Israelis and anti-Palestinian racism

A minority of Israelis hold bigoted viewpoints about Palestinian Arabs. Many view this as an indication of the hostile intentions of Israel, and something that must be taken into account when analyzing the Arab-Israeli conflict. Many Israelis work to fight racism against Arabs and Muslims, and also to fight Muslim anti-Semitism; as such there are many projects that work to create a peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Arabs.

Anti-Palestinian bigotry

A handful of extremist Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israeli rabbis have described Palestinians as subhuman. None of these people have a role in the major Jewish denominations. Each of the statements below has been condemned by rabbis and spokespeople from mainstream Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism, and from the (largely non-religious) Israeli press.

"One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail." -- Rabbi Yaacov Perrin, Feb. 27, 1994 [Source: N.Y. Times, Feb. 28, 1994, p. 1]

"It is forbidden to be merciful to them, you must give them missiles, with relish — annihilate them. Evil ones, damnable ones," Said by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef about the Palestinian people [Source: The Times, UK - 4/10/01] Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is rejected as a leader by the vast majority of the Jewish community. Modern Orthodox Jews consider him an extremist. Reform and Conservative Jews often view him as a fanatic. The vast majority of the Israeli public rejects all of his views, and Israeli newspapers often portary Yosef as mentally unstable. His views are not representative of the Israeli public.

Some Israeli politicians have made critical and rude statements about Palestinians that Palestinians consider to be very offensive.

"There is a huge gap between us (Jews) and our enemies not just in ability but in morality, culture, sanctity of life, and conscience. " Israeli president Moshe Katsav. The Jerusalem Post, May 10, 2001

"The Palestinians are like crocodiles, the more you give them meat, they want more".... Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel at the time - August 28, 2000. Reported in the Jerusalem Post August 30, 2000

"[The Palestinians are] beasts walking on two legs." Menahim Begin, speech to the Knesset, quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, "Begin and the Beasts". New Statesman, 25 June 1982.

"The Palestinians" would be crushed like grasshoppers ... heads smashed against the boulders and walls." " Israeli Prime Minister (at the time) in a speech to Jewish settlers New York Times April 1, 1988

Israeli politicians hold that it would be demographic suicide for millions of Palestinian Arabs to move into pre-1967 Israel. Some Palestinians hold that such views are offensive. For instance, "We must do everything to ensure they [the Palestinian refugees] never do return" David Ben-Gurion, in his diary, 18 July 1948, quoted in Michael Bar Zohar's Ben-Gurion: the Armed Prophet, Prentice-Hall, 1967, p. 157.

"There was no such thing as Palestinians, they never existed." Golda Maier Israeli Prime Minister June 15, 1969 David Ben Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister): "If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country." Quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif (The Jewish Paradox), pp121.

"We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population." Israel Koenig, "The Koenig Memorandum"

Statements by Israeli Military Leaders

One Israeli politician stated "We have to kill all the Palestinians unless they are resigned to live here as slaves." Chairman Heilbrun of the Committee for the Re-election of General Shlomo Lahat, the mayor of Tel Aviv, October 1983. This racist view was publicly repudiated by the Israeli public.

"When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be to scurry around like drugged cockroaches in a bottle." Raphael Eitan, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces, New York Times, 14 April 1983.

"The thesis that the danger of genocide was hanging over us in June 1967 and that Israel was fighting for its physical existence is only bluff, which was born and developed after the war." Israeli General Matityahu Peled, Ha'aretz, 19 March 1972.

"We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimeter of Eretz Israel... Force is all they do or ever will understand. We shall use the ultimate force until the Palestinians come crawling to us on all fours." Rafael Eitan, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces - Gad Becker, Yediot Ahronot 13 April 1983, New York Times 14 April 1983.

Examples of bigotry

Individual Israelis, speaking on behalf on themselves alone and not as part of a religious denomination or political party, have engaged in hateful speech against Palestinians.

"Everybody has to move, run and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements because everything we take now will stay ours... Everything we don't grab will go to them." Ariel Sharon, Israeli Foreign Minister, addressing a meeting of militants from the extreme right-wing Tsomet Party, Agence France Presse, November 15, 1998.

"It is the duty of Israeli leaders to explain to public opinion, clearly and courageously, a certain number of facts that are forgotten with time. The first of these is that there is no Zionism,colonialization or Jewish State without the eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of their lands." Yoram Bar Porath, Yediot Aahronot, July 14, 1972.

Israeli projects that fight bigotry

There are many Israeli founded projects that work to create a peaceful and productive co-existence between Israelis and Arabs.

Neve Shalom Humanitarian Aid Project

The Israeli Jewish-Arab Village of Neve Shalom-Wahat al Salam provides a remarkable model of coexistence. They organize humanitarian projects, including providing medical assistance for Palestinians in need of help.

Hamidrasha Jewish-Arab Beit Midrash

Hamidrasha, a center for study and fellowship, works to address alienation, estrangement, and mutual ignorance between Jews and Arabs. Hamidrasha is establishing an inter-cultural Beit Midrash (Hebrew, "House of study"), which will serve as a basis for mutual personal and communal encounters, and for the study of cultural narratives and modern texts of both peoples. Jewish, Muslim and Christian men and women will engage in a true inter-cultural learning experience, with the goal of making a significant contribution to the ongoing dialogue between Jews and Arabs, and strengthening their reciprocal ties.

Ir Shalem co-existence program

In many ways the city of Jerusalem has been at the center of the conflict. The Israeli political movement Peace Now in [1994]] has created an initiative called Ir Shalem, the goal of which is to build a peaceful equitable and inspiring future for this city, with Jewish and Arab citizens working together to find solutions based on equity and justice. This program brings together volunteer architects, planners, lawyers and other professionals to analyze problems, and offer solutions. Among other efforst, Ir Shalem is developing the first-ever planning model for East Jerusalem that will equitably meet the needs of the Palestinian community.

Ir Shalem (http://www.peacenow.org/programs/irshalem)

Seeds of Peace

Seeds of Peace was founded in 1993 by John Wallach[?] after the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. He created the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Otisfield, Maine, USA, and brought togther several dozen Israelis, Palestinian and Egyptian teens. The goal of his organization was to create a new generation of leadership in the middle-east, one in which both Arabs and Israelies would no longer accept outdated and harmful sterotypes about each other; this would occur by bringing together people to literally put a human face on those who were previously perceived as an enemy. Since that time Arab children from Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia have joined. Seeds of Peace camps now operate programs in the Middle East as well. Seeds of Peace has also branched out into bringing teenagers together to help solve the Balkans conflict, the Greek and Turkish dispute over Cyprus, and the Indian-Pakistani dispute.

Seeds of Peace (http://www.seedsofpeace.org/)

Givat Haviva's Jewish-Arab Center for Peace

Givat Haviva is an education, research and documentation center, founded in 1949 by Ha'Kibbutz Ha'Arzi Federation; it is located in the northern Sharon Valley of Israel. According to its website " The mission of Givat Haviva today is to cope with the major issues that are on the agenda of Israeli society, and to foster educational initiatives, research and community work in the fields of peace, democracy, coexistence, tolerance and social solidarity."

Givat Haviva sponsors the Jewish-Arab Center for Peace. "Established in 1963, the Jewish-Arab Center for Peace is one of the oldest and most prominent institutions in its field. The common bond of the dozens of projects conducted in the Center is the struggle for better relations between Arabs and Jews, better understanding of the essence of democracy and citizens' rights in Israel, and building bridges with our Arab neighbors."

Jewish-Arab Center for Peace (http://www.inter.net.il/~givat_h/givat/arabcent.htm)

Givat Haviva peace projects (http://66.155.17.109/peace/)

OneVoice, a project of the Peaceworks Foundation

According to their website "OneVoice is a global undertaking to: Amplify the voice of moderates; Empower Palestinians and Israelis at the grass-roots level to seize back the agenda away from violent extremists; Achieve broad-based consensus on core issues, configuring a roadmap for conflict resolutions. OneVoice...was developed by over two hundred Palestinian, Israeli and international community leaders...dedicated to strengthen the voice of reason."

This group rejects what they see as left-wing appeasement of Palestinian terrorism by leftist groups; they reach out to moderate liberal and centrist Israelies who want to advance the peace process; they reach out to Palestinian moderates who reject terrorism and suicide-bombings; they work to cultivate a moderate political leadership on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and are trying to pressure both the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority into reaching a just peace.

One Voice: Silent No Longer (http://www.silentnolonger.net/)

One Voice FAQ (http://www.silentnolonger.com/wwd_faq)

See also: Anti-Arab, Arabs and anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Religious pluralism, Peace process

External links

American Jewish Congress Seeking to advance Jewish-Muslim relations (http://www.ajc.org/InTheMedia/Publications.asp?did=449)

PBS interview with Feisal Abdul Rauf (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/muslims/interviews/feisal)

A Call to bridge the Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, by Feisal Abdul Rauf (http://asmasociety.org/sermon060602)

Khalid Abou El Fadl condemns terrorist attacks as not being true Jihad, and calles them Hirabah, terrorism (http://www.cuii.org/hirabah.htm)