The left is necessarily hypocritical, as its simplified, partisan pronouncements diverge with the world’s complex realities. Russian communists proclaimed international workers’ solidarity and fought those same workers; European socialists trumpet workers’ rights and then organize in trade unions to exclude foreign labor. American democratic socialists trumpet welfare for all, but provide it to interest groups mostly. Liberals were initially supportive of the Vietnam War until the things turned sour there.
Israeli left is massively hypocritical. To speak of the Arab equality in a Jewish state is obvious nonsense. Ben Gurion sealed off the entire Arab regions in Israel while sweetly pronouncing their equality. Such situation, however, cannot stand, as the Arabs claim the rights which the Jews allocated them in theory, and the third generation of Israeli Jews indeed allows them such rights because those Jews, brainwashed from the cradle, take their parents’ hypocrisy for truth. In a landmark decision, Israeli Supreme Court mandated full Arab access to Israeli lands, even those developed by Jewish National Fund from sand and marshes with private Jewish donations. The ownership of the holy land is clearly the symbol of national sovereignty. If the court has abandoned this major symbol, nothing stands in the way of repealing the more hollow symbolism of the national flag and anthem.
Israeli flag with the star clearly misrepresents her ethnic-blind democratic character. When a third of Israel’s young is Arab, it is only reasonable that the national flag reflects Israeli multicultural – Muslim – identity. Israel cannot claim a historical defense for its flag, like the European states can so far defend crosses on theirs. Israeli flag is a modern invention, never a symbol of Jewishness, this country, or this land. [Star of David is prominent on medieval and Renaissance Christian cathedrals, and only appears on synagogues from nineteenth century.]
Israel’s national anthem, praising the soul of a Jew, and not of a non-Jew, is obnoxious to Israeli non-Jews, indefensible, and legally unsustainable. No civilized country praises people of one religion over another in its national anthem.
It is no question that Israel’s Jewish identity is just. The problem is, it is legally and politically indefensible in the framework of ethnic-blind democracy. Arab ownership of Israeli land was unthinkable even twenty years ago. Once the court repealed the exclusive land allocation to Jews, there is no escape from eventually repealing the Jewish anthem and flag. Indeed, the very name of the “Jewish” state is insulting to local Arabs; a state is either Jewish or ethnic blind. Would the liberal American Jews be content if America officially calls itself a WASP state?
Israeli secularism creates an untenable situation where Israel occupies Palestinian territories for decades. No state is allowed to occupy the other’s land. Britain tried to hold the very same land as a Mandate territory, but was pushed out. The problem is easily resolved by calling those territories what they are, Judea and Samaria, the core Jewish land with age-old Jewish towns. Leftists, however, cannot do that: they prefer a secular state lambasted by the entire world for occupying the Palestinian lands to a religious Jewish state which rightfully claims these lands as Jewish.
The very name of Israel is undemocratic and illiberal. The current state of Israel occupies the lands of ancient Philistine, Canaan, of whatever name – but not of Israel. The ancient Israel was located in what is now the Arab-settled Galilee, not on the beaches of Tel Aviv.
Israel would have to repeal the Law of Return, which provides for immigration of Jews but not of Arabs, not even of the Israeli Arabs’ relatives. Israeli leftists love to do away with Jewishness and create an Israeli nation; some did call already to formally ending the Jewish immigration. Given the fact that no massive aliyah is in sight and that a trickle of Jewish immigrants can continue coming to Israel through family reunion schemes, it is likely that Israel would repeal the Law of Return.
There is a small step from repealing the Law of Return to repressing Jewish religious “racism.” Israel’s current definition of racism, which excludes religiously inspired racism, is legally ludicrous, open to a court challenge – and the ultra-left secular Supreme Court would be only happy to rip Judaism apart. Our prayers are indeed intolerant to, for example, Muslims, denigrating of them. We can reasonably imagine the Ministry of Education censoring the Torah for schools, removing the hostile references to Esau and Ishmael; the schools ignore those verses de facto. Jewish religious regulations are already on the way to the secular courts, as leftists will fight the halachic rulings on boycotting the Arab labor and not ceding Jerusalem to Muslims.
Israel is in for the affirmative action for Arabs. A degree of affirmative action is already here: though not doing the army duty, Arabs are showered with subsidies, near-free university education, semi-officially tax-free environment, and freedom to build illegally and ignore municipal payments. Secular Jewish establishment is happy to oppress religious Jews, and does so by affirming special rights for Arabs: Muslims occupy the Temple Mount, but Israel forbids Jews to pray there.
We failed to evict the aborigines and, as the lawgiver had warned us, they became thorns in our sides.
