Steve Bentheim, Victoria

   Hello Dale,
   We worked together once on a political website, but even if we hadn’t, I’d still like to respond to you in a personal way. I read Rev. Mooney’s response (Autumn 2012 ICN) to your article on the Israel/Palestinian difficulties, and I must say I agree very much with his critique. I also see your article containing much finger-pointing, which will do little to bring harmony between the very peoples who must live together – or at least, side by side. I will respond to two of your assertions, and then move to a more positive manner of resolving social conflicts.
   The first assertion is that Israel practices Apartheid. The Arab peoples within Israel enjoy full rights of citizenship, which is not at all what had been the racism in former South Africa. Israel must have stringent border patrols, but Dale, this is not apartheid.

   Hello Dale,
   We worked together once on a political website, but even if we hadn’t, I’d still like to respond to you in a personal way. I read Rev. Mooney’s response (Autumn 2012 ICN) to your article on the Israel/Palestinian difficulties, and I must say I agree very much with his critique. I also see your article containing much finger-pointing, which will do little to bring harmony between the very peoples who must live together – or at least, side by side. I will respond to two of your assertions, and then move to a more positive manner of resolving social conflicts.
   The first assertion is that Israel practices Apartheid. The Arab peoples within Israel enjoy full rights of citizenship, which is not at all what had been the racism in former South Africa. Israel must have stringent border patrols, but Dale, this is not apartheid.
   I do agree with you that any self-righteous, destructive behaviors of Israeli settlers in the Palestinian area are wrong, and many have been prosecuted for this. But to liken this to the way the Nazis began their genocide of the Jewish people, Dale, is a hugely unsupportable comparison, and even more offensive since you have never personally experienced this level of horror.
   The second assertion is, I believe, equally problematic, although you state it more abstractly. You present a theory of “cyclical oppression”, suggesting everybody will takes turns oppressing others after having been oppressed. This is a broad, and quite negative interpretation of what historians more rightly point to as “the conquered conquer the conquerors.” In other words, the oppressed throw off their foreign masters and become liberated; either through insurgence, or by means seeming more miraculous, as India did through the pacifist Mahatma Ghandi. 
   I think what might have also disturbed Reverend Mooney was a sense of your tone as rather accepting of oppression, since you write that everybody does it. Yes, nations may take turns being “imperialists”, but not all are doing so, as it is not an unalterable, fixed pattern. This would be a very deterministic view of humanity, one which seemingly lacks any innate spirituality, any hope on this plane of existence for peace, for acts of conscience or public policies for human welfare. Contrast that negative outlook with the more liberating view of Pierre Teilard de Chardin, who posits that “evolution is an ascent toward consciousness” and the necessity of our association with everyone else.
   And to return to our mutual hope of peaceful bridges between Israel and the Arab world, we know how long it took in our generation for the Christian denominations in Northern Ireland to work together for mutually respectful neighborliness. I do respect your hurt that we are not yet there in this world. However, please know that in the Middle East there are presently conjoint Israeli/Palestinian peace groups that would appreciate your support. (see website below) May you find a peace group for social action that engages your truer, more heartfelt desire for peace and mutual understanding in our world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab-Israeli_peace_projects