Before I start spreading about these issues I wanna discuss a bit Philosophy with you: I'm NOT a philosopher but I think that all the professions in the world can be divided into two groups: Those you can see their consequences as a human being and those you can't see any consequences at all but the profession's holder will always claim he is the best, having a group of followers. (examples for the first kind of profession are a pilot, a doctor while examples for the second kind of profession are a company's manager, a high-ranked religious man such as a Priest, a Rabbi, a Kadi, etc.). My point in this paragraph is very simple: if a doctor such as a dentist saves your teeth, you notice it, but if a company succeeds or if people belonging to a religion are lucky - it means from their point of view that it is thanks to their Priest or their boss, but that doesn't mean specifically that they are right. there's no proof for this. Another explanations can be made such as an enormous economic situation in the country or just having a good day.
Israel, as you know, is the home of any jew in the world. One of our immigrations law permits any jew in the world to get an Israeli citizenship when he decides to move to Israel. Before I continue discussing about it I want you to know that I'm a jew myself, because the next thing I'm about to say is that most of the jew communities in the world live in countries which are not a big law savers: Poland, Morrocco, Persia (now Iran which has religious laws but the former Persia was an authocratic kingdom which its people always tried to pass the law), Iraq, France, south american countries. Today the country which have the biggest amount of jews besides Israel is USA, but most of them (or their parents) are originally from those countries. Since they became from such a violented societies they do not know something else, they do not discuss another language.
Therefore, after World War II, when many jews floatted Israel which was under the British regime, they had to deal with them in power. They set laws of immigrattion but the jews as power people passed these commands and crossed the israeli shore behind the British' back and fought the British. In this time, a muslim group, the Arabic people, also lived in Israel and didn't see the jews as a threat in the beginning. But when houses and lands began to be purchased by them they realized they want the country and started fighting them.
While the jews conforted the british and the arabs, one of their politically active persons, David Ben Gurion (from Poland) declared the Israeli independence in Tel Aviv city as fast as possible. From this point he was a non-democratic leader. A powerful leader, as he learnt in Poland. He used his power to create the weirdest country ever: The home of all the jews, but without a religious regime. His objectors were a group of believers and their Rabbi was Yishaayahu Kerlitz known as The Chason Ish. He didn't want to see or talk to Ben Gurion in the beginning saying that he doesn't deal right with the country, but when they finally met, The Chason Ish told Ben Gurion that his followers and him must make way to him and his religious followers claiming that the secular way is empty from any content. (the exact quote in Hebrew: "Ki ha agala ha chilonit reika mi tochen".)-->ki=because, agala ha chilonit=the secular way, reika=empty, mi tochen=from any content. Here again we have a conflict of two non-proven consequences profession holders (as mentioned in paragraph 1): The boss, Ben Gurion against the jewish Priest, Chason Ish.
The followers of both sides did many good things (sometimes even for the other side)--> like Ben Gurion's determine that in the army only a Kosher (the only food that the jewish religious people eat) food will be in the menu, religious Rabbis that advice even to secular couples clever advises for a successful and happy marriage, and more. But they did also many bad and unmoral things by the name of their Gurus (the boss or the Priest): Ben Gurion's party people shot jewish from the opposition party who tried to bring weapons from Argentina in a ship to fight the neighbours countries: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan who threated us, claiming that he hates the opposition and doesn't want any favor from them, the jewish religious person (even today) beat up their wives and use their Rabbis for pressuring the beaten wife not to go to the police because she will ruin the family's life and this is a forbid from the Tushba (Hebrew=Torah She Be Al Pe, English=Books of Do's and Dont's written by Rabbis for using the Jewish Bible in life). The jewish religious persons also force secular people having a religious manners when they are in their neighbourhood and sometimes they even barricade the entrance to the neighbourhood claiming they are strong and the seculars are weak because God saves them.
The influences of all these vicious acts can be strongly felt in Israel in all the public places: Work places, universities, Army-serving and more. People from both sides (secular and religious) see their professor, their boss, their Rabbi as the wisest person on earth and they admire him blindly so much that they loose their independent thought. there are Hi-Tech companies in Israel which their workers not only do the job as their duty, they speak about their manager as their guru and they do everything he tells them including favors like driving his wife to her job and more. When the Israeli youth draft into the army, they mostly do it because they need and not because they want. In the beginning, when they are rockies they hate their commanders but admire their power. When they accumulate time in their service they mostly meet the commander they LOVE not just like, from some reasons: He is nice to them, he is charismatic, he is mentally-strong, etc. Their love to them is rapidlly turnning into a blindly admiration and when they are told their are gonna change they commander they miss his glorious days like they lost their parents or something.
In the religious life it's exactly the same and even worst: The Tushba I told you before has many books with 613 commands to conclude. There are many religiously-strong cities and neighbourhoods in Israel: Bene Beraq in Gush Dan region (gush dan is the region where Tel Aviv is), Mea' Shearim and Sanhedriya in Jerusalem, Morasha neighbourhood in Ramat Hasharon, a city in the Southern-Sharon region and more. In every city, even with weaker religious life or not at all, there's the Rabbi of the city, nominated by the Government, but in these strong communities the citizens see their Rabbis more then just leaders: They see them as persons who should reshape their life and every step, including fianancial manners, are first consulted with the Rabbi and only then with the profession person and the Rabbi's decition is the right one.
When the prime minister and his leadership in Israel is powerful all the groups, secular and religious, pay more attention to the government and less to their own leader, but when the government is weak, they streghten their dependence on their "magical" leader. For example, when Menachem Begin made peace with Egypt in 1979, all the sectors, even religious, admired him shouting that he is the "King of Israel". A famous occourance was that USA ordered him to evacuate territories and he refused saying that "Israel is an indepedent country and not a Banana Republic!!". All the sectors again, saw him as a Priest.
Today, in 2007, when the prime minister is a lawyer degree holder, Ehud Olmert, and the Minister of Defence is a former workers and unemplyed representor, Amir Peretz, are in office, in addition to their unprofession past, they do not show any charisma and the nation notice that they are very week after terrorists kidnapped 3 soldiers, won him in the war because of it, while countries such as Venezuela cancelled the diplomatic relations with Israel, European countries refused to sent representors to Jerusalem to celebrate the city's reunion in the 1967 war, and more. Many Israelis today turnning into religious and find their admired Rabbis. Many of us today admire our bosses more then ever. Almost none of us think imdependly.
Therefore, there's a consensus here. Everything here is a part of a conseusus. If you have an independent thought you're unskilled, moron, stupid, and more. Most of us hate the Arabs and admire blindly the army. Now it is the opportunity for you to hear my thought: Unlike the Israeli consensus, I think we should change our relation to the arabs, as jews and Israelis: There is no real left wing parties. If anyone here will say I am wrong because the Labour party is in the left side, and so does Meretz and more, I can tell him delicately that he is wrong: All the parties here admire Ben Gurion and his dispute. They are suporting cutting the arab's rights and expand the jewish ones, and I say that a society justice must be made and we must accept the arabs as Muslim Israelis, like in every other country!! We should not run after the army and the governments like baboons, we should do it after we learnt the issue well and if we disagree we do not run blindly, we think independently!
The Arabs today are not permitted to enter the Dead-sea, their only coastline, because some group of rich persons sent a letter to the governmet they won't come anymore, and it sended the army to block them. Let's fight these bastards!! let's make justice! The Arabs today being checked in our airports violently and suffer from police brutality. Why shouldn't we make an end for this?? I don't mind that this country will continue to give citizenships to Jews immigrating here, but this country from MY point of view is first Israeli and then Jewish. From the consensus' point of view: exactly the opposite. If we are an only jewish country let's build a religious state like Iran, having the religious police which will check our appearence. But if we are a democratic state as we chose, this democracy must includes the arabs. We cannot continue being a semi-democratic country: democracy for jews and a dictatorship for the arabs. It's immoral.
To conclude all that I wrote, I think that Ben Gurion did not create a country, he created a monster: A democratic non-religious country but only for the jews. I believe that turning this country into a citizenship based democracy and not an ethnic group based one will solve the Israeli-Palestinian-Arabic confrontation. And that requaries less blind obeyence and more independent thought. I hope I made myself clear and I also hope I woke up the sleepy israeli public from the blind admiration culture developped here.
With thanks
Omri Shetach
omri.shetach@gmail.com
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