In the wake of the tragic deaths of Israeli and Palestinian youths, Israeli political leaders must stop inciting violence against Arabs.

AlterNet | By Jordan Elgrably | July 9, 2014<

The appalling racism and act of vengeance inherent in the kidnapping and murder of young Mohammed Abu Khdeir is not an aberration in Israel. It is a trend and the direct result of decades of state indoctrination, and deep-rooted racism in the Jewish community—a racism I have personally experienced in my own family. That is, Jews are taught to believe not only that Arabs are the enemy, but also that we are intellectually and morally superior to them.

A man holds up his hand as Israeli security and Palestinian stone-throwers clash in the Shuafat neighborhood of Israeli-annexed Arab east Jerusalem, on July 2, 2014, after a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and killed in an apparent act of revenge.

As an Arab Jew and a human being first and foremost, I completely reject this exceptionalist claptrap. Ironically, my Moroccan Jewish family on my father’s side was saved from certain death in concentration camps, when during a routine train stop in Occupied France, in 1941, SS officers mistook the Elgrably clan for Moroccan Arabs—that is to say, Muslims. There can never be any doubt that we are all human beings first and foremost, and that we share much more than we differ.

As Jews we must shout from the rooftops against all forms of racism against Arabs and all others. Just as Jews were pro-active during the Civil Rights movement in this country, we must now reject Israeli calls for vengeance with respect to the tragic deaths of the three Israeli teens. We should be in the front lines of protest against the abusive response by Israel’s armed forces and police, who while ostensibly searching for the Israeli teens' murderers last month, arrested hundreds of Palestinians, many of whom remain in administrative detention, without charge. And now the IDF has unleashed an aggressive military assault on Gaza in response to Hamas rockets, which in turn are in response to Israel’s bombing in select Gaza neighborhoods. The IDF is pounding Gaza with excess force, exacting collective punishment upon innocent Palestinians.

Peace is not merely a buzzword or a slogan, and it is not a word to be taken lightly. Indeed, real peace requires equality, freedom and above all, justice. Arabs in Israel and in the occupied territories must be treated with the same respect and under the same laws as Jews. All human beings deserve dignified treatment under the law, and that requires Israel to halt its practice of administrative detention of Palestinians, who are often arrested without charge and held for months, sometimes in solitary confinement. As well, Israeli law enforcement and military should be accountable for their behavior under the law in cases where Palestinians are abused, tortured or killed. Israeli political leaders must stop inciting violence against Arabs, and speak up for restraint.

A new conflagration is taking place between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and people speak of an impending Third Intifada. To stop the potential deaths of hundreds, even thousands of innocent victims, the United States should intervene now, decisively, demanding that Israel show restraint and do everything in its power to restore calm.

Peace—and justice—depend upon it.

Notes on 9/11

fourteen years on

During the summer of 2001, with other Americans of Middle Eastern heritage, I created a cultural arts center for the Middle East, but then in the aftermath of September 11th, the U.S. went to war against Afghanistan and later Iraq, ostensibly to pursue the terrorists who hit us, but in reality, to expand the American empire and exert more geopolitical control over the Middle East.

Despite the fact that in March 2003, millions of people around the world were out in the streets, vigorously protesting for peace to stave off Bush’s impending invasion of Iraq, the U.S. went in anyway, with catastrophic results. Ultimately we helped to destroy a modern country and leave a security vacuum that allowed for the rise of Daesh, or the Islamic State, and for the expansion of other barbarisms. Should anyone have been surprised?

As James Baldwin said in a conversation I had with him for The Paris Review, “Insofar as the American public creates a monster, they are not about to recognize it. You create a monster and destroy it. It is part of the American way of life, if you like.”

Yes, we created a monster whom we then destroyed, for we backed strongman Saddam Hussein in the 1970s and goaded him into war against Iran in the 1980s, only to beat him back in the 1990s, and eliminate him in 2003.

PEACE WITH IRAN WINS!

This history is relevant today, of all anniversaries of 9/11, because we have just yesterday narrowly avoided another potential calamity—the war with Iran that the hawks and Israel seem to want the way salivating dogs want a meal of steak and gristle. We can celebrate today the fact that with the Iran nuclear deal—approved not only by the U.S. but by Britain, France, Russia, Germany and China—we have succeeded where in March 2003, we failed. With Iraq destabilized, Syria coming apart, and Egypt having returned to a state of virtual dictatorship under Sissi, not to mention repressive or failing regimes elsewhere in the region, these are not happy times. Yet we know that the youthful population of the MENA is still clamoring for change and advancement. There is enormous creativity and potential that we must connect with, and support.

In the wake of the tragic deaths of Israeli and Palestinian youths, Israeli political leaders must stop inciting violence against Arabs.

A few recent posts...

Fresh Tweets

Notes on 9/11

fourteen years on