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Shlomo Sand, The Invention of the Jewish People - Rafapal

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294 THE INVENTION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE<br />

defective <strong>Jewish</strong>-Americans). He wanted to be a "nonhyphenated" whole Jew,<br />

and if this displeased a "new Israeli" like Anton Shammas, he should pack his<br />

belongings and move to <strong>the</strong> future national Palestinian state. 68<br />

This was perhaps <strong>the</strong> last time that a well-known Palestino-Israeli intellectual<br />

proposed a joint cultural life in a pluralistic but egalitarian liberal<br />

democracy. <strong>The</strong> negative response <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Israeli Zionist left, as well as <strong>the</strong> intifada<br />

that erupted at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> 1987, made such proposals even rarer. While<br />

Israeli Palestinians expressed solidarity with <strong>the</strong> national liberation struggle<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Palestinians in <strong>the</strong> occupied territories, <strong>the</strong>y were so far not calling for<br />

national territorial separation. But pride in <strong>the</strong> oppressed Palestinian culture<br />

and <strong>the</strong> desire to preserve it at all costs led many to call for Israel to become a<br />

consociational, or multicultural, democracy. <strong>The</strong> single unifying demand was<br />

for Israel to become <strong>the</strong>irs, so that <strong>the</strong>y could belong to it.<br />

<strong>The</strong> debate concerning "<strong>the</strong> state <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> people" was heating up.<br />

In <strong>the</strong> 1990s, with <strong>the</strong> subject <strong>of</strong> post-Zionism engaging various intellectual<br />

circles, <strong>the</strong> definition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> State <strong>of</strong> Israel became one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> key issues. In <strong>the</strong><br />

past, anti-Zionism had been equated with <strong>the</strong> denial <strong>of</strong> Israel's right to exist,<br />

and <strong>the</strong> one principle that all Zionists agreed on was that Israel must remain<br />

<strong>the</strong> exclusive state <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> Jews in <strong>the</strong> world. Now, post-Zionism supported<br />

full recognition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> State <strong>of</strong> Israel within <strong>the</strong> 1967 borders, but combined it<br />

with <strong>the</strong> uncompromising demand that it become <strong>the</strong> state <strong>of</strong> all Israeli citizens.<br />

Following <strong>the</strong> Oslo Accords in 1993, and especially <strong>the</strong> outbreak <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

Second Intifada in 2000, <strong>the</strong> territorial myth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> "entire Land <strong>of</strong> Israel" as<br />

<strong>the</strong> patrimony <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> people began to dissipate. But <strong>the</strong> process was<br />

accompanied by <strong>the</strong> insistence on <strong>the</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> people's exclusive claim to <strong>the</strong><br />

State <strong>of</strong> Israel. A large portion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> former territory-minded right wing grew<br />

into a rigid and racist right wing, while <strong>the</strong> center-liberal camp entrenched<br />

itself in its Zionist positions and sought to legitimize <strong>the</strong>m juridically and<br />

philosophically.<br />

In 1988 Justice Meir Shamgar, president <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Supreme Court and an<br />

Israel Prize laureate, declared that "<strong>the</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> State <strong>of</strong> Israel as <strong>the</strong><br />

state <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> people does not conflict with its democratic character, just<br />

as <strong>the</strong> Frenchness <strong>of</strong> France does not conflict with its democratic character." 69<br />

This absurd comparison—all <strong>the</strong> citizens <strong>of</strong> France, old or new, are identified<br />

68 Abraham B. Yehoshua, "Reply to Anton," in <strong>The</strong> Wall and <strong>the</strong> Mountain, Tel Aviv:<br />

Zmora, Bitan, 1989 (in Hebrew), 197-205.<br />

69 Moshe Neuman versus <strong>the</strong> president <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> central electoral commission, decision<br />

(4) 177, 189.

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