Let us not forget what Sheikh Jarrah is all about on this weekly day of protest. Sheikh Jarrah is about the families that live on the streets because of Israeli actions to take over their homes in favor of extremist settlers, backed by American money, that want to derail any possibility for peaceful reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians. Sheikh Jarrah is about Palestinians.
Yet, over the past months, Sheikh Jarrah has become a symbol of the (failing) Israeli democractic system. The growing police repression, the crackdown on leftist views, the double standards that plague Israeli society and the breakdown of communication between Israelis courts and police are all on full display in Sheikh Jarrah. Because of the waves of arrests and clearly misguided treatment of Israeli protesters at the hands of the Israeli police, the objectives of the Sheikh Jarrah protest have changed. The media has entered the picture, deciding to document the treatment of Israelis in Sheikh Jarrah. Last week, high profile public figures like Yossi Sarid joined the protest. Did he meet with the Palestinian families that are homeless? Did they write articles about the situation that these Palestinians are facing? The answer is not that clear. He wrote about Israelis. He wrote about Israeli democracy and about the state conduct regarding Israelis. This is an important issue in Israeli society and I am personally happy that the debate has reached such high levels in the media discourse. But I am scared that we have lost sight of the big picture in Sheikh Jarrah. We need to reformulate our approach in order to place the emphasis on the Palestinian narrative of this story. If in the process, the weakness of Israeli democracy is shown, then that is great. But this cannot be the main focus of the protest.
Every week, when Israeli citizens go out and express non-violent opposition to Israeli policies, whether in Sheikh Jarrah, the South Hebron Hills or Bil’in, the Israeli government should be privately thanking them. This is the only positive PR to come out of Israel from inside Israel. Every week that Israelis give up their weekend to sit in jail cells in order to make a point abouable to expose the double standard regarding how the rule of law is applied and the discriminatory, repressive, aggressive policies.
It is these Israelis who are taking responsibility for their country’s actions; these Israelis who are shaping future relations in the region between Israelis and Palestinians; these Israelis who demonstrate the true meaning of what it means to take active part in their future. Because of this we need to make sure that the Palestinian perspective and narrative is on center stage in Sheikh Jarrah and not necessarily the problematic of (failing) Israeli democracy. It is crucial that we do not get caught up in the media games and lose sight of the big picture in Sheikh Jarrah.
#1 by Marian on January 30th, 2010
Just wondering: Why do the Israeli activists not demonstrate in the same persistent and highly-publicized way in other areas around the Old City of East Jerusalem, which are under similiar threat and where similar injustices occur? Could it be that Sheikh Jarrah is more convenient, more easily accessible, even more secure? Could it be that the issues are slightly different, and less internal, including the fact that the houses from which Palestinians — refugees, as it happens — are being evicted, and replaced by Jewish settlers, were never Jewish-owned buildings, but were actually built by UNRWA, under the Jordanian administration between May 1948 and June 1967, rather than by Palestinian refugees themselves, both before and after 1967?
#2 by Lisa Goldman on January 30th, 2010
Marian –
Sheikh Jarrah is simply the tipping point. Convenience & security are not the issue here.
Lisa
#3 by eyal on January 30th, 2010
to much injustice, to little activists…
Thanks Joseph!