Public Address - Club Politique (Home)

On Not Loving Israel | Aug 01, 2006 15:14

What she said. In my day to day life I have to wear two hats. One is the loyal public servant, the one who does not attempt to embarrass the government of the day, while also retaining the confidence of opposition parties. Should they ever become Government that is. The second hat is the fun-loving liberal democrat, the one that thinks that open dialogue, tolerance and inclusion are what a decent nation-state is all about.

I think then that I can say in all confidence that I am not betraying either role by stating that Dr. Brash should just give up and actually walk that plank. John, Bill, anyone, pleeeeease get rid of this man. A vibrant, coherent, and credible Opposition is exactly what a country like New Zealand needs. It's what I want to see, it's what you want to see. These witterings are doing no one any favours, and only serve to undermine you as a party and as political personalities of any integrity. I say this because I'm only intending to be a public servant for a few more years. So ignore the boring mid-term polls, you are not likely to be Government anytime soon, unless you ditch Don.

Get rid of him.

OK, next topic. The question I keep asking myself, and have been for many years is, "why the hell should I support Israel?".

Let me preface this brief discussion by acknowledging the contribution of Jewish people to the development of all mankind. Jewish scholars, musicians, artists, comedians, businessmen and diplomats have made contributions to the betterment of this world for generations. As a nation self-defined by their religion, you would be hard pressed to find another people who has such great input into making our modern world what it is today.

Right. Now the thing so seemingly hard to get away with saying. I do not support Israel. I support their right to exist as a nation-state, and as a member of a colonial nation it would be hypocritical of me to think anything else. But I condemn their actions.

I think what annoys me the most is the continuously touted line, "[insert relevant atrocity here] happened because Israel is fighting for its very survival". What the hell? In no way is Israel fighting for its survival. If anyone so much as looks at Israel funny they kick the crap out of them. 1967? Sure. Fighting for their survival. But today the only way that Israel could seriously be threatened is if they start a fight with every single one of their neighbours, and even then the neighbours would have to contend with the US.

I concede that terrorism is a very real part of the lives of Israelis, and I condemn those who would murder innocents. But real peace with the Palestinians seemed to be within the grasp of Israel when Rabin was murdered by one of his own. Not a Muslim, but by a right-wing, fanatical Israeli. The Muslim world is not to blame for that opportunity slipping away.

It seems like another part of the issue is the belief that Israeli is somehow " God's Chosen Land^TM ", and the way in which so many Christians buy into it. Dubya for instance. Hat tip to NZBC then (not the greatest photo of the muse there guys), who noticed the Rapture Index. Geez... imagine how great the world would be if all those fanatics pissed off to heaven and left the rest of us to get on with things in peace.

What mystifies me is how reference to Israel being the 'Holy Land' seems to impart some kind of moral high ground. The truth of the matter is that Israel lost any kind of moral superiority a long, long time ago. Genocide during the Second World War was good reason to give the Jewish diaspora a home, but the Holocaust does not automatically provide justification for atrocities such as those that occurred during the last incursion into Lebanon.

Israel reinforced that lack of moral superiority with the actions that started this current cycle of violence, the shelling of a Palestinian family at the beach, and the attempt to spin their way out of it. Oh. Forgot about that did we? The cycle went: 18-month truce, family killed, Hamas responds with violence, Israel replies, Hezbollah joins, Lebanon levelled. Important to remember that before condemning the entire Muslim world.

Note the picture in this article. Girls don't just wander onto military bases and sign shells on a whim. None of what we've seen in the Middle East gives us any reason to think that Israel is any less hateful than any other nation-state. They are in fact much the same as any nation in any conflict anywhere in history.

So the upshot of what I'm trying to say? You don't have to love Israel. It is OK to condemn their actions. Opposing Israel, and stating that all parties in this conflict are as bad as each other, does not make you an anti-Semite. Ranting about "the Jews" does, but we always knew Mel was a little unhinged.

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Genesis | Jul 24, 2006 18:58

I'd like to get the ball rolling by saying a warm thank you to Richard and the British Council, who were kind enough to invite me to a dinner this past Saturday night. If you haven't eaten at Kai in the City on Majoribanks Street, then I suggest you make a booking asap. Mind you, if you're adverse to singing for your supper, in Māori, then don't. Or maybe just hum. Worked for me. And in Māori language week it's all very timely.

Anyhow, it was an interesting evening. And the food was great, if you've never tried muttonbird, now's your chance. I mostly mention this dinner though because of the company. The do was on account of a number of directors of films being in town for the Wellington Film Fest, and they provided very interesting discussions of the situation of conscious people in the US, what with the whole 'BRING ON THE ARMAGEDDON' thing Dubya seems to have underway. The situation of these film makers segues well into another recent event here in Wellington, Craftwork.

So what's the connection I hear you ask. Well, what I enjoyed about Craftwork is the way it indicates that there are people left in the world who value the ability to create, to craft. All too often people are all to happy to just kind of buy things of the shelf, take them out of wrappers, or order other people to build something for them. It's a kind of shopping mall, convenience laziness that seems to be overtaking our society. I like to think of it as a real and dangerous artistic torpor.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not seeking to judge people who aren't 'crafty'. Rather, I want to indicate to indicate that attempting to craft is an important part of understanding the skill that artisans bring to the items you would otherwise blindly purchase. I was speaking to Costa Botes about this and agreed when he stated that there's something of a crisis of expectations among audiences these days. Film-makers put on grander and grander displays to take audiences on journeys, but audiences are never fully satisfied. Combine this with the issue of force-feeding of entertainment by movie factories like LA and you have real issues of 'dead' films. Films that are flat and soulless. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 for example. What a freaking schtinker.

I reckon that part of the issue is that people have become such passive consumers. Here's an example. Anyone can grown their own tomatoes. It's easy. The hassle is that by the time your tomatoes are ripe the ones in the shop are $1 per kg, which makes it seem like those tomatoes aren't worthwhile. But what you can't buy for a dollar is the experience of sitting in your yard and smelling those tomatoes ripen. You can't buy picking a tomato off a vine and eating it on a warm summer afternoon. Until you've done that, you'll never know what a tomato really is.

And all the things we consume are like that.

Now I'm not suggesting that everyone take up learning how to build TVs. There are some jobs that have to be given over to manufacturing. It's more that I think that there's no reflection in our lives any more. Even the cheesy TV do-it-yourselfers deserve respect because they're willing to get in and get their hands dirty. They understand what it is to create something.

All this stuff that I've been thinking about over the past few years was really brought into focus by Steven Bognar, who was deeply respectful of the work done by Oncology doctors, and for good reason, his own daughter survived a brush with cancer when she was very young. Steven stated his admiration for the people who work to save the lives of others, and was kind of self-effacing about his own contribution to humanity. A film.

I wasn't having any of that shit though. When it all boils down to it you can't compare the contribution of doctors, who are trained to perform certain tasks, and the act of giving life to an entirely new 'thing'. Again, I have the utmost respect for the medical profession. But the process involved in bringing forth new and worthwhile things, things made with the time and effort of a person just like you and I, deserves as much respect. Whether that thing be a pair of babies booties, a button, an album, or a film, it is a contribution to the ongoing culture that underpins us all.

Oh, unless it's porn. Which is another kettle of fish all together.

But it's good to know that while some American elites and their xenophobic allies are levelling big parts of the Middle East that there are real people doing good things you and I can relate to. Now go see a film, go on.

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