Summary: This is is a powerful article by Israel’s most distinguished historian. He describes a example of a large and growing injustice. He describes a historic wrong turn by a nation created with such great hopes.
“The Fourth Reich is Rising“
By Martin van Creveld.
From his website, 19 October 2017.
Re-posted with his generous permission.
The Fourth Reich is rising. Not in Germany where, in spite of the recent elections, most people seem to have has learnt their lesson. But in Israel. The country which claims to be the only one in the Middle East which is democratic and in which free speech is allowed (nice of the authorities to allow free speech, isn’t it?). The country where my parents, having narrowly escaped the Holocaust, (see on this my post, “How My Family Survived the Holocaust”) immigrated. The country in whose military four of my five children have served. The country for which several of my relatives, acquaintances and students have died. The one in which I have spent practically all my life and which I have always loved.
No longer. For almost two years now a 33-year old Arab-Israeli (and self-proclaimed Palestinian) poet, Ms. Dareen Tatour, has been under house arrest. Far from home and relatives, with electronic cuffs on her leg, and without access to either a computer or a cellphone. Her trial got under way in April 2016, and has still not come to an end.
Did she kill an Israeli? No. Did she try to kill an Israeli? No. Did she assist terrorists or fail to betray them to the Israeli authorities, as those authorities, in their infinite wisdom and compassion, demand? No. Did she engage in any other out of God knows how many activities Israel has prohibited? No. So what why did the police knock on her door at 0400 in the morning, and what are the charges which could cost her eight years in jail?
Saying what she thinks. As by putting the following poem, originally written in Arabic, on Facebook.
Resist, My People, Resist Them
Resist, my people, resist them.
In Jerusalem, I dressed my wounds and breathed my sorrows
And carried the soul in my palm
For an Arab Palestine.
I will not succumb to the “peaceful solution,”
Never lower my flags
Until I evict them from my land.
I cast them aside for a coming time.
Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist the settler’s robbery
And follow the caravan of martyrs.
Shred the disgraceful constitution
Which imposed degradation and humiliation
And deterred us from restoring justice.
They burned blameless children;
As for Hadil,* they sniped her in public,
Killed her in broad daylight.
Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist the colonialist’s onslaught.
Pay no mind to his agents among us
Who chain us with the peaceful illusion.
Do not fear doubtful tongues;
The truth in your heart is stronger,
As long as you resist in a land
That has lived through raids and victory.
So Ali** called from his grave:
Resist, my rebellious people.
Write me as prose on the agarwood;
My remains have you as a response.
Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist, my people, resist them.
* Hadil al Haslamon, a 18-year old Palestinian girl who attacked — so the Israelis claim — a group of bullet-proof wearing, heavily armed, heroic Israeli soldiers with a kitchen knife and, like so many others, somehow managed to die after being shot “in the legs.”
** Ali Kosba, a Palestinian teenager who threw rocks at an Israeli military jeep, shattering its windshield. Trying to run away, he was shot in the back and killed by a heroic Israeli colonel who, according to the military spokesman, “felt in mortal danger” of his life.
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For more information about Dareen Tatour
“Theater of the Absurd: The Jewish State vs. Palestinian Poet Dareen Tatour” by Yehouda Shenhav and Revital Hovel at Haaretz — “What is a poem, what is a translation and who is a translator: The trial of an Israeli from the Galilee exposes regrettable aspects of local culture.”
About the poem for which Dareen Tatour is under house arrest by MLYNXQUALEY at the Arab Literature in English website.
Tatour is also a photographer and directed a short documentary, according to the Electronic Intifada.
You can follow her case at the Free Dareen Tatour page on Facebook.
About the Author
Martin van Creveld is Professor Emeritus of History at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and one of the world’s most renowned experts on military history and strategy. Creveld has written over two dozen books, about almost every significant aspect of war.
The central role of Professor van Creveld in the development of theory about modern war is difficult to exaggerate. He has provided both the broad historical context — looking both forward and back in time — much of the analytical work, and a large share of the real work in publishing both academic and general interest books. He does not use the term 4GW — preferring to speak of “non-trinitarian” warfare — but his work is foundational for 4GW just the same. See links to his articles at The Essential 4GW reading list: Martin van Creveld.
He has written four books about Israel: Defending Israel: A Controversial Plan Toward Peace, The Sword And The Olive: A Critical History Of The Israeli Defense Force
For More Information
If you found this post of use, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Also see these about Israel, about Palestine, and especially these…
- We can only watch as the nation of Israel slowly commits suicide.
- Israel becomes its enemy.
- The Fate of Israel — A prediction.
- Israel learned from its patron the art of righteous theft and killing.
- Martin van Creveld: A history of the turmoil in the Holy Land (you can’t understand the action without it).
- A senior Israeli leader discusses a final solution for Palestine.
To understand this sad story, read…
To understand how Israel came to such a point, see van Creveld’s The Land of Blood and Honey: The Rise of Modern Israel
The definitive one-volume history of Israel by its most distinguished historian.
From its Zionist beginnings at the end of the nineteenth century through the past sixty, tumultuous years, the state of Israel has been, as van Creveld argues, “the greatest success story in the entire twentieth century.”
In this crisp volume, he skillfully relates the improbable story of a nationless people who, given a hot and arid patch of land and coping with every imaginable obstacle, founded a country that is now the envy of surrounding states. While most studies on Israel focus on the political, this encompassing history weaves together the nation’s economic, social, cultural and religious narratives while also offering diplomatic solutions to help Israel achieve peace. Without question, this is the best one-volume history of Israel and its people.
