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My recent trip to Israel and the West Bank was certainly during a very interesting time. At home in the US, people were up in arms over actions by the Israeli government or actions of the US Government. In Israel - among Israeli's and Palestinians - the feelings were the same. No matter who you were, someone acted stupidly, someone acted insultingly, someone didn't act strongly enough or someone acted too strongly. The bottom line was that many were offended and hurt.
I will be blogging much more about my trip and about my conversations with both Israeli and Palestinian young leaders. But today, the topic of the day is Jerusalem. It is - and yet it isn't the appropriate topic however. I believe the appropriate topic is that grand ole' concept of FEELING information versus THINKING information (thank you Stephen Colbert).
I say this is the appropriate topic because however one feels about any issue relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the pundits and government officials never seem to take into account the FEELINGS of the other side. And more than any factoid, fact on the ground, or historical element - emotions, feelings, slights and indignity lie at the heart of almost every moment that brings us further away from peace.
Admittedly, I think the Israelis are better at insulting others with their matter of factness than any other group. With my political hat on I will say this may very well condemn them to a future of conflict and hostility in the world. But with my cultural hat on I will say - as I have to many students and colleagues - Israeli's are direct, factual, and honest. These are all traits that should be admired. But in a world that is so easily offended and "hurt" their honesty is often harsh and insulting - insulting being an incredibly subjective word of course. The corollary being - "Get Over It!"
But the Americans and Palestinians can share in their own brand of "insulting honesty" as well. And herein lies the crux of the Jerusalem dilemma as well.
One might think the Biden visit to Israel was an inopportune time for the Israeli government to release their announcement of scheduled construction in East Jerusalem. And one might think this announcement was meant to "hurt" or "insult" the Americans and Palestinians who have been clamoring about settlements and East Jerusalem. And in a way it was. But whenever I hear something on the Palestinian side of the equation that seems "insulting" or "hurtful" to Jews or Israel, I ask people to step back, count to ten, and ask WHY that action was taken. I actually reach out to my Palestinian friends and ask them to "Help me understand the motivation." And I have found that this approach not only helps me understand the motivation, but also makes me less angry AND gains me respect from my friends for bothering to ask rather than attacking them. If we had more of this kind of approach we would all be better off.
But in this blog what I am claiming is that so often, Westerners and Israelis are asked to understand the Palestinian perspective rather than the Israeli perspective. In fact, the United Nations stands almost singularly on many days to ask that we understand the Palestinian psyche and not the Israeli. This is no where more true - than on the issue of Jerusalem.
I will preface my upcoming comments by saying that in some way shape or form, autonomy over some portions of Jerusalem and a contiguous border or corridor of some kind will have to be a future reality in any two state solution. It just will - and there is no getting around that. The emotional attachment Palestinians have to Jerusalem being part of some kind of arrangement in the future is real. But right now - I am going to be weighing that attachment against that of World Jewry.
EMOTIONAL FACT - You don't TELL Jews or Israeli's what to do with Jerusalem.
Let me repeat - you DO NOT TELL Jews or Israeli's what to do with Jerusalem.
Jerusalem may be negotiated at some point and MANY Jews and Israeli's support that. But because of both Historical baggage and certain historical realities - to tell Israeli's what to do with Jerusalem is abhorrent and will get the hairs on their back so in a stir that YES, it will derail a peace process. It is that important and yes, it is emotional, and yes I believe more central to Jews than Palestinians.
I believe that both the US Government and the Palestinians need to come to grips with that, even though, as I have said, Palestinians are a people who the world has decided deserve an autonomous state of their own. I also support that. I will just remind, that the occupation of a people - by not allowing them certain rights and freedoms - which is the reality on the ground in the West Bank - is NOT the same as occupying someones established country through conquest or war.
It should be no crime to say that today's Palestinians did not have a state that Israel invaded. They were the indigenous Arabs who fought in a war to keep Jews from having a state and who did not want to share the land. Israel occupies their historic Judea Sumaria (volatile words I know) and formally occupy parts of Jordan. And as soon as I see Jordan demand a return of their land, I will be the first to give a Hechsher to the term "occupation". But since Jordan has formally given up that claim and the long History of Jerusalem is so, well, Judeo-Christian, I simply cannot give the same kind of credence to Arab shouts for Jerusalem. The Jewish baggage, I believe, IS actually more sensitive and is why you DO NOT TELL Israel or Jews what to do with Jerusalem.
Again - this does not mean you do not put it on the table and negotiate around it. It is also not a reason to deny the right of modern Palestinian's to the state they should have had in 1948 (whatever it would have been called - cause we all know it ironically would NOT have been Palestine.)
It is just an important reason why don't publicly TELL Israel what it can and cannot do with its ONLY historically spiritual center. And believe me this is not the same old right wing argument about the Muslim world having Mecca and Medina as more important places. It is about the fact that Israel DID NOT conquer or occupy a place called Palestine and is centrally, spiritually, and emotionally attached to Jerusalem like NO other place. And it actually is important - in this emotional context - that the same cannot be said for the Palestinians - no matter how intellectual a case they make. The reason it does cause such furor is because it seems like yet more of "their land" or their "future state" is being taken away. And that is important to be sensitive about about. But it really should matter that plans area already in place to compensate for that land.
Yes - Jerusalem will be a part of some arrangement going forward. But to hinge a future Palestinian state - that Israel will grant out of land it currently rules - on "settlements" and "apartments" in Jerusalem is a mistake. People that do this understand neither the geography of the area, the spirituality of the place, or the motivations of the Palestinians. As it has been rightly pointed out, settlements and apartments in East Jerusalem, while an important concern, have not been an impediment to negotiations for over 15 years. They are so now, ONLY because of those in the Obama administration who do not "GET" anything I just wrote above. They only believe that East Jerusalem is the same as a "settlement" on the West bank and frankly, it just isn't.
What we should be focused on is the land swaps that have been spelled out in multiple other agreements and the willingness of Israel to hand bank areas at ANY stage of development as they did in Gaza. Oh - and the already established willingness to discuss Jerusalem - but just not to be DICTATED TO about Jerusalem.
It is certainly understandable that the Palestinian Authority would try to "seize the day" with a more demanding US government. But if they were smart, they would not use this card to get more before negotiations begin. If they were smart, an advisor will tell them they will not get anywhere by publicly demanding anything in regard to Jerusalem before hand - but that they should use the Obama card to negotiate more on Jerusalem then they are likely to EVER get again.
But of course, as we travel ever so swiftly back to the beginning of this blog, they will not do that. And so the Israeli's will continue to think the Palestinians will never miss an opportunity to ask for more. And this is why Israel is building in East Jerusalem in the first place. They live in a world where they live as if there were no Palestinians - until such a time as they think they have a willing negotiating partner. That is not the same a s a partner mind you. They are waiting to hear someone say that all the previous plans that have been laid out are now alive again. Until they hear at least something like that, they will live as if tomorrow is the same as today. And they will talk that way as well.
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