Love is an acceptable form of knowledge, as long as the loving subject recognizes what is imperfect in the reality for which he feels a strong attachment. Well, that’s more or less what happens with the State of Israel X-rayed by Noa Tishby in “Israel: A Fascinating and Misunderstood Nation”.
In the book, released by Contexto, the cultural producer, actress and activist seeks to oppose the propaganda that tries to destroy the reputation of her country. The attempt at destruction takes place across a broad spectrum that ranges from pure ignorance to, according to her, malicious militancy, practiced through fake news, spread by groups that boycott the small Middle Eastern state economically and culturally.
It is a conflict that moves beyond the military camp, in which Israel has shown that it has nothing to fear. The paradox is that the country, surrounded by hostile neighbors, needs to reiterate to the four winds its need to exist. It is a painful and singular reiteration among the nearly 200 countries that make up the United Nations.
Noa Tishby could have written a militant and very boring pamphlet, appealing to stereotypes that contaminate the language of those who believe they are right. However, when chatting informally with the reader, she tries to behave as if she were at a bar table, letting out slang and jargon typical of pop culture.
Two examples. In 1947, with the UN resolution sharing British territories in Palestine, “while the so-called Israelis took to the streets to celebrate, the military forces of Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, with the help of Saudi Arabia and Sudan, were preparing to invade the state that had just come out of the oven”. Coming out of the oven is a risky metaphor so soon after the Holocaust.
Or even, instead of evoking a philosopher or a prophet to refer to the fact that Israel was not extirpated from the map, the author takes up the words of wisdom of Mick Jagger. For it was the lead singer of the Rolling Stones who proverbially said that “you don’t always get what you want”.
There are few moments when the activist loses her temper. One of them is when addressing the right of return of Arab refugees by the War of Independence in 1948. At the tip of the pencil, 700,000 to 750,000 left their homes, in exchange for the promise of enemy countries that they would return after the annihilation. from Israel.
But the script did not work out — and this mass is still under the tutelage of a UN agency. She lives impoverished in refugee camps and contrasts with the 150,000 Arabs who chose to remain in Israel. They are now perfectly integrated, with economic and political rights (they elect deputies to the unicameral Parliament) and form a community that has grown to a fifth of the population.
As for the 750,000, they reproduced and today there are 5.6 million in the third generation — which simply wouldn’t fit within a state of 9 million inhabitants.
The question just wouldn’t make sense if Israel had been defeated in the wars unleashed by a portion of its 21 Arab neighbors, which total 423 million inhabitants. However, history took a favorable turn for the Israelis, and the most disaffected today make up Hamas, the religious and radical Islamic group that controls the Gaza Strip and bombs Israel with homemade missiles. In 2018 alone, 1,119 missiles were fired at Israeli civilians.
And Israel’s shortcomings? Noa Tishby mentions three times the existence of prejudice of Jews against Arabs, but does not go so far as to discuss public policies that neutralize the problem. And she does not link the cultural aggressiveness of far-right Jewish religious groups to the few bloody attacks that their sympathizers have committed against Palestinian civilians.
As a progressive and leftist, the author clearly distances herself from the “haredis”, orthodox Jews who dress in black, do not serve in the army and have their own schools – in which mathematics, English and computer science are not taught. As a result, they are marginalized from the job market and survive in poverty with a much higher number of children than lay Jewish families.
Israeli democracy would do nothing to repress the opinions of communities like these. They have the right to conceive of religion and politics as they see fit, even if they are a profound hindrance when it comes to recognizing the right to Arab lands and what they can and must do with the West Bank, now crisscrossed by Jewish colonies. It is something that works as a strong obstacle to peace.
It would be good if Noa Tishby spoke at length on this topic. But the book is already so rich in historical and personal terms that there may be plenty of subject for a new publication. The first is already excellent.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
