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JUDENREIN

Reports have it that Abu Mazen, our erstwhile peace partner, has declared his unalterable opposition to the State of Israel being a Jewish state. And, the world media in its anti-Israel frenzy accuses Israel of being an apartheid state.

And this naturally ignores the fact that twenty percent of the Israeli population is not Jewish and does not intend to become Jewish nor is there any pressure on them collectively or individually to become Jewish.

However, the Arab states, who are naturally free of any such criticism are completely Judenrein with the exception of Morocco where a benevolent monarchy still rules.

Saudi Arabia does not allow public Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, etc. worship and strictly limits the numbers of non-Wahibi Moslems who can live within its borders. Of course, none of this is apartheid. After all, it is their countries and they can rule them as they wish. It is all an internal matter and someone else’s business.

But Israel cannot be a Jewish state – that is definitely apartheid, evil and must be condemned. Just wait for the new Durban II massacre of Israel sponsored by the UN humanitarians to convene and pass its dastardly resolutions. And Abu Mazen has no intention (except perhaps for the Neturei Karta nuts) of allowing Jews to live in his putative state that never seems to get off the ground.

No, the Palestinian state will certainly be Judenrein, but that will not be a problem for anyone. It will be Judenrein because after all it is an internal matter. What is the logic of Palestine – if it ever does arrive – being Judenrein but Israel not being allowed to call itself a Jewish state? What am I missing here?

I cannot understand why our official government spokespeople, whoever they are, allow such outrageous statements as Abu Mazen’s to go publicly unchallenged. The danger in our keeping silent is that this becomes an automatic concession whether we wish it to be or not.

Look at what has happened to the Jerusalem issue which was supposed to be non-negotiable. But the Arabs have pressed their case, consistently, loudly and publicly until it has seeped even into our consciousness.

The same thing will undoubtedly happen with our Jewish state status if we continue to allow these extreme and nonsensible statements to continue without proper reaction and retort.

It seems that the government is so fixed on negotiations at all cost with the Palestinians that nothing they do or say can swerve it from its dangerous path.

Remember the idiotic phrase that accompanied the second intifada? “Nothing will allow us to be deterred by terrorism from achieving a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.” Well, the terrorism continues, the agreements are never achieved and if committed to paper never enforced. And, we continue with this macabre dance as though somehow something positive will be accomplished by such an attitude and policy of ours.

We have proven to the world and really internalized within ourselves that we have no lines - green, red, or blue – that cannot be crossed. In the immortal words of Pogo and many other great scholars – “We have met the enemy and they are us!”

I often wonder what if the non-Jews living in Israel had a chance to vote freely on whether they wish to remain here or not. What would the results be?

Do the Arabs living in Jerusalem really wish to be ruled by Abu Mazen and his corrupt and ineffective government? I doubt it, though naturally I have no solid empiric evidence to back my opinion.

But we in effect are willing to condemn these 200,000 human beings to a lower standard of living, the loss of excellent health care and educational opportunity and other great disadvantages, all in the name of the pursuit of illusions and wishful thinking.

The polls taken on the Palestinian and Arab street are notoriously unreliable because people do not speak their true mind to pollsters in a society that limits free speech and has large government police forces to keep the population in line.

Would Hammas win an election in Gaza today? We will never know. The victory at the polls that they achieved was a reaction against Abu Mazen and his ineffectiveness and corruption. Is Hammas any better? Do the people really want Israeli air strikes to dominate their daily lives?

Do they really feel that ultimately their interests are well served by having the Hammas thugs fire kassams at Israel and thus invite the retaliation that must surely follow?

Does anyone really ask these questions or even care about them?
Certainly not in a world where Judenrein countries are perfectly acceptable but a Jewish state is somehow questionable and apartheid. Eventually we will come to our senses and deal with all of this sensibly instead of foolishly ignoring the obvious.

Berel Wein