Counterpoint

The author is a Los Angeles-based writer and web producer. He is also the creator of the popular weblog Citizen of the Month.

By Neil Kramer

I was honored when Tara asked me to write a post about my feelings on the current violence in the Middle East. As a Jewish man, an American and a supporter of Israel, my political views are quite different from hers. But the two of us have one common denominator -- neither of us enjoys seeing people dying and suffering in war.

I see a lot of anger when I read politically-oriented blogs, each side accusing the other of atrocities. I'm not a political person. I write a personal blog where I mostly write humorous stories. In Tara's last post, she displayed a painting by Felix Vigil that was titled "The Storyteller." I like that term. Consider me a storyteller.

What can a storyteller say about the Middle East that a politician or historian cannot? In a way, I think a storyteller is the most important critic of all. A storyteller knows that storytelling is everywhere and everything. The fighting in the Middle East is not over land or religion. It is fighting over storytelling.

This story being fought about in the media and blogs is based on a Biblical classic: David and Goliath. Unfortunately, you and I may have different versions of the story. Your version might be about this aggressive, warlike country named Israel. Settled illegally by a haughty people, they pushed innocent farmers from their homes and started an aggressive campaign to win land from all their neighbors. Whenever there is the slightest provocation, this mighty Goliath lashes out, killing anyone in its sight -- men, women and children. Whenever the civilized world tries to stop the insanity, Israel is backed up by its big brother, the United States.

When I read the comments on some blogs, I repeatedly hear this story. It's not the story I know and believe. It's like I've walked into an incomprehensible foreign movie without subtitles.

My David and Goliath story is quite different. Mine is about a people who have been pining away for their ancestral land for 5000 years. A people who were treated horrendously and viciously for centuries everywhere they went. After millions were murdered, the powers-that-be agreed to partition British land to form a home for Jews and a home for Palestinians. This tiny Jewish state was immediately attacked. Then attacked again. This David is surrounded by a multitude of Arab countries that hate to see a non-Arab country in their midst. Both Iran and Hezbollah say they will fight until Israel is eradicated. It was Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, that attacked Israel by sending in missiles and kidnapping soldiers. This is my David and Goliath story.

The recent conflict has very little to do with the Palestinians. It is about the non-Arab Iran wanting to win favor with the Arab Muslim world by arming Hezbollah to the teeth and provoking Israel. If this works, Iran wins favor. There is also a side benefit -- it makes the international community set aside key issues about this despotic regime that is developing nuclear weapons.

Suddenly Iran and Syria are not the villains anymore. This David and Goliath story casts Israel as the bad guy. If you ask some European school kids today, they think Israel takes up half the Middle East, rather than the tiniest slice of land with a small population. Yes, I know they are the "Western" country with the biggest military might in the Middle East, but is their aim anything other than to protect themselves?

I find it astounding that Israel's "Western" status makes their hardships and casualties seem less important to so many other Westerners. You don't believe me? On Thursday eight civilians were killed in Israel by Hezbollah missiles. But did anyone write any poems for these people? Were poems being written when buses were being blown up in Tel Aviv and body parts of Israeli children were flying onto the streets? Since Israel is the big bad Goliath in this story, the death of Israeli children just doesn't have the same impact as that of Arab children.

To me, this stinks of a condescending attitude toward the Arab World, as if Israel should know better than to hurt civilians during warfare, but terrorists -- well, that's just how they are!

I remember reading a lot of angry comments when Israel started building a wall. Israelis were called "racists," even though the wall actually was effective in stopping suicide bombers. Do you lock your door at home if there is a spree of robberies in your neighborhood? Are you being racist?

I appreciate the story many of you tell, where Israel is the Goliath. I still believe that Israel takes every precaution not to injure civilians during war, but I would be a monster if I didn't feel for the plight of the dead and displaced in Lebanon. But where is Iran or Hezbollah in this story? Are these provocateurs secondary characters? Do you feel comfortable telling a story where democratic Israel is a bigger villain than a despotic regime or a terrorist organization?

Stories are partly constructs of the imagination and the same situation can be written in hundreds of different ways. If I try to appreciate your David and Goliath story, I would like the same respect for mine -- because I rarely hear it being told in some circles. In all the talk of violence and death, will I be the only one to lament Israel's dead?

Comments

[maitresse]

Nicely put, neil; and Tara, I think you deserve commendation not only for your hospitality but for your very fine and thoughtful earlier posts on this subject.

The comments provoked-- Mirvat's in particular (despite a much-missed lack of concision)-- are equally important. Keep talking to each other, everybody. Maybe we can get some of this sorted out, and everyone can put away their guns, metaphoric or otherwise.

[Pacian]

"To me, this stinks of a condescending attitude toward the Arab World, as if Israel should know better than to hurt civilians during warfare, but terrorists -- well, that's just how they are!"

Well, yes. A terrorist is by definition a murderer, someone who is not sanctioned to use violence for political ends. Governments are sanctioned to do so, because we expect that they will abide by certain rules, such as not targeting civilian infrastructure. Contrary to your optimistic view, Israel has flaunted these rules. Pointing out that terrorists also flaunt these rules earns my sympathy for those they target, but it does not justify aping them.

[savtadotty]

Neil, I agree that personal blogs are more useful, and this one is a fine example. You have eloquently explained the core human issue of who controls the story. My beef is that the victim/hero dicotomy only works in stories, but real life is about getting to "I'm OK, you're OK," a concept that hasn't yet penetrated narratives. So we are all deluded, it seems, looking for our Davids and our Goliaths.

[Jack]

Neil,

Good post. I have to respond to a couple of the commenters. The fact and reality is that it is false to claim that there were never any issues between Arabs and Jews prior to the rebirth of Israel in 1948.

The Arabs rioted and massacred Jews in Hebron in 1929 and 1936, long before the state came about.

Go back in time and you can probably say that Jewish life was better under Muslim rule than Christian but that was still as a dhimmi, a second class citizen.

Go into the 20th century and we see Jordan created out of nothing. We see Iraq created out of nothing.

We see a lot of things and a lot of inconsistencies.

It is a sad time because there are so many opportunities and so much propaganda.

Israel shares blame. Israel accepts blame for some of the problems. Israel operates under a double standard.

Intellectual honest people who are familiar with the situation will admit that Israel treats this situation more like the West than the Arab nations and that has been an opportunity for Arabs.

Arab leaders have brutalized their people. When Hafez Assad grew upset he leveled villages.

Israel doesn't use its force the way that many paint it.

In private conversations with Palestinians and Egyptians I have been told that the reason they think that Israel will be destroyed is because it doesn't use force the way an Arab would.

What a sad comment and how sad a place we find ourselves in.

It doesn't have to be this way, but to my Arab colleagues I say please don't try and peddle a blameless story. It is just not accurate.

We all share in this.

[tamarika]

Neil, I thank you from the bottom of my broken heart for telling this story. I appreciate and respect Tara for permitting Neil to tell it here. Am very moved by this.

[mirvat]

"This week it was revealed that Israel's destruction of Lebanon was planned before the capture of the two Israeli soldiers. Indeed, it is well known that Israel illegally holds nearly ten thousand Palestinian captives and has been holding Lebanese prisoners for many, many years.

"If their concern is captured soldiers, let all prisoners held by all sides be released immediately.

"This conflict has seen the collapse of Israel’s entire strategy of imposing unilateral solutions on the Palestinians and its neighbors by building a `separation wall’. It is now clear that all sides can strike deep into one another’s territory and no wall will remove that threat.

"There will no unilateral solution. The only way to solve this conflict is for Israel to negotiate with the democratically elected Palestinian Authority and the governments of Israel’s neighbors to reach a comprehensive settlement based on the implementation of all United Nation resolutions – which must include the commitment by Israel to withdraw from all of the territories it has occupied since 1967 in contravention of UN resolutions."

I started my comment with quoting the mayor of London.
It is well known based on mere military facts and on governmental inside information that this war has been well planned since 2000. General Clarck witnessed the presence of a hit list for several countries as decided by this current administration, the pentagon endorsed this list in 2001 and it had Lebanon on it among other countries.
Having said that I hope we established that this war is not about the provocation by the capture of the two Israeli soldiers. The mere act is a military strategy that has been done in 2004 by HA for example and where Israel exchanged 200 captured Lebanese prisoners for HA to give back on captured Israeli. The act that HA did is legitimate as long as our land is still occupied. You seem to resort to history to make your case, I’ll discuss that here.

The story we tell ourselves as Arabs, and which I would be willing to refute if i wasn't so compelled by the tangible evidence since if live there, seems to be more comprehensive than what you tell.

1948 was devastation for the Palestinians who were even willing to live in peace and comply with the Belfur declaration. The policy of the state of Israel has always been governed by its mere nature. a state that comes out of victimizing mentality because of past oppression (which i completely acknowledge and truly despise the people who deny the holocaust), sadly the reaction to past oppression by the Jews has been to adopt a Nazi like regime based on racism and demonization of the indigenous Palestinian inhabitants back then. The ideology of this policy is simply reflected by a post i had a while ago (http://mirvat.blogspot.com/2006/07/we-are-not-anti-semites.html). I criticize some Arabic regimes (and non-Arabic/Iran) that are based merely on religious ideology which only leads to fanatic thinking and a unilateral logic, for the same reason I criticize the religious neo-cons in this present American administration that had expressed some crusaders feelings and orientation (along with the Jewish lobby) and I criticize the nature of Israel that is based on religion.

Now following up on haider droubi’s comment who explained the mentality of Arabs pre-1948 and contrasting that with the Zionist ideology as you can see in the post I referred to earlier, I walk you down our story:
The 1948 events were heartbreaking for all Arabs, this is the conflict was rooted in our mere being and mere definition as Arabs. The situation escalated up to the 6 day war. the Israeli leaders back then admitted that Israel was never really threatened and that this was a strategy developed after the war just for PR (again refer to the previous post), Arabs know that the reason behind that war was mere expansion (which is how Zionism defines the great Israel, from the fourat river to the Nile) even if I agree that Israel felt threatened and was compelled to go through that war, it is still not complying to the UN resolution and going back to its pre-1967 borders today (but Israel is in breach of 68 UN resolutions so that's not very shocking).
Now you claim that you adopted the two-state solution so willingly (forgetting all the history behind it and all the bloodshed and flaunting the holocaust for moral justification), fine even if I would accept that. What about still occupying Gaza and the west bank today? What about all the illegal Jewish only settlements? What about all the genocides that take place in Palestine? The ill-treatment, the checkpoints, the humiliation, the complete oppression physically and economically (for a good assessment of the situation of Palestinians inside Israel today check this movie, http://mirvat.blogspot.com/2006/07/peace-propaganda-promised-_115424959850782858.html).

The situation and treatment of Palestinians is not very foreign to us and that's why we adopt the Palestinian cause. Israel occupied Lebanon in 1978, till 2000 it was still occupying most of the south, in 1996 it did the operation grapes of wrath and committed the first Qana massacre which was condemned as a war crime by the UN. It had killed more than a 100000 Lebanese people (so it really shocks me to read a comment saying only 600 died now...), HA was created as a resistance that consists in its fighters of the sons of the men who were killed during the occupation. It is a resistance, call it terrorism all you want, and it is different from Alqada and different from Taliban. This is Lebanese resistance for Lebanon and to free the remaining Lebanese land and the remaining prisoners. They blend with the civilian population because they come from the people, they do not use civilians as shields, and they fight ferociously because they fight in their land for their land. You argue with us about the 1559 UN resolution, well what about the 425 resolution? What about the Taef agreement. Israel has yet to comply with UN resolutions to withdraw from Lebanon, to give back the Lebanese prisoners and to give back the maps for the land mines it planted in the south. Israel has yet to undo its illegal occupation in Palestine which is condemned by international law and opposed largely by American Jews.

.
Israel felt the need to commit yet another extremely aggressive reaction because it feels the threat from Iran, rightfully so, but why do the Lebanese have to pay the price? Also why not really clean up your mess within Israel and diffuse the Arabic anger at you? And how do you still feel threatened by the Arabic countries when most of these countries today have a peace treaty with Israel and most are "moderate" pro-American governments, including Lebanon. The first occupation and invasion and wars committed in Lebanon by Israel were to get rid of the PLO, this war is to give Iran a lesson, a threat. It is cheered and funded by the bush administration that is making a lot of money in the war market but the USA is also arming the Arabic countries. So while Israel thinks it’s defending itself from an eminent Iranian threat, all its doing is that it's building more grounds for Arabic hate and possible real threat. Many Jews who are real friends of Israel understand that.

in light of the complete destruction in my country and indiscriminate killings that goes against the article 3 in Geneva convention that is taking place in my country, in light of the genocides in Gaza and the west bank every day, do you see why we also feel the need to defend ourselves?

In summary, since it was established Israel has yet to prove that it wants peace with its neighbors and has yet to take real steps towards that peace.

[pepektheassassin]

What an excellent piece! This is the very best thing I have read on the whole thing. Thank you for your thoughts and for sharing them. I'll recommend this to others.

[naturegirl]

What a sad story this.Sad that people do not know what morning will bring.Sad that they are living a nightmare.
Sad that the light of lives is
being extinguished! So very sad to see what man has made of our world!

[Catherine]

I have heard from a Jewish friend living in Israel, who in the past has been working for peace. Her lament is that Israel's actions only serve to strengthen extremists on the other side. Neither side is "right" or "wrong" - but I think you are spot on, when you say it is about stories. The stories that we tell ourselves always justify our actions and put the other side in the wrong, while all along they are telling stories that do the same for them. In the meantime it is the innocent of both sides who get slaughtered.

[tinker]

Thank you for posting opinions from both sides of this issue. As stated by other readers, I simply wish that the killing would stop on both sides. Whether this will happen in our lifetime, remains to be seen. But I pray it will.

[Kiwi the Geek]

Thanks for the alternate way of explaining the disconnect. One little thing I don't get: How is Iran a non-Arab country?

[miss*R]

like I have said before - I don't know alot at all about this and it doesn't matter which 'side' anyone takes - it is the innocent children - on both sides that are being killed that is breaking my heart.
but I did like reading this 'story' thankyou.
am I being naieve and childlike in wishing the world could live in peace?

[haiderdroubi]

I respect your 'point of view' ,but i think it is the same story you repeat against the other version of the arab's story.
.let me complete it so at least we can find a solution.
'My David and Goliath story is quite different. Mine is about a people who have been pining away for their ancestral land for 5000 years.'
Jews lived in the middle east for ages among Arabs, their rights had been respected,many of them were ministers and rich people.and they were citizens of the Arab countries,they were a part of them, until some of them decided to leave to Europe looking for more.

'A people who were treated horrendously and viciously for centuries everywhere they went After millions were murdered, the powers-that-be agreed to partition British land to form a home for Jews and a home for Palestinians. This tiny Jewish state was immediately attacked. Then attacked again..'
the Arab world never treated them in a bad way before 1948, when they used their power and army to evacuate Palestinians out of their homes and scattered thousands of them in the desert, the Palestinians had to reach other cities walking for weeks.ofcourse imagine the death and killing that happened when evacuating by force thousands of civilians. Arabs never killed Jews in groups ,this had been done by nazi's not Arabs, this is a fact.
no stories were written about them in the arab litreture humiliating them as happened in other cultures,what you called ‘the tiny jewish state ‘ was created by force…by killing the civilians who used to live there before,it is only that the media forgot to mention them.

So,as I said if we will keep on repeating different versions of one story,we will reach no solution.
We all agree that Jews were treated horrendously and viciously for centuries, BUT NOT BY ARABS, this conflict was created in 1948 when Israel was created by force and caused the death of hundred thousand of Arabs.
AS OF NOW,and since many civilians live in Israel,diplomacy should be effected to solve this issue,many arabic countries signed the peace agreement ages ago,the rest r still discussing ,ofcourse policy is dirty everywhere,no civilians should be killed during the time we reach a solution,for the last 2 weeks,lebanese civilians had been killed in groups,thats why all media and blogs,well the honest ones at least,are defending the victims.
but at least don’t let those young generation of Arabs have anger towards the young ones in Israel cos of this war….of course not mentioning the pictures of those Israeli children writing messages to Lebanese children ..that was a small example of the unfairness and hate the Israeli show to Arabs.

Again,Arabs belive in judism as a religion,and that they are a part of the middle east,but what the israeli government did and still doing against the arabs is not acceptable ,the humanitarian crimes happening now in lebanon are some examples.
Hope now the 2 versions of the story are completed.

Peace.

[GoGo]

Thanks for the post. I appreciate different perspectives. I want to write questions, but will leave them for now to ponder your words.

[kristen]

I love your collaboration. Thank you to you both, as always.

[Amber]

Thank you Tara, for being a true journalist, and showing two different views on your blog. I actually don't feel so crazy after reading this post by Neil, because I think I have to agree with him.

And it WOULD be nice if our leaders would just let people live in peace, and the world just got along, and children never suffered... But that is not life, and the "leaders" were voted in by "the people"... We should not forget that fact. I think it is important. It is not just bad leaders, but people who agreed with the leaders enough to give them power-- be it in Lebanon, or here in the US.

Thanks again Tara! You rock, and I learn from you all the time. ;)

:)

[The Bold Soul]

Well done. Thanks to you both for sharing a variety of perspectives. I wish the international media could do the same in a responsible way.

[bella]

I don't know enough about the conflict and the war going on to comment, but I did love reading this story. And Tara, I thank you so much for the links to get my info.

[becca]

With many thanks to Tara for providing us perspective from both sides of this issue, something that rarely happens in any of our media formats.

The only side I can reasonably take in this issue is the "side" that apparently does not exist. The "side" that would somehow allow all countries, all religions, all nations to live in equity and in harmony. Why is it so difficult for mankind to live in peace with one another?

As an American citizen, I beg our leaders to work toward ceasefire, to work toward peace.

[artzyjudie]

Good analogy Neil... can it be called that? I don't think Israel is the bad guy, I don't think any of those other countries are "bad guys". I think it's the leaders of the people that just cannot settle down and accept peace and love among humans. I always was brought up to believe the "middle east" was a very religious region and when I prayed to my God or my Jesus, I pictured Jerusalem or Bethlehem, et.al. What these power wars are doing is destroying my FAITH. And no, it isn't just the killing of children, it's the killing of humans...plain and simple.

[Levi]

Nicely put ... I hope many people will read this.

[3rdtimesacharm( 3T )]

Bravo Neil! and thank you Tara for having Neil post this viewpoint here.

Allowing for a myriad of opinions, and truly listening to one another on the issues, is what I think sets a part the political blogs discussing the issues as opposed to personal blogs discussing them.

I do happen to agree with Neil, and his version of David and Goliath. But also believe displaced families, the injured and those civilians who died on both sides, are nothing short of tragedy and both need our compassion.

The "true enemy" is the terrorists out to destroy human life. (In my opinion of course.)

3T

[Ash]

I haven't been following this particular conflict.

It hasn't received a tremendous amount of press in Holland precisely because we sit on a simmering pot of ethnic tension in the Netherlands, and I think there is some censorship of the news here at one level or another.

Anyway, what did surprise me when I read the statistic was how many people had died - a mere 600 or so?

Not that 600 people is anything to sniff at; but in my own country, Zimbabwe, more people than that die every day from ethnic cleansing, poverty and malnutrition and no-one notices or cares.

The levels of sympathy or conversely, antipathy, for various nations seems completely media-based. For that the media should be ashamed.

Thank you for your excellent post Neil.

[psychotoddler]

Neil, what an excellent analysis! You've really got the situation pegged.

I agree, it is much more moving to hear personal bloggers discussing this than the big political blogs.

[michelle]

Brilliant posts by both Neil and Tara.

I don't think the parties have exhausted the peace option by any means. There is now a generation living in the region that knows nothing but war. I oversimplfy the situation by wondering why in the course of 50 plus years that peace hasn't been reached and both parties have reached an equitable agreement?

I wonder then about the limits of humanity.