"To end violence, end the occupation", Aref Assaf, The Bergen Record,
2/21/06
Re: Mothers on the warpath for peace (21/16/2006)
The story of the two bereaved mothers, one Palestinian , the other, Israeli,
while seemingly genuine in there desire to build trust and mutual understanding,
is awash in morally unequivocal claims of shared victimhood. The article talks
of Israeli 'commandos" killing Arabs then talks of Arab "terrorists" killing
innocent Israeli civilians. It talks of deeply ingrained Arab hatred for Jews
and persistent desire by Israelis to make peace with their enemy. It talks about
Palestinian textbooks teaching violence and hatred against Jews, while Jewish
textbooks teach children to count oranges and apples.
This is an orchestrated attempt to completely debase the Palestinian national
and historical narratives. This method of demonizing the victim has been
endlessly used in many conflicts where somehow the victim is invariably blamed
for aggravating their own plight. If they just do not resist our advanced
weapons; if they just accept our domination over their lives; if they just let
us rape their land, their women; if they would just 'recognize' us- then peace
would assuredly come.
This is exactly the premise of such tours by Jewish-sponsored advocacy groups.
Ultimately, there aim is not to reach a just solution because that would require
the stronger party, Israel, to first admit to its crimes against the
Palestinians, but also to be ready to accept the moral and legal implications of
such a stand. By equating the violence of the oppressor to that resistance of
the oppressed, you leave out the cause of the violence and the needed remedy to
end it. Ultimately, it is the admission by Israel, the Jewish people and all
their friends, that it is Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian lands
that is the real cause of violence between the two people.
Textbooks do not kill, bullets do. Textbooks do not blow up homes, churches and
mosques, Israeli booms from jetfighter and tanks do. Textbooks do not render
people homeless, destitute and stateless for over for years; Israeli and Zionist
plans and policies of expulsion and forced transfer do.
Textbooks, on both sides of the divide, merely reflect realty: End the
occupation; resistance by the victims will cease. At any rate, independent
studies have proven that Palestinians textbooks do not incite children. A
comparison with Israeli textbooks would lead to more accusatory eyes at Israel's
almost total denial of responsibility for what befell the Palestinians. (See my
piece on this subject)
Aref Assaf, President
American Arab Forum, Paterson, NJ
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