonably argue that the Palestinians in such a "Muslim Non-Palestinan Israel" country did not live better (in terms of freedom of speech, standard of living and healthcare, educational and professional opprtunities, etc.) than any Muslim minority in any other other Muslim country in the world (I am inclined to exclude those periods when Palestinian freedom of movement was more severely restricted, and humiliating searches increased, etc., in response to horrific suicide murders of civilians, but then I must compare that to how autocratic Muslim regimes have responded to insurrections in their own borders). One might even say (and I do) that this statement holds true also with respect to the Muslim majorities in other Muslim countries, given the repressive, authoritarian and economically underdeveloped nature of most of such other Muslim countries.

Is Israel blameless and without sin, such as prejudice? Of course not. No government or group of people have yet achieved such a perfect state of being. But who has done more to manipulate and keep the Palestinian people down than other Muslim nations? The truthful answer is "none". If the other Muslim countries in the region loved their brethren (and sistren) Palestinians only half as mch as they continue to feel humiliation for having lost a war to infidels (JEWS, no less!), Jews and Paelstininas would have been living side by side in peace for decades already. "Muslim Brotherhood" is an oxymoron where your peoples' true welfare is concerned...I'm sorry that this is true.

I have always felt that the deepest & most painful irony in the situation is that the Palestinians are the Jews of the Muslim world, in the way that Jews used to be the scapegoats and victims of much of the Christian world.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but you inspired me, and please feel free to e-mail me directly. Peace and good health to you.

Bruce
bruddah2@hotmail.com

P.S. Careful of Aharon...he's "falling in like".

P.P.S Enjoy the rest of your time in NYC (I moved out in Feb after 12 years!). She is the best modern city knwon to Man...proof that many different folks CAN live together in one crowded place and still enjoy life, more or less.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 5:40:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Lucy: I am jewish, pro Israel and you are a GREAT PERSON. I respect your views and I am sure I could negotiate with you. No side is inocent in this circle of violence. What we have to do ( I am not internet savy)is create some sort of e-mail where Palestinian people inundate Hamas , Al Aksa, etc with daily requests for negotiations without violence and Israelis do the same. If somebody can create such a daily chain maybe the "crazy's" on both sides would listen. Better to listen to your own people than to listen to Iran, Syria, etc..........

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 6:31:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lucy and Anonyonus,
Why send easily-erasable emails when you can really make a statement (by sending lots of really heavy objects?)
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_4006313

Incidentally, vis-a-vis email activism, has Lucy/readers heard of this group, OneVoice?
http://www.onevoicemovement.org/wps/portal
They spoke in my city two years ago and they're sort of along the lines of what the previous anonymous post alluded to--that is, the rising up of the "silent [moderate] majority" against extremism on both sides. I don't know how influential or respected they are but... as they say on their site, "change is possible" =)

Also, the survey Abu Shaar alluded to is a revealing photograph of the inner depths of the Israeli psyche, but I think you can phrase survey questions in such a way that you stir up the fearful and defensive oceans of a person's soul. Lucy, surely support for Greater Palestine, too, and support for Hamas and Islamic Jihad's "eliminate the Zionist entity" rhetoric (and true goals one day? who knows) runs higher when people are afraid of what surveys like this reveal?

Sarit's comment rocks my socks. Hopes like this should be expressed as often and as publically and as clearly as possible.
-Rachel

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 7:17:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And 69% want their Palestinian compatriots to stay put! It's a startling survey, true. What can be done about that 31%? Have more coexistence programs? Set up more Neve Shalom schools? Sell more hummus?

Out of curiosity, are there surveys done like this of Palestinians... ie, support for Greater Palestine, support for the "complete liberation from the zionist presence"? I don't know of any but it would be interesting to see which group clings more deeply to their Greater-"Enter-your-country-name-here" fantasies.
-Rachel

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 9:59:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Abuu Shaar: If transporting or not transporting a cetain minority out of your neighborhood carried with it a not unrealisitc chance of significantly reducing the likelihood of your children suffering complete explosive dismemberment on a bus to school one day, would you not even consider it? And if at asked at a particularly sensitive time and a particular way, would you not be incliuned to say "Yeah, that might be the only resolution."

I am sad for all inovlved that such a percentage of Israelis feel that way about fellow citizens, but I'm virtually certain that percentage was significantly lower prior to Arafats' Rejection without counter offer at Camp David (and of course prior to the escalation of terror attacks since that fateful day).

Then again, I live far from the region, so all I can do is pray for peace and hope that this forum serves as one of the bricks in rebuilding that path.

Bruce W.

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 10:27:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

For all of you who think that Israel hates arabs here is the proof that it is not so at all.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885935514&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 10:35:00 PM, Blogger Justin Olbrantz (Quantam) said...

According to the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies 46% of Israeli Jews supported the transfer of Palestinians who lived in the territories, and 31% favored the transfer of "Arab Israelis"

Think of that: nearly one third of Israeli Jews feel that their own citizens who happen to be Palestinian should be removed from the country.


Alright so, for the record let's do a little thought experiment. Suppose that Israel retreated from the occupied territories, never to return. Instead, every day or two they'd fire a rocket from their own territory to your town; not aiming at anything in particular, but often injuring or killing one of your family/friends. And every week or two, they lob a larger bomb into your town, generally killing several of your friends, and injuring a few dozen, including some of your family.

Nobody really knows exactly who is firing the rockets and bombs; sure, nobody in Israel likes it, but they don't really care to look for the people responsible and, say, maybe execute them. So this continues indefinitely.

Would that be a fair trade, to you?

 
At Thursday, July 06, 2006 11:00:00 PM, Blogger |3run0 said...

Abu Shaar, I wonder how deep the support for 'transfer' is even among those people who answered yes. I think many if not most of them desperately (and stupidly) believe only ethnic cleansing will end terrorism. Also, there are in Israel some groups (fortunatley still fringe, despite Hamas' best efforts) who vocally advocate this policy. Their arguments probably found adherents among those too frightened or angry to think straight.

Anyway, to me this all shows that

a) Israelis can be radicalized by violence as much as Palestinians

b) Conversely, being a victim of vioence does not make supporting atrocities such as suicide bombing or ethnic cleansing any less repellant and self defeting.

c) Being a victim of violence does not explain by itself the radicalization phenomenon; it takes a dedicated fascist minority to promote radical ideias, and to turn them into action.

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 2:44:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Abu Shaar,the real question is: what do you think will take to stop the violence between both sides. List for everybody in this blog what steps have the Israelis to take and what steps have the Palestinians to take. Do not been one-sided. It will not work.

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 3:09:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have another question to everybody in this excellent blog.

What was the real purpose for kidnapping a soldier?
and
Who is really behind the kidnapping?

I think that discussing the subject of Shalit, would greatly improve the understanding of the real issues.........As far as I am concerned I think that both Israelis and Palestinians are pawns in a bigger international game.....The more we talk about it the more possibilities both parties have to establish a dialogue.
Lucy keep on having a blast, wherever you are. My best.

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 4:33:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You know I have had this idea for a long time, that palestenians are being used and, i mean badly used, by other islamic countries to showcase how descriminating western middle-eastern policy is. The reason why I say western is because everytime Israel is condemned for something, so is US and occasionally Europe. Therefore, Israel is also used as a pawn since it responds well to provocations. So I think in order to solve this conflict, the extremist leaders of other arab countries should be taken down first. Any thoughts?

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 3:38:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anon: Isn't that what is happening now? Taliban, then Iraq, there are rising hositilities with Iran and North Korea....

but what is the definition of "extremist"? Supporting censorship and a strong armed government like Mubarak? Allowing the existence of anti-american "religious" schools within the borders like the Saudis? Making Allicances with countries with whom the west does not have normalized relationships like Syria with Iran?

For the record I am a moderate, sympathetic and supportive to an extent to both Israel and Palestine, but the suggestion you posed does not have an easy answer.

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 4:13:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the game of global politics nothing is easy to answer. I pose questions to try to make us all aware (including myself) that we are being used.....If it is not the Palest vs. Israelis, it is the N.Koreans, or the Chechens, etc.etc Something always flaring up.........so now since I hope that this becomes a more widely read blog, lets discuss the present. I asked why Shalit was kidnapped and who is behind it, because if one knows what are the simptoms of this really sickening situation, the cure may be on its way. Slowly but inexorably we MUST TRY TO MAKE PEACE......

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 5:14:00 PM, Blogger Halla said...

My husband has a theory that Israel prefers to keep the Palestinians down just to keep them under their control. They don't want them to prosper, why else do they keep hitting infrastructure and education buildings? Sometimes I buy into that theory and other I just say no, I think most Israeli's would like to have some peace and the government is not in touch with its people, the same as in the US.

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 8:08:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Halla,
The answer to your question is the following. The infrastructure is being targeted as a common anti-terrorist tactic. About 20 years ago Israel realized that by destroying infrastructure, like terrorist houses, it discourages other family members to get involved in terrorism. This tactic is nowadays used in Iraq and other places by other governments.

Regarding putting down the palstenians, I truly don't believe so. In 96 and 97 when I was a kid and I visited Israel, during the "good times", palestinians had no restrictions on travel, they could easily work in Israel and everything was great. I even remember playing with palestenian kids outside. The key to all of this is to make that my generation (mine and Lucy's) and those to follow understand that violence is not the answer!

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 9:31:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In this crazy world of conspiracy I can offer one: Maybe the PA has contracted the killing of all the extremists and hooligans and criminals to the IDF. After that everybody is going to start talking instead of shooting at each other.

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 9:46:00 PM, Blogger Moses said...

This tactic is nowadays used in Iraq and other places by other governments

You are talking about war crimes.

Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 33:
No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 10:31:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I will ask the same question as anonymous to Abu Shaar and et al @ 2:44 and 3:09;why was Shalit kidnapped and what would take to stop the violence. Abu Shaar I am looking for your response, since you are so militant. The more militant, the more important the response.

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 10:51:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

abu shaar,

Then what do geneva convention says abour murdering innocent people by exploding a bus load of people? And by the way who gives a shit about what UN and geneve convention say!? UN is an organization that promotes double standards and I still have to understand why do we even need UN in this world? If you are such a fan of UN, then accept the fact that they established the state of Israel.

I just hate when people hide behind UN and geneva convention when it is convenient to them and then deny all the pro-Israeli resolutions that were passed by it.

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 10:59:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

From JPOST:

"The Hamas expressed surprise at the Israeli refusal to a prisoner exchange. It noted that in the past, Israel had agreed to release a large number of Hizbullah prisoners in exchange for the "drug dealer" Elhanan Tennenboim.

"Is Tennenboim's life more important?" the statement asked."

This quote reveals precisely why Hamas took a hostage. And the fact that Hamas has no shame or reservation about publicly complaining that Israel is not dealing with them in response to hostage-taking is all I need to know to conclude that Israel should make no deals with kidnappers. Otherwise, it will only continue, with more past cases of dirty dealing for Hamas tyo quote when expressing their next shocked disbelief.

Question: Is it fair to say that Hamas is in some ways implicitly acknowledging that one Israeli life is worth more than multiple Palestininas (after all, they typically requirew a price of hundreds of their own in exchange for a live Israeli and some bones of the less lucky)? Admittedly, I harbor a lot of anger about this typical imbalanced equation, extorting Osrael for the value it puts on its own. But I am interested to hear what the "other side" has to say about it.

 
At Friday, July 07, 2006 11:03:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why was Shalit kidnapped? I think, to stir up trouble. Some group was afraid that Hamas might get "soft" on Israel, or even (horrors) recognise Israel. Whenever a group like Hamas considers negotiating for peace, there is always a fundamentalist wing that will break away and carry on the fighting.______Lucy, I hope you will keep this blog going. It is always tough to be fair to both sides in a fight - you will be resented by both.

 
At Saturday, July 08, 2006 2:06:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am Jewish. I am pro 100% Israel and I do not resent you Lucy (quoting don cox). On the contrary. I respect you and I wish you the best. I hope that you do not give up this blog and that the dialogue will continue.

 
At Saturday, July 08, 2006 4:42:00 AM, Blogger Justin Olbrantz (Quantam) said...

Ahaha. This reminds me of the comments on Neo-neocon about the Euston Manifesto. The conservatives said it was just the same old liberal BS disguised as being moderate. The liberals said it was just the same old neocon BS disguised as being moderate.

 
At Saturday, July 08, 2006 7:28:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

wow lucy youre at it again . and aharon is right you could possibly pass as a moroccon or other sefardi woman. damn your hot imean smart , whatever im rambling and being dumb daniel again. however ive heard lots of peopel are reading your blog now. thats great. never a dull moment with you. but really you should leave that place . you can come to my house i have a pool and lots of beer .

 
At Saturday, July 08, 2006 7:35:00 AM, Blogger Justin Olbrantz (Quantam) said...

Yeah, and don't forget the mace, tazer, and steel-toed shoes :P

 
At Saturday, July 08, 2006 5:41:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good Luck to you Lucy.
Never quit speaking your mind and heart.
As a Jewish blogger I too receive hateful comments and anti-semitic remarks, so what. As long as I receive one positive one I keep on.

 
At Saturday, July 08, 2006 11:29:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmmmm...politics didn't move very much aside, here.

Abu Sha'ar left out (deliberately?) the reason that survey was newsworthy--it highlighted the radicalization of the Jewish population of Israel due to the Oslo War and its attendant suicide bombings.

I'd rather think about how to solve the current impasse than discuss who is more wrong, more racist, more murderous, more oppressive, etc...which gets us going in circles.

I think blogging each other is a step--what about moving that into the schools--pen-pals between the kids? Maybe starting in 6th grade? Jewish kids could write in Arabic and Palestinian kids could write back in Hebrew---improve their language skills and maybe bring about some mutual respect and undestanding?

 
At Saturday, July 08, 2006 11:53:00 PM, Blogger Justin Olbrantz (Quantam) said...

I'd rather think about how to solve the current impasse than discuss who is more wrong, more racist, more murderous, more oppressive, etc...which gets us going in circles.

And that's the real key right there. I didn't attack Abu Shaar's position because I think that Israel's the good guy, that Palestine is the bad guy, that what Israel is doing is right/okay, or that Palestinians shouldn't have a sovereign state. What I took exception to was this mindset that one side is totally right (Palestine, in that case), and the other is totally wrong (Israel). Once you view your opponent as totally wrong and the entire cause of the problem, that's it; there is no hope for peace, and these lunatic suicide bombers (my opinion of them) don't seem so extreme, anymore.

 
At Sunday, July 09, 2006 12:04:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Once you view your life as in the hands of somebody else you loose your freedom to act and do..........
Also, in the end nobody will accept violence as a means of negotiating............neither side........
PEOPLE, PLEASE START TALKING TO EACH OTHER.........
stop this circle of violence.............
there was some quite until the kidnapping...........

 
At Sunday, July 09, 2006 2:32:00 AM, Blogger |3run0 said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At Sunday, July 09, 2006 2:33:00 AM, Blogger |3run0 said...

Justin wrote:

"Once you view your opponent as totally wrong and the entire cause of the problem, that's it; there is no hope for peace,"

Couldn't agree more. A slight variation is to deplore the actions and attitudes from both sides, but then imply that while the 'other' is motivated by some nastyness intrinsic to his nature, the 'home team' is simply a victim of circumnstance.

PS: the post removed above is just a version of this one with a number of embarassing typos.

 
At Sunday, July 09, 2006 6:14:00 AM, Blogger Justin Olbrantz (Quantam) said...

I didn't attack Abu Shaar's position because I think that Israel's the good guy, that Palestine is the bad guy, that what Israel is doing is right/okay, or that Palestinians shouldn't have a sovereign state.

Just to clarify some ambiguous wording on my part - those were examples of things I don't believe.

 
At Sunday, July 09, 2006 6:36:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is all pointless. We're all dead men walking - it's just that on Holy Land it's more corporeal. Hope is for the foolish; realism states that we will all inevitably die, and a logical analysis of the current world situation will reveal that we're likely to die all together. Hey, at least it won't be lonely on the road to hell!

Carpe diem... and hail Eris!

 
At Sunday, July 09, 2006 3:58:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, I am an Israeli, IDF volonteer for 6 years (search & rescue), moderately religiuos and study Talmud as a pasttime. But I enjoy Kylie Minogue too! Isn't it amizing?:))
I am also occupied...by my work. Nice day to you.

 
At Sunday, July 09, 2006 6:14:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hy Lucy: You are getting a lot of attention and you deserve it. Good blog, from a Jewish women who fully supports Israel, and peace with the Palestinians.

 
At Sunday, July 09, 2006 8:53:00 PM, Blogger Innocent Criminal said...

This my favorite post so far.

 
At Monday, July 10, 2006 12:28:00 AM, Blogger Tsedek said...

Lucy. Do YOU have a solution?

Tse.

 
At Monday, July 10, 2006 7:34:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think she is having A LOT of fun in US. :)!

 
At Wednesday, July 12, 2006 9:39:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lucy, I'm sorry you were spit on by an Orthodox man. That is awful. On the other hand, it is not as if he has no reason to feel animosity towards "Muslims," and at least he didn't lob a bomb at you. That is not to say, I repeat, NOT to say that I condone any uncivil acts directed at regular people who are merely trying to go about their lives. I only made the point because the same commenters who will demonize the Orthodox man for spitting on a Muslim are the same commenters who will excuse the murder of Jewish civilians by Palestinian suicide bombers -- they were just driven to it, you know, by desperation. For all you know, this man's grandchild was murdered at Sbarro's by a suicide bomber. Almost all of us know someone who has been directly affected by terrorists.

Lucy, I am a rightwinger, I'll say it straight up. But I do not hate Muslims nor do I feel that I need to drive them out of the land. I just want them to stop directing all their energies at destroying Israel, and devote some energy toward building their nation. Israel is not keeping you down; neighboring Muslim nations find your plight extremely beneficial to their cause, and you are their pawns in a war THEY want to fight with us.

I took some classes at a university here and there were many Muslim women in my class. We laughed with each other, studied together, supported and encouraged each other during scary class presentations, and even danced together at a department party. At the end of the semester, we traded emails and phone numbers. There is one young woman in particular who I started to become friends with. She seemed to really like me too and we started to make plans to get together over the summer. Not that she invited me to her home, but if she did, I think I'd be too afraid to go because I'd be afraid to be in East Jerusalem as a Jewish woman. That's really sad.

My policy is to be kind to everyone I meet on the street -- I treat Muslims with respect and so far, none of them have tried to kill me so I guess we're on a winning streak. When it comes to terror coming out of the Palestinian territories, however, I am not going to be duped into believing that it is all our fault and that the Muslims are all innocent victims. There needs to be a revolution among Palestinians, in which the moderates prevail. It is NOT true that Israelis don't want peace. I think it is true that too many Palestinians cannot envision themselves befriending Jews or living side by side with a Jewish nation.

Anyway, I wish you peace and a better life very soon.

 
At Wednesday, July 19, 2006 7:57:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I ran across your profile on MySpace and followed the link here. After reading some of your posts, I have to say they made a lot of sense.

Thanks for being a voice of reason in this often unreasonable world. It seems like there are so many extremists on both sides of this unholy mess. Especially on the Internet; discussions here tend to attract crazy people of all colors and creeds, and it's rare that anyone considers a point of view other than their own. I say this as a patriotic, right-wing, gunslinging American who voted for George Bush twice and despises Fundamentalist Islam. I've never been to the Middle East at all, or visited at length with anyone who lives there. And I generally support Israel (although with this latest thing in Lebanon, I'm not so sure), as well as my own nation's foreign policy. So I probably fit the profile of one of those people who attacks you as a Jew-Hater. But I'm not going to, because you're right about this. The problem is as you stated, so many people have the idea that their point of view is ALWAYS the ONLY correct one, and if you question or disagree with any of it then you're their enemy. There's no room for moderation in their philosophy, and lately it seems like people like this are the ones running the whole show. All they want to do is point fingers and tell anyone who'll listen how right they are.

I wish I had something useful to say, some constructive solutions to offer that might help things in some way, but I don't. The whole situation has become so convoluted, and there is so much bad blood on all sides, and everyone involved is so certain that their answer to the problem is the RIGHT answer, that I have little hope of it ever being resolved. I know that all that you and so many others want is to live your lives in peace and freedom, without being dragged into an endless fight that you didn't choose. My most sincere wish is that you will be able to do that someday. Maybe if the people in charge were as reasonable as you seem to be, I'd have more hope that it might happen.

Anyway, I hope you keep your courage and continue thinking straight. Don't do it to change the world; do it for your own sake.

Cameron

 
At Wednesday, July 19, 2006 10:02:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cameron is right. You do not live for somebody else; you live for yourself. Wherever you are remain steadfast...............

 
At Sunday, September 03, 2006 6:07:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Lucy;
I am so happy to send you this letter wishing you and your family are fine.
I am Raed Moneef Mohareb Hamdan 24 years old from Palestine – Gaza .
I graduated from Islamic University of Gaza as communication and electrical engineer in 1st of February 2006 and I tried to look for a job but Unfortunately, I did not find any job for me. Situation here in Gaza is not helping it is getting worse and worse and it is not stable. The economical situation is very bad and salaries of employees in Palestinian Authority are not paid since 6 months ago and Gaza strip is under siege many months ago.
In addition to all the bad conditions in Gaza , me and my family live hard conditions;
My father died in Saudi Arabia in 1997 and I am eldest of my family and I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters and 3 of them are studying in palestinian universities in Gaza.

And as I told you previously that I did not find any chance of getting job and i know that you are familiar in educational system cause you studied in USA, I wish you can help me to have chance of job in USA or scholarship of master degree in my feild to continue my education an to help my family. And I attached all my papers that you may need them to help me in that.

Finally, I want to thank you very much for reading my letter

All best wishes to you.

Salam Alikum .

Your sincerely;
Raed Hamdan

email: raedmmhamdan@yahoo.com
phone: +9725997738198

 
At Thursday, October 05, 2006 5:39:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Aharon,

"Could you and I walk down the street in Tel Aviv as a couple and not have to worry about being hassled?"

Having stayed in Tel Aviv for a bit, and having had friends (though not boyfriends, but let's give the "as a couple" part amiss shall we) from Nablus, I could answer that question for you: no, because West Bank Palestinians aren't allowed into Tel Aviv. MInd you, when I was staying there, my Jewish Israeli friend smuggled my Palestinian friend from Nablus to Tel Aviv in the boot of his car, and then me and him did walk around in Tel Aviv, looking, I suppose as if we were a couple, and not being harassed by anyone. That was, of course, because no one knew he was a West Bank Palestinian, so not sure that quite proves the point you're trying to make.

And he did have to get back in the car boot to lie there in enjoying the 42+ centigrade summer weather, when it was time for him to go back to uni/family life.

I suppose the relationship would have to be quite strong to survive such little trips, if you were to date a Palestinian. Not to mention you would need to have pretty brave and creative smuggler friends. Not to mention lots of luck, passing through the Israeli checkpoints on the way.

 

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