The article deals with the very odd and peculiar
phenomenon of the Israeli Left, who behave as if they see nothing but
peace and harmony between Israelis and Palestinians, provided that Israel
retreats to the 1967 borders. They believe that redemption lies behind the
door, and ignore the cruel and harsh reality, the killings, violence, and
the uprising. They do not pay the least attention to the Palestinians’
declarations and especially the Palestinians’ actions. They believe,
wholeheartedly, that peace now is not the only available alternative, but
it can be reached. This is a pure and classic example of the “mirror
image”: You look at your rival, and imagine you see yourself through the
mirror.
There are three types of Israeli Left: the
opportunistic hedonists who trade peace as a business. In this type we
specifically find politicians. The second type is peace as a religion, as
an intoxicating belief. In this we find intellectuals combined with the
“Peace Now” group. The third type is peace as a total ideology. In this we
find the “Post-Zionist” group combined with other radical Leftists.
The common denominator of the three types is that
they are only a salon Left and fashion derived, part of the social
“bon-ton”. They have nothing to do with the socialist Left of Europe, east
and west, and of course nothing t do with the radical Left revolutionary
ideology. They belong to the middle and upper class in Israel, to the
“North Tel Aviv State”.
The problem is they have almost total dominance of
the media, both the electronic and the press, and these determine the
public agenda in Israel. They “breed” themselves into these positions, and
almost block out other opinions.
This is the reason why their failure was revealed
significantly through the demise and collapse of the Oslo accords. The
Palestinians demand not only the retreat to the 1967 borders, according to
the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 (of which they
were not a part!), but the fulfillment of the United Nations Assembly
decision 194 (“the Right of Return”). And from 1998, they have raised up
the demand that Israel’s borders, after the implementation of United
Nations Assembly decision 194, should be within the Partition Plan, of
November 29, 1947 (United Nations Assembly decision 181).
