Once upon a time, the Bedouin were considered loyal friends of the state of Israel.
I recall how for years I would encounter them in the Negev with my tourists and feel safe and confident that this colorful welcoming group posed no threat to me or to the Jewish state. They did not claim that the Negev was theirs.
They and the Druze were the minority groups that stood out from the rest of the majority of Muslim Arab citizens. These groups were enthusiastic about the opportunity to improve their lot and join the self-confident, success story called Israel.
There is no natural religious, social, cultural, or historic affiliation between Jews and these two groups that explain the alliance.
They simply went with a winner.
This was true as long as Israel was indeed perceived as strong and more importantly, confident; confident, and strong in its Jewish identity. This is a very respected trait for traditional communities with strong identities such as the Bedouin and Druze.
But change came and they were quick to sense it.
The Oslo capitulation and self-abasement were the clearest of signals.
The middle of the night flight from Hezbollah in south Lebanon and the desertion of our allies there was another.
The expulsion of thousands of Jewish families from their homes in 2005 and the retreat before Hamas there was yet another.
The above and more examples are but symptoms of the root problem; Identity.
Overwhelming military might and high walls cannot provide security for a people without an identity. They tell us that the Jewish state is not under attack from within; there is no war, no enemy, no victory, or defeat. It is just a "situation" that a little less Jewish identity can solve.
A Jewish country "of all its citizens" will fail to be a Jewish country and very quickly will stop being a country at all.
Those who do their best to weaken the Jewish identity are the ones who turned allies into enemies. They quickly turn respect and awe into hate and contempt.
That is what is happening in increasingly "no go" zones in Israel.
That is what is happening in the Negev, the Galilee, in the "mixed cities", in Beersheba this week, and it's coming your way soon.
My book, "Jews, Israelis, and Arabs tell the story
available on Amazon and Book Depository
1 comment:
Excellent. Yasher Koach!
Yoseph
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