All right, I have to humbly admit my sin of having been stubborn, selfish, and incapable of comprehending and accepting other people's ideas, and having opposed the peace process as a result. I now understand that this process - that some other people call the "piece-by-piece process" - is the only way to achieve stability in this area of the world.
In fact, it was so quiet here until we Jews came and impudently declared our intention to establish a state of our own. There were no reasons for us to claim this land for ourselves except for this old and outdated Book that some of our people still revere. We were so arrogant and pushy that, for a while, we even succeeded in convincing some other countries to support our claims. True, they only did so because some of their politicians, in spite of being so modern and civilized, still revere this Book, too. So it took us a while to convince them that our claims have nothing to do with the Book. On the contrary: we came in order to build a just and modern democratic society based on socialist principles, which would make everybody equal and happy.
Unfortunately, our Arab brethren misunderstood us as well, and for the same reason - they also take that Book seriously and cannot believe we have really abandoned it. They think we are just pretending, while harboring some cunning plan. So, instead of joining with us in building the state, which would be for everybody, not just for us, they proceeded in killing us. By doing so, they alienated many good-hearted, modern and civilized Jews, who started talking about security, the need to secure our borders, etc.
I have to admit, I belonged to both groups. To those who say that the Book provides the only justification for our being here, and to those who claim that in order to defend our borders we need some strategic depth and must therefore cling to all the land we presently hold. I stubbornly harbored these ideas even though more and more intelligent people whose opinion I respect joined the brave pioneers of piece... oh, excuse me, of peace. Those who decided simply to ignore the old and outdated attitudes and create the long- awaited peace on their own. It sure demanded military wisdom beyond my comprehension to ignore the fact that our Arab neighbors still resent us. It sure demanded political courage to ignore the fact that many of us Jews still remember the pogroms and the gas chambers and are afraid to remain secured solely by love for mankind.
But, as I have seen how many professors and other intellectual people joined the camp of the brave, I finally started thinking: Who am I after all to oppose these peoples? opinions? They know and understand so much, while all I know is that old Book that the educated people do not believe. Oh, yeah, I remember my grandfather told me how God miraculously saved the Jewish people many times and promised to always save us, so that we could fulfil some mission He gave us, but I forgot what this mission is about. And now the smart people are saying there is no mission, we are just like every other people, and that we only differ from the others in that we have occupied somebody's land. They agree we have nowhere to go from here, so, they say, we have to do everything to make our neighbors forgive us and love us. And the only way to achieve this goal is to give them at least a good portion of our land. In fact, the more we give, the more they will love us. Probably, they will fully love us when we give them all our land. But then again, where shall we go? No, the smart people say, the Arabs will love us in the middle of the way, as soon as we have created the New Middle East.
So, after I have given this some thought, I decided to join the people of faith and vision, to join those who believe their plan is going to work, against all odds. I remember my grandfather used to say that faith always helps. True, he had faith in the God of Israel in mind, but - I am afraid to pronounce this - very few people nowadays take Him seriously and believe in Him. Even many of our revered rabbis say that we have to give up parts of the land for the sake of security, which means they have no faith in His protection any more.
After I have considered the whole matter seriously, I came to the conclusion that the peace process was wrongly planned. You see, they started the process of giving-up from those pieces of the land that are presently populated by the most stubborn of the Jews, the most outdated ones. Those who still claim our relationship with the God of Israel has not changed and believe He will come to our protection. On the basis of this belief, they refuse to vacate the lands intended as a gift of love for our neighbors. They cling to their homes as if it were impossible to erect new ones on the land that remains ours (I don't know now which pieces will remain, because, as of now, our neighbors demand all of the land). These Jewish settlers simply cannot understand that they must love their neighbors.
But there are others in the country, and there are many of them, who do understand and say they do love our Arab neighbors. Why not ask them to show a good example and start with their neighborhoods? So what if they are in the center of Israel? These are also the lands our Arab neighbors claim as theirs. After all, Ramat-Aviv was built on the place where once stood the Arab village of Kfar Munis. This would be tremendously inspiring if the Jews presently living in Ramat-Aviv showed the courage to vacate their neighborhood and invite those Arabs who once lived in Kfar Munis to come back home. Wouldn't these Arabs love us? Oh, maybe they would even say that they now love us so much that they will permit us to stay in the rest of the country? After all, they will be receiving one of the richest and most beautiful neighborhoods in the country.
I do believe that for the sake of such a wonderful gift they will agree to let us rest in peace. Isn't peace worth trying?
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Eleonora Shifrin is a news editor for www.SedmoyKanal.com, Arutz-7's Russian-language website.
In fact, it was so quiet here until we Jews came and impudently declared our intention to establish a state of our own. There were no reasons for us to claim this land for ourselves except for this old and outdated Book that some of our people still revere. We were so arrogant and pushy that, for a while, we even succeeded in convincing some other countries to support our claims. True, they only did so because some of their politicians, in spite of being so modern and civilized, still revere this Book, too. So it took us a while to convince them that our claims have nothing to do with the Book. On the contrary: we came in order to build a just and modern democratic society based on socialist principles, which would make everybody equal and happy.
Unfortunately, our Arab brethren misunderstood us as well, and for the same reason - they also take that Book seriously and cannot believe we have really abandoned it. They think we are just pretending, while harboring some cunning plan. So, instead of joining with us in building the state, which would be for everybody, not just for us, they proceeded in killing us. By doing so, they alienated many good-hearted, modern and civilized Jews, who started talking about security, the need to secure our borders, etc.
I have to admit, I belonged to both groups. To those who say that the Book provides the only justification for our being here, and to those who claim that in order to defend our borders we need some strategic depth and must therefore cling to all the land we presently hold. I stubbornly harbored these ideas even though more and more intelligent people whose opinion I respect joined the brave pioneers of piece... oh, excuse me, of peace. Those who decided simply to ignore the old and outdated attitudes and create the long- awaited peace on their own. It sure demanded military wisdom beyond my comprehension to ignore the fact that our Arab neighbors still resent us. It sure demanded political courage to ignore the fact that many of us Jews still remember the pogroms and the gas chambers and are afraid to remain secured solely by love for mankind.
But, as I have seen how many professors and other intellectual people joined the camp of the brave, I finally started thinking: Who am I after all to oppose these peoples? opinions? They know and understand so much, while all I know is that old Book that the educated people do not believe. Oh, yeah, I remember my grandfather told me how God miraculously saved the Jewish people many times and promised to always save us, so that we could fulfil some mission He gave us, but I forgot what this mission is about. And now the smart people are saying there is no mission, we are just like every other people, and that we only differ from the others in that we have occupied somebody's land. They agree we have nowhere to go from here, so, they say, we have to do everything to make our neighbors forgive us and love us. And the only way to achieve this goal is to give them at least a good portion of our land. In fact, the more we give, the more they will love us. Probably, they will fully love us when we give them all our land. But then again, where shall we go? No, the smart people say, the Arabs will love us in the middle of the way, as soon as we have created the New Middle East.
So, after I have given this some thought, I decided to join the people of faith and vision, to join those who believe their plan is going to work, against all odds. I remember my grandfather used to say that faith always helps. True, he had faith in the God of Israel in mind, but - I am afraid to pronounce this - very few people nowadays take Him seriously and believe in Him. Even many of our revered rabbis say that we have to give up parts of the land for the sake of security, which means they have no faith in His protection any more.
After I have considered the whole matter seriously, I came to the conclusion that the peace process was wrongly planned. You see, they started the process of giving-up from those pieces of the land that are presently populated by the most stubborn of the Jews, the most outdated ones. Those who still claim our relationship with the God of Israel has not changed and believe He will come to our protection. On the basis of this belief, they refuse to vacate the lands intended as a gift of love for our neighbors. They cling to their homes as if it were impossible to erect new ones on the land that remains ours (I don't know now which pieces will remain, because, as of now, our neighbors demand all of the land). These Jewish settlers simply cannot understand that they must love their neighbors.
But there are others in the country, and there are many of them, who do understand and say they do love our Arab neighbors. Why not ask them to show a good example and start with their neighborhoods? So what if they are in the center of Israel? These are also the lands our Arab neighbors claim as theirs. After all, Ramat-Aviv was built on the place where once stood the Arab village of Kfar Munis. This would be tremendously inspiring if the Jews presently living in Ramat-Aviv showed the courage to vacate their neighborhood and invite those Arabs who once lived in Kfar Munis to come back home. Wouldn't these Arabs love us? Oh, maybe they would even say that they now love us so much that they will permit us to stay in the rest of the country? After all, they will be receiving one of the richest and most beautiful neighborhoods in the country.
I do believe that for the sake of such a wonderful gift they will agree to let us rest in peace. Isn't peace worth trying?
--------------------------------------------------------
Eleonora Shifrin is a news editor for www.SedmoyKanal.com, Arutz-7's Russian-language website.