If you are an American, you must be for Israel, or at least that is the way it seems. It is certainly political suicide to speak ill of Israel. Please note, my reference is to the nation of Israel, not the Jewish religion. We tend to equate the two, even though there is a larger percentage of Arabs as citizens of Israel, than African Americans citizens of America.
Author Marc Aronson is Jewish. Many of his family live in Israel. Marc visits often. In his book “Unsettled: The Problem of Loving Israel” Marc says that Israel is, today, dealing with the issues of segregation and discrimination toward “Arab citizens of Israel” that America dealt with 40 years ago. These are not Palestinians living in the occupied territories, like the West Bank or Gaza. These are Arabs whose families have lived in the State of Israel since its creation in 1948. They vote and can even hold public office, though they rarely do. The only thing they don’t do is serve in the Israeli Army.
Is Israel only for Jews? Should non-Jews leave? Is there something wrong when an ethnic group comprising 20% of the population owns only 4% of the land? Is Israel pursuing policies that relieve these growing pressures or which obscure them until they erupt?
Marc explores the attitudes and contradictions of a persecuted people who are or should be dealing with issues of discrimination and persecution of Arab citizens. The question is to what extent does this contradiction bode good or evil for the ulitmate future and security of Israel? Marc’s point is not to criticize, but to point to a gathering storm, for just as surely as these issues caught up with America 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, they will linger within Israeli society until they are dealt with, either constructively or destructively.
The subtleties and complexities of these issues have discouraged me from even attempting to boil down this emotional journey into a few sentences. If you love Israel or have a problem loving Israel, read the book! It will make you think.
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