No arguments about that. The only thing that I disagreed with you about was about what you meant/mean by the word “we”.

If you mean/meant ONLY Israelis, then I disagree. If you mean/meant Palestinians TOO, then I don’t disagree.

However, if it is the latter, then we don’t see too much effort to do that on the Palestinian side. As I said, where is their +972 equivalent? And if they haven’t got one (which appears to be the case), then at the least, the Israeli +972 should write a fair few articles directed at Palestinians to redress the balance. It is a credibility issue.

I say that because those of us who may be prone to be influenced, won’t be influenced under the present format. Because the current format of +972 is way, way unbalanced against Jews and Israelis. It may just be perception, although I don’tthink so. But in any case, perception is reality.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_and_massacres_in_Mandatory_Palestine

And there was no occupation then. The only “crime” that Jews committed was BUYING lands from absentee Arab landlords.

This has everything to do about warring sides Vicky. The following link lists terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians against Israelis, dating back from the 1980s to 2000. If you want, I can post similar links that date back to the 1920s. And there wasn’t even an Israel then, let alone occupation.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_suicide_attacks#section_2

Name Date Location Death toll Notes
Mehola Junction bombing April 16, 1993 Mehola junction 1 Hamas claimed responsibility.[2] Carried out together with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Beit El car bomb October 4, 1993 Near Beit El 29 injured Hamas member Sulayman Idan was responsible.[3][4]

1994 (5 bombings)
Name Date Location Death toll Notes
Afula Bus suicide bombing April 6, 1994 Afula 8 Hamas claimed responsibility. Carried out together with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Hadera bus station suicide bombing

April 13, 1994 Hadera 5 Hamas claimed responsibility. Carried out together with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Dizengoff Street bus bombing October 19, 1994 Tel Aviv 22 Attributed to Hamas.
Netzarim Junction bicycle bombing November 11, 1994 Netzarim 3 Hamas claimed responsibility. Carried out together with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Jerusalem Binyanei Hauma suicide bombing December 25, 1994 Jerusalem 13 injured Attributed to Hamas.

1995 (4 bombings)

Name Date Location Death toll Notes
Beit Lid massacre January 22, 1995 Beit Lid Junction 21 Two bombers. One detonated at rescue party. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

And there is much more on that site.

As for reconciliation, that occurs when injustice ends. The TRCs were established in South Africa after apartheid, not during. It’s hard to talk about reconciliation when whole communities currently lie under demolition order, there are government plans afoot to forcibly transfer all 27,000 Bedouin residents out of Area C, families have been torn apart on the basis of the birthplace recorded in the ID assigned to them by the military, it’s possible to detain a person indefinitely without a charge (let alone a trial), and two-year-old children are threatened with arrest by the army. (That last is no exaggeration; it happened in Kufr Qaddoum.) I travel regularly across the Green Line, I have many Israeli friends and contacts, and while I know that they have all been adversely affected by the situation here, they don’t live under the power of Palestinians. They aren’t subjected to systemic structural violence. An unfortunately large number of them would have the luxury of going about their daily lives without even knowing that the above mentioned abuses exist if they so chose. Luckily they don’t choose, but a lot of others do, and I think these are the people whom Maya is addressing.

Thanks for admitting that they don’t do it Maya. That they are not being self critical and introspective about their acts of hate. Certainly not in the way that +972 Magazine is doing with Israel.

Now I ask you. Why do you consider it so wrong to ask that they should do it too? That they should stop pretending sole victimhood in a war that they contributed to at least as much as Israel and more, at least in my opinion.

And it isn’t just my opinion. Even arch doves like Shlomo Ben Ami and Benny Morris clearly said that Palestinian leaders like Arafat and his predecessors never accepted the Jewish state and waged an existential war against the it for nearly 100 years.

So in the context of two warring peoples, what is wrong with demanding that BOTH sides should pull their weight if there is to be a process of reconciliation?

Saying that because one side, Israel, gained the upper hand in this 100 year old war, that side should make more sacrifices for peace is just a red herring. You brought up the example of Nazi Germany so I will too. Did the allies ease the pressure on the Nazis towards the end of the war after Germany was on the brink of defeat and was weakened? I suppose if you and Vicky were alive then, you would have demanded that the allies should make all sorts of concessions in the name of peace. Because the allies were all powerful and by then Nazi Germany was weak.

Did you like that comparison, Maya? I bet you did not. So in the future please be a bit more discerning with the types of comparisons that you bring up too. I fully agree with the comment that Kiwi made to you about it.

I have to say this comparison is plain disgusting. The Jews never conducted indiscriminate suicide bombing campaigns, rocket attacks or other forms of attacks against Germans. Unlike the Palestinians who conducted violent attacks against Israelis and Jews from the 1920s to this very day.

I’ll say it again. This comparison is odious. And I am saying this as a non Jew who has many Jewish friends. I am saying it on their behalf..

In this article, I wanted to be completely honest about what I said to the soldier, even though in retrospect I agree that I could have responded to him in a better way. I also realize that it is important to approach soldiers correctly as once angered they could become more aggressive. This is also the way that I see approaching the Jewish community in Israel and the Diaspora, as they tend to become even more aggressive when they feel attacked, which is dangerous.

At the time I was shocked, yet again, with the soldier’s attitude. It is representative of so many and as such I am not surprised when Palestinians are treated badly by soldiers, not just at checkpoints. I was also really uncomfortable with the idea that he was concerned for me not as an Israeli citizen, but specifically as a Jewish person. (The first thing he asked was if I am Jewish). Again, with this attitude it is no surprise that Palestinians in Israel (or Israeli-Arabs, however they’re identified) are discriminated against and overlooked.

I wanted to make the comparison to anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany because we as Jews are generally unable to recognize that we were also considered a ‘threat’. Nazis exploited this, which is why so many people at the time either supported or were indifferent to the idea of having us ‘dealt with’. It is ironic that we are not trying to prevent the same from happening to another people.

I am certainly not saying that Palestinians are all innocent in any of this, and I don’t believe in painting over that. Violence is never the answer and there are actions committed at the hands of Palestinians that should be seriously condoned. But this does not justify the shocking things that are happening to Palestinians by Israel. My point with the article is to ask us to recognize the terror in ourselves too – people are generally very unwilling to do that. Also, Israel’s approach does very little to minimize any ‘terror’ that it claims to fight, and in fact it only serves to create more hate and rage. It’s therefore ironic that actions are done in the name of ‘security’ when it does not make Israeli citizens any safer, at least not for any sustainable period. Also, the media here does not show Israelis that Palestinians have been protesting non-violently for many years. In fact, this is completely overlooked by the majority, and is often suppressed militarily (check the story on Babs Al Shams, Budrus, Bil’in etc). I can’t help but feel that Israel exploits ‘Arab terror’ in order to maintain the status quo.

Shmuel – your comments typify the approach I’m trying to call attention to in my article. Being defensive and saying ‘but they don’t do it so why should we’ is getting us nowhere. In fact, it’s doing harm to any sort of process. We are in the position of power: Israel is the occupying force with the military might so we must recognize that it is in our power to change our attitude and the situation (otherwise let there be sanctions until things change). It is a scary thought to trust ‘the other’ but it has to happen. I am not attempting to ‘preach’ but if you see it like that, so be it. I am saying these things because I genuinely care about the safety of everyone in this place, with genuine equal rights, and not in some quasi-democratic state.

So lets just leave it at that, shall we?