|
bBut Israel nourishes itself, not from its “Israeliness” but bfrom its Jewishness. Its very right to exist is based on that Jew- bishness. It was because of the Jewish people’s ancient claim to bthe land that the existence of a majority of Arabs was rightly btermed irrelevant. It was because of a Jewish claim that Lord bBalfour and the British government issued the proclamation bsupporting a Jewish national home in Palestine. It is because of bits Jewishness that world Jewry supports Israel. How much mon- bey would world Jewry give to a United Appeal that raised money bfor an “Israel” whose Arab population was the majority and bwhose entire identity had changed overnight? bOf course Israeli Arabs were demanding “integration.” Of bcourse they wanted “more.” Of course they wanted social and beconomic benefits. But not because that would satisfy them, not bbecause that was all they wanted. They wanted to be exactly like bthe Jews, including having the right to create an Arab “Zionist” state bwhen they become a majority, just as the Jews imposed their Zionism bon them. bBut how does one get through the head of a Teddy Kollek bthat his demand for water, electricity, and phone service for the bArabs of East Jerusalem may win him Arab votes but is irrele- bvant to the fact that they mock and hiss at his pathetic insistence bthat Jerusalem is “one unified city”? How does one persuade bKollek that his plan to “satisfy” the Arabs of Jerusalem by es- btablishing a system of “boroughs” that will give them autonomy bwill only whet their appetite for full independence, jeopardize bJewish tourists in the “autonomous” areas of Jerusalem, and bconvince the Arabs of Jewish weakness? bTo understand fully the mind of Teddy Kollek and his com- bpatriots, one must consider an “event” that Kollek conceived of band carried out in April 1980. Fully aware of the emptiness of bhis “one Jerusalem” claim, Kollek, in conjunction with the bAmerican Jewish Congress, conceived of a “conference” of bmayors from multi-ethnic American cities. Clearly, Kollek bwished to tell the world: We have invited the mayors of Chicago, bPittsburgh, Cincinnati, and other cities to Jerusalem, because we ball have a common problem. We all have people of different back- bgrounds and there is always a certain amount of friction. But bjust as Pittsburgh and Chicago solve their ethnic problems, so bcan Jerusalem, because our problems are similar.
|
|