woensdag 21 april 2010

Israels 62ste Onafhankelijkheidsdag (Ami Isseroff)

 
Volgens Ami Isseroff hebben Joden nog steeds moeite met onafhankelijkheid, na tweeduizend jaar in de diaspora, en is dat de grootste bedreiging van Israel op dit moment:
 
But not every Jew understood yet, or understands now, what it means to be independent, and some of the lessons seem to have been forgotten. We are still uncomfortable with Independence Day ceremonies and with armies and medals and with a government that is not to be treated as the enemy. We are also a Mediterranean people, not good at being orderly. The first Israeli Independence Day celebration was a fiasco. The army that had defeated all those Arab states in 1948 was itself defeated by a mob of enthusiastic Tel-Avivians who ran rampant over the planned parade route.
(...)
 
But independence is achieved by being independent, not by provocative gestures and petulant displays. The rebellious child embarrasses the parents in front of guests. That is the sort of thing that Interior Minister Eli Yishai did when he announced the 1600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo. It was a pointless gesture that invited a fight we cannot win. Independence for nations, as for people, implies learning to behave as adults, to weigh consequences and to observe proprieties. Relationships are usually what their participants define them to be, by their own behavior. Faced with a petulant gesture, Mr. Obama decided to punish the disobedient child.

Our problem is not just the deterioration in the warmth of the relationship with the United States. Our problem is that what was once a businesslike partnership is deteriorating into an infantile dependency, in which our leaders are increasingly displaying the symptoms of learned helplessness, because the other partner is anxious to elicit that behavior.

Whatever the outcome of the current crises with Iran, and whatever the intentions of Mr. Obama and his government, we cannot afford to give up our independence to any state. Independence Day without independence would be pointless, no matter how much effort is invested in grandiose ceremonies. This is the really urgent threat that requires our attention.
 
>> Lees het hele betoog hier: Israel's 62nd Independence Day
 
RP
 

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