THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST: – The goal is not smooth discussion and full consensus, but to be able to have a proper conversation about what is going on and what the actions entail. For all those who are directly affected – but also for us in our society, and in our square, writes chronicler Marte Heian-Engdal. Photo: Kyrre Lien / VG
It is in the interest of all of us that the noise and the distance in the square of opinion does not become even greater than it is now.
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This is a chronicle. The chronicle expresses the writer’s attitude. You can submit chronicles and debate posts to [email protected].
MARTE HEIAN-ENGDAL, assistant director at NOREF Center for International Conflict Resolution
If you imagine the Norwegian public debate about Israel and Palestine as a square, there are two groups in each corner, equipped with megaphones, banners and slogans and effects that make noise, hurt, offend and frighten.
It is hard to think of a similar meltdown of the public conversation about the political and human drama unfolding in the Middle East than what we are seeing now.
An abyss reveals itself.
In the United States, Great Britain and France, conditions are even worse. Demonstrations are banned and large crowds are slandered as hateful, people are harassed and canceled over a low shoe – in both camps.
It is in the interest of all of us that the distance and the noise in the square do not become even greater.
Editors, politicians, debaters and keyboard warriors alike can contribute to that. The alternative can be very dangerous.
Revenge is often cited as the dominant driving force behind the crushing Israeli military operation that has been taking place in the Gaza Strip since 7 October.
But an equally dominant feeling in Israel is probably sadness and pain.
This wound is open and bleeding. With each new story that is uncovered, each body that is identified and each family fate that is conveyed, the wound grows. Not far away from grief lies anger, and fear.
Marte Heian-Engdal. Photo: NOREF
This fear has long historical lines, longer than the existence of the Jewish state, and far beyond the borders of the Jewish state.
It has its origins here in Europe, also in Norway, and it therefore also resonates and belongs with Norwegian Jews. For those who are usually closely connected to Israel, and those who are to little or no degree.
The days since 7 October have been characterized by increased vulnerability, increased insecurity and a historic fear that all of us must take very seriously.
The grief and anger that seethes in Israel is also used for something other than trauma processing in the Jewish-Israeli community.
It plays a central role in legitimizing Israel’s warfare and the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip. Faced with critics at home, but most of all it is aimed at an international audience.
A well-oiled machine pumps out horrific stories. For those willing to expose themselves to them, there are ever more, ever worse impressions.
The Israeli authorities cannot of course be blamed for the fact that there is a lot of horror to be removed, but as recipients it is important to remind ourselves that there is awareness behind how this is used.
This conflict has always been the scene of melee for the truth, but now the algorithms and the power of military power are more closely interconnected than ever.
It has something to do with the wording, and it has something to do with the course of the war.
Because Israeli society was violated and affected in an outrageous way, all Israeli measures are defended as legitimate.
Because Hamas did what they did, there are no limits to what Israel not only can – but must – do, at any cost. That the price being paid in the long run is civilian lives, including thousands of children, is dismissed by official Israeli rhetoric as inconsequential.
The Hamas terror was of such a nature that there is no mercy for anyone.
STEILE FRONTER: – We must start by recognizing that even though this is an emotional debate and an emotional dark time, it is actually grief and fear – not hatred – that are the most important driving forces at play, writes the chronicler. The picture is from a demonstration in the Canadian city of Toronto on 30 October. Photo: Christopher Katsarov / Pa Photos / NTB
There is incomprehensible suffering and death toll in the Gaza Strip, but this fact is also called into question. The murdered are not just torn from life, they carry the burden of proof with them into death.
And when there is no doubt, it is deserved.
Literally broken civilians, the Palestinians themselves are to blame for their own deaths. They could have chosen a different political leadership (in reality they couldn’t) and they should have fled (in reality they couldn’t).
On the other side of the square is another reality. Here, too, the algorithms have a reinforcing power.
The fury increases the longer the war rages.
Frustration mounts as calls for a ceasefire are derided as naïve and Hamas-loving, and dismissed as hatred of Israel and a threat to Israel’s existence.
From such an accusation, it is further a short distance to people with these opinions also being accused of wishing the state of Israel all evil, and the worst label of them all; that one is anti-Semitic.
There is anti-Semitism in the pro-Palestinian ranks in our square, here too. There are forces that believe the state of Israel is inherently racist, those who believe the state has become a modern apartheid regime, and those who would prefer to see the entire state disappear.
To claim otherwise is unwise, and potentially dangerous.
Presumably also very harmful for the Palestinian solidarity struggle.
MUTING OPPOSITIONS: – It is everyone’s responsibility to stop and attribute to others a number of opinions they may not have, to look for faults and shortcomings in other people’s sighs and utterances, writes Marte Heian-Engdal. The picture is from a celebration in New York on 1 November. Photo: PETER FOLEY / EPA / NTB
However, it is just as unwise to try to pin this same bitter accusation on everyone who is now demonstrating for a ceasefire, for an end to the occupation and for a free Palestine.
Because fear and collective historical trauma are not reserved for the vulnerable Jewish minority. Many of us Norwegians have roots, family and history closer to the heart of the conflict.
For those who have grown up with stories of war, flight and oppression as something more concrete than chapters in history books and curriculum goals in social studies, this increasingly narrow space in our square can appear suffocating.
You gasp for air, but are told that you can only breathe through a narrow straw.
When Norwegian Jews feel grief and fear over the 7 October attack in Israel as something more tangible than other Norwegians, in the same way in other minority communities there are strong historical roots that feed grief, vulnerability and not least fear of where this will end .
As a society, we must also take this seriously.
also read
Chronicle: A little more silence and reflection
Perhaps a little reflection is in order, both for Israelis and Palestinians?
So how do we do it? In any case, we must start by recognizing that even though this is an emotionally charged debate and an emotional dark time, it is actually grief and fear – not hatred – that are the most important driving forces at play.
Knowledge of history – our own, that of others, the new us – must form the core of our common opinion square.
It is everyone’s responsibility to stop attributing to others a series of opinions they may not have, to look for faults and shortcomings in other people’s sighs and utterances, and to start becoming a little more curious about what is at the root of the other person’s grief, and the other person’s fear .
The goal is not smooth discussion and full consensus, but to be able to have a proper conversation about what is going on and what the actions entail.
For all those who are directly affected – but also for us in our society, and in our square.
Published:
Published: 02.11.23 at 20:16
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2023-11-02 19:16:22
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