Electioneering in Israel has entered the home stretch, with party
propaganda – and public discourse in general – degenerating into a
mixture of slogans, mudslinging and distortions, even more glaring than
usual.
Amid this turmoil, Jews of conscience are trying to decide how to cast
their vote. For those who do not identify as Zionist, the main
possibilities are the two Arab parties into which the Joint Arab List
has split: Hadash-Taal and Raam-Balad.
Superficial political discourse
The first combines the communists and Ahmad Tibi’s party, and the second
combines Balad and the Islamic Movement’s southern branch. Apart from
the question of voting for Islamic candidates, the second alternative
raises one of the more challenging questions in Israeli political
thought: the place of Jews in the Palestinian national movement.
Balad is a Palestinian national party, which, in the frightfully
superficial political discourse conducted in Israel, is enough to brand
it as nationalist in the extreme. That’s a lie, and it must be refuted.
The aspiration to create a 'Jewish and democratic' state in Israel makes a demographic war against its non-Jewish citizens inevitable
In general, extreme nationalism is a concept that prioritises the
national over the individual, and one specific nationality over others.
The national approach of Balad is the obverse of both of these.
Firstly, Balad does not talk about Palestinian nationalism as exclusive,
but rather as something alongside Jewish-Israeli nationalism; it
demands recognition of both national entities. From a national
Palestinian perspective, this is a far-reaching position, because it
proposes recognition by this country’s indigenous people of the Jewish
nationalism imposed upon it as a legitimate nationalism, and not a
colonial one.
Unchaining nationalism from Zionism
The only precondition is unchaining this Jewish nationalism from
Zionism. The Zionist position, even in its most progressive version – as
represented by Meretz, for instance – offers Palestinian citizens civil
rights, but not national collective rights. The right of national
recognition is accorded to Jewish citizens only.
Israel’s nation-state law is
just a more blatant expression of this basic Zionist stance,
highlighting the fact that it is impossible to talk about equal civil
rights in a reality of national oppression. It’s not coincidental that
since the founding of the state, not a single new Arab city has been
built. The aspiration to create a “Jewish and democratic” state in
Israel makes a demographic war against its non-Jewish citizens
inevitable.
Secondly, the nationalism of Balad does not position itself above the
individual, but rather is a means for people to actualise their
individual rights, including their collective rights.
In a reality where national identity is most influential in shaping the
space and place of the individual in the hierarchy of power, national
liberation is a necessary step on the path to civic equality; in other
words, to the establishment of a true democracy, which is the second
foundation upon which Balad’s ideology rests.
From here comes the answer to the question of why Jews should support a
Palestinian national party. In the present reality, this is the only
path towards real democratisation of the country, and its release from
the bonds of exclusive Jewish nationalism and the narrowing of the
civic-democratic space to which that nationalism inherently leads.
Coming to grips with privilege
True, it’s much easier and more tempting to join a movement that defines
itself as Jewish-Arab, such as Hadash, even if the party’s percentage
of Jewish members is negligible.
This self-definition is morally very appropriate, but it blurs the
extreme asymmetry that exists between the positions of these two
national entities, so the fact that it tends to focus more on the
discourse of equality is not surprising. That, too, is an appropriate
discourse, but its horizons are limited while there is still this
essential inequality in the most influential component shaping the
political reality: national identity.
This is something that should be significant for us, as Jews who are
interested in a radical change in the status quo. It requires us to come
to grips with the privilege that we cannot be released from if all we
do is chant slogans along the lines of: “Jews and Arabs refuse to be
enemies.”
Balad invites us, as Jews, to take a step back from the euphoria of
partnership and get behind the national Palestinian project – the only
thing that can bring authentic meaning to that partnership.
It’s not a simple challenge. We, as Jews, are not accustomed to taking a
backseat. But so long as we have not set out on this journey from the
most deeply rooted point of departure, the result won’t rise beyond
slogans that enthuse us at demonstrations but ultimately lead nowhere.
In this sense, Balad is inviting us to be partners for change in the
deepest possible sense. We must simply take a deep breath and embrace a
conceptual shift in the hierarchy. This appears to be the most
significant thing we can do in the upcoming elections.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
