Israel’s left-center, which has lost its emotional and moral compass, must turn to the Arab parties and their voters now or face destruction.
Gideon Levy (Haaretz)
The left-center bloc is no less racist and nationalist than the
right. But unlike the right, it is racist and nationalist without
emotion. The right-wing mindset is fear and hatred. They are afraid of
the Arabs, the migrants and the leftists, and they hate them.
The left was once marked by compassion and sympathy for the oppressed.
When soldiers broke bones, the left was shocked. When children were
beaten and people under interrogation were tortured, when vineyards were
set ablaze and land stolen, the left identified with the victim. This
feeling disappeared about a decade ago. The emotion is gone and the left
is gone. The left-center is devoid of feeling. That's why it is being
defeated.
Its spokespeople have become nationalist. Defense Minister Ehud Barak
was the first to foster leftist nationalism when he said: "We are here
and they are there." That is, we also hate Arabs, but our solution is
better. We'll build a wall and let them rot behind it. We'll give them a
state and let them wallow in it. The main thing is for them to get out
of our sight. That was the beginning of the death of the true left, a
left that came from the heart and a sense of justice.
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"While the Palestinian left speaks of a just life together, the Israeli left speaks of separation (based on race, of course ). Hatnuah chief Tzipi Livni says correct things about the two-state solution, but she preaches from nationalist motives. She wants a state without (many ) Arabs, a Jewish state, which she defines as a nationalist state. Israel for the Jews. Just like France for the French and Germany for the Germans. In French and German this sounds terrible; only in Hebrew does it pass muster. Not a word about morality and human rights for all."
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