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Reality Check On Racism
Tal Ben-Shahar
At the United Nations Conference Against Racism, Israel is being singled out as the villain. Thousands have taken to the streets with banners calling Israel an apartheid state, comparing Zionism to racism and calling for the indictment of Prime Minister Sharon. UN Secretary General Kofi Anan, in his opening speech, used Israel as a poster country for racism, condemning it for occupying, displacing, blockading and killing Palestinians. The draft resolutions of the conference mention no other country but Israel, blaming it for "ethnic cleansing" and bringing about a holocaust on the Palestinian people. There is no debate over the fact that Palestinian people are suffering, and all would agree that no person should live in a perennial state of occupation, a prisoner in his own home and under constant threat of attack. There are, however, two questions, two points of contention about the Palestinians' plight. First, who is the real villain, who is responsible for the current situation in Israel? And second, how can the situation be changed, what can be done to get out of this predicament and improve the lives of millions of Palestinians living in the territories? The Racism conference has a clear answer to both questions: Israel is responsible for the situation and the lives of Palestinians will improve once Israel withdraws from the territories. But these two answers are based on a false, detached understanding - of history and of the present situation - that fails to take account of all the facts. None other than the Arab countries brought about the atrocities on the Palestinian people. Israel never wanted conflict and never initiated a war. The Arab countries, refusing to accept the partition plan approved by the UN, started the 1948 war, intent on destroying Israel. The Arab countries continuously provoked Israel and brought about each war and conflict since then, never for a moment giving up their dream of cleansing the Middle East of its purported cancer, the Jews. All the atrocities - those experienced by Israelis and Palestinians - were brought about by the leaders of the Arab people. Israel fought in self-defense. It is still, unfortunately, fighting. Today, Israel does not want to occupy the Palestinians, nor does it want to blockade their cities. Yet the constant threat of an attack on a passenger bus or an explosion in a shopping center is leaving Israel no choice. It must defend itself. So who is to blame? Leaders of Palestinian terrorist groups who send their suicide bombers to blow up women and children, or the leaders of Israel who are merely doing their best to ensure that their people can live without the constant threat of violence? The real villains are the terrorists - those who initiate force against Israel, who blow up people who want to live in peace and who bring misery upon their own people. The real villain is Arafat, who has the power to stop the violence by putting away the leaders of the Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and of every faction that calls for the destruction of Israel. He does not do it, of course, because he is no different, because he himself orders terrorist attacks and he himself wants to see Israel destroyed. It is villains like Arafat that the UN conference is supporting. It is Arafat that world leaders embrace, shaking the hand that is still dripping with the blood of innocent women and children. So what can be done to change the situation? First, it is imperative that the Palestinians realize that they will be much better off if they choose to live in peace with Israel, if they refuse to accept a leadership that condemns them to perpetual war with their neighbor. The UN could also help the Palestinian people by putting pressure on Arafat and other Arab leaders to cease their terrorism and to crack down on terrorist groups. Rather than singling out and pronouncing Israel guilty for no justifiable reason, the UN conference on Racism should single out Palestinian terrorist groups for atrocities that they committed and continue to commit. These terrorists openly flaunt their actions. They are proud of blowing up dancers and shoppers and yet very few people outside Israel are calling for their indictment and punishment. These terrorists are the ones who should be indicted, for they are the real criminals whose guilt is beyond reasonable doubt. In a conference that is meant to denounce racism, we are witnessing open and blatant racism, i.e., unjust discrimination against a group of people. This is racism that reeks of the discrimination that Jews have experienced throughout their history. For example, through Blood Libels - made-up allegations that Jews murdered and drank the blood of children around their Passover table - the masses were incited to carry out pogroms, murdering Jews and ravaging their property. The fundamental difference today is that the Jews have a country and an army to defend them. And that, evidently, is a crime that many world leaders cannot forgive. When I hear and see our world leaders and thousands of their followers point to Israel as the villain in the Middle East conflict, I can comprehend how something incomprehensible like the Holocaust happened and how it could happen again. Tal Ben-Shahar, a teacher and lecturer, writes extensively on education, philosophy, psychology and politics and published the book "Heaven Can Wait" in 1998.
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