The Writing Was on the Wall
JVL Introduction
Haaretz correspondent Odeh Bisharat is a Palestinian citizen of Israel, living in the Galilee, with his wife and three children.
A former secretary general of the political party Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality), he writes here about the cataclysmic events of recent days.
Full of empathy for his Jewish neighbours, and for all experiencing pain and bereavement right now, he writes that “What’s in one’s heart is easy to express, as it’s easy to voice sadness and anger. What’s going on in one’s head, however, is very difficult to articulate. And the head is saying that the writing was on the wall. “
This article was originally published by Haaretz on Tue 10 Oct 2023. Read the original here.
The Writing Was on the Wall for Arab Israelis
It was a difficult Sunday morning for many Israeli and Palestinian families on the other side of the border. However, and this is my main point, all families on both sides are in fact on the same side – the side of pain and bereavement.
These are difficult and dark days. They evoke strong emotions not only of sadness and anxiety but also of anger and revenge. These are days when the heart is awakened and the head is numb, and our role as members of Israel’s two nations who know the truth is to make our voices heard.
This is especially true for us, Israel’s Arab citizens, who for many years have lived together with our Jewish brothers, however at the same time we are part of the Palestinian people.
We feel the pain of our Palestinian brothers and at the same time feel the pain of our Jewish neighbors. When I read on social media about Israelis looking for their relatives, I feel deep pain. Some of those looking after their loved ones are people I knew, with whom I shared a long struggle for peace and a better future.
What’s in one’s heart is easy to express, as it’s easy to voice sadness and anger. What’s going on in one’s head, however, is very difficult to articulate. And the head is saying that the writing was on the wall.
After the Six-Day War in June 1967, the slogan was “Not one inch,” meaning no withdrawal from any of the occupied territories. Another slogan was “Better Sharm al-Sheikh without peace than peace without Sharm al-Sheikh.” The Egyptians thought that only through the 1973 war could they retrieve their land, and this conclusion led to thousands of Victims from all sides.
Today we are in a situation where Israel is led by a messianic group, who adopted the slogan “Not one inch,” and not only that, they also want much more. They want an inch in Area C, an inch in Area B and an inch in Area A, which is designated for Israeli army raids. And all this is accompanied by their incredible arrogance.
Mahmoud Abbas, who adopted the path of negotiations with Israel, is called the “Mayor of Ramallah,” and only a while ago the so-called experts told us that the Gaza Strip could be bought for just a few more dollars from Qatar. In this way, every Gazan resident will get a shawarma instead of a falafel, or, they said, the whole problem boils down to another work permit for Palestinians, who will hunker down at the fenced border crossing and humiliating gathering points on both sides.
Jewish supremacy is spread all over the wall. It is in the occupied territories, in Israel’s attitude toward its Arab citizens, as we saw recently also in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square. The messianic occupation works both ways. It’s the backbone of Israel’s efforts to cleanse the Palestinian villages of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank and the cleansing of secularists from such central Israeli liberal cities as Ra’anana.
Israel has been occupied by Jewish supremacy from the river to the sea. Israeli secularists are left to protect their public space. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have realized that the pinnacle of their aspirations amounts to another dollar from Qatar or another work permit from Israel’s Civil Administration.
For some reason, it’s exactly in such moments that they try to stir up a civil clash between Israel’s Arab and Jewish citizens. The propaganda and incitement machine is working at full speed, warning of an updated version of the Jewish-Arab riots of May 2021. They won’t stop until these horrific scenarios unfold everywhere.
But it’s worth explaining a basic fact, that for some reason they are trying to conceal. On several occasions, Israel’s Arab citizens protested and made their voices heard when the Israeli planes shelled Gaza and caused thousands of civilian deaths, including hundreds of children; when whole families were wiped out and buildings were destroyed, leaving thousands without a roof over their heads.
Israel’s Arab citizens joined to express solidarity with the Palestinians, but they never celebrated the killing of Jewish civilians. It goes against the nature of their lives alongside Jewish Israelis, against human conscience and their heritage.