A Conversation About Israel That Felt Uncomfortably Familiar |
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There is a poem by the great German poet Bertolt Brecht. It goes:
General, your tank is a powerful vehicle
It smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men.
But it has one defect:
It needs a driver.
General, your bomber is powerful.
It flies faster than a storm and carries more than an elephant.
But it has one defect:
It needs a mechanic.
General, human beings are very useful.
They can fly and they can kill.
But they have one defect:
They can think.
It is difficult to predict, in this day and age, how long this poem will remain relevant. But upon seeing, hearing and speaking with Aida Touma-Suleiman in Jerusalem, this poem came to mind vividly. Sixty-one-year-old Aida Touma-Suleiman is a member of Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset. She is an Israeli citizen, of Arab-Christian origin, but she declares herself an atheist.
She is a member of Israel’s Communist Party, and represents the coalition Hadash, a feminist, the editor of the party’s Arabic-language newspaper Al-Ittihad – the first and only female editor in Israel. She is also the first female member of the “high-level committee for Arab Citizens of Israel”. She fights for the rights of Israeli citizens, but also for that of the Palestinian people.
Meeting her reminded me of all those activist comrades in my own country who, despite not being Muslim, Christian, Dalit, LGBTQ or Adivasi, fight for human justice and often face criticism within their own communities. She is also famous for having passed a law in the Knesset, raising the legal age of marriage for women in Israel from 17 to 18.
The conversation I had with her was about Israel, but my own country, India, repeatedly came to my mind with various similar observations.
Aida Touma-Suleiman with the author, Vineet Tiwari. Photo: Vineet Tiwari
Officially, Israel is a democracy and so is India. But Hitler too rode the chariot of democracy to reach fascist dictatorship, and we see the same is happening in India and Israel today. The capitalist ruling class uses the guise of democracy to carry out anti-people work and secures legitimacy for those crimes in the name of democracy. Whereas, the Left wants to establish that very democracy in the true sense for the welfare and upliftment of the people.
Aida says, “It is true that we have gained a few rights by virtue of being Israeli citizens. We are a........