Shlomi DaskalThe People's Voice, Realistic Religious Zionism |
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Political Peace Processes/Political Leadership and Palestinian Refugees and Jerusalem and Self Determination:
“ The project [The People's Voice] is a civilian, joint Israel-Palestinian initiative that is an attempt to achieve peace. The initiative states a very simple thing. All the former initiatives failed for a simple reason, because we never set a target. For the first time we’re saying that we aim to arrive at a certain place. The document includes six principles. It was drafted by Israelis and Palestinians together, not by only one side. It is based on six ideas: two states for two peoples, accepting the pre-1967 borders, and evacuating settlements, Jerusalem as a free city; Palestinian neighborhoods will be governed by Palestinian rule and Jewish neighborhoods will be governed by Israel. The right of return will apply only to the Palestinian state, just as Jews will have the right of return to Israel. The Palestinian state will be a demilitarized zone. After all this happens comes the sixth clause, which pronounces the conflict over and the mutual claims fulfilled. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ In general I don’t see a connection between halacha and retreating from the Territories. There are explanations, but personally I don’t see a connection. The State of Israel is a secular rather than religious body. There shouldn’t be a link between policy and halacha. That’s my opinion. Halacha pertains to people; if this country were a halachic state that conducted itself according to halacha, then it would make sense to consider halachic considerations, but it isn’t, so that’s not relevant. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ The most difficult thing, on the Palestinian side, is the right of return. It’s the most difficult because the right of return is a dream, and what we’re saying is, relinquish it. Relinquish that dream for a more realistic one; that’s the hardest aspect for the Palestinians. They are doing it because they say that the bottom line is that they know it’s a dream too. It’s a trump card in the negotiations, but nothing more. At the end of the day we know we’ll need to settle and our estimation is that there won’t be a return. For the sake of the dream of having a state we have to settle. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Community Responses to Peace Work:
“ In the People’s Voice, our main advantage is that every side works with their people. That’s the mantra. We’re doing it for Israel and they’re doing it for a Palestinian State. They aren’t doing this for the Israelis and we aren’t doing it for the Palestinians. This is a patriotic initiative on the part of Israeli patriots and Palestinian patriots, each looking out for their own national interests. That’s the basis of our uniqueness and also perhaps our success. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Community Responses to Peace Work and Conceptions of Peace:
“ Israelis and Palestinians don’t believe in peace nowadays. It’s a term that we’ve exploited over the past 10 years, and we’ve tainted it. We kept speaking of peace and nothing happened. That’s why when I come to sell the Israeli society my views I don’t talk of peace because then I’d be told, “You’re talking nonsense.“ No, I talk of a divorce settlement. I believe that currently the two societies, Israeli and Palestinian, are ill societies. They are in critical condition, even if peace as it were arrived tomorrow morning and we were to reach a settlement, both societies would have to undergo rehabilitation, painful and difficult. If that’s what happens tomorrow morning then I really hope that my grandchildren will be able to live in ideal peace. But it will take a long time; I’m sure that when it does happen we’ll witness people going here and there but it won’t be a process and it won’t be profound. It will take a long time for us to emerge from this. Peace for me is an ideal I wish we could achieve. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Obstacles and Challenges and Media and Perceptions of the Other:
“ The most difficult thing is to convince the Israelis that there is a Palestinian partner. That’s the most difficult thing. They don’t believe it because there’s a problem: The media in Israel airs only negative things, just as I see the Palestinian media covering a lot of negative affairs here. I believe that the Palestinian and Israeli societies are a mirror image of each other and that identical processes are taking place in both societies. They can’t believe there’s an Israeli partner and we can’t believe there’s a Palestinian partner. That’s why convincing them that there’s a Palestinian partner is the most difficult thing. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Vision and Religion and Democracy and Settlements:
“ [Leaving the settlements is] a beginning, the first step. That’s what brought me to the People’s Voice. We came to Israel to establish a democratic Jewish homeland. If we continue to occupy the Territories we will either cease to be a democracy or cease to be a Jewish homeland. We will have to relinquish one of the two and I’m not prepared to do that. I think that for us to realize the dream of a democratic Jewish homeland we must exit the Territories, for example. Religious society is led by the extreme factions, which do not acknowledge this idea. That’s why we are saying, “no, there’s a different option.“ The biggest problem with religious society is that it’s founded on the notion of community -- it could be a synagogue, friends or neighbors. People don’t feel comfortable speaking out against their community. What we’re saying is that we represent a legitimate part of religious society. We want to legitimize that notion. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ The EU can exert its influence; the United States could change a lot here. There’s a lecturer at Ben-Gurion University who says that it’s simple: Israel’s policies are formed by external pressures. Everything is influenced, even legislation in the Knesset. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
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