Israel

[Shahab3]

Scheinbar nehmen Hass und Anspannung zwischen Palästinensern und Israelis in einem vom Autor als zunehmend erdrückend wahrgenommenen Klima stetig zu. P. Weiss gewinnt diesen Eindruck nach Jahren regelmäßiger Besuche und Gesprächen die er mit Bewohnern der beiden streng voneinander separierten Seiten geführt hat:

Real estate, racism, and righteousness — a grim visit to Israel
Philip Weiss on November 23, 2013 24

Every time I go to Israel I like to report on my response to the conflict, and after visiting in September my feelings are bleaker than they’ve ever been. That’s been the trend, the last couple of visits; but this one was particularly bad. The degree of oppression and persecution, of the indifference to it inside Israel, indeed the self-righteousness, the belief that this can all just be managed, and of the hatred it is breeding inside Palestine—all these attitudes just get more pronounced.

I spent most of my time in Palestine, but I don’t like observing those feelings either. I’m sure I’d be worse under those conditions. But the demonization is unsettling, and it seems functional: You have to demonize people in order to excuse violence. There is bound to be some awful conflict ahead. And when I leave I feel thankful I’m getting away.
On my first trip seven years ago my chief impression was of how separated the people were, and this was my impression this time as well. The Israelis and the Palestinians by and large have nothing to do with one another. You are either in one community or another, and the apparatus of separation is grisly and dispiriting. Palestinians never escape it. When you visit them, you are constantly going through checkpoints or facing soldiers or driving extra hours to bypass settlements or looking across barbed wire at better roads the Israelis get to ride on.

The signs rub it in your face.

“Please maintain order and cleanliness,” in English, Arabic, and Hebrew, outside cattle gates.

“Driver please drop passengers off here before screening point.”
And the big red signs saying Area A is dangerous for Israelis to enter.

Apartheid works. It keeps people apart.
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