The Ultimate Contradiction

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bwho have neither Jewish skin nor flesh nor veins nor spirit? bWhat of all the gentilized Hebrews, products of a secular Zion- bism, socialist or otherwise, who aimed at creating a nation exact- bly like all other nations and succeeded so magnificently, of which bthe universal crime, social upheaval, and permissiveness that bnow grip the state are eloquent proof?

bFor these people there is not the slightest relevance to being bJewish, and their “Israeliness” means exactly as much or as blittle to them as “Danishness” or “Swedishness” or b“Uraguayanness” to citizens of those countries. To the gen- btilized Hebrews there is only one major imperative: to live, and bas much as possible without problems.

bAnd if “Zionism,” that link between Israel and Jewishness, bis the cause of so much grief—annual reserve duty, high taxes, bterrorist threats, inflation, insecurity—why, who needs it? And bso thousands who can leave the country, and the Uzi bBenzimans, suggest “a change in the definition” of the state.

bThere are scores of variations on the theme of de-Zionizing band de-Judaizing Israel. Each of them involves making the state bless Jewish, in the absurd hope that that will satisfy the Arabs. bThus, a group called Shutafut (“Partnership”) is established by ba Jewish intellectual as a “union for creating conditions of part- bnership between Arabs and Jews.” Question: How does one bcreate a “partnership” in which one of the partners insists that he bbe the senior one? Surely by making both equal coowners in the bbusiness—and there goes Zionism. Is that what Shutafut bwishes?

bOf course, the true absurdity in this is that the Arabs do not bwant partnership in the land they sincerely believe is theirs, es- bpecially when they believe that time and conditions are on their bside. Why, the very rise of such a group convinces them that the bJews are fearful of the future, for otherwise why should they— bwho control the state—bother to try to make the Arabs “part- bners”? Certainly they, the Arabs, would never do such an insane bthing if they were a majority. The Arabs do not want shutafut, bpartnership; they wish to control the land they will call b“Palestine.”

bIn reality, Shutafut’s political program is vague or nonexist- bent. For all practical purposes, it reverts to the old “head-and- bstomach” philosophy of helping Arabs to a better life as a means b