The article’s main message is how the Israelites long for peace and have done all it takes to end the conflict. The substantive evidence provided in the article to show the Israeli’s point of view is the experience of the author as a youth who worked as a peace ambassador and the Israelites’ willingness to accept sub-division. Further, Israel has shown an orientation toward peace by appointing Arab judges and allowing Arab political parties to constantly lobby for peace and tranquility for positive coexistence.
The author’s ideological perspective is that the Israelis are not racists and are willing to do all it takes to restore peace. The statements used by the author to support the conclusion are the willingness of the Israeli government to commission the demolition of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank to fulfill Palestine’s desires (Barzilai, 2022). The appointment of Khaleb Kabub as the first Muslim Supreme Court judge proves that the Israelis are not discriminatory and are willing to live in peace and harmony.
Collectivism is the practice of giving the group priority other than an individual to help the cluster thrive. In a collective culture, individuals define themselves as part of a given group that works towards ensuring that society prospers. Each group plays a significant role in developing such a society, and decisions are based on what is best for each group. The author uses two collectivist principles to support his position on the Israeli viewpoint. The principles used are cooperation and public ownership to underscore the Israeli’s desire to coexist with the Palestinians peacefully.
Cooperation is one of the most important principles of collectivism that allows citizens in a country to exist in peace to gain a common goal instead of competing against each other. David Barzilai uses the principle to illustrate Israel’s side of the story in the ongoing conflict that has existed over the ages. Although the Palestinian government has rejected all peace proposals and opted to start a war with Israel, the latter embraced peace and encouraged cooperation. On the declaration of independence in 1948, the Israeli leadership granted equal rights and encouraged participation among the Arabs in the country (Barzilai, 2022).
Consequently, three Arab political parties and fourteen members of parliament underscored the cooperation Israel wanted to have with Palestine. The Arab political parties and Israeli parliament members make the author successful in expressing the principle of cooperation.
Public Ownership is the core principle of collectivism that the author leveraged to explain what the Israelites thought about the division. Public ownership is the ability of a nation to own land and other property. When the government owns the property, it is positioned to develop it and exercise sovereign powers to take care of its people from the proceeds of the property.
The Commission of Inquiry formulated by the United Nations in 1947 to end the conflict recommended the partitioning of the land so that each of the warring states would have sole control of their piece of land. Even though the part “designated for the Jewish state was tiny, more painfully, it excluded Jerusalem, and yet the Jewish side accepted the partition plan” to underscore their need for peace (Barzilai, 2022). The government’s acceptance of the partitioning deal that it could till its land for survival proves that the country yearns for peace and is willing to sacrifice its pride for the sake of peace. The author used the principle to prove that Israeli is not selfish and is ready to call off the conflicts for the sake of peace.
The author has used one past event to demonstrate how the Israelites have been willing to end the conflict and coexist with the Palestinians in peace and harmony. The formation of the commission of Inquiry in 1947 by the UN in a quest to end conflict recommended the partitioning to have each warring party claim control over one side (Barzilai, 2022). The reaction to the recommendation has been used to prove Israel’s side of the story and show how Israel has been yearning for peace.
In my opinion, the Palestine-Israeli war has persisted because of the Palestinian’s refusal to embrace the suggestions of peace and the discrimination they have against the Jews. I agree with the author because he provides concrete evidence to support the claims that Israel has been willing to incorporate the Arabs and work with them without discriminating. Some evidence to show that the Israelites have been willing to embrace peace is the acceptance of the partitioning deal, embracing the Arabic political parties and members of parliament, and the appointment of a Palestinian judge to serve as a Supreme Court judge.
If Palestine had embraced the Israelite’s activities and allowed the Jews to be part of their government, including the Jews would have improved the peaceful coexistence between the two nations. The Israeli government has further appointed two Arab ministers. One of the ministers serves as minister for Regional Corporation and states that “Israeli is not an apartheid state” (Barzilai, 2022). Israel has continuously shown efforts to coexist in peace, and its side of the story proves that it is not the catalyzing force of the war.
Reference
Barzilai, D. (2022). “Opinion: The Israeli side of the Israel-Palestine conflict has always fallen on deaf ears,” The San Diego Union-Tribune. Web.