Former CIA Analysts Skewer Israel For Occupation
A very heavy, painful, blatantly biased, though revealing, and exceptionally looooong piece by two former CIA analysts in Counterpunch:
A few weeks spent in Palestine is always an assault on the senses, on the emotions. And after three trips to the West Bank in the past eighteen months, it is impossible not to draw some conclusions. For most Americans, the eleventh commandment of the politics of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is Thou Shalt Not Reach Conclusions, for conclusions  that Israel wants the land of Palestine without the people; that the Israeli settlements, the roads accessible only to Israelis, the land confiscations, the house demolitions, the destruction of agricultural land add up to an act of ethnocide against the Palestinian people; that Israel’s occupation and Israel’s land greed are the root of the conflict and the root cause of terrorism  are too pointed for most people, too embarrassingly descriptive of an ugly reality impossible to ignore.
Without conclusions, American friends of Israel can live comfortably in denial, believing that although the occupation may be misguided, ultimately Israel is good and innocent, it is only protecting its security, the whole conflict is the Palestinians’ fault. But when you are in Palestine, when you see hundred-year-old olive groves bulldozed to make way for the wall, when you see entire city blocks bulldozed and cleared of homes where thousands once lived, when you actually watch a home being demolished, when you see huge Israeli colonies and small outposts on every hilltop, when you see markets closed because the wall has separated commerce from its customers, when you see destruction all around, denial is no longer possible. You must conclude that there is a deliberate scheme here. You must acknowledge the unthinkable, that Israel has been built from the beginning on the ruins of another nation, that Israel has all but destroyed another people in order to have a Jewish-majority state, that Israel is not moral as its friends claim, not a light unto the nations.
Take a deep breath. Then read on if you can bear it. Nevermind that the narrative of the Jewish state is completely misrepresented, mischaracterized, and even demonized — I mean, this is just vicious. But, the things which these people have witnessed that have driven them to these conclusions: Can we not begin to address them in a sensible manner so that we may right such wretched wrongs?
I mean, that is if you even in part accept the assesment that what is happening here is wrong…
Didn’t know Americans had short-term memory like Israelis are afflicted with.
I remember very cleary exactly four years ago leaving my apartment in Ariel to go spend Rosh Hashana in ‘little Israel’ and driving through the infamous Bidya and Mas-cha – packed with Jewish shoppers as always. Heck, we even stopped for some cheap 2l bottles of Coca Cola too, without any apprehensiveness at all. No wall/fence, no ‘jewish-only’ roads, open commerce.
And then they declared war.
Declaring war has consequences. Too bad there’s absolutely no context to the poor Arab hardships.
Um, I think there were always jewish-only roads to some settlements. If I’m wrong, I’d appreciate knowing exactly when this policy was initiated.
It’s amazing how much of people’s current views of the conflict stems from a simple act of interpretation: taking a view on what happened in 2000. Your view is “they declared war.”
“Their” view is pretty different.
In any case, you’re wrong. The fact that Israeli Jews used to get their cars fixed in Jenin and shop in Masha, but stopped after the intifada, has nothing to do with the fact that the settlements were planned out from the beginning to bisect and chop up the West Bank; nothing to do with the fact that the master plan for Maale Adumim has the district stretching from Jerusalem to Jericho; nothing to do with the policy of house demolitions over many years including the Oslo years. Israel has had a consistent policy on these matters since the first settlements were built, and that is the source of “the poor Arab hardships”, as you so sensitively put it. And there will be more intifadas, forever and ever, until that problem is dealt with and Israel leaves the West Bank for the Palestinians.
Well Mob,
If that “Israel has been built from the beginning on the ruins of another nation, that Israel has all but destroyed another people in order to have a Jewish-majority state, that Israel is not moral as its friends claim, not a light unto the nations” are the kinds of wrongs to which you are referring than no, because addressing those “wretched wrongs” would be a tacit acknowledgement that they are factually accurate statements. when, in point of fact, those statements are utter bullshit.
Now, has Israel made mistakes? yes. Does Israel have a democracy with checks, balances, representation, and accountability? yes. So to a degree I have to have faith in the system (which certainly includes legitimate protest) to work out a lot of the kinks. It’s inane to criticize Israel for every one of its actions that causes discomfort to the Palestinians without taking the security question into consideration.
Which brings me to my next point– with all the Israeli and Jewish voices constantly clamoring for, and slowly moving towards, a better, more just society– where are the voices of Palestinian accountability?
I dunno Ronen. The more I read the papers the more I realize checks and balances don’t mean shit here. Each individual branch of government — let alone office — does whatever it wants, irrespective of the peoples’ will. I mean, look at this corruption. It’s simply unacceptable.
As for, “Israel has been built from the beginning on the ruins of another nation, that Israel has all but destroyed another people in order to have a Jewish-majority state, that Israel is not moral as its friends claim, not a light unto the nations.” Mmm Ronen… I don’t really think those claims are that entirely untrue. They’re entirely disturbing to read, and entirely difficult to accept. But read the papers here man. Israelis will cop to these charges themselves. The question is, what can we do to help end the systematic and institutionalized discrimination without putting the Jewish character of Israel at risk.
And as for Palestinian accountability … After the French Hill bombing I was walking to Ben Yehuda with my Palestinian friend (who’s name I can’t print for her own safety). I was asking her — where is the moderate voice? “Where are the people willing to stand up to the PA’s corruption, and willing to stand up to the terror mobs? If so many of you are willing to die for the cause of freedom, why are so many of you unwilling to stand up to these tyrants?”
She said that she believes the peace with Israel is entirely necessary and that the first step to solving this conflict is to end the violence on both sides, and that people are trying to work towards that. But the sad reality is that taking such a stand could mean your life. In the Palestinian territories, by taking a stand against the Jihadis, you are putting a giant red target on your back.
So where are the voices of Palestinian accountability? They are ducking for cover hoping that they and their children have a future, and that they themselves don’t get killed.
So I asked her, “Where are the shahids (suicide ‘martyrs’) for peace? So many people are willing to die for Palestine. But where are the people who are willing to die for peace?”
She said I had a good point… And that’s the best concession I can hope for at this time.
That’s the best you can hope for? But meanwhile you’re willing to take single instances of corruption or unfair urban planning on the part of Israel and decide that they amount to the ‘destruction’ of Israeli Arabs or Palestinians for the sake of a Jewish majority state or to a complete deligitmization of Israel’s checks and balances? That’s crap!
I said very explicitly that Israel has made mistakes. Most countries have– even democracies. And yes, it’s good to be reporting on these mistakes and seeking to make Israel a more just society– always. But when you point to Israeli news sources to back up your criticisms, there is rarely a mention of the flip side– that a free press is an anomaly in the mideast. There have been lots of discriminatory policies directed at Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, but the flipside is that they have more opportunity than Arabs anywhere else in the middle east due to Israel’s westernized, technology and progress oriented economy. The Israeli Arabs I spent time with all said as much– they knew that with fair courts and representation in the gov’t, they had an opportunity to improve their social situation (which was already better than it would be if they were living under Assad’s thumb). The Palestinians haven’t figured out that Israel can be a source of opportunity rather than an object of hate, it seems.
Your admittedly low expectations of the Palestinians is really the worst part of the deal. The only point to which your friend concedes is that maybe people should be dying for peace? Do you even realize how sick a society must be to punish those who seek to treat their neighbors with kindness? There is a midrash about this that relates to Sodom and Gemorrah– it is the epitome of evil.
At the very least, I would hope that you can see the problem of having such contempt for Israel in combination with such low expectations for the Palestinians. And while I’m all for making Israel a better society that embodies Jewish principles of justice, I just can’t stomach gross generalizations that hint at ethnocide (crap), and discount the morality and the light that does indeed exist.
I don’t know, Ronen. Do you read Arabic? Do you have much experience with the Palestinian press other than what Zionist propagandists occasionally fish out of it for debate points? I mean, I don’t either, but as we’re both constantly steeped in Jewish debates and Jewish narratives every day, I don’t see how your bewilderment at not seeing the Palestinian moderates can qualify as anything other than disingenuous.
The same is true for the other side, really; I was pretty surprised how many Palestinians I met this summer who had no idea that there even was an Israeli peace camp, and just assumed that all Israelis were out to eventually expel them from the West Bank or turn them into a broken subject population. They constantly said the same thing: “where are the Israelis who want peace?” And it was shocking to me because I spent so much time in the company of exactly those Israelis. But these Palestinians didn’t pay a lot of attention to the Hebrew press, and they didn’t converse with Israelis, so they didn’t know shit. Just like you.
That’s the best you can hope for? But meanwhile you’re willing to take single instances of corruption or unfair urban planning on the part of Israel and decide that they amount to the ‘destruction’ of Israeli Arabs or Palestinians for the sake of a Jewish majority state or to a complete deligitmization of Israel’s checks and balances? That’s crap!
“single instances of corruption” — Forgive me, I cited a single, unrelated instance that I had just read about that was at the forefront of my mind. Let’s take a look at some other recent news stories, shall we?
Haaretz: Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski wants to rezone a neighborhood of Wadi Joz, in the eastern section of the capital, for the purpose of settling Jews in the area. The neighborhood in question was zoned and planned a number of years ago by the Housing Ministry for Arab residents.
JPost: In April 1995, the Ka’adans, of Baka al-Gharbiya, petitioned the High Court of Justice after the Katzir membership committee rejected their application for a plot to build their home there on the grounds that they were Arabs.
The court case and the out-of-court efforts to solve the dispute continued for five years. After the sides failed to reach a compromise, the High Court handed down a landmark decision on March 8, 2000, declaring that the government could not discriminate against Arabs in the allocation of state lands.
[…]
The authorities allegedly tried to ignore the court’s orders. The Ka’adans, represented by Dan Yakir, the legal adviser of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, petitioned the High Court again, charging that the ILA, the Jewish Agency, and the membership committee were trying to avoid implementing the ruling. During this period, the membership committee rejected the Ka’adans’ second application, for “social” reasons.
Haaretz: Several trends and needs influenced the planners: the desire to include as few Palestinians as possible within the route of the fence, the need to rush because of the large number of robberies in the Sharon communities, and because about a quarter of a million Palestinians had settled in Israel without permits. These two negative phenomena have largely come to an end in the areas where a fence exists. [Deputy Chief of Staff] Ashkenazy says, after the fact, that he feels that he participated in an operation to save Israel as a Jewish state.
[…]
The desire to avoid harming the population insofar as possible was placed very low on the order of priorities. When the harm seemed too blatant, the matter was placed before Sharon, and he for the most part decided against alleviating the situation – for example, when he was told that the Palestinian town of Qalqilyah had turned into a kind of prison.
Maariv: The suit regards the ILA’s decision to bar Arab citizens from purchasing accommodation units in a new neighborhood in Karmiel, in the upper Galilee.
The ILA justifies its policy by claiming it is carrying out the policy of the JNF, the owner of the land on which the project in question is being built, and one of its biggest owners.
The JNF (Jewish National Fund) predates the establishment of the state. It was founded in order to purchase land from Arabs for Jewish settlement, and its charter, reflecting that, has never been changed.
However the HCJ has ruled in the past that such a policy is illegal and incompatible with the state’s legal foundations, based on the Declaration of Independence and the Basic Law of Freedom and Human dignity, which specifically ban discrimination of any kind.
Is this merely poor urban planning, Ronen? Or is it a pattern of systematized and institutionalized discrimination? What good are checks and balances when they have no teeth? This was the point I was trying to make.
The Israeli court rules and rules til its blue in the face. But nothing is ever done to enforce their rulings. And that is because each government office is operated by a different party with competing interests at stake. You’re talking about a system where the ruling party is permitted to reward loyal coalition participants with government seats in areas where they believe they can put their party’s platform into effect. Hence, why for example–as Harry would so delicately put it–“the religious have this country by the balls” on issues like marriage and social spending. They play ball with the ruling party on whatever the season clincher is and they get to run game in “their department.” But what happens when two departments aren’t on board with each other politically? There’s a reason everyone’s always on strike here.
In the cases of Arab land expropriation and discriminatory housing policies, the court can rule a thousand times that what’s being done is illegal. But because the agenices responsible for implementing those laws refuse to do so (because such rulings are contrary to their interests), there are no repercussions for such actions, and they continue. It’s all part of the same general refusenik mentality. There’s no difference between what they’re doing and soldiers who refuse to participate in the Gaza disengagement as far as I can see. At the end of the day, it always comes down to a choice for the people left to enforce the laws, and it seems to be a rare occasion that the will of the people is carried out as opposed to the agendas of the individuals with executive power. Israel may have a democracy, but the people in control (be they government employees, soldiers in the shtachim, or people in the factories) have no sense of duty to it. If the court rules in favor of an Arab plaintiff and the agency left to uphold that ruling itself discriminates against Arabs, tough titty for the Arabs. This is the problem and thus why I call into question the weight of Israel’s checks and balances.
***
There have been lots of discriminatory policies directed at Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, but the flipside is that they have more opportunity than Arabs anywhere else in the middle east due to Israel’s westernized, technology and progress oriented economy.
Since the crackdown on the territories, those opportunities have severely dried up, at least for Palestinians. There are quotas on Palestinian work and student permits that, at the end of the day, priviledge very few. Further, getting stripsearched on your way to work or school (for which you have to leave 4 hours early so you can get through the checkpoint on time) doesn’t exactly incline one to a grateful disposition, regardless of what’s prompted such conditions. (Ask anyone who’s ever had Eged security poke them in the chest while innocently strolling past a bus stop. “Like, I appreciate you have an important job to do, but what the fuck?”) Resentment is, actually, a really big problem. But you have to eliminate the conditions that incite resentment before you can expect an acceptance of ‘economic opportunity’, slim pickins as they seem to be at this time.
Truthfully, I’m kind of disturbed by your remark Ronen. It comes across as if you’re saying, “Even if they’re second class citizens, they have it better than other Arabs.” For me, any human being treated as anything less than an equal is unacceptable. And by Israeli law — which is clearly not being enforced — it is unacceptable as well.
***
Your admittedly low expectations of the Palestinians is really the worst part of the deal. The only point to which your friend concedes is that maybe people should be dying for peace? Do you even realize how sick a society must be to punish those who seek to treat their neighbors with kindness? There is a midrash about this that relates to Sodom and Gemorrah– it is the epitome of evil.
Have you ever been intentionally incorrectly-handcuffed and thrown in the back of a paddywagon at an anti-war march Ronen? Have you ever been surrounded by 350 baton twirling police officers? Unpopular political speech — dissent, especially against war, tyranny or corruption — is punished in one way or another in every society. Some countries are just more brutal than others. Is it evil? I don’t know if I believe in the concept of evil. But I know it’s wrong. I don’t need “good” and “evil” to understand “just” and “unjust.”
The only solution is popular revolt. But if you favor peace, the only legitimate means to engage in such revolt is non-violent civil disobedience. Engaging in non-violent civil disobedience against incredibly obtuse and angry people (your relatives and neighbors even!) who are armed to the teeth and mix their religion with their politics? It isn’t exactly what you’d call safe, and in some eyes, it could even be considered irrational. This of course is what’s stagnating progress on the issue. Hence the question — where are the shahids for peace? Where is the generation of Palestinians ready to stand up and face that risk?
So yeah. Getting a concession that that needs to happen? That’s a big step as far as I’m concerned.
***
At the very least, I would hope that you can see the problem of having such contempt for Israel in combination with such low expectations for the Palestinians. And while I’m all for making Israel a better society that embodies Jewish principles of justice, I just can’t stomach gross generalizations that hint at ethnocide (crap), and discount the morality and the light that does indeed exist.
Contempt for Israel? I LOVE ISRAEL. I want to make aliyah and work towards making Israel the best country it can possibly be. That’s why I’m here right now and not in Ramallah with the ISM. The only things I have contempt for are beauracracies, corrupt institutions, and discrimination. This should be more than clear by now.
Sam: don’t call me disingenous and don’t tell me I don’t know crap. You don’t know me at all, nor do you know what I know– so don’t get personal, because that’s not what this is about. I know there are Palestinians who want peace. I also know that the gov’t run media outlets aren’t going to be particularly progressive– I don’t fault the Palestinian people for that, I fault their bogus leadership. You’ll note, please, that my bewilderment was directed more at the fact that there are low expectations of the Palestinians on the part of liberals (Jews and non-Jews) worldwide. I think that’s ridiculous. It’s a shame that Palesinian society represses its seekers of peace, and that those moderates don’t have the instutional backing to promote their ideas.
Mob: will respond later. I know you love Israel– and you should.
I find major parts of this ongoing discussion very frightening. It is great to want peace. I think everyone does. (Including the terrorist) The real question isn’t if anyone wants peace. But how do you structure the peace in a way that is equitable and insures that BOTH sides come out of the situation in a secure and progressive way.
I don’t believe that peace can be accomplished in the current enviroment. I don’t believe that the Palestinian ‘leadership’ has any interest in peace with Israel, or in leadership for that matter. The only thing the current ‘leadership’ of the Palestinians want is Peace with out Israel. The various Jihadist movements in the ‘territories’ also feel the same way.
Mobius:
The fact the your friend would only acknowledge that you were right about Palestinians not wanting to die for peace is also telling. I am not sure that the ‘moderates’ on the Palestinian side are as interested in peace with Israel as they say they are, patially evidenced by your friend not really being able to answer your question.
I don’t know what the answer is. I do have a problem with giving up territory for peace if all we are going to get is more violence, a peace like we have with Egypt, or more boarders like the Lebanese boarder. Some how I think the current plan of disengagement will leave us in a worse, rather than better state. The fact that the terrorists in Gaza have stepped up the Kassam rocket attackes into southern Israel speaks volumnes itself.
OK– here goes. You put a hell of a lot of effort into that response, and I appreciate it. I don’t know if I’ll be able to match your sheer volume, but I hope I can take you up on some points of substance.
With respect to “corruption”:
Your articles primarily point out policies which *you* think are unjust (and maybe me too, but that’s not the point). There is a difference between an unfair policy, or one you don’t like, and political corruption. Does corruption exist in Israel? Yes. But it’s such a universal problem (Halliburton anyone?) that this isn’t a particularly distinguishing characteristic. Is that good enough for me? no. Ahad Ha’am and HaRav Kook were both always so concerned about the society’s moral character and I suppose nervous that the Jewish state wouldn’t live up to Jewish standards. I’m not sure how we get from point A to point B on this one. I think the religious-secular divide plays into it though– when people are focussed on the strength and beauty of our religion as opposed to whether or not their yeshiva is funded or whether or not evil dosim are dodging the draft, we will be able to energize a movement towards Jewish culture (in the A”H sense).
With respect to checks and balances:
I concede that Israel’s system lacks teeth. The major problem with the HCJ has been its inability to enforce its progressive ideas. This has also come up in various cases relating to progressive streams of Judaism. You’re right– the multiparty system has been a major obstacle to progress. I think the direct election of prime ministers was part of the problem there, and I’m glad they’ve returned to the original system.
Really, the only answer here is a greater separation of church and state in Israel. Israel needs a constitution that clearly defines the state as a Jewish one, and defines the role of Judaism within state function. At that point, there needs to be an end to religious political parties. Religious lobbyists would be OK by me, but a religious party is just an obstacle to modern state functionality.
With respect to discrimination and economic opportunity:
The zoning issue is really thorny and I don’t have answers. It seems to me that *most* Arabs would prefer to live in an Arab community and have a degree of autonomy. So then maybe zoning makes sense. A Jewish agency designed to help Jews come back and live in Israel is OK by me, the problem is that it is a remnant of pre-state bureaucracy, and therefore owns a lot of land. If the Jewish agency sells land to Arabs, can the Jews be bought out of Israel? I don’t know (that’s probably a silly example, but you see what I’m getting at). Of course I feel that an HCJ ruling should be respected and implemented, but I’m not really not sure how this should be handled overall. Is it institutionalized discrimination? I think that’s overly simplistic and bombastic– you need to look at all the historical forces that are in play here. If you think the Jewish agency’s mission is legit, and then you see that the Jewish agency owns land, how can you ask it to use that land in a way that contradicts its mission? I don’t really know.
I agree with you that every citizen needs to be first class, so don’t be disturbed. What I was getting at is that Arab citizens have a lot of opportunity in Israel that they don’t have elsewhere. I’m not saying that that is “enough” but I think it’s important and relevant– we both know Israel isn’t perfect, but I like to stress the positives that are there. My comments about economic opportunity were mainly with respect to Israeli Arabs, but you responded telling me about Palestinians being strip searched. I am differentiating between those two populations. Palestinians don’t have opportunity now, and frankly, I believe that is primarily of their own (or their leadership’s) doing. If they want more opportunity, they need to put an end to terrorism, nekudah.
With respect to the Palestinians:
I see your point about the anti-war protest, but it’s really a mischaracterization of the situation. I’m having trouble rhetorically, because I think we’re just of two very different minds here. To me, there is a big difference between people who are being unruly at a protest and are jailed for that unruliness (not for their views per se) and people whose lives are threatened because they want to stop blowing up little children on purpose. Some peole here argue that there is no difference between terrorism and war, but you know I disagree, so let’s please not go through that again.
Anyhow, I stand by my position. I don’t think it was a major concession. I think for her to say that the Palestinians need a new focus and accountable leadership was at best an acknowledgement of a minor point that is blatantly obvious to any sane and thinking person. If she’s saying a popular revolt is need to accomplish that, then that would be a major action, but the philosophy is pretty basic. I don’t know what it would take to create an accountable society– but it would have to be concerted and forceful and blanket every aspect of Palestinian society. Especially the schools.
There is evil and there good. I’m not going to characterize firing rockets at two year olds as “unjust.” That’s not good enough for me. On the flip side, acting justly towards, say, Arab-Israelis is also not good enough. We need to be good and kind (hesed).
Little Wolf: I’d be thrilled to have a cold peace with the Palestinians. It would be a major step up from having our busses blown up.