Hebrew Newspaper: Saving the Jews and the Palestinians from Balkanization

By Rafit Hackett

The deep and devastating problem, which lies at the heart of the Jewish-Palestinian conflict, and whose effects have become more apparent in this bloody period, is not related to the border conflict, or the issues of religion and lifestyles. 

It is true that the dramatic disagreements between the two parties now, similar to the depth of the area of withdrawal from the combat zones, or the situation leading to the explosion in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, do not contribute to the improvement of the situation, but it is clear that reaching a pacification, or settlement, in these two matters will not end the conflict, And it will not prevent the continuation of the "mutual slaughter" between the two peoples.

The basic problem at the heart of the conflict is the failure to acknowledge the mutual traumas caused by the parties, each to the other, and the absence of bearing their responsibility, the disregard for the victim's suffering, and the obvious lack of concern for her injuries. All of this is a sign of being stripped of your overall humanity, to the extent that you don't leave any room for any other emotions. 

This dehumanization not only prevents a solution, or even a pacification of the conflict, but rather accelerates and intensifies it on the road leading to hell. In this conflict, the most dangerous and violent practices in human culture have been committed so far: massacres, rape, displacement, and mass murder. And the days are still pregnant with more. The level of violence inherent in the Jewish-Palestinian conflict has become extremely high, and it cannot be forgiven, to the extent that it is possible to think that there is no way out of this vicious cycle. The system of "reciprocal deprivation" of humanity is like a stagnant and dangerous swamp that absorbs, swallows, and hides within it everything that walks, and everyone who walks on its banks.

A Palestinian colleague, from the Israeli citizenship campaign, told me about her grief and shock after October 7th, and told me that she felt a strong and urgent desire to translate her feelings into activity for the families of the kidnapped and displaced. But the Israeli popular and governmental attitudes towards the Arab community, as well as the widespread Israeli reactions to the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza (whether it is the declared rigidity, or the sadistic joy), pushed it to completely different places, where it did not want to be from the beginning.

That friend said to me: "I realized, as the days passed, and in a better way, what my Jewish acquaintances are asking of me. I realized that they do not want me to condemn what Hamas has done, and that they also do not want to subject me to loyalty tests. I realized that they want me to Acknowledging the harm that followed them, and realizing to what extent, in their view, the Palestinian people 'harmed' the Jewish people on October 7th."

Many of the Palestinians living in Israel and abroad, who expressed their shock due to the massacre, and categorically refrained from "Hamas", today feel the same sense of oppressive orphan that the victim who refuses to accept responsibility for harming her feels. And now, they "claim" that the Jewish people are causing great harm to the Palestinian people. And they will ask us if we will admit it, and if we will take responsibility for this damage.

But it is normal for each side to suffer more from what happens to its victims. This is not rejected, but expresses the healthy psychological structure, which is the primary reason behind the important human arrangements, in the form of a family, a population gathering, and a society. The different peoples have different narratives and different interests as well, and they sometimes collide in a dangerous and painful way. However, the clash between "two opposing national movements" operating in a limited space, should not lead to a disaster that both parties are walking towards with open eyes.

When we talk about changing the curriculum and education, "which is a request coming from both parties", and appears as a basic condition in the desperate attempts to get out of the bloody cycle, we are talking, practically, about everything I mentioned above, without giving it a name. 

The compassion towards the other, the recognition of his sufferings, and most importantly: taking responsibility for the circumstances that pushed him to the greatest losses and the most terrible pains that one can feel on the scale of human pain, all of these are not components of a liberal self-characterization, but are the only steps that can save the Jews And the Palestinians together from Balkanization, or from the fate of Rwanda.