Denying Palestinian Nationalism
PERSPECTIVE Denying Palestinian Nationalism This fall, an unusual play of short vignettes was performed at Beth Shmuel, the new youth hostel at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. The vignettes...
...Can Israel continue to stonewall it by denying Palestinian nationalism...
...Until recently, it was possible to do so...
...At the moment, Israel finds itself in the uncomfortable position of simply denying the claims of Palestinian nationalism...
...The Palestinians are also learning how to operate on the public relations and diplomatic front...
...its name is Jordan...
...In these circumstances, developing Palestinian nationalism could be ignored...
...But the question remained whether they would be able to turn this into political gain...
...As I write, Likud members are demanding the dismissal of the director of the Foreign Ministry, Maj...
...H.S...
...The discussion turns to how many Arabs are in the cast...
...Why is it torn...
...Why don't you take care of it...
...The soldier pushes the Arab, sending him sprawling to the ground...
...the soldier asks...
...Next time I see you with this sad excuse for an identity card, you'll come with me, and no one will find you...
...All the vignettes were based on real-life experiences of group members...
...At this point, a man in the audience interrupts: "What do you mean by Palestinian...
...In the course of the discussion, the Arabs are often referred to as Palestinians...
...Later, a Jewish girl reports being stoned by young Arabs in Abu Tor...
...Avraham Tamir, because he stated in Washington that the Palestinians see the PLO as their "national organization" and that there is no replacement for it...
...It may well be...
...But things have been changing...
...Would Israel be well advised to seize the initiative and offer the Palestinians a program that would reasonably protect Israel's security and yet recognize Palestinian national aspirations...
...Here, at last, are credible Palestinians talking about the 'diplomatic option' rather than armed struggle...
...For months, the Palestinians gained the world's attention with the stones and Molotov cocktails of the intifada...
...Things happen," the youth says in an insolent voice...
...Are you making fun of me...
...And the players were young Arabs and Jews— part of a theater workshop organized two and a half months after the intifada began...
...It got torn...
...Will Israel be able to resist worldwide pressure if the Palestinians continue to modify their demands in the direction of accepting a demilitarized mini-state...
...And when—or if—their message is a demand for recognition of Palestinian nationalism in a demilitarized state in the West Bank and Gaza, it is a message that will be increasingly appealing...
...Indeed, by the time this appears in print, a Palestinian government-in-exile may have been declared...
...After the play, there is a discussion with the audience...
...I don't know what you mean by Palestinian...
...Not only were their demands ridiculous, there was no one to talk to...
...At long last the Arabs may be learning...
...Not me," he says provocatively...
...accepting a mini-state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel...
...The actors and actresses have been cross-cast and the audience has difficulty identifying which actors and actresses are Jews and which Arabs...
...For an Israeli government official to say this is not permissible...
...My wife is a Palestinian— a Palestinian Jew—born in Haifa...
...But what if that ceases to be the case...
...As with so many discussions of Middle East problems, we end with questions, not answers...
...It is unnecessary to rehearse here all the steps—admittedly tentative—the Palestinians have taken in this direction...
...Before 1967, truly, there was no Palestinian nationality, no sense of nationality among the Arabs of what had been Palestine...
...Deeply fractionalized, without a realistic political program, the Palestinians seemed to be able to do nothing except give vent to their anger and frustration...
...Clearly, it is gathering momentum...
...The group calls itself Tza'ad, One Step, an effort to establish some communication between the two groups...
...In fact, there are four...
...Or a variant: "There is already a Palestinian state...
...The vignettes were written by the actors and actresses...
...But his remark is the point of my story...
...A woman in the audience, which is almost exclusively Jewish, guesses that there is only one Palestinian in the cast...
...The question I raise is simply this: Is it any longer feasible to deny Palestinian nationality...
...Arab lobbying groups here are becoming increasingly well-organized...
...In the end, he is ignored and the discussion goes on...
...In one scene an Israeli soldier approaches a young Arab from the West Bank and demands to see his identity card...
...It represents a widespread view in Israel and reflects the official viewpoint of Labor and Likud: There is no Palestinian nationality...
...The stones did not hit her but she fled in fear...
...Thus far, Israel has no effective response, although, for the moment, most versions of Palestinian demands are unrealistically excessive...
...Is it irresistible...
...In the words of Israeli correspondent Helen Davis, "No longer are the Palestinians insisting—at least not so emphatically—that the 'Zionist entity' must be destroyed...
...Ironically, only with Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, coupled with the vast improvement in the economic and social conditions of Palestinian Arabs has Palestinian nationalism developed...
...even recognizing the right of the Jewish state to exist...
Vol. 13 • November 1988 • No. 8
