Preaching Goes Viral

Israel/Corona

M3: Political agenda (for or against): politicians and current political debates

Israel is complicated, it is no accident that the Israeli narrative and the Palestinian narrative of what happened in 1948 are different. They cannot even agree on the facts of what happened. We need to be teaching both narratives. We need our students to understand why they will encounter hostility for being Zionists when they go to college and how to respond. And we want them to understand that in spite of everything, being a Zionist is a good thing! Coming to the present, I think the accords signed last week between Israel and two Arab Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, are historic. I don’t think that it is a peace deal since neither country has ever been at war with Israel. And it did nothing to further peace in the Middle East.  However, in terms of normalization of ties with Arab neighbors, it is the first time in 25 years that any Arab state has been willing to recognize Israel’s right to exist and agreed to joint economic ties. So, yes, I think it is a big deal and something we should celebrate! At the same time we have to acknowledge that it did nothing to help resolve the conflict with the Palestinians, but that was not a goal of the accords.  Rather I think it was a statement by Arab states signaling to the Palestinians that they are tired of their intransience and that joining with Israel to develop technology and to oppose Iran is more important to them than standing together with the Palestinians in their fight against Israel. Israel was once isolated in the Middle East, as they make more friends, perhaps the Palestinians will realize that the whole region does not hate Israel. Certainly, the firing of missiles from Gaza during the signing ceremony, indicates that that this step by other Arabs will not bring the Palestinians to the negotiating table, rather they are demonstrating their displeasure. I believe that we must be thankful for this new development and at the same time, continue to hope and pray that Israel and the Palestinians find a way to end the ongoing conflict as the status que is not an acceptable solution.

2022-12-13

Rabbie Mark

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