Changing the Israeli mindset… Is it really possible?
Would knowledge of the API, I mean a real and true understanding of what it offers Israel, be enough to change the mindset of a significant majority of Israelis to the point where they insisted that their leaders responded positively to it in order to get good faith negotiations for a comprehensive peace underway.
For the sake of discussion I am going to assume that the answer is “Perhaps”.
In that light the question that needs to be asked and answered is this.
What can be done to inform all Israelis about what is on offer to them in the API?
My answer is that the Arab League should call and push for the convening of a special session of the UN General Assembly to focus on the API.
The UN Charter (Chapter IV, article 20) provides for the General Assembly to meet in special sessions. It states: “The General Assembly shall meet in regular annual sessions and in such special sessions as occasion may require. Special sessions shall be convoked by the Secretary-General at the request of the Security Council or of a majority of the Members of the United Nations.”
So if the Obama administration blocked a request for a special session on the API from the Security Council to the Secretary General, it could be made to happen by a majority of all the member countries.
At the special session the foreign ministers of each and every country in the Arab and wider Muslim world would re-endorse the API, spell out what is in it for Israel and indicate that if Israel was prepared to negotiate in good faith, a final agreement for a comprehensive peace would state that the return of Palestinian refugees is to be restricted to the territory of an independent and sovereign Palestine (with compensation for those unable to return), and, that Jerusalem would be an undivided, open city and the capital of two states.
In their own and various ways Arab and other Muslim foreign ministers could also take the opportunity to speak directly to all Israeli Jews. The main message to them would boil down to something like this. “If you really want peace on terms that guarantee your security and wellbeing and an acceptable amount of justice for the Palestinians, it’s time for you to stop believing the propaganda of your leaders and insist that they negotiate in good faith. Peace and security for all is there for the taking so far as the Arab and wider Muslim world is concerned.”
Media coverage of such an event ought to guarantee that most if not all Israelis were made aware of what they had to gain from a real peace process kick started by the API. No doubt some writers, broadcasters and other commentators in the Israeli media would assert that it was all an Arab and other Muslim confidence trick, and that Arabs and all Muslims were never to be trusted. But the message from such an event would be clear to all but those whose minds have been closed and locked by decades of Zionist propaganda
Question. Would such an event be enough to change the mindset of a majority of Israeli Jews and cause them to insist that their leaders be serious about negotiating a comprehensive peace on terms that would provide an acceptable amount of justice for the Palestinians and security for all?
My answer is….. Probably not but it’s well worth a try.
Last question. Does the Arab League have the political will to take such an initiative?
My answer is….. Probably not but it should.
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Rehmat:
July 9th, 2014 at 2:54 am
study conducted by Professor Daniel Bar-Tal (Tel Aviv University) have found out that an average Israeli prefer to live in ‘self-denial’ as he/she is not interested to know the facts about the Israel-Palestine conflict. They’re brainwashed with Zionist narrative of the conflict and hatred toward Arabs and Muslims from an early age. The Zionist rabbis are known for using Talmudic texts to create hatred toward Arabs, Blacks and Christians. Last year, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Manis Friedman responded to a question “How Jews should treat their Arab neighbors?”, in the Moment magazine for its “Ask the Rabbi” feature, said: “The only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way. Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle). I don’t believe in western morality. Living by Torah values will make us a light unto the nations who suffer defeat because of a disatrous morality of human invention…….”
Professor Daniel Bar-Tal conducted this study with Dr. Eran Halperin of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya (Israel). “The political system and the education system use all their tools, such as Jerusalem Day, to socialize people with the idea that a unified Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal, indivisible capital. People are not born with a concept of ‘Jerusalem is ours forever’ and many know no political solution is possible without a compromise on Jerusalem,” wrote Professor Daniel Bar-Tal.
Dr. Eran Halperin adds to the study: “For years, people have been inculcated with information by a selective steamroller and a reality is constructed for them, They are told repeatedly, ‘Jerusalem is united,’ but they’re not told that no other country recognizes the annexation of the eastern part of the city. The result is that any criticism of Israeli activity in East Jerusalem is perceived as pure anti-Semitism.”
http://rehmat1.com/2010/05/24/study-israelis-prefer-to-live-in-self-denial/
Tom Mysiewicz:
July 9th, 2014 at 3:32 am
Not a chance. I can remember when David Berkowitz, the infamous “Son of Sam” killer of young non-Jewish women (except for the last victim–who I think may have been a mob hit) spread fear throughout New York City. You can’t blame all Jews for the actions of one demented individual, we were told in various ways. Well, Israeli Jews (and I suspect many ones elsewhere) seem to like the idea of collective guilt–FOR OTHERS. So nothing the Palestinians do will change that. Coupled with the victimhood mania inculcated into them by the Zionist educational system, this produces the current situation, characterized by reports of a poor Palestinian boy kidnapped by “settlers” and being force fed gasoline and ignited so he exploded. I heard a Jewish financier and former IDF officer on Max Keiser/RT the other day–the Israeli stock market could go much higher, he intoned, if only the “war problem” went away. Israel–he pointed out, has the 25th highest GDP per capita in the world. Such persecution! With Gaza’s huge natural gas reserves and Kurdistan’s oil the sky’s the limit–never mind the Palestinians and Iraqis. Money–another reason why the Israeli mindset won’t change barring major military setbacks.
Sami:
July 9th, 2014 at 9:18 am
To understand the mentality of the Israelis, one should look no further than common thieves who are powerful enough to keep what they loot by simply ignoring, and occasionally flexing their muscles to intimidate, their victims lest they start demanding,or insisting, on the return of what is rightfully theirs. It is for this precise reason that the Israelis will never ever agree to engage in a meaningful peace negotiations, always haunted by the gravity of their crimes and mindful of the legitimacy of the inalienable rights of their victims. Hence, the Israelis will never ever be prepared to negotiate a settlement, unless the Palestinians acquire the means to force them to do so. If I were a gifted Israeli leader, I would today negotiate with the Palestinians and reach an agreement on their terms because that is the only guarantee for Israel’s long term survival.
David Marchesi:
July 20th, 2014 at 10:09 pm
Alan Hart’s analysis is trenchant and persuasive, even if it sadly leads to a “probably not”. The power of the media in the West and the universal cowardice of “Western” leaders contrive to distort the whole picture, and, I think, this situation is getting worse. It is no doubt that the US holds the key , or, to put it another way, is the prime culprit in the ongoing triumphs of Zionism. The API could/should be promoted by American politicians with “coglioni”, but very few of these show on the horizon (Ralph Nader) and the Europeans “old” and “new” are generally mere puppets of the US.In short, neither the public nor its so-called leaders in “the West” looks likely to get wise in a foreseeable future.The respite in Ireland’s struggle against the invaders has come after about 1000 years, and at a huge price in the honour of some Irishmen and in a weakening of national identity.
Palestinians should be prepared to hold out for another 900 years on this analogy! By which time, millions will have lived and died as almost helpless victims of the Zionist bullies. A truly awful prospect.Meanwhile, visibly, Israeli Jews are largely losing any sense of humanity they ever have had.