Flip Ivanicska Yona Paper-war of Brothers

8/4/2019 Flip Ivanicska Yona Paper-war of Brothers

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War of Brothers

Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design

Class: Israel Place and CultureTeacher: Yona Weitz

Student: Felipe Ivanicska (exchange student)

Term: 2010/2

The hypothesis I want to develop in this paper is that Jewish Israelis and Arab

Israelis (both citizens and refugees) behave like brothers. The kind that fights a lot,

but still brothers. This idea started developing for me as more as I read about it,but specially Meditations on National Identity1, by Bat-Ami Bar On, when she says

that in her contact with a Palestinian woman she discovered that they had a lot in

common. My objective in the course of this text is to see if this theory sustains

itself, based in academic texts, historical evidence and a lot about my contact with

protests on Nakba (15 of May) and Naksa (05 of June) days, through the (still

untitled) documentary Im editing with images the photographer Cameron Barnes

shot in those events and his and Jeremy Hodges testimonials about it.

Bat-Ami Bar On talks about Amal Kawar, a Palestinian woman [she] met in the

summer of 1988, at that years meeting of the National Womens Studies

Association. She says they were introduced to each other by a mutual friend in

public [] a rather safe space. And, on Bat-Amis point of view: who could have

been enemies, have become friends. Theyre first connected through their feminist

activism, what make the borders between them less significant, and also by not

having a complete process of independence. She adopts the pragmatic point of

view that identity is something fluid and hard to name and define, and that mostof the time the definition of that is done because practical matters, and the whole

identity thing is something hard or even impossible to be completely aware of.

She says that, as most Israelis, she grew up learning the hegemonic discourse of

her country, but that also her father used to take her to see the Arab villages and

1 Meditations on National Identity (BAR ON, Bat-Ami, Indiana University Press, 1994)


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taught her about the oppression they live under. She starts out to point other

aspects in which they are similar: feminists, academics living in USA, and also born

in cities relatively close to the Mediterranean Sea. She realizes how they have very

subtle things in common, like the relation with the environment, their reactions to

colors, smells and sounds, their eating habits and even their gestures.

She cites Yoram Binur who, in his book My Enemy, My Self2, talks about how he

disguised as a Palestinian laborer, and how she was struck by how little he had

to do for it, which indicates some similarities. But then, she doubts if this relation is

so easy to make, and points out a general aspect, the difference between the Jews

who grew influenced by the Zionist dream (the one who grew stronger by the end of

the XIX century) and the Arabs, who grew under Turkish influence and later

European one. That opposition is crucial for Bat-Ami, as she highlight the fact thatArab culture has been suffering a constant diminishment, at the same the Israeli-

Jewish one developed following an acculturation very well planned. To short the

story, she ends up saying that she doesnt want to lose her humanity and solidarity

for the Palestinian people which she learned from her father.

After that prolegomena, lets retrocede to the historical facts that might reinforce

my theory. By the time Islam was born, on the VII century, the Jewish people had

already been separated from their Arabic brothers, first by the ramification that

happened to Noahs sons, and then later by the Diaspora, which forbade them of

being more in contact. We cannot predict what would happen if the Jews were still

in a large number by the time of the rise of Islam, but we can definitely say that the

historical facts points to a situation where there isnt much contact between those

two people. During the history of Palestine, most of the periods when Arabs were in

military and political control of the land they had a policy of tolerance against Jews,

being on the most important the Decree of Omar, established in the VII century,

which allowed the freedom of expression of each one religion . Other more obvious

facts that make them closer are language (both semitic) and religious similarities:

monotheism, book-based, promote tolerance and charity, and even a lot of

characters and situations in the Holly Books are similar and, of course, happens in

very similar geographical places. Genetically, though, its proved that Ashkenazi

2 My Enemy, My Self (BINUR, Yoram)


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Jews are closer to the Palestinians, and that Jews in general are closer to

populations from the north of the Fertile Crescent3.

Advancing a few years to the creation of the State of Israel, we can find some

factors that contributed to the alienation between those two fraternal people. After

defeating the Turk-Ottomans in 1917 and conquering Palestine, which was already a

great loss for the Arab world, the British government started to help the Jews to

conquer the best and more fertile lands and strategic positions. Since the end of the

previous century the Zionist movement was already growing and Jews were

migrating to Palestine. After an initial moment where the British cooperated with

that, they realized that the Zionist movement was getting to much influence on

their politics, so they reduced the migration aid and started to make different and

contradictory agreements with Arabs, Jews and even the countries from theEntente, which fragmented the relations between the two people and also with the

international community in general, which totally made them look untruthful to the

Arabs, and they were already expecting to act by themselves.

After the II World War, of course, this had to be reconsidered, because it was even

more eminent that the Jews needed a place where they could have sovereignty.

Some data here is necessary to help explain the Arab hatred against Jews that time:

this second people had 56% of the Palestine lands, almost all of it on the

countryside and very fertile areas, but they represented only 33% of the total

population. The Jewish people boosted the feeling of acceptance the international

community had towards them after the II World War, mixed with the prophecy of

the return, and started to act very violently against the Arabs, trying to expel them

from this territory.

Coming back again to the present, lets analyze the situation of the two

protests/manifestations that Ive mentioned before: the Nakba and Naksa days of

2011, based on videos done by Cameron Barnes and Jeremy Hodge in the Silwanneighborhood in Jerusalem and in Ramallah. First, some facts to contextualize. On

the beginning of 2011 a webpage in Facebook was created calling for a Third

Intifada on the 15 of May 2011, a bomb exploded in Jerusalem city center, hurting

3 The Y Chromosome Pool of Jews as Part of the Genetic Landscapeof the Middle East Nebel et. Al., 2001


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XXXXXXXXXXX people, Egypt and Syria were amidst a revolution against tyrannical

and oppressive regimes, Hamas and Fatah were negotiating to put their differences

aside and fight for their common cause, and the expectative was that they would

start acting more through protests, media and claims for basic human rights deeper

than religious or geographical issues, as it was being done in Egypt and Syria, evennot only for humanitarian reasons, but also because direct or military conflicts were

being too expensive for them, but in general a decrease in terror attacks and the

lack of formal and intelligent diplomacy wasnt expected. For me, the expectation

was for a rise of violence, but at the same time more intelligent and modern ways

of action, through the media, well-planned protests or even social media and the

web.

I was really amazed to hear how the protests logic works in most of thosesituations. What I had received on the news in Brazil showed violent and direct

clashes between IDF and the Israeli Arabs, with each side fully charging to the

other. I admit that Im not the biggest news-follower, so I cant remind exactly what

I was watching, but now that Ive done some basic research, it was probably the

conflicts in the beginning of the century, between 2000 and 2005, so they were

really more violent. Now, comparing that with what I saw on the videos and heard

about it: the protests now are more like demonstrations of strength, with each side

keeping a more or less still position, occasionally throwing rocks (if the Arabs) ortear gas and rubber bullets (if the IDF). No one really charged to the other side,

neither the IDF tried to neutralize the leaders or the more violent ones. I didnt see

any arrestment made. In Silwan it was even weirder. The protests were scheduled,

every Friday there would be one, but it turned out that the protest was just

another conflict. There was no march, no posters, no action to draw public

attention, just a lot of kids and teenagers throwing rocks in whoever was there, and

the IDF controlling them, in the same way mentioned before. So, after some time

they kept doing it, it just became a game: the IDF would go there every Friday, thekids would throw rocks, and to complete the theater: all the media would go there,

wear some shirt that said they were from the press and shouldnt be harmed,

maybe a gas mask, and would try to get the most dramatic angles, protect

themselves against projectiles from both sides. At one point, my friends were going


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there as they would go to any touristic spot in Jerusalem, and that one could be

name See The Conflict and Dont Hurt Yourself.

In Ramallah, something similar happened. As IDF knew that there would something

because of the Naksa, they went there and took over a rooftop and some streets,

closing a perimeter. The traditional kids with masks and throwing rocks stood in the

middle of this area, but they were not totally surrounded, they couldve gone away

if they wanted. The other side of the street was completely calm, as if nothing was

happening, cars were passing by, and theres even a scene caught by Cameron

Barnes where an old man walks calmly parallel to the axis of the conflict. That went

for hours, with the Arabs throwing rocks and the IDF throwing tear gas back to

them. No one advanced or retreated.

On the other hand, the conflicts in Egypt were really violent, with protests,

shouting, speeches from the most influential people, Israeli flags being burned,

clashes with the Army, etc. Of course the situation there is more dramatic and

urgent, so they just had to be more aggressive.

My point in digressing about those protests in Jerusalem and Ramallah is to defend

my theory presented here. There are a lot of factors that contribute to this kind of

situation of the protests: the few resources Israeli Arabs have, the fact that they

dont receive support from Arab countries leaders, that all sum up to a scenariowhere they cant buy guns, or organize something more efficient. But one of the

factors that contribute to that might be what I defend on this paper: the feeling that

somehow Jews and Arabs are brothers. On the Israeli side, even though the political

situation is turning more to a radical right now, they know that they just cant

destroy or suppress totally those protests, not necessarily for humanitarian feelings,

but part of it is because they know the international media would criticize them,

because theyre always ready to say look how Israel is cruel with the people they

already oppressed so much. But for both sides theres unconsciously this feelingthat they both historically, religiously, spiritually and culturally deserve this land, so

they somehow have to preserve the other side. The comparison works better when

you think of fights between brothers in the family: even if theyre fighting really

hard and intensely for something, their objective is more to prove their point, not to

kill the other one. Of course that happened in 1967, when some Arab countries tried


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to push Israel to the sea, because were not only talking about siblings fights, but

politics, including corrupt, dictatorial and radical Arab leaders.

One of the things to remind here is that the state of Israel will definitely, doubtless

and by any means, defend its land. For hundreds of years theyve longed to return

to have a place where they could have sovereignty to protect themselves from all

the persecution they suffered during the Diaspora. If that place could be Israel, even

better, because it also fills mythological histories of returning to the Promised Land

and Jerusalem. This means that the IDF will be violent if necessary, no matter what.

To synthesize my arguments, they all point to a context where the alienation

between Arabs and Jews, by many facts from the last century, grew to a point

where there is almost no conversation among them. One fact that proves it is that

between thousands of Israeli government officials, only 3 or 4 are dedicated to the

peace agreements, with a budget that represents 0,05% of the total, 3% of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs one. If you look in the broader history, considering the

facts already presented and many others, this situation is quite recent. For the first

time in thousands of years there is a systematical hatred, discrimination and an

eager to destroy the other side, but also for the first time Jews have their own

sovereign country, what contributes a lot to the uniqueness of this state of affairs.

In Some Problems of Arab-Jewish Coexistence, Samy Smooha and John E.Hofman4 say that there is one fact that both sides have to realize: that there is a

Jewish state and that there is an Arab minority in this state.

Its unlikely that Israel will renounce its Jewish character

or that the Israeli Arabs will disappear. There are

essentially two alternatives for coexistence: assimilation

or domination. Assimilation is strongly rejected by both

sides. Domination will not be tolerated for long by a

minority undergoing continual modernization,

involvement in a national movement and participation in

a region-wide majority. Nor is Jewish domination

compatible with the democratic pluralism to which Israel

is commited.4 Some Problems of Arab-Jewish Coexistence in Israel (SMOOHA, HOFMAN, 1977)


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This commitment to democracy and some kind of equality is also a remain of the

diaspora: they feel they cant systematically destroy or make another people suffer

in mass scale. In one hand, they are one of the few countries in the world that are

open to receive refugees, but at the same time themselves have created refugees,

who are so but in their own land they owned before. This shows that the Israeli-Arabconflict is not as plain and simple as sometimes the media seems to paint. It also

reveals an empathy to another point where Israeli Arabs and Jews are similar (and

that only the most radical left admit): being persecuted, discriminated and

refugees, which is at some point a paradox, because some of that discrimination

comes from Israel itself, but at another point, also comes from the Arab neighbor

countries, who in their majority also rejects Palestinians. Add that to the fact that

Israelis see Palestinians as allies of the enemy, the Arab world in general, and you

have a mixed and very complex feeling. So, what happens when someone is

confused, threatened and, most importantly, has military and political control? They

try to have a fixed and steady goal, otherwise they would be weakened by that

confusion, they try to act as plain and directly as possible, to avoid difficult

questions and dilemmas. That is also something which could be related to siblings

conflicts, where there are lots of complex relations, points that approaches and

some others where they stray, a lot of unsaid and shameful feelings.

At the moment this paper is being written, revolutions in the Arab world are goingon and on. Maybe, in the same way that for the first time the Jews returned to their

Promised Land, the Arabs will also have a unique and original social and cultural

situation, that will strengthen their relationships, slowly ending the fragmented

culture they had as soon as Mohamed died. The hope is that theyll have better

opportunities, basic human rights and less religious radical domination, all the three

of those things who were created by corrupt and radical leaders who were

interested in keeping the population in poverty and ignorance. After that, maybe

Israel will think twice before systematically continuing its discrimination againstPalestinians, but the country will also have more modern and democratic diplomats

to talk to, and the Arab population will be empowered enough to show that their

culture is rich, important and also deserves the Holy Land, and theyll both realize

that they are just brothers who were kept away for a long time, dont know each

other anymore and were manipulated by a third part.


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REFERENCES:

Some Problems of Arab-Jewish Coexistence in Israel (SMOOHA, HOFMAN, 1977)

Thomas Ice - Myths About Israel and Palestine

Uri Avnery Uma Guerra Fratricida Entre Semitas (in Portuguese) [A Fratricide War

Between Semites]

Eduardo Spohr - O CONFLITO RABE-ISRAELENSE IDEOLOGIA, NACIONALISMO E

CIDADANIA NO ORIENTE MDIO (in Portuguese) [The Arab-Israeli conflict: Ideology,

Nationalism and Citizenship in Middle East) Puc-Rio, 2002

Aura Gomes - A questo da Palestina e a fundao de Israel (The Palestinian issue

and the Israel foundation) USP, 2001

CAMERON BARNES INTERVIEW, 15 of June 2011:

1) Describe the events during Nakba and Naksa days

2) What are your opinions on that?

3) Why youve come to Israel? Why do you go photograph those conflicts?

Knowing when to run and when to go further towards the frontline, knowing

when its okay to take the shot and when its offensive/possibly get you in

trouble and more importantly how to keep my focus in utter chaos. The situation

today was slightly unsettling because the Palestinians are only throwing rocks on

the face of riot police, guns and ultimate power. Its almost a game. No, actually

it is a game. They know they are not really hurting Israel, but psychologically Ithink it keeps some of them sane. To wake up one day and day, this is my way

to relieve stress and to at least fill the void of that they are powerless to go foe

to foe with the Hews and, of course, Insh Allah, God willing in the name of

Allah.

JEREMY HODGES INTERVIEW, 2011:
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1066&context=pretrib_arch&sei-redir=1%23search=%22thomas+ice+myths+israel+palestine%22http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1066&context=pretrib_arch&sei-redir=1%23search=%22thomas+ice+myths+israel+palestine%22


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I dont have his interview recorded, it was an informal conversation.

Flip Ivanicska Yona Paper-war of Brothers

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