David Grossman's speech at the large (organizers estimate:
100,000) rally marking the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was
typical: strong questions and weary answers. The speech
generated considerable interest and was even broadcast.
Grossman is one of the leading intellectuals of the Left, and
his speaking generated extra emotional weight this year since
he recently lost a son in the fighting in Lebanon.
"There was a war, and Israel flexed its massive military
muscle, but it also exposed Israel's fragility. We discovered
that our military might ultimately cannot be the only
guarantee of our existence. Primarily, we have found that the
crisis Israel is experiencing is far deeper than we had
feared, in almost every way. . . .
"And I ask you: How could it be that a people with such
powers of creativity, renewal and vivacity as ours, a people
that knew how to rise from the ashes time and again, finds
itself today, despite its great military might, at such a
state of laxity and inanity, a state where it is the victim
once more, but this time its own victim, of its anxieties,
its shortsightedness.
"One of the most difficult outcomes of the recent war is the
heightened realization that at this time there is no king in
Israel, that our leadership is hollow. . . .
"I am talking about the fact that the people leading Israel
today are unable to connect Israelis to their identity.
Certainly not with the healthy, vitalizing and productive
areas of this identity, with those areas of identity and
memory and fundamental values that would give us hope and
strength, that would be the antidote to the waning of mutual
trust, of the bonds to the land, that would give some meaning
to the exhausting and despairing struggle for existence."
(Translation from Ha'aretz)
What is his answer? To reach out for peace with the Arabs. To
seek out the moderates among the Arabs and offer them a deal
that they can accept. Peace at any price, so that we can
regain some "normalcy," and "finally claim the lives we
deserve to live."
The only problem with this prescription is that it is
inconsistent with our current reality, inconsistent with
historical experience, and is unrealistically Messianic in
conception.
Rabin actually offered peace to the Palestinians on the White
House lawn in 1993. Ehud Barak made a detailed proposal at
Camp David to the Palestinians including generous terms that
he probably would not have even been able to fulfill. Ariel
Sharon even actually gave them Jewish land.
The was no positive response on the Palestinian side —
only suicide bombers and Kassams. There was not even a break
in the hatred towards us that fills their media. After the
Palestinians were given control of their educational
materials, they taught their children only more violence and
war mongering. The results of all the voting and consistent
opinion polls show clearly that the basic rejectionist
position of Hamas is that of the Palestinian people as a
whole. They do not want peace with us and they say it very
clearly. That is our current reality.
Anyone who thinks that peace is "normal" has not learned
anything from history. The list of the wars fought by any
country is very long. Consider just the conflicts that
England was involved in from 1500-1600: Italian Wars (1494 -
1559); Anglo-Scottish Wars (1513; 1544-1551); Anglo-Spanish
War (1585-1604); Nine Years War (1594-1603); Eighty Years'
War (1598-1648).
The history of most significant countries is similar. Even
now, the journalist Kevin Sites spent the past year touring
the conflict zones of the world. He found 21 locations
besides our neighborhood. Fighting is at least as common as
its lack.
Peace is a vision, not a policy. As Jews who believe in the
13 Ikkarim, including the coming of Moshiach, we know
how to be inspired and comforted by a vision of peace that is
much more profound and broad than the simple-minded lack of
war that so captivates secular idealists. At the same time,
we have the fortitude to deal with the troubles and travails
of our very long golus, without getting frustrated,
fatigued, or discouraged.
The answer to the weariness and disunity that plagues the
secular Jews in the here-and-now, is to return to our common
heritage: the Torah.
We know and believe that this is also the best and most
effective way to eventually achieve the vision of true
sholom that all men long for. Soon, in our days.
