The Jewish Power Blog: Zionism and Racism |
A few weeks ago, I joined a solidarity meeting at a nearby Israeli Palestinian middle school, whose eighth graders, on a school hike in a national park, had been attacked with pepper spray by teenage hikers from a yeshiva in the West Bank. The story brought to mind a couple of past conversations:
Years ago, I attended a talk by Amal Elsana Elh’jooj, the brilliant, charismatic, Bedouin social worker who has been so successful in championing Bedouin women’s rights in the Negev. As we left the hall, I commented to no-one in particular, “Wow, she would have my vote for prime minister!” Which called forth the response from a Jewish educator colleague standing nearby, “Well, that would be the end of the Jewish state!”
Later, commenting to a neighbor that I was uncomfortable with the legal efforts to enable Jewish residential communities (like the one I live in) to reject prospective families on ethnic grounds (i.e., keep out Palestinian Israelis), she responded that not doing so would mean the end of Zionism.
It is obvious to me that both of my interlocutors do indeed speak for the majority, as we see not only from such random comments and WhatsApp chats, but also from polls and votes and public statements by politicians (e.g., opposition lawmakers trying to outdo their opponents in swearing off any potential coalition........