|
Jacob Turner offers the Oxford Israeli Cultural Society's response to the Oxford Students' Palestine Society piece published on Friday .
When a six-year old does a project on a country, they tend to go for
the clichés; with France, it’s the frogs’ legs, with Spain it’s the
bullfights, with Italy it’s the tight-fitting clothes. So what would it
be for Israel?
Many might say “conflict”. Often, the only things we
hear about this country are part of a polarised and acrimonious debate.
A lot of people do not see a side of Israel that is incredibly vibrant,
exciting and dynamic. What we are trying to show with the Israeli
Cultural Festival this year is that there exists a country beyond the
politics.
When speaking recently with an Arab-Israeli about the idea of having a
festival to celebrate Israeli culture, his first response was “but how
can you show Israel’s culture? It’s far too diverse”. But that’s
precisely the point. The aim of this festival is not to persuade anyone
to take any particular point of view regarding the politics of the
region, but rather to broaden peoples’ knowledge and understanding. We
do not deny that controversies exist, or want to ignore or belittle
those affected by them. However, there is no need for anyone to only
have a singular and negative image of this country. Israel’s culture is
hugely mixed, intertwining elements of Arab, European, Russian,
Ethiopian and many other roots. Sitting between three continents, it
has often been described as a bridge between Eastern and Western
cultures.
Muslim, Christian and Druze Arabs make up over 20% of Israel’s
population, and we are equally keen to celebrate their input into
Israeli culture. Clearly, shisha pipes or humous and falafel are not
specifically Jewish – they are things which Israelis of any background
enjoy in common both with each other, and with their neighbours in the
Middle-East.
The focus of this festival is not Israel’s creation, but rather the
contribution that Israelis have made to the world regardless of race,
ethnicity or religion. Our academic events focus on three particular
areas: business, the environment and medical breakthroughs. The
developments made by Israel in these spheres will have a beneficial
impact in the world long after the present conflict has passed.
Our lecture on entrepreneurship in Israel showed how it is a vital
incubator for smaller technology companies which have driven the
world’s economy in the 21st century. Much of modern-day Israel has been
built on what was once desert. Israeli scientists are world leaders in
agricultural technologies, particularly in areas deprived of water. In
recent years they have been instrumental in providing such technology,
for free, to developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The talk on
Israel’s contribution to the environment will seek to illustrate this
and the steps which Israel has taken towards developing methods of
sustaining scarce water resources.
Israeli hospitals treat equally all patients who come through their
doors, including Arab residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and
are so highly regarded that they have become the subject of “medical
tourism”. Innovations made by doctors Israel’s world-leading research
centres have had an impact on saving lives worldwide. The Israeli
medical organisation “Save a Child’s Heart” is holding a stand at the
fair. It provides urgently-needed paediatric heart surgery and
follow-up care for children from third world and developing countries.
Their aim is to help all children, regardless of nationality or
financial circumstance, receive the best care that modern medicine has
to offer.
There exist many bilateral organisations and projects which bring
together Israelis and Palestinians; one such organisation which we are
showcasing at the fair is the “Face to Face” venture, which displays
enormous photographs of Palestinians and Israelis from similar cultural
backgrounds, side by side. The impact that this type of initiative can
have on “re-humanising” each nation in the eyes of the other is
incalculable.
We, from the Oxford Israeli Cultural Society do not want to be drawn
into the typical dogmatic and rancorous type of argument which provides
so little by way of reconciliation. Instead we would like this to be an
opportunity to open our hands to the Palestinian Society, and indeed
any other student group who wish to be involved. There is so much that
we share in terms of culture – instead of focusing on disagreements it
would be far more productive to look at what we have in common. In the
future we would be keen to celebrate all of the cultures that exist
throughout the region with a joint Israeli and Arab literary festival.
It is through co-operation and joint initiatives like these that we can
build understanding, and perhaps one day achieve peace.
Links:
IFest Oxford
» 12 comments
1"From the river to the sea"
on Monday, 05 May 2008 09:36
The Israeli cultural society may like us to forget about the politics behind the Israeli state but we should never forget the basis the state of Israel was set up under and the continuing oppression of Palestinians in the occupied territories. The state of Israel relies and it's military to steal land and water from the Palestinians. The humanitarian crisis in the gaza strip is of the creation of Israel and amounts to collective punishment for daring to elect a government that would stand up for the rights of the Palestinian nation.
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free
2"Water and Medical Aid"
on Monday, 05 May 2008 09:37
Just a few facts about Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Water and Medical initiatives closer to home:
Israelis and settlers consume five times as much water as Palestinians, but Palestinians pay 300% more. Under the Oslo agreement Palestinians have access to 57 cubic metres of water per person per year from all sources. Israel gets 246 cubic metres per head per year. And in the nearly 40 years that Israel has controlled the West Bank, Palestinians have been largely forbidden from drilling new wells or rehabilitating old ones.
2000-2006 report found 36 Palestinian health care workers were killed, 447 health providers have were wounded and 129 patients died at Israeli checkpoints. How? There were 375 attacks on health care centers, 383 attacks on ambulances, with 38 ambulances destroyed altogether. Between 2000-2006, at least 67 women gave birth at Israeli checkpoints. As a result, 39 newborns died or they were delivered
3comment
on Monday, 05 May 2008 10:57
Do you really believe that the culture of a country\\\'s people should be defined by the worst of their government\\\'s actions? Should China\\\'s occupation of TIbet, violent and unprovoked, mean that we protest celebrations of Chinese New Year, boycott Chinese delivery/takeaway places, and ignore the contributions China has made?
Before you go off the deep end to bash Israel, pause for a moment to consider whether you would react to another country the same way. Be critical, but be fair.
4"Aha!"
on Monday, 05 May 2008 11:41
Maybe if Matzo was as delicious as Chinese food we'd be cool with the blowing-up-ambulance stuff.
5comment
on Monday, 05 May 2008 14:06
too far mate
6comment
on Monday, 05 May 2008 16:06
In response to Emily: I think Israel is a particularly special case in that it was founded on the forced expulsion of another people, and now exists as an occupier of another people in what has become a process of progressive ghettoization. Buying a Chinese take-away is not the same thing as cultural celebration coinciding with the 60th anniversary of national-creation. Furthermore, the reason there has been such controversy surrounding the Olympics is specifically because of China\\\'s occupation of Tibet. So either way, your argument doesn\\\'t hold.
We should never turn a blind eye to the abuses of human rights, no matter what the celebration, event or nation. Liberty, and the joys of self-expression, both which are integral to culture, should be made free for all. Only then can we celebrate.
7"Okay, but ..."
on Monday, 05 May 2008 19:23
As I said in earlier comments on the other article, I really do believe that much of this protesting merely fosters a polarization of opinion and dehumanization of the opposite side, hardly productive. Why not have spent that hour, instead, say publicly raising funds for an organization aiding humanitarian efforts in Palestine to make the same statement, but in a less unproductive and virulently angry way? There would still be a presence for the Palestinian society, inherently pointing the hypocrisy they believe to be evident in iSoc\\\'s events, but they\\\'d actually have been, you know, doing something.
8comment
on Monday, 05 May 2008 22:10
The point of the demonstration was to highlight a stance and a story. At no point did the demonstration "dehumanize" the opposite side. How is it dehumanizing, if I may ask, to point out human rights abuses? Is it dehumanizing to point out China's occupation of Tibet? Yes the Olympics protesters could simply withdraw to raise money quietly in the background, but the situation, I think most people agree, calls for more direct action than that. It should be no different in the case of Israel.
9"Thanks for WB!"
on Monday, 05 May 2008 22:44
I couldn't agree more WB. There are destructive and constructive ways to protest and highlight a cause. The IFest was an attempt to look at the lives of peoples away from the conflict - the many cultures that exist within Israel. The protest focused purely on the division and destruction and yes it did dehumanise both sides. Why? Because you turn all of the people in the region into the face of war when they aren't. Give them a life beyond the conflict.
10"EXACTLY"
on Tuesday, 06 May 2008 08:23
"Give them a life beyond conflict". Yes! Exactly. But sadly, in the current situation, Palestinians living under occupation do not have such a choice. THAT was the reason for the protest. BOTH sides should have the opportunity to "transcend the conflict". Without this dualistic acknowledgment, a celebration of Israeli culture in a clean and tidy political vacuum becomes dangerously myopic.
11"From the River to the Sea"
on Saturday, 10 May 2008 09:32
I respect many criticisms of Israel's policies, and in many cases tend to agree with it, but as an Israeli human rights activists, I can tell you that surely nothing positive can be acheived by using nationalistic (as opposed to national) slogans, which clearly imply that Israel has no right to exist. It is abosultely ludicrous to object the nationalists of Israel who think that Israel should span from the River (Jordan) to the Sea (Mediterranean), if your own goal is that Palestine spans the same pronounced borders. It is clear to all genuine peace-seeking moderates, that Israel and Palestine will ultimately share the historical land of Israel and Palestine, and that no other unilateral and one-sided solution is either moral, not practical.
Part of this peaceful attitude requires mutual recognition of the other side's culture, both Israeli and Palestinian, despite one's disagreement with their political policies.
12"hmm..."
on Tuesday, 13 May 2008 08:48
I wonder how many of the iFest organisers were condemning the Tibet protesters when the Olympic torch came...
» Have your say
|
Today in Comment