Here I go again, I guess. This doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's damned uncomfortable. I could just keep quiet about it but, well, that's not my style.
There's a big brouhaha building in Israel over this.
MK Zvi Hendel (NU/NRP) on Sunday called for all Arab MKs to be evicted from the Knesset, following comments over the weekend by soon-to-be science minister Ghaleb Majadle - Israel's first Arab minister - that he would not sing "Hatikva" because it "speaks only to Jews."
"How many more times will we take the Arab MKs spitting in our faces and insist on pretending that it's raining?" Hendel demanded. "The Arab MKs, who continue again and again to fearlessly incite against the Jewish people, its symbols and its holy places, and cooperate with the most bitter and hateful enemy must get out of the Knesset."
He called on all Zionist Knesset members to unite and ensure that such a move was carried out.
An Arab MK who refuses to sing Israel's national anthem. Well, on its face, that sounds like a pretty ridiculous state of affairs. But then again, maybe not so much. Let's take a look at the actual words of that national anthem. There are more poetic translations, but this one captures the spirit while being as true as possible to the literal meaning.
As long as deep in the heart,
The soul of a Jew yearns,
And forward to the East
To Zion, an eye looks
Our hope will not be lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
I don't know. I've always had serious problems with the calls to change Israel's national anthem, as it embodies so beautifully the long-awaited and hard-fought fulfillment of the dreams of the Jewish people after 2,000 years. But I have to admit that even the most patriotic non-Jewish Israeli must have a hard time singing those lyrics. Really, what do they have to do with him, or her?
Shouldn't a national anthem be a banner under which all the citizens of a country can feel comfortable? Of course Israel is a Jewish state and its Arab, Muslim, Christian and Hindu citizens must come to grips with that. But that doesn't solve the problem of somehow tying patriotism to a negation of identity. It's one thing for Israel's Arab and Muslim population to acknowledge, accept and even perhaps be able to celebrate Israel as a Jewish state. It's another thing to ask them to identify with Jewish aspirations, some of which were achieved at their expense. It's another thing entirely as ask them to pay lip service to a Jewish identity.
MK Majadle has no issue with standing in respect for HaTikva. He simply can't in all honesty sing the words. I just can't find fault with that. If I were an Arab Israeli, I wouldn't sing them either. So I'm finding myself, for the first time, rethinking whether, after 59 years, HaTikva is still an appropriate national anthem for Israel. Not that anyone asked me. Bradley Burston, in today's Ha'aretz, has some thoughts to consider.
I adore Hatikva. But it's time it was changed. It's time its words were changed. It's time it was replaced by an anthem that all Israelis can sing in good conscience, non-Jews as well as Jews. An anthem in which more than a million Arab citizens can join in full voice.
I don't know. I'd be happy to hear contrary arguments. So far, I haven't seen anything convincing.
