Many things can be said about diplomatic rule, foreign policy and established practices, but there is also that mood signified by the narrow room chosen. Choosing a place reminiscent of an interrogation room with dim lighting and ordinary sofas signifies a fear that cripples any reasoning. That show, which was reduced to several ill-proportioned sofas, gives us an impression, not of self-confidence, but of fear.It is important that an apology was given because it put an end to this foolishness.
How a country’s foreign service is administered is an important indicator. The show is eventually designed to display the appearance you want to convey to the outside world. The recent crisis implies that Israel no longer cares about how it is viewed by the outside world. This is the proof of the collapse of politics! There is no politics in the images coming from the room. There is only a claim to a heavy power that assumes prestige based on the height of the chairs in an atmosphere reminiscent of an interrogation room. In this context, one can understand better what has happened/is happening in Gaza. One concludes that the decisions that deprive thousands of people of food, water and energy are made by such politicians. The seal of death of Gazan children is shaped by such shows of fear and power.
I have been to Israel once. I was invited to an international poetry festival.
What I saw starting at the airport showed me how an atmosphere of insanity can be created by humans themselves. What I experienced after leaving the airport, the wonderful friendships, a conscientious opposition, the glamorous Mediterranean nature, all would create a sense of sympathy until I reached Jerusalem. But insanity dominated Jerusalem.
The organizers of the festival I attended were largely left-leaning individuals, and they had arranged a poetry recital in an Arab-dominated city with a view to express solidarity with the Palestinian people. As poets coming from different parts of the world, we read our poems. Lutes were played, and old songs of brotherhood were sung with the ancient voices coming from brotherly sounds of Arabic and Hebrew.
When I was traveling from Tel Aviv to Haifa and then to Jaffa and Jerusalem, I always felt: Yes, it is a paradise -- impressive Mediterranean geography with its past, nature and experiences -- but, there is a problem, a feeling that harms one’s feelings of justice. I tried hard to understand what this feeling was. My conclusion was about the need for fairness that a fragmented geography loaded with trauma creates in man because what was going on was a situation that was out of place and did not quite fit the spirit of nature and history. What was poking my conscience was the question: “Is it possible to create a paradise despite the ongoing pains and sorrows next to you?” Indeed, paradise will establish its comfort in the conscience, not in worldly luxury. A country was demanded and was attained eventually. We may understand this demand as a need for deep roots. What if you created hell for others with the life you created for yourself? Can a paradise be built upon the hell of others?
Having rushed to their land with a great longing and need for a past, Jews deserve to be acknowledged for their search for a homeland and roots. But the politics that develop in the country they established cannot still be the ground for those human needs.
Like what happened in the room of Danny Ayalon, fairness is lost in the chaos created by the determination for power. The mentality there was narrower than the physical dimensions of the room. The method employed was wearisome. The method of setting one’s rival up sitting on a lower chair was a motif used by Charlie Chaplin in a Hitler parody. A Jewish politician choosing a Nazi method is simply tragic.
In the final analysis, Israeli politicians with common sense offered an apology, and let us hope that this was the last for Israel because the people of Israel deserve a better image than what was displayed in that narrow room.
