Published: 5 August 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
“THE VERY ANTITHESIS of Zionism”, “Jewish American exceptionalism at its finest” or a “wake-up call to debate about the occupation”?
Australian Jewish community leaders have delivered a mixed response to the recent essay by Peter Beinart advocating a single, binational state, based on equal rights for Jews and Palestinians, which Beinart will discuss with Australian writer Mark Baker in a special Zoom conversation this Sunday night.
While some leaders expressed open contempt for the American writer’s radical proposal, others offered qualified support for his acknowledgement that the idea of a two-state solution has been stuck in limbo for too long.
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Matthew Levy, a member of Habonim Dror Australia, said he was supportive of Beinart in principle but critical of his lack of attention to economic challenges across the region. “Beinart’s take was a well-needed wake up call. I think a federation and a binational state is the future," said Levy, who is Chair of Habonim Dror but told The Jewish Independent he was speaking as an individual and not on behalf of the movement.
“But I was disappointed to see how little input was put into analysing the current economic realities of both Israeli and Palestinian society. It seems insane to start speaking about new ways to end the conflict when the unemployment rate in Israel is over 20% and the shrinking middle class has been a consistent reality, leaving so many in both societies in dire poverty.
“His piece is Jewish American exceptionalism at its finest. If he really wanted to end the occupation and fight for a better reality, it must start with economic justice for both peoples.”
Levy says Beinart needs to address the question of how to “redirect the pressure placed by American activist organisations towards achieving a better economic reality for working class families in Israel-Palestine rather than focusing on the ends?”
Ilana Snyder, president of NIF Australia, told The Jewish Independent: “We cannot overlook the facts on the ground which make a two-state solution more distant than ever. Israel has created a dual-reality between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River in which Jews are treated as equal citizens in a democracy, while Palestinians living under occupation cannot vote for the government which controls their lives and restricts their freedom.
“This unequal situation is no longer tenable. Creativity, moral clarity and a commitment to liberal democracy must inform any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jeremy Leibler, President of the Zionist Federation of Australia, told The Jewish Independent: “By calling for the dismantling of the Jewish State in favour of a ‘Jewish Home’, Beinart has placed himself well outside of the Zionist tent. His proposal is the very antithesis of Zionism.
“Beinart seems prepared to sacrifice…. Jewish self-determination, in the interests of delusional notions of equality. Palestinians, like Israelis deserve their own self-determination but not at the expense of the survival of the Jewish State.”
Likewise, Colin Rubenstein, executive director of AIJAC, said: “Beinart is demanding the dissolution of Israel, using sophistry regarding a bi-nationalism which has no appeal to Israelis or Palestinians and has no hope of succeeding in practice. His unrealistic and ahistorical proposal is irrelevant to genuine peace-building.”
Daniel Elberg, the Public Affairs Coordinator of AUJS, said: “Both the Israeli and Palestinian people, as well as the international community, recognise the two-state solution as the optimal model for any final peace deal. The inertia of the peace process may encourage individuals to promote innovative solutions.
“However, ultimately one cannot impose a solution that no party desires. AUJS supports any final peace deal that is agreed upon by both the Israeli and Palestinian people.
Maddy Blay, recently endorsed as an Australian candidate for the World Zionist Congress (and a former head of Hashomer Hatzair), likened global stupor over the occupation to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I recently saw an exasperated Twitter user wonder if they were hallucinating the entire coronavirus pandemic. Some of us fall into the same thinking when it comes to the Occupation – surely everyone else can see how unjust the entire exercise is, how dangerous and bloody the conflict is?
“Peter Beinart’s essay provides a salve for this. Beinart combs through the reality of the slow-burning annexation of the West Bank, and in breaking down Palestinian polling numbers, we get a regrettably rare insight into Palestinian thinking on one- and two-state solutions.
“It’s not often that pieces by Jewish writers, even from the left, even bother to include this other side of the equation, meaning we often forget there’s even another side with opinions and emotions to begin with.
Blay made the important point that “the debate is all framed within the struggle for equality, as opposed to the struggle for statehood – something we’ve become exhausted with trying to figure out.”
The Jewish Independent will host a Zoom conversation between Peter Beinart and Mark Baker on Sunday night from 8.30pm-9.30pm. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER (FREE)
Photo: Palestinians climbing the wall to attend prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, July 26, 2013 (Oren Ziv/Activestills)
