The following article is in response to Ian Byrne’s column posted on October 4th. You can read Ian’s article here.
The Media’s Newest Drug Fad
By Erez Rosenberg
There’s a new designer drug, a hallucinogen, and it seems to be gaining popularity in the media. It’s called “Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace.” For all intents and purposes, let’s nickname it ID-CAP. The first dealer of this drug was Karl Vick, when TIME magazine published his anti-Semitic article, “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace” as the cover story for their September 2010 issue.
A summary of Vick’s article: He portrayed an interview with two Jewish Israeli citizens in a light that made it seem that those two individuals—which suddenly represent all of Israel—do not care about pursuing peace in their country because Jewish Israelis are too preoccupied with making as much money as they can. Writes Vick, “…the truth is, Israelis are no longer preoccupied with the matter. They’re otherwise engaged; they’re making money; they’re enjoying the rays of late summer.”
In 1919, twenty years before the occurrence of the atrocities that have come to define the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler wrote the following in a letter to a comrade: “This thinking and striving after money and power, and the feelings that go along with it, serve the purposes of the Jew who is unscrupulous in the choice of methods and pitiless in their employment…In democracies he vies for the favor of the masses, cringes before the “majesty of the people”, and recognizes only the majesty of money.”
Somehow ignoring for a moment that Karl Vick draws on a similar anti-Semitic sentiment to that used by Hitler to rally hatred against the Jews during the 1930’s and 1940’s, what basis does Vick have to make such preposterous claims? The statements of two Israelis relaxing at the beach on their day off?
Sadly enough, this anti-Israel drug, ID-CAP, appears to have become accessible to our local media and community in the Minnesota Daily. It is clear that in his column in the Minnesota Daily, Ian J Byrne attempts to maintain a neutral position on what he eloquently calls the “Israeli-Palestinian migraine.” But a major cornerstone of his argument for why Israel and Palestine cannot reach a peace agreement is based on his declaration that Israelis don’t need peace. “…the fact of the matter is, from a national interest standpoint, Israel does not have any pressing reasons to reach a peace deal,” writes Byrne.
What is the difference between the statement made by Byrne compared to the one made by Vick? Instead of having Vick’s profound number of two Israeli citizens to support his claim, Byrne has a mere one. His entire argument that Israel does not need peace is based on the opinion of a single Israeli citizen, Tel Aviv resident Nir Sagie. What authority Sagie, a 30-year-old linguist, has to speak for his entire nation is a bit unclear.
Let’s move past the opinions of the three Israelis that have been mentioned. We need to focus on the nation as a whole to determine whether Israel cares about peace. Israelis are always aware of the threats against their nation because of a lack of peace.
Without peace, Israelis live in constant fear of attack. If Israel doesn’t care about peace—if Israel doesn’t need peace—then does this mean that Israelis do not care about the ever-present dangers in their daily lives? Why is it mandatory for all Israelis to enlist in the military immediately after graduating high school? Why are these same men and women required to serve on the military reserves until their early 40’s? In all of its young history as a nation, Israel has never used its military for anything other than protecting its citizens. Why is it that a new building is not up to code unless it has a bomb shelter that can house all of the building’s occupants? Why is a bomb shelter as common in any residential house or apartment as is a bathroom? These living conditions in Israel have directly been brought about by an absence of peace. To say that anyone that lives in such conditions does not need peace—as if peace is some sort of negative entity—is ridiculous and ignorant at best.
While Vick and Byrne are certainly be no means close to the evil that was Adolf Hitler, if the media doesn’t get past this “Israel doesn’t care about peace” fad soon, we could soon enough find ourselves tumbling down a dangerous path that only leads to the same type of resentment that fostered the murders of over six million Jews.
Interesting comparison between Hitler and these two. I would have probably gone with a Mao type as they have the charisma with some attitudes steeped in Confucianisms. I mean between the two of them I’m sure they could rack up a death toll of at least 50 million. How many Israelis did you interview for this response. Just curious.
Izrealizkool, interesting concept, but as far as I am aware, Confucianism does not really have to do with negative stereotypes relating to Jews. Though I have been to Israel and witnessed the discussed difficult living conditions first-hand, one point of this article is that the opinion of any single ordinary Israeli citizen should not be taken to represent the opinion of the nation as a whole. I therefore did not need or want to interview any Israelis to write this response. I simply presented the facts and ask the reader to rely on logic and reason to understand that it is absurd to believe that Israel, as a nation, does not need or care about peace. Israel cares about peace because Israel needs peace. Thank you for your comment and question!