Thursday, March 27, 2014

Shafted Shavit Shifts; Shuts Up Schocken


...the truth must be told: The old left’s “guardians of the city” won’t evacuate a single settlement, won’t bring about the withdrawal from an inch of land and won’t bring peace a single day sooner. Why? Because their systematic disregard of Palestinian rejectionism and the region’s brutality makes them unreliable; their repulsion from the blue-and-white renders them irrelevant. This makes the Israeli public shut its ears to their justified arguments about the settlements, human rights and civil rights. The old left’s inability to prove that it is both Zionist and realistic renders it unable to carry out the great Zionist project of the 21st century – ending the occupation.

...I believe in a different peace. On the basis of my faith that all people are equal and all nations are equal, I insist that the Palestinians also make a contribution to the reconciliation. If they do, fine. If not, it will be our duty to try to end the occupation by ourselves. We cannot fulfill the mission unless we persuade the Israeli majority that we are flesh of its flesh. We will not be able to achieve true peace unless we leave the ghetto walls and deal with reality as it is.


Explanation:

At the beginning of the week Schocken attacked me savagely. He did something that the publishers of the New York Times, New Yorker and Washington Post wouldn’t dream of doing. So be it. I respect and like my publisher and accept both his virtues and weaknesses with love. Therefore I won’t respond in a personal manner, but to the issue at hand. I’ll conduct the debate in Haaretz’s style and spirit, and on the basis of the values of openness and culture that Haaretz represents.

And

The visible rejectionism of Ari Shavit
By Amos Schocken | Mar. 24, 2014 
By Ari Shavit | Mar. 20, 2014 
By Ari Shavit | Feb. 13, 2014 

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UPDATE

Here's an excerpt from Schocken's attack on Shavit:

In order to create an artificial balance and justify his position, Shavit invents a Palestinian nationality. If there is a Palestinian nationality (if there is such a thing as a nationality altogether), then in Jordan there are apparently two nationalities – the Palestinian one and the Bedouin one.
“The nation-state of the Jewish people.” What sort of definition is that? Is an Italian Jew whose family has been in Italy since the expulsion from Spain not part of the Italian nationality? We’d all be better off abandoning this sophistry.

Schockening, no?


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