A week ago, for a moment, it seemed
like a ray of light pierced the darkness. The prime minister and the leader of
the opposition spoke together about a historic opportunity for peace that would
justify a partnership between them. By the next day it was clear that the light
was from the engine of the train of war and hate … and we got a right-wing
nationalist government.
In the choice between peace and
war, between democracy and ethnocracy, in the choice between a politics of fear
and a politics of hope, again and again my beloved country chooses the slippery
slope that leads to ruin.
But we have not gathered here today
for the sake of anger and wailing. We have gathered here to strengthen the
construction, the partnership, the hope, the true light and not the false.
We have gathered together because
we are connected partners in the society which is marching toward that slippery
slope, but we are also working to prevent the crash and to create an
alternative.
2500 years ago, the great Chinese
philosopher Confucius said, “When a group of people are marching downhill, the
last one is the highest.” And we truly are heading downhill, but we are the
last, who are in the highest place, which demands responsibility, a clear
strategy, precise implementation, belief in our way, and love. Yes, love.
Martin Luther King said, “Love is
the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” While we in
Israel speak with contempt of “lovers of Arabs”, or of those who want to create
partnership with “the Zoabis”.
And I say – they who speak of Arabs
flocking to the polls, and they who are not ready to live in partnership with
the Arab citizens of Israel, and they who see love of Arabs as mistaken or a
shortcoming; they are the ones who endanger our future, the future of our
shared country, Israel.
And I have a small confession: I am
a lover of Arabs.
I love Riad and Mohammed, my
partners, from whom I learn something new every day. I love Samer and Anhar and
Razal and Zakaria and Nasrin and Hassan and all my wonderful comrades here at
Givat Haviva, with whom we are turning hate into friendship and love.
But I don’t stop at love – I
celebrate the opportunity to live together with Arabs. I celebrate the
enriching cultural diversity, the opportunities for economic development, the
food, and the music – some of which we’ll hear later today. As President Rubi
Rivlin said at the Givat Haviva Conference last year, “We are not doomed but
fated to walk this road together.”
In his last speech, a day before
his assassination, Martin Luther King said: "Only in the darkness can you
see the stars." Well now it is dark enough here, and indeed we can see the
stars. The stars are many wonderful individuals and organizations from the
civil society who are not willing to give up on a shared and equal society.
They are our partners who do the holy work every single day. And the stars are
also in the private sector, where they
lay the rails for partnership, building
an equal, connecting economy and providing the philanthropic support for the
shared society. And the stars are also in the public sector – they are the
mayors who build partnerships between neighboring communities. The stars sit in
the Knesset and some are even in the government. They work as government
officials in all the Ministries, and what they have in common is the
understanding that the future of Israel depends on our success in creating a
shared society here.
The first Arab deputy minister in an Israeli government was appointed in
1971. Eight years earlier he was a partner in the founding of the first
Jewish-Arab center in Israel, here at Givat Haviva. He was an MK from Mapam,
and his name was Abd
el-Aziz el-Zoubi. We are
familiar with his famous saying: "My
conflict as an Israeli-Arab stems from the fact that my people is at war with
my country."
As long as the cycle of violence of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict continues, as long as the terrible occupation continues to destroy
Israel, the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel will continue to be torn
between their country and their people. And yet these are my partners in
building our shared society.
Together we do not give in to practices of war, hatred, and exclusion. Instead,
we create the practices of a shared society based on equality.
We do this through long and deep connections between neighboring
municipalities, that produce municipal, communal, and educational partnerships.
We do this by creating a perennial, multi-aged educational process that can
overcome the almost total separation between Arab and Jewish children in
Israel. We do this through programs that build the basis for equality and
integration, and we do this through teaching the Hebrew language to Arabs and
the Arabic language to Jews.
Thousands of seeds are planted each year in human hearts. Strong and
durable seeds that will be absorbed into the hard soil of fear and hatred which
is ploughed by yesterday's politicians.
These seeds sprout seedlings that grow into green trees, providing shade
for the growth of the leaders of tomorrow.
And if you think these are fantasies, or delusions, let me tell you that we
also measure and evaluate all of our programs and see the successes up close,
just as we learn from our failures how to improve. Yes, we are improving and
expanding.
Therefore I am optimistic, and am not part of those who wail and cry because
of the dark. We are building a shared society day after day. We are building
our common home, the home of the 100%, not only of the 80% national majority,
where all the citizens feel at home, respect one another, are tolerant, are
able to contain diversity, and share responsibility. A home where everybody
feels a sense of belonging and of ownership. A society of equals as it was
defined in the original vision for this country, the Declaration of
Independence.
I am proud to conclude with a quote from the special greeting we received
for this conference from President Obama. This is what he wrote: "When individuals
of different origins and backgrounds transcend what sets them apart to come
together in common purpose, they have the power to steer the course of history."
Let us all together steer the course of history, and bring new hope to the
citizens of Israel.
Yaniv Sagee
Executive Director, Givat Haviva
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