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| Edited By: Iftikhar Gilani |Source: DNA |Updated: Jan 03, 2018, 06:30 AM IST
Israeli historian Esther Carmel-Hakim has worked extensively on women in Zionist movement. Her research works became a source for a couple of movies as well. She recaps how a novel ‘Altneuland’ authored by Theodore Herzl, the visionary of the Jewish State, became a “manual” for the Zionist movement and how many ideas from this novel were in fact implemented to make a state of Israel. Excerpts of her interview, where she speaks about the Palestine issue and establishing peace in the Middle East.
Yes. Most Jews do realize that Arabs will not disappear and they cannot expect security by keeping the conflict alive. Most of the Arabs also now realise that Jews are not going to run away. We are stuck together and we have to find compromise. We don’t want our children to get killed. There will be a solution and when and after how much blood will be spilled that is a question. Palestine authority president Mehmood Abbas is very weak.
Israel is small country length of just 500 kms of length. The issue of refugees is a big problem. We cannot be a minority in Israel. We have to protect our identity.
According to UN definition, someone is recognised refugee for one generation. Arabs left Israel way back in 1940s, and at the same time 7000 Jews, who were living in Egypt and Iraq for 2000 years also left these countries. Israel accommodated 70,000 Jews, who came as refugees. They came from different Arab countries abandoning their settled homes. We assimilated them and they don’t claim themselves as refugees. You must ask Arab leaders, why even after 70 years they are not settling Palestinians who left current Israeli territories. India and Pakistan were partitioned same time and both countries have settled refugee issue.
We didn’t kick out Arabs. Israel is dotted with numerous Arab villages. Only those were asked to leave who attacked Jewish neighbourhood. There are 700,000 Muslims in Israel, who are called Arab-Israelis. There are 100,000 Israeli Arab Christians. I am against occupation and building of Jewish settlements in West Bank areas that we have recognised as territories under Palestinian Authority.
But, do think that more than a conflict inside Israel, there are issues in Arab nations around us. Muslims are killing Muslims every day.
Historically Judaism was not in conflict with Islam as it was with Christianity. I believe Islam is tolerant towards minorities, but doesn’t tolerate to be in a minority. Not only Nazis, but various regimes in Europe and elsewhere have killed and persecuted Jews. And for nothing, Jews never blew up buses or killed Christians. Europe and Christian empires have blood on their hands. Though for Jews life under Muslims rulers was not a picnic, but it was less troublesome. In Muslim Spain, particularly, they lived in peace and thrived in various fields.
I have many Arab students. As more and more Arab women study, we interact. Their birth rate has come down now. Men have realised that if lady in the house has university degree they can earn more money.
Within Israel there are so many dialogues going on between Jewish and Arab women. Women from Kibbutz and from nearby Arab villages teach each other. If you go to any Israeli hospital, you can see many Arab doctors and Arab nurses working with Jewish counterparts. But in street everyone is against each other. I am for giving Arabs equal rights. That is for what we have been fighting for. My family name Hakim sounds Arabic. I had to face discrimination when I had applied for funding for my research project. The Jewish funding agency seeing my family name refused, till I had to prove I am a Jew and not Arab. These things must end and both Jews and Arabs should get same chance to work and progress.
When Jews arrived in the US, they had to work on Saturdays-that is Shabat day. On the day Jews are ordained not to earn living or do any work. The found a middle way, asked women not to work on Saturdays and be at home. They didn’t confront the American system and its laws or regulations. We didn’t say we want Sharia law and exempt us from working on Saturdays. But when Muslims came to Europe they wanted to live according to their own laws. In Israel also, religious orthodox Jews wanted imposition of Sharia, replicating 5000 years old traditions and values. They wanted everything to shut down on Shabath. In Jewish traditions only men were allowed to learn Hebrew. In Judaism women had difficult times. They couldn’t do many things.
We have managed the contradictions and have not made them a roadblock in the making of Israel into a modern nation. They (women) started learning religious texts and interpreting them to confront the orthodox. Ultra-orthodox Jewish parties still don’t have women members in Knesset (Parliament).
Pre-Israel days, when British granted us autonomy and conducted elections, orthodox Jews said women should not have vote. Theodore Herzl, the visionary of the Jewish State got them right to vote. But it took him another 30 years to get them to represent in executive. Ultra-orthodox Jewish parties still don’t have women members in Knesset (Parliament).
Zionism was not a religious movement that people attribute to it. It was a national liberation movement to give a sense of belonging to a community, who were persecuted because of their religious identity. I reject the UN connotation.
Look there are many mad men in this world. Tell me is it practical? How many Jews are there in the world? Jewish population across world is estimated at 14.41 million. Israel has 64 lakh jews. There are 366 million Arabs around and 1.8 billion Muslims in the world. If we expand, it will at the cost of living as a minority. If we have to have a Jewish state, then it needs a two state solution.
First of all, it is just a declaration. Trump will only add more instability to the region. I hope Palestinians will not fall in his trap. I sense, till his declaration becomes operational, he will be out of office and some sanity prevails in Washington.
Much before Israel came up, Jews who came from different countries to settle in the region were lodged in a Kbbutz-- a collective community that was traditionally based on agriculture. Women were assigned homely jobs, and men would do tougher jobs. Socialist women Zionists said we need to work on land. Till then Jews were not used to have farms. We took Arabs to work for us. But there was a sense soon, why should Jews hire Arabs to work in their farms and why should they buy milk from German settlers in Palestine? For that they had to allow girls to participate in work. We sent men and women to Egypt to lean flying aircrafts. They were later part of Sinai war.
For me greatest achievement of Israel and Zionist movement was reviving a language that was spoken nowhere. Jews no longer knew Hebrew. We could not have become a one-nation and modern state without a common language. When Jews came they were speaking different languages. There could not have been a nation with so many different languages. Hebrew had just 15,000 words. So, it was left to a lady, who published a dictionary of Hebrew coined words to make it a speaking language. German laughed at us, how we will learn architecture, engineering, Mathematics though a language that has only fewer words. But we did succeed.
