Channels
B'Tselem Executive Director Hagai El-Ad addresses UN Security Council
Prof. Rafi Walden

Human rights groups are not Israel’s enemies

Op-ed: The world does not hate us because of our existence, but because of our actions. Our image as a dark nationalistic society is actually being saved by human rights organizations’ representatives.

Two events with a massive focus on Israel in the international community have taken place within two weeks. The first was Shimon Peres’ funeral and the second was a contentious UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem. 

 

 

Nearly 100 heads of state arrived in Israel to honor a man who had not held an official position for several years and who passed away at an old age. Presidents, prime ministers and kings, who are usually at the center of attention and in the spotlight, stood modestly among many people. Their participation did not give them any fame. They arrived because they felt the need to pay their respects to the man and to his work. However, they also came to demonstrate the yearning for what Peres symbolized – the Israel that is fading away. Their arrival served as conclusive evidence that the attitude towards Israel does not stem from anti-Semitism or from unclear political enmity. There are many who are willing to respect and love the enlightened, peace-seeking Israel, a member of the family of cultural nations.

 

World leaders at Shimon Peres' funeral. Yearning for an elightened Israel (Photo: Gil Yohanan) (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
World leaders at Shimon Peres' funeral. Yearning for an elightened Israel (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

 

Two weeks later, UNESCO adopted a disgraceful resolution denying Israel’s link to places which have been sacred to the Jewish people for 3,000 years. People immediately began crying out against the gentiles’ anti-Semitism. But how is it possible that nations which showed so much appreciation towards Peres’ legacy voted against us this time, or at least abstained? It was a protest vote, indeed a vulgar one, which expressed the deep rejection of the current Israeli government’s destructive policy that is pushing peace away.

 

The huge gap between these two displays must prompt a self-examination.

 

Another event which exposed Israel to the international community was the participation of B’Tselem and Peace Now representatives at a UN Security Council session. This participation, as expected, received tons of condemnations and attacks from the Israeli president and right-wing politicians. The organizations’ representatives are presented as Israel haters, who are plotting against the state, driven by burning self-hatred and shamelessly degrading Israel’s image.

 

But that is not the truth. In most cases, we are talking about sincere Israeli patriots, who are desperately seeking to divert Israel from the bad road leading the state to the edge of an abyss. Our country is not being condemned by anti-Semitic nations because of those who denounce it, but because of its actions. The human rights organizations’ representatives are not revealing top secrets; they are presenting known figures, which have even been displayed at the Knesset more than once.

 

Our current image as a dark nationalistic society is actually being saved by the spokespeople of these organizations, who are making it clear that there are quite a few peaceful people among us who support democracy and human values – hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens, who out of desperation, are failing to muster the power to voice their opinion at the gate.

 

It takes courage. In the face of the aggressive wave of nationalism, these organizations’ leaders are being exposed to waves of enmity and even to physical threats. Their appeal to international institutions came after decades of attempts to save Israel from itself, and after all the efforts directed inwards have utterly failed.

 

The human rights organizations’ representatives are not Israel’s enemies, and the world is not driven by anti-Semitism. If we stop the descent to the abyss we are being pulled into by messianic nationalistic forces, we will be reaccepted as an enlightened and respectable nation among the international community. The world does not hate us because of our existence, but because of our conduct.

 

Prof. Rafi Walden, late President Shimon Peres’ son-in-law, is a surgeon and a human rights activist.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.22.16, 13:00
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment