Summary
A Maariv writer whose programmatic article “Peace with Nasserism?” (25/7/58) is quoted twice at length in Chapter 9 of Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace: once for the doctrine that Arab hatred of Israel is irrational and independent of Israeli policy, and once for its “higher culture” argument against integrating into the region — a style the book says recalls words spoken in a European state 20 years earlier (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.437-438, p.457-458).
Details
- Shnitzer wrote against the members of Semitic Action: “all that preaching for rapprochement with Nasserism is based on one big illusion: that the Arabs’ hatred of Israel is a rational phenomenon and it is possible to remove it from the world if we remove its causes … The hatred of the Arab movement and of the peoples of Asia in general [!]for Israel is not a rational hatred that results from our policies towards the Western Powers. It seizes upon our “imperialism” when we walk hand-in-hand with the Western Powers, and it remains unchanged when we wage a life-and-death struggle with Western imperialism” (“Peace with Nasserism?”, Maariv, 25/7/58) (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.437-438).
- The book calls this “a clear expression of a view to which many in Israel – including people who oppose the official policy towards the Arabs – subscribe”, and notes that Semitic Action’s own Hebrew Manifesto shared the premise (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.438).
- His integration argument: “When, in all five thousand years of history, have a people with a higher culture succeeded in “integrating” into surroundings with a lower culture? For the purposes of integration, must we give up the democratic principles of our government? Must we lower our level of hygiene? Must we close our schools and our health institutions? … Must we nurture bilharzia, liberate trachoma, have incomes of 30 pounds a year? … How is it conceivable that the hungry Arab fellah in his shack could relate to us with anything other than envy and hatred?” (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.457).
- The book’s comment: “We and we and we. With democracy and health and hygiene and schools and culture. And they – without culture, without hygiene and health, with trachoma, bilharzia, coups, murders and conflicts, and on and on.” The book continues: “This style and formulation are reminiscent of words that were spoken in a certain state in Europe 20 years ago. Mr. Shnitzer may have a high standard of living, which is clean and hygienic, but his ideas are dangerous. They are pushing for a “fateful military test”” (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.457-458).
Related pages
Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, Semitic Action, Ezriel Carlebach