christopher lydon delivers again! super daniel barenboim (who has both israeli and palestinian passports) interview on wagner’s tristan und isolde with an enjoyable digression on middle east politics.
… basically the Palestinians don’t see why there is a need for a Jewish state, for a state that is exclusively Jewish … they say the Holocaust is dreadful, and what a terrible thing, but why do we have to pay for it? It is all actually very simple logic. And until there is a prime minister in Israel that is willing to understand that — I am not saying agree with it, but understand — that we have come, the Jewish people, that there is an element of artificiality, and that there is an element of injustice. And I’m not against the state of Israel, on the contrary, I believe in the right of the state of Israel to exist. But I know how many terrible mistakes that have been made, and I know that history has taught us that certain things you cannot change, but you have to recognize them. And therefore until there is a the prime minister of Israel that can stand up and say that there has been an injustice committed, and we really have to sort this out, it will not move forward.
More and more, time is working for the Palestinians and not for Israel nor for the Jewish people. Because of the demography and because of the fact that the argument of Jewish suffering, of course, gets a little bit paler with the passage of time. People felt about the cruelty–the unbelievable and unique cruelty towards the Jews with the Holocaust in Europe–in 1948, 1950 and 1960 much more strongly than in 2008…
how are israel and palestine (and arabs in general) going to meet at a center when there is so little dialog? it requires effort from both sides. it requires us an individuals to look beyond the bullshit state propaganda in the arab world that does nothing but demonize israel and by extension israelis. surely the blogosphere is an ideal format for building relationships and a deeper understanding of where each people is coming from. i am going to actively add some israeli / jewish rss feeds today (recommendations welcome) to start some new conversations across the sinai.
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