King Junior obviously never said the words below. However, would Americans be eager to fight for African-Americans’ rights, if that would be his tone?
“I have a dream that one day this nation of black men will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘Murder all white men on your path’. I have a dream that one day black people throughout this nation will rise up and fulfill its duty of Holy War against the white man. The stones on path of a Holy Black Warrior will call out to him, saying: ‘Look! Here is the white man, he is hiding behind me. Come and kill him!” – Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28th, 1963.
Hello. My name is Jonathan Boyko, I am a Jewish citizen of Israel and a veteran of IDF service. Many centuries ago, my family was forced out of our village by an invading Roman army. Since then, archaeologists discovered hundreds of items – our former belongings – all over today’s Israel, from the Dead Sea Scrolls, to synagogues, to Hebrew inscriptions on walls of excavated Jerusalem buildings. For over two thousand years, we lived in exile. Our wish was to escape persecution and have a home of our own, where we would not be afraid to wear a kippah on a street; to wear Star of David without the fear of being murdered by a lynch mob – which happened on many occasions throughout history. We needed our Holy of Holies – Jerusalem, the city Jews dwelled in for most of its history.
On May 14, 1948, we claimed the land parted to us by UN resolution 181, and had to defend it against invaders. Israel lost one per cent of its population – over 2,000 of whom were civilians – with surrounding Arab states’ casualties standing at ten to fifteen thousand men. Despite the casualties, we felt we finally returned to our homeland – the place we longed for. We view Israel as our only home.
Views on Israel vary, though. The Arab world cannot take a single line of attitude towards my country. Egypt, for example, while not getting too friendly with Israel, opposes violence of Palestinian radical groups – such as Hamas – and cooperates with Israeli government on several levels. Iran, on the other hand, supports militant groups such as Islamic Jihad and aforementioned Hamas with monetary assets, as well as arms. While German governments take an overall positive stance on Israeli issue, by demanding a halt to Palestinian terror, as well as Israeli expansionism, the United Kingdom attempts to examine different approaches to achieving Middle Eastern peace, including dialog with Lebanese Hizb Allah. Israel, in its turns, views itself as a Jewish state, torn by wars and inner struggles, requiring resolve to many issues – including the Israeli Palestinian conflict and the inner struggle between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.
The way to resolution is paved with many prejudices and misinterpretations, though. Many believe Israel is in its base a discriminatory state. For example, Member of Israeli Parliament – the Knesset – Ahmad Tibi, blames Israel for discriminatory practices toward its Palestinian citizens. Israeli daily Haaretz – populated mostly by left leaning journalists – supports Palestinian minority, its editorials harshly criticizing newly elected Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, as being too right-wing and racist. To an extent they are correct – in today’s Israel, many Palestinian citizens, carrying Israeli IDs, encounter hardship trying to find respectable job, with some industries entirely closed to Israeli Arab public. It is also true that many governmental institutions do not treat Arab citizens of Israel the way they should. The medal, though, has two sides to it.
What most Israel’s critics fail to remind their readers, viewers, and listeners, is that Israel treats most of its population same way. When I enter a shopping mall, I take everything metal out of my pockets and lay it down for inspection, before going through a metal detector; if I carry a bag, the guard will check that as well. Reaching age of sixteen, I waited for an hour and a half just to get to the angry, heavyset woman behind the glass. Although – thankfully – I have relatively little experience with government agencies, I can tell you: it makes no difference who sits behind that glass, they will never be nice to you, no matter who you are. When I finally wanted to take driving license exams, I had to wait for over an hour in line at Ministry of Transportation’s Licensing Office just to get in line for the exam (and then wait another fifty minutes to get test marks). Many Israeli Arabs waited in line with me.
Critics have a point regarding poor employment among Israeli Arabs – according to statistics, most Israeli Palestinians take jobs in construction, maintenance or transportation, which pays less than their Jewish peers working in Intel or RAFAEL. Many Israeli Palestinian women have to settle for such jobs as cleaning offices and apartment buildings, instead of being teachers or doctors. Yet, while most blame Israel’s institutional prejudice, they fail to look at full extent of the issue: that is, that in such cases, Israeli Arabs are no different from other minorities in Israel. Former Soviet Union immigrants – many of them with highest education (professors, doctors) had to settle for apartment cleaning jobs. The situation is even worse among Ethiopian immigrants – usually unskilled – who mostly fail to find well-paid work. Lack of education, by the way, is the deciding factor here: most Israeli Palestinians – as well as Ethiopian immigrants – never had the chance to become an engineer or a doctor, as education in third world countries (and Palestine certainly was one) was of low priority compared to work. Education is still top reason for many Russian immigrants finding sustainable work – and even prospering.
Other matters get in the way of peaceful relations between Israeli Jews and Israeli Palestinians. Many slam current FM Avidgor Lieberman for anti-Arab sentiment; however, he arose on the wave of what many Jews perceive to be unpatriotic behavior by Arab residents, including representatives of latter in Parliament. You will not see Israeli Arabs waving Israeli flags – on the contrary, pictures taken at each Israeli Arab demonstration reflect mood of many in this community – dozens of Palestinian flags, waving in the wind. Israeli Palestinian MKs pour fuel to the fire, calling Israeli soldiers ‘Nazis’, openly supporting ‘resistance’ organizations in their fight against Israel – while speaking in the Knesset. At the same time, they largely fail to condemn violence by Palestinian groups, usually only stating that their views and those of Hamas leadership ‘differ’. Most Israelis do not view such attitudes positively: Israel being a tiny country, every person knows at least one other person suffering aftermaths of a terror attack (I personally knew four people killed by Palestinian ‘resistance movements’, three of them civilians). While no Israeli denies Palestinians their pain of losing a son or a daughter – or an entire family – in a bomb run by IAF fighter planes, Israelis do wonder why some Israeli citizens support Hamas or Fatah – two organizations actively fighting Israel, using such despicable tactics as indoctrinating children – as young as three years old – into hate and martyrdom.
I am not here to say Israel is perfect. I concede Israel has many ills, which it ought to improve. Arabs are citizens of Israel – just as I am – and should receive fair treatment by the people and by the government. Yet, as in any country, benefits never grow on trees – you have to contribute to the state in order to bear fruit. Israeli Arab sector’s tax contribution is among lowest in Israel, with tax collection non-existent in many villages and towns. Israeli Arabs are not compelled to serve in the military; yet, they also do not joint the Civic Duty program – civilian support program, fully separated from the military system, whose volunteers’ work ranges from supporting the elderly to helping the disabled, as well many other duties. Israeli Arabs could contribute greatly to their communities by joining in.
It is true that Israeli authorities ought to improve their relations with Israeli Arabs. Yet, without a will from the latter, it would go nowhere. Unfortunately, in modern world, you cannot demand rights without paying your dues.
In United States, African-Americans reached great heights in just a century. A great thing happened: black man – an African-American – was elected to be the President. Many Israeli Arabs relate to the success of black citizens of America, saying there should be more involvement by their representatives. However, would Americans fight for rights of African-Americans, if most popular figures among them would openly call for destruction of US? What if Black Panthers would still be active, setting murder of all whites as their goal, with Barack Obama supporting them – would he still be elected President?
My name’s Jonathan Boyko. I am 24 y/o PC tech guy, working in Jerusalem, Israel. Prior to my current work, I served for three years in the Israeli Defense Force, Combat Engineering Corps., which told me a lot.
My views are usually conservative, although I am far from being far Right. I believe I hold sane views. For example: I believe radical Islam should be battled against, hard – but that does not label all Muslims as terrorists. I believe the Israeli electoral system should be changed immediately – but presidential rule really would not work in Israel. I believe the ultra-orthodox in Israel shouldn’t be forced to serve in the military – but should be forced to do at least a year’s service for the country (within civilian infrastructure).
