Asserting common humanity amid Israeli-Palestinian conflict

MIRAH LANGER

Addressing those attending a seminar about Palestinian citizens of Israel and their struggle, Odeh declared the following in Arabic, which was then translated into English for the audience: “I notice that there are three Israeli students who are joining: you are welcome.”

Odeh’s opening remark was a gesture of goodwill that would be reiterated during a heated moment later, as part of a question-and-answer session. The event took place last week at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Odeh, who is secretary-general of the Hadash party, used the term “nakbah [catastrophe]” extensively to describe the establishment of Israel, but did not dispute its right to exist.

Instead, one of the key focuses of his vociferous criticism was on how Israel positioned its Arab citizens.

There was a pain associated with his identity within Israel, Odeh explained.“They created the personality of the Israeli Arab. It is a very complex state for the Israeli Arab because he is lost in translation; he lost his Arabic identity and he doesn’t belong to the Israeli collective.

“We are still struggling to keep our dignity, our belonging to the land and our place.”

Odeh described the Israeli Arab position as contradictory to its core. “It’s very difficult because we are citizens of a state that fights our people.”

During the time of the Oslo Accord, Odeh said, “Arab citizens were hopeful, positive and open to the peace process.”

However, now their situation was increasingly untenable under the current rule of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The laws passed under his regime were “racist”, Odeh declared.

“It’s the most right wing government in the history of Israel. The end of the government will be welcome.”

Odeh said he hoped that the Joint List – an alliance between various Arab-Israeli supported parties, of which he is the head – would gain strength in the Knesset. He said that while the process of forging unity amongst the different factions was “difficult” and that there was outside interference, it was the responsibility of the alliance to forge ahead.

Their current aim was to get 15 members into the Knesset, he said.

Odeh was at pains to emphasise that his strong criticism was directed to the current political regime.

“There is a saying that people who enslave other people will never be free themselves – I have reservations on this statement,” declared Odeh, saying that it was not “the whole” who were involved in oppression.

Instead, he said, “I see an institution in a situation where they plant hatred for their own gain…”

Calling for the establishment of a separate Palestinian state, he added: “Ending the occupation and the discrimination will benefit the Palestinians as well as the Jewish people. Our aim is for equality and to live in dignity in our land.”

Meanwhile, during a separate address, fellow speaker Mustafa Abu Raiya – a water specialist, pharmacist and former mayor of the town Sakhnin – asserted that the Israeli Arab community should be considered an “asset”.

“We are not a problem. All the time they spoke about the Arabic people inside Israel, that you should be a bridge of peace with the Arabic nations, but this bridge, I’m sorry, no one wants to step on this bridge.”

He said “brave people” were needed to resolve the conflict.

Abu Raiya expressed hopes that hostilities could be transcended.

“There should be two neighbour states with good relations between them that later they can unify… to be in peace and respect for each other,” suggested Abu Raiya.

During the question-and-answer section, the thread of common humanity woven into the tenuous tightrope upon which Odeh traverses, allowed him to restore some sense of balance to a situation that threatened to lurch into tumult.

At one point, a member of the audience stood up and berated Odeh for engaging with the three Jewish students present: “You don’t have to waste your time negotiating with Zionists,” she declared, warning him that he would not get her “solidarity” if he was “not genuine about [his] own cause”.

Describing the Jewish connection to Israel as arising from fears of “historical insignificance… at the hands of Adolf Hitler”, she condemned Odeh for “allowing Zionists in the room…” and said a previous question by a Jewish member of the audience about Hamas should not have been allowed.

“It’s disingenuous,” she declared.

Her statements were immediately and enthusiastically applauded by most of the audience at the session.

And yet, when it came to Odeh’s time to respond, he denounced her attitude and its limitations outright.

“You are in South Africa here: white people, they came here 300, 400 years ago. Do you suggest to kick all the white people out of South Africa or live in coexistence?” he mused.

“Kick them out!” interjected the same audience member.

Ignoring this, Odeh continued with a response that illustrated the absolute and uncompromising viewpoint he takes on Palestinian rights, combined with an unyielding belief in a shared fate with fellow Israelis.

“We don’t beg for our rights; we struggle and we demand,” he said, talking about his own arrests during protests.

Nevertheless, he added: “I resent, I reject… the national thought that is far from humanity. How do you see these three people sitting here?” he said, gesturing to the audience members with yarmulkahs.

“I will live with them,” he asserted.

“I want myself and them to live together in coexistence – but against the occupation and discrimination. It’s mutual interest,” continued Odeh.

“When I think of the South African situation, I think to myself: Who wins – Mandela or De Klerk? I think both won,” he concluded.