There have been any number of interesting post-mortems on Shimon Peres' lavish 80th birthday celebration this past weekend. The Jerusalem Post published this odd piece by Michael Freund, in which he thoroughly castigates Peres and attempts to elevate the concept of "Greater Israel" to a fundamental tenet of Judasim.
Simply put, the idea of "Greater Israel" is the fulfillment of Zionism itself. It is the dream that the Jewish people have faithfully carried over the past 19 centuries, during the darkest hours of the Exile, to return to the cradle of their ancestral home, the Land of Israel.
This idea nurtured the Jewish people throughout the millennia, giving them hope in the face of despair. Its validity rested on the promises of the Prophets, who long ago foretold Israel's exile and return.
Yes, but. There's a conflation of two very different concepts here that borders on the blasphemous. And among Peres' sins, his opposition to the concept of "Greater Israel" is surely not at the forefront. More on this later, perhaps.
But the Post also offered this editorial, in which it's pointed out that, as misguided as Peres' policies have been, he is still, in many ways, one of Israel's great heroes.
Outside the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, where the day's formal festivities were held, protesters called for bringing the "Oslo criminals" to justice. No Israeli newspaper has been more steadfast in its opposition to the Oslo Accords than The Jerusalem Post. But we do not join in the protesters' sentiments.
Surely the "Oslo criminals" did not build the reactor at Dimona, or Israel Aircraft Industries, or many of the settlements. Surely the "Oslo criminals" did not organize the Entebbe rescue, or rescue Israel's economy from hyperinflation, or arrange our peace with Jordan. These are the foundation stones upon which the modern Jewish state is built. The man who did so much to put them there deserves, at the very least, a more intelligent opposition.
Not surprisingly, though, the best commentary I've found on the event and its implications is from Imshin.
Things are far worse now than they were before the Oslo Accords, for us and for the Palestinians. I am saying this as one who was once a staunch supporter of these accords. Things are not worse because terrorism takes its daily toll on ordinary Israelis and because life for the Palestinians is unbearable in the shadow of the Israeli tanks. Things are worse because where there was once hope for a better future for Israelis and the Palestinians living here alongside us, now there is none.
My belief in Oslo was based on my personal acquaintance with some of these local Palestinians. They wanted a bit of what we had. They wanted to be able to run their lives themselves. I wanted it for them too. So did most of my friends. But it never happened. What happened was that for various inner-Palestinian political reasons they couldn't accept a leadership other than that of Arafat and his cronies. And they got it. Some of them said, quietly, that what they got was far worse than what they had before. Israeli rule was exchanged for the rule of Palestinians who came from without ("Tunisians"), foreigners who knew nothing of Israel and the life the local Palestinians had been watching and wanted a piece of. They enforced their rule over the local Palestinians brutally. Their torture chambers made Israel's prisons seem like summer camps. Furthermore, they saw no need to learn from Israel's example of proper administration. And most of all, they hadn't internalized what the local Palestinians had: That Israel and the Israelis weren't going anywhere, and it would be better to get along with them and compromise, compromise.
Yeah, go read the whole thing.
