False Dichotomies

In 1957 Moshe Sharett wrote the following:

“The activists believe that the Arabs understand only the language of force…The State of Israel must, from time to time, prove clearly that it is strong, and able and willing to use force, in a devastating and highly effective way. If it does not prove this, it will be swallowed up, and perhaps wiped off the face of the earth. As to peace - this approach states - it is in any case doubtful; in any case, very remote. If peace comes, it will come only if [the Arabs] are covninced that this country cannot be beaten…If [retaliatory] operations…rekindle thefires of hatred, that is no cause for fear for the fires will be fuelled in any event…

The other approach [is that] not even for one moment must the matter of peace vanish from our calculations. This is not only a political calculation; in the long run, this is a decisive security consideration [as well]…We must restrain our responses [to Arab attacks]. And there is always the question: is it really proven that retaliatory actions solve the security problems?”

Following the murderous suicide-bombing today in Tel Aviv, these words are more prescient than ever.

WARNING: THIS CONTAINS PLOT-SPOILERS. IF YOU PLAN ON SEEING THE MOVIE, SAVE THIS FOR LATER…

As Peter Bradshaw has noted in the Guardian, Paradise Now is primarily a contribution to the ongoing conversation regarding the cause of suicide bombings: “Paradise Now takes its place in the traditional choreography of our liberal debate about terrorism: the question of whether suicide bombings are justified is generally answered in the negative, though with the proviso that they have to be explained or contextualised.” If you are looking to support the idea that suicide bombing is primarily a desperate response to oppression, you will find it here. And if you are looking to support the idea that suicide bombing is an immoral and impolitic tactic, you will also find it here. While much of the film’s dialogue constitutes a debate on this issue though, I was not convinced that the director, Hany Abu-Assad, either came to a conclusion or was particularly concerned as to the answer. Continue Reading »

British photo-journalist Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by an Israeli solder on 11 April 2003, in the Gaza Strip. As a result, he fell into a coma. On 13 January 2004 he died from pneumonia. On 11 August 2005, Sgt Taysir Hayb was found guilty of the manslaughter of Tom Hurndall, and sentenced to eight years in prison. Continue Reading »

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” These words, by the Brazilian Arch-Bishop Dom Helder Camara, are so seminal as to be considered almost canonised. They point to the perceived contradictions between charitable and political efforts to alleviate poverty. I was reminded of them this week while glancing through the Jewish Chronicle. On page three, there was a story about Jerusalem’s Max Rayne School, founded in 1998 by the Hand in Hand charity. It is one of only a handful of schools in Israel where Jews and Arabs learn together. Continue Reading »

I wasn’t sure whether to write anything in response to events this weekend in Gaza. I last commented on targeted assassinations a few weeks ago, in response to the deaths of an eight and fifteen year old girl. My motives were partly cynical – I ‘hoped’ that the particular circumstances of the assassination of Munir Suqar, principally the fact that innocent children lost their lives, might lead to changing a few minds on this issue. But it would be wrong to give the impression that I only oppose the policy because innocents are sometimes killed. In fact, in most cases, there is no ‘collateral damage’, if you will pardon the short-hand. Continue Reading »

Pierrepoint depicts Albert Pierrepoint’s rise to the top of the hang-man profession. By the 1940s, his executions are so quick and efficient that he is personally selected by Field Marshal Montgomery to be in charge of post-Nuremburg executions of Nazi war criminals. On the day of his arrival, he watches the prisoners through binoculars while a British soldier takes him through their horrific crimes. Pierrepoint quickly demands that the briefing be stopped - “They’re human beings and they’ve got to die, that’s all we need to know.” He is not interested in their misdemeanours. His task is a banal one, and there is no need to be inspired. Death camp tales are entirely superfluous. Continue Reading »