Published: 18 April 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
A fortnight ago, on his Facebook page, radio host and publicist Kobi Meidan wrote that he is “ashamed to be an Israeli” following the fatal shooting of Gazans who engaged in violent demonstrations. To stay on the airwaves, Meidan was forced to apologize, but his gig as an MC at some of the scheduled Independence Day celebrations was cancelled anyway.
There are many divisions in Israeli society. Secular vs. religious. Left vs. right. Peripheries vs. elites. And so on and so on. They reflect genuine differences in our world views, our histories of privilege or deprivation, and our values. But right now, as Israel observes its 70th anniversary, the most significant division seems to be between the proud Israelis and the ashamed Israelis.
But of course, this division isn’t really simply about pride and shame. It’s a struggle between the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters, who demand that we accept their politics and policies without questioning them, and those who insist on reflection and introspection.
The proud Israelis, the politicians tell us, are the true patriots. The ones who are ashamed are traitors, they say, in yet another attempt to make themselves stronger by fomenting rancour, rage and fear between us.
I am a proud Israeli. I love my country and I am proud of our achievements. But I don’t want to live in a society that cannot feel shame, because shame is the recognition that we can, and must, do better.
I am proud that we are a sovereign country and that we have a national flag to raise. I am ashamed of elected leaders, with Netanyahu at their helm, who wrap themselves in that flag to justify their crass politics.
I am ashamed that dozens of Palestinians have been killed, and over 1,300 wounded, in the demonstrations in Gaza. We have the right to protect our borders, but we have the responsibility to do so by non-lethal methods.
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I am proud that thousands of people have come to realise that compassion and pain are not zero-sum competitions and attended the “alternative” Memorial Day ceremony. The annual event is sponsored by the Parents Circle-Families Forum of bereaved Israelis and Palestinians who have lost loved ones in this conflict, and by the Israelis and Palestinian activists in Combatants for Peace.
I am ashamed that Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman cancelled the entry permits into Israel for the scores of bereaved Palestinians who wanted to take part. Lieberman called the event “a display of bad taste and insensitivity that offends bereaved families who are more precious to us than anything” – but not too precious, of course, to be used for populist political gain.
I am proud that Israel’s High Court of Justice cancelled Lieberman’s ban. I am ashamed that Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is heading efforts to restrict the courts powers to make rulings in the name of law and justice.
I am proud of renowned author David Grossman, whose son Uri, was killed in the last hours of the Second Lebanon War, who stood on the podium in front of all those thousands of people and said that Israel is a fortress but not a home. I am ashamed the Jewish Home lawmaker Bezalel Smotrich has called for stripping Grossman of his Israel Prize for literature, which he is supposed to be receiving today, because he spoke.
I am proud that when a video went viral, in which Israeli snipers are seen shooting an unarmed Palestinian civilian and their cheering, thousands of Israelis were outraged and have called for official inquiries. I am ashamed that Lieberman declared in response that Israel “has the most moral army in the world...the soldier who did the shooting in the video deserves a medal.”
I am proud that thousands of people have come to realise that compassion and pain are not zero-sum competitions and attended the “alternative” Memorial Day ceremony.
Politicians like Netanyahu, Lieberman, Regev and Shaked would have us so busy defending ourselves, that we would not stop to think, why are we defending ourselves. They would have us believe that our situation is so existentially precarious, that we do not have the luxury of introspection or trying to do better. But I will be ashamed if that is all we can do. We are better than that.
I wasn’t going to fly our flag or celebrate Independence Day this year. I felt too ashamed. But I have decided to celebrate, happily and humbly, with other people who, like me, aren’t afraid to be both proud and ashamed. We are proud because of what all that we have done; we are ashamed because we know we can do better, and that we are failing our own vision, our children and ourselves.
That shame brings me hope.
Happy Independence Day.
Photo: People watch as an Israeli acrobatic team fly over during Israel's 70th Independence Day celebrations, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, April 19 (AP/Ariel Schalit)
