A Collection of Conceptual Conversations: Our Engagement with Israel

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1 A Collection of Conceptual Conversations: Our Engagement with Israel

2 Conceptual Conversation: On the Nature of Our Engagements with Israel Additional Readings טבת תשס "ה January

3 The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel Provisional Government of Israel Official Gazette: Number 1; Tel Aviv, 5 Iyar 5708, Page 1 The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books. After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom. Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, defiant returnees, and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood. In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country. This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home. 2

4 The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the community of nations. Survivors of the Nazi holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews from other parts of the world, continued to migrate to Eretz-Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers, and never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their national homeland. In the Second World War, the Jewish community of this country contributed its full share to the struggle of the freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be reckoned among the peoples who founded the United Nations. On the 29th November, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable. This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State. Accordingly we, members of the People's Council, representatives of the Jewish Community of Eretz-Israel and of the Zionist Movement, are here assembled on the day of the termination of the British Mandate over Eretz-Israel and, by virtue of our natural and historic right and on the strength of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. We declare that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the People's Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the People's Administration, shall be the 3

5 Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel." The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The State of Israel is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel. We appeal to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of its State and to receive the State of Israel into the community of nations. We appeal - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions. We extend our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East. We appeal to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel. Placing our trust in the Almighty, we affix our signatures to this proclamation at this session of the provisional Council of State, on the soil of the Homeland, in the city of Tel-Aviv, on this Sabbath eve, the 5th day of Iyar, 5708 (14th May, 1948). from: 4

6 A letter by retired General Uzi Dayan 5

7 The Kinneret Declaration: Original Document From: The Kinneret Declaration Out of a commitment to the State of Israel as a Jewish-democratic state, and out of a sense of responsibility and profound concern for the future of Israel and for the character of Israeli society, we, Jewish citizens of Israel, have assembled and have, in the spirit of Israel s Declaration of Independence, adopted the following agreement: I. The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people. For more than one thousand and eight hundred years, the Jewish people was without a home. In countless lands and historical circumstances, we experienced persecution. In the twentieth century, under conditions of exile, the Jewish people sustained an historic catastrophe such as no other people has known, the Holocaust. We believe that it is out of supreme and existential necessity, and with complete moral justification, that the Jewish people should have a national home of its own, the State of Israel. Throughout its history, the Jewish people maintained a profound and unbroken connection to its land. The longing for the land of Israel and for Jerusalem stood at the center of its spiritual, cultural, and national life. The Jewish people s adherence to its heritage, its Torah, its language, and its land, is a human and historic occurrence with few parallels in the history of nations. It was this loyalty that gave rise to the Zionist movement, brought about the ingathering of our people once more into its land, and led to the founding of the State of Israel and the establishment of Jerusalem as its capital. We affirm that the right of the Jewish people to lead a life of sovereignty in the land of Israel is an enduring and unquestionable right. The State of Israel fulfills in the land of Israel the Jewish people s right to life, sovereignty, and freedom. The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, the sanctuary of its spirit, and the foundation-stone of its freedom. II. The State of Israel is a democracy. In accordance with its Declaration of Independence, the State of Israel is founded on the principles of freedom, justice, and peace. The State of Israel is committed to full equality of rights for all its citizens, without distinction of religion, origin, or gender. The State of Israel is committed to freedom of religion and conscience, language, education, and culture. In accordance with its Basic Laws and fundamental values, the State of Israel believes in the dignity of man and his freedom, and is committed to the defense of human rights and civil rights. All men are created in God s image. 6

8 Every citizen of Israel, man or woman, is equal to all others. All citizens of Israel are free individuals. The State of Israel is a democracy, accepting the decisions of the majority, and honoring the rights of the minority. All citizens of Israel are full and equal partners in determining its character and its direction. III. The State of Israel is a Jewish state. Inasmuch as it is a Jewish state, Israel is the fulfillment of the right of the Jewish people to selfdetermination. By force of its values, the State of Israel is committed to the continuity of the Jewish people and its right to an independent life in its own sovereign state. The Jewish character of Israel is expressed in a profound commitment to Jewish history and Jewish culture; in the state s connection to the Jews of the diaspora, the Law of Return, and its efforts to encourage aliya and absorption; in the Hebrew language, the principal language of the state, and the unique language of a unique Israeli creativity; in the festivals and official days of rest of the state, its symbols, and its anthem; in Hebrew culture with its Jewish roots, and in the state institutions devoted to its advancement; and in the Jewish educational system, whose purpose is to inculcate, along with general and scientific knowledge and the values of humanity, and along with loyalty to the state and love of the land of Israel and its vistas, the students attachment to the Jewish people, the Jewish heritage, and the book of books. The State of Israel has an existential interest in strengthening the Jewish diaspora and deepening its relations with it. The State of Israel will assist Jewish education in all places in the world, and will come to the aid of Jews suffering distress for their Jewishness. The Jews of Israel and the Jews of the diaspora are responsible for one another s welfare. IV. The State of Israel is a Jewish-democratic state. By force of the historic right of the Jewish people, and in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations, the State of Israel is a Jewish state. In accordance with the basic principles on which it was established, the State of Israel is a democracy. There is no contradiction between Israel s character as a Jewish state and its character as a democracy. The existence of a Jewish state does not contravene democratic values, nor does it in any way infringe on the principle of freedom or the principle of civil equality. In order to guarantee the continuity of a Jewish-democratic Israel, it is imperative that a substantial Jewish majority continue to be maintained within the state. This majority will be maintained only by moral means. It is incumbent upon the State of Israel to give expression to the sense of closeness felt by Jews towards the members of every other national or religious group that sees itself as a full partner in the upbuilding of the state and in its defense. V. The State of Israel respects the rights of the Arab minority. 7

9 The State of Israel is obligated to treat all of its citizens equally and impartially. In areas in which Israeli citizens who are not Jews suffer from injustice and neglect, vigorous and immediate action is called for in order to bring about the fulfillment of the principle of civil equality in practice. Israel will ensure the right of the Arab minority to maintain its linguistic, cultural, and national identity. Jewish history and Jewish tradition have taught us the terrible consequences of discrimination against minorities. Israel cannot ignore these lessons. The Jewish character of the State of Israel will not serve as an excuse for discrimination between one citizen and another. VI. The State of Israel is committed to the pursuit of peace. From the day of its birth, Israel has been subject to conflict and bloodshed. In all the years of its existence, it has had to live with struggle, grief, and loss. Nevertheless, in all these years of conflict, Israel did not lose its belief in peace, nor its hope of attaining peace. With that, Israel reserves the right to defend itself. It is imperative that this right be safeguarded, and that Israel maintain the ability to defend itself on a permanent basis. The State of Israel is aware of the tragic character of the conflict in which it is involved. Israel wishes to bring an end to the conflict and to assuage the suffering of all its victims. Israel extends a hand to its neighbors, and seeks to establish a lasting peace in the Middle East. Israel is prepared, therefore, to recognize the legitimate rights of the neighboring Palestinian people, on condition that it recognize the legitimate rights of the Jewish people. Israel has no wish to rule over another people, but it insists that no people and no state try to bring about its destruction as a Jewish state. Israel sees the principle of self-determination and its expression within the framework of national states, as well as a readiness for compromise on the part of both sides, as the basis for the resolution of the conflict. VII. The State of Israel is home to many communities. In the State of Israel, the tribes of Israel have gathered from many lands, and, together with the inhabitants of the land, Jews and non-jews, have created in it a society of many aspects. Israel s human and cultural mosaic is rich and unique. Out of an appreciation for the contribution of the variety of different communities to the founding and establishment of the state, and out of respect for each distinct culture and for each individual, it is incumbent upon Israel to cultivate and preserve the palette of traditions that exists within it. It is imperative that Israel preserve a common cultural core, on the one hand, and cultural and communal freedom, on the other. Israel must create a tolerant human environment that will allow each identity group to bring out the best within itself, and permit all of these groups to live together in harmony and mutual respect. 8

10 VIII. The State of Israel is a state of fraternal solidarity. In keeping with the dreams of its founders, Israel aspires to build and maintain a society committed to the pursuit of justice. Nevertheless, the years since Israel s founding have seen the entrenchment of severe social distresses in the country. We believe that there is a vital need to renew the spirit of Israeli brotherhood on a basis of equality of opportunity and social justice. Israel must heal the internal schisms that divide it and create a true partnership among its citizens. Israel must be a state of mutual responsibility. It is imperative that the State of Israel be a moral society, sensitive to the hopes of the individuals and the communities within it. Ours must be a society that offers all its citizens a sense of partnership. Every individual in Israel deserves to have the opportunity to develop the abilities and potentialities within him. The allocation of public resources should afford every citizen the maximal possibilities to develop his talents and improve his life, without respect to his place of residence, origin, or gender. To achieve this, it is imperative that Israel invest more intensively in education and infrastructure in the communities of its periphery. Israel must be a country in which one can pursue the good life. IX. The State of Israel and the Jewish religion. Israel is home to secular, traditional, and religious Jews. The growing alienation of these groups from one another is dangerous and destructive. We, secular, traditional, and religious Jews, each recognize the contribution of the others to the physical and spiritual existence of the Jewish people. We believe that the Jewish tradition has an important place in the public sphere and in the public aspects of the life of the state, but that the state must not impose religious norms on the private life of the individual. Disagreements over matters of religion and state should be resolved through discussion, without insult and incitement, by legal and democratic means, and out of a respect for one s neighbor. We are one people. We share one past and one destiny. Despite disagreements and differences of worldview among us, all of us are committed to the continuity of Jewish life, to the continuity of the Jewish people, and to vouchsafing the future of the State of Israel. X. National responsibility. In establishing the State of Israel, the founders of the state performed an extraordinary historic deed. This deed has not ended; it is at its height. The return to Zion and the effort to found a Jewish-democratic sovereignty in the land of Israel stand, in the 21st century, before great challenges. We, who have joined together in this agreement, see ourselves as responsible for carrying on this deed. We see the State of Israel as our shared home. In accepting upon ourselves this agreement, we pledge to undertake all that can and must be done to guarantee the existence, strength, and moral character of this home. 9

11 Israeli Covenant Seeks Consensus By Gil Sedan Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 2002 A fervently Orthodox Jew talks to a secular Israeli woman in downtown Jerusalem. Photo by Brian Hendler/JTA In Israel, there is nothing like an attempt at national unity to stir up a national controversy. The latest such controversy is a 10-article document called "The Kinneret Covenant," designed to find common denominators among different segments in Israeli society religious and secular Jews, Sephardic and Ashkenazic Israelis, right and left. One element not included in the new national manifesto is the Israeli Arab community and this is not by accident. The covenant was created last October, but released only recently. It was the first significant product of a group of Israeli intellectuals called "The Forum for National Responsibility," 60 individuals from all walks of life who decided that Israeli Jews should start talking with each other instead of yelling at each other. The infant charter had hardly left the presses, however, when it faced heavy criticism from right and left, religious and secular, Jew and Arab. Only the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, it seemed, largely ignored the document. The driving force behind the initiative was Yisrael Harel, a West Bank settler and former chairman of the main settlers body. The money came from the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies in Tel Aviv. The gallery of participants included former Absorption Minister Yuli Tamir, head of the Rabin Center and one of the founders of Peace Now; Reserve Gen. Ephraim Fein, who now is a 10

12 hawkish National Religious Party activist; and Maj. Gen. Uzi Dayan, head of the National Security Council and a candidate for army chief of staff. Also participating was Uzi Arad, former political adviser to former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu; Noa Ben-Artzi, granddaughter of Yitzhak Rabin; Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun, a leading settler rabbi; Arnon Soffer, a geographer at Haifa University; Rabbi Uri Regev of Israel s Reform movement; Shabtai Shavit, former head of the Mossad; and Brig. Gens Gershon HaCohen and Ya acov Amidror. The covenant is phrased like the Declaration of Independence, the document read out by David Ben-Gurion when he declared the State of Israel s independence on May 14, The Declaration of Independence laid out the general values of the fledgling state, and is considered the closest thing Israel has to a constitution. The covenant is an attempt to phrase a national consensus to questions every Israeli asks himself: Who are we? What are we doing here? What are we fighting for? Precisely because the answers to those questions are so controversial, the new document tried to leave aside most controversial issues. That meant that most of its conclusions were fairly bland. The historic justification for the existence of the State of Israel is described as "a sublime existential need," based "on the devotion of the People of Israel to its heritage, its Torah, its language and its country." There is no mention of the fact that Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, was a secular Jew, or that secular Zionism was the driving force behind the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel. Were it not for the impressive gallery of signers, it is doubtful that the covenant would have created the public stir it did. The charter was composed in a three-day marathon meeting in a hotel on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and was distributed recently in the weekend editions of the three major newspapers. The reaction was astounding page after page of letters to the editor, supporting and opposing the very idea behind the document. "The Kinneret Covenant forum is pathetic and revolting," Yosef Rosenfeld of Bnei Brak wrote in Ha aretz. "It encourages illusions" that the Jewish people can ever be unified, he wrote. The covenant states time and again that Israel is a Jewish and democratic country, and that the State of Israel manifests the Jews right to "life, sovereignty and freedom." "In order to continue the existence of a Jewish and democratic Israel, one should continue and maintain a significant Jewish majority," the drafters wrote. "Such majority shall only be preserved through moral means." 11

13 But what about the freedom of the other national group living in the Land of Israel? "Israel will preserve the right of the Arab minority to preserve its linguistic, cultural and national identity," the covenant declares. The covenant states that Israel does not want to rule another people. Many of Israel s Arab citizens and even some of its Jewish ones might question that statement. It is no coincidence, therefore, that representatives of the Arab sector were not invited to take part in the meeting to draft the document. "The meeting for an internal Jewish dialogue was the result of the systematic campaign of Israel s Arabs, under the umbrella of the Israeli democracy, to see themselves committed first to the Arab Palestinian nation and only then to the State of Israel," said Hava Pinhas-Cohen, one of the covenant s signers. Once the Jews clear the air among themselves, it will be time to incorporate Arab views into the charter, Pinhas-Cohen hinted. In other words, she seemed to be saying, the initiators of the charter believed that if the Arabs were to be included, there would be no charter. "I signed the Kinneret Covenant not because I accept every solution that it offers for every important issue," said Assa Kasher, a leading philosopher. "I did so because I identify with its general gist and the main points. It is always more important to help fill the cup than to stop it, because the cup is not yet full." Shulamit Aloni, former education minister and Meretz Party leader, said the document only proved her argument that the Rabin Center had been captured by the right. In criticizing the Covenant, however, the arch-secular Aloni found herself in the same camp as fervently Orthodox rabbis incensed that the mayor of Bnei Brak, Mordechai Karelitz of United Torah Judaism, played a key role in drafting a document that seemingly gives equal merit to the lifestyles and beliefs of secular, liberal and Orthodox Jews. Seeking to strike a balance between personal freedoms and the Jewish character of the state, the drafters wrote: "We believe that Jewish tradition should have an important place" in Israeli life, but "the state should not enforce religious norms on individuals." Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, one of the most respected halachic scholars of the generation, was quoted as saying that the initiative would "certainly have a negative influence." Despite the criticisms from many sectors, members of the forum have not given up, and plan to push their idea ahead. A subcommittee headed by Reserve Gen. Herzl Bodinger, former commander of the Israeli Air Force, is putting together a document dealing with problems of education in Israel. Other papers will deal with issues such as ownership of state land and the Arab minority. 12

14 Those behind the Covenant reject criticism of the fact that current and former senior army officers helped draft a political paper. "I am well acquainted with Uzi Dayan, Gershon HaCohen and Ya acov Amidror," Kasher said. "I am quite confident that if every important discussion, especially in the political world, would take place with their level of integrity, depth and sophistication, we would have lived in a state with a much better human quality and moral level." 13

15 The Zionist Imperative: Jewish Culture in Israel No Apologies Necessary / Cynthia Ozick Originally published as: The Zionist Imperative - An Anthology of Contemporary Thinking Published by the Department for Zionist Activities, Jerusalem April 2002 Israel is already a state of all its citizens in that all Israelis Jews and non-jews alike have the right to vote and other basic rights. Just as Jews in Western countries would not attempt to undermine the Christian culture and symbols that surround them, Arab Israelis must accept the majority Jewish culture. Israel must preserve its uniquely Jewish character; to abandon it would be no different than acquiescing to those who seek to delegitimize the Jewish state altogether. Reflections on the State of Israel have no weight, it seems to me, if the writer is not a voting citizen of that state. Sovereignty, if it is to mean anything at all, must be answerable to the will of voter, not to meditations of diaspora intellectuals, no matter how impassioned, well-intended or committed they may be. Opinion from abroad remains exactly that opinion from abroad, a surrounding buzz, sometimes importuning, sometimes demanding, but always irrelevant to the voting citizens who are subject to the risks of any irrevocable national decision. Sovereign states have the right to make their own decisions about the future, based partly on the mandate of the ballot box and partly on the independent thinking of those they have elected. So whatever I say here is, after all, no more than buzz and chaff. If I don't live in Israel and have no vote, why should any Israeli care what I think? And this stricture applies not only to a private scribbler like myself, but also to the relentless pressures of the heads of significant diaspora institutions. Nevertheless, since this is a contribution to a symposium, not to a political pressure group, I am glad to note that the time has failed to erode a single syllable of David Ben-Gurion's vision as it is articulated in Israel's Declaration of Independence. Those who currently agitate for a state of its citizens (a phrase I first heard from the Arab-Israeli novelist Anton Shammas, now a resident of Michigan) already have it. No member of a minority population is prevented from casting a vote or participating in parliament - the touchstones of political equality and the fundamental political condition of Arab citizens of Israel is no different from the fundamental political condition of Jewish citizens of Great Britain. In Britain, Jews certainly have the vote, but just as certainly they are expected not to undermine the official Christianity on which the state is based (nor would they dream of doing it). Christianity is the dominant culture of all Western democracies (sometimes 14

16 officially, sometimes not), and Jews who are otherwise at home in these democracies must, and do, accommodate to living in a religious culture not their own. Amos Oz likes to say that as a socialist he may not be sympathetic to nationalism, but he would prefer Israel not to be the first country to divest itself of the sin of nationalism. And it seems to me that in the matter of divestment of cultural and religious symbols, it would be preferable for Israel to permit England to go first. Hatikva, with its reference to the Jewish soul, is inappropriate for an Israeli Arab to sing? There may be truth in that; but there is no law that compels an Arab to sing words he dislikes, just as there is no law that compels me to sing the verse of The Battle Hymn of the Republic declaring that in the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea. Granted, The Battle Hymn of the Republic is not a national anthem. Yet I doubt very much that it is a crime in Israel not to sing the national anthem. As for the cultural discomfort of minorities the sense of feeling left out if they are not harassed, if their religious institutions and schools are free to express what they wish, that is all that is required; the highest standard has been met. It is not the responsibility of governments to grant full and complete psychological comfort at all times and every season to all their citizens (ask any American Jew at Christmastime). Israel was founded as a Jewish state. That is its purpose, its mission, it's meaning. All of these purpose, mission, meaning would be augmented, however, if there were instituted a separation of religion and state. The symbols of Jewish culture and religion and peoplehood will be retained and surely enhanced with the removal of clergy from the political arena. Rabbis should be rabbis; they should not be politicians. And as long as most young Israelis are subject to conscription, all young Israelis, including Arabs and yeshiva students, should be subject to some kind of suitable and usefully participatory national service. Not all national service need be military. And if Israel were to be stripped of its uniquely Jewish character, what would its purpose be? It was not established in the negative, solely as a haven, though it gratefully serves that purpose too (hence the Law of Return); on the contrary, it was established as a national revolution toward Jewish freedom of self-expression a freedom that can be found nowhere else in the world. Christianity and Islam have scores of countries offering Christian and Islamic self-expression; the Jewish people have only one country, still precarious, still under ferocious threat, still tender in years, still a sapling in need of nurture. Whether or not one believes in the idea of soul, to throw out Hatikva because it speaks of the Jewish soul is to mock and betray those dozens of generations who survived the savagery of massacres or resisted the easy escapes of conversion 15

17 or self-propelled vanishing. It is, besides, a suppression of history; and, when all is said and done, a kind of autolobotomy. Nowadays, when one dares to describe the State of Israel as a precarious sapling, one may be assaulted by hoots. What, Israel precarious? A sapling? Is this the country that is the greatest military power in the Middle East, and the greatest economic success? But military might and economic flourishing cannot stand against a fiery idea that forges the minds of generations of schoolchildren. That idea is a ferociously hostile and grotesque vision an anti-version of Zionism, with Palestine presented as an ancient heritage and culture and Jews and Jewish historical sites everywhere absent, and it is promulgated in the schoolbooks officially published (since the beginning of Oslo) under the aegis of the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Education. Israeli military force and a risen economy are, in the long run, frail barriers against Modern Arab History and Contemporary Problems for Tenth Grade, which teaches that Jews are merely a religious group who deluded themselves that their religious faith was sufficient to turn them into one nation ; or against an eighth-grade text offering a definition of racism that reads, Mankind has suffered from this evil both in ancient as in modern times, for indeed, Satan has made their evil actions appear beautiful. Such people are the Jews. From grades one to twelve, no map shows Israel, and students in fifth grade learn that the Palestinian people are descended from the Canaanites. From Our Arabic Language for Fourth Grade: If you look towards the city of Jerusalem, you will see the Dome of the Rock with its beautiful golden color, and you will feel you have the responsibility to free the captive Mosque and the mourning Dome from the thieving conquerors. In the fourth grade also, children are asked to memorize a poem: Death pleases us, and we refuse to be humbled. How sweet is death for Allah, and by seventh grade this peroration becomes explicit: The jihad fighter sacrifices himself in accordance with Allah's way for the sake of his religion and to defend his nation. Citations such as these instantly (and distastefully) mark one as right-wing, while the PA's use of textbooks that teach the illegitimacy of the State of Israel, and take for granted its imminent physical destruction, has never been deemed worthy of note in the Newspaper of Record. Yet no army can crush hateful thinking, and no computer economy can delete propaganda that has been assimilated as belief. Finally, it remains to be seen whether Oslo's land-for-peace blueprint, under the administration of either Labor or Likud (or, as some suggest, a unity government), can diminish and finally eradicate murderous hatred inculcated in schoolchildren. But if Israeli society ceases to be overtly and empathetically Jewish in the name of slogans like a state of its citizens, what will differentiate the rational and democratic purveyors of these slogans 16

18 from the PA schoolbooks that declare the idea of a Jewish nation to be no more than a delusion? Don't both impulses intend, as a matter of principle, to delegitimize Israel as a country of the Jews? 17