It Must Be The Cheese

Ed. note: This actually was written over the course of two days in the same situation described in the first line.

I've been sitting outside in a tent playing baitfish for the salesmen inside all day, so maybe my brain is a little fried here.

But I've been thinking. A lot. In particular, for whatever strange reason, I've been pondering the Israeli/Palestinian issues, taking into account the personal experiences that I had in the region a few years ago.

When I was over there, there was a very pronounced dichotomy between the thought processes of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. I understand the problems with using generalizations, but in this case they seem, to me at least, to pretty well sum up the situation.

The Israelis seem to have collectively moved onto a higher plane of the hierarchy of needs. What do I mean by that? To explain, we need to look at what some of the debates were about when I was over there.

I call it the Cheeseburger vs. the Jews in Jericho.

What is each argument about? And what does it say about the thought processes of the people having that particular debate?

The cheeseburger debate is, frankly, the one that I have found to be the most fascinating discussions I've ever come across. Basically, while I was over there, there were two major debates going within the Jewish community. First there was the debate over what constituted "work" on the Sabbath. The second was whether or not cheeseburgers, which are a non-kosher mixing of meat and dairy products, would be permitted to be sold in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

In the end, while I was there, you could get a cheeseburger at the Burger King on the promenade in Tel Aviv, but not in Jerusalem. The ultra-orthodox had won the fight in Jerusalem. It was simply an amazing that someone would debate something as simple as a cheeseburger. It's not too often that I claim culture shock, but this debate was one of those times.

On the other side of the line, in the West Bank, you had raging the traditional desire to rid the Palestinian lands of the Jews. Being Jewish in Jericho was not a good idea. The Palestinians wanted you out or dead. The Jews were about as welcome in Jericho at the time as Osama would be in New York now.

So what does this tell us about the type of people that we're dealing with here?

It tells me, at least, that the Israelis have moved to a higher level of thinking. There isn't a great national cry for the annihilation of the Arabs. Arabs are part of the Israeli people. They live there, they work there, they go to school there, they vote there and they are members of the Knesset. They can be Israeli, if they want to be.

But why my fixation on the cheeseburger debate?

It was serious stuff there at the time. But it also pointed to the fact that, by and large, the Israeli people were peaceful. They weren't concerned with wiping Palestine, Syria or Jordan from the map. They were more concerned with hamburger condiments. There was no question about allowing Arabs to live or to live among the Jews. The national character accepted that there are different people and that they have every bit as much right to life as the Israeli Jews did.

In the West Bank, however, the debate was about the right of the Jews to have the state of Israel. The debate was about the right of Jews to have homes in the West Bank. In some quarters (most, some might argue) the debate was about the right of the Jews to live. There was no question of live and let live. The Jews could not peacefully coexist among the residents of the West Bank.

The Palestinians questioned the right to life; the Jews the right to cheese on your hamburger. It's a much, much different take on the sanctity of life. The Jews accepted that the Palestinians should be allowed to live - in peace, if they so chose. The Palestinians decided that the Jews had no right to life in the Holy Land (except maybe in token numbers as in Syria, Iraq or Iran where Jews are the diversity poster children for the regime).

There are of course exceptions to the rule on both sides. There are murderous Jews, like the guy who shot up a mosque during prayer and there are Palestinians who desire peace. But, by and large, the national character of both sides can be summed up as cheeseburgers vs. Jews in Jericho.

But how have we come to this and what are the possible effects on the peace process and the "Road Map?"

The real driving factor involved here is education. Israeli students are taught the importance of critical thought. They are taught the importance of education in making a positive difference in their lives. They are taught to use their knowledge in ways that makes the world better, not worse.

Palestinian students on the other hand are taught the idea of blind obedience. No matter how vile or sick the demands, all made in the name of jihad, the Palestinian kids are taught to act without question. Critical thought is virtually non-existent.

But this isn't to say that the Palestinians are stupid. Far from it. Look at the number of homicide bombers that have degrees from US universities. They are smart people, they simply don't know how to best use their knowledge. A college degree is not the difference between a smart bomb and a dumb bomb.

Stalin and Mao both had purges of the intellectual classes. The Palestinians have managed to affect a purge of the intellectual class, but it's different. This time, it's a voluntary purge. The intellectuals are willingly and knowingly eliminating themselves at the beck and call of the intellectual midgets of Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah, and the al-Asqa Brigade. The inability to critically think or to question those viewed as "authority" has led to this self-decimation.

Until someone in the Palestinian world speaks up and breaks the cycle of dogmatic indoctrination, every attempt at the peace process will fail. The sooner it happens, the easier the process will be, as the educated intellectual classes will be larger. As more and more of the intellectuals remove themselves from the gene pool, it will become much more difficult to have a somewhat rational discussion with the Palestinians. The fewer intellectuals there are will force us to try to reason more with a bunch of manipulative demagogues - instead of dying off like the intellectuals, they are multiplying.

Until the debate in the West Bank moves to a higher level, peace will be always just out of reach. The Palestinians have to accept the right of the Jews to live. There can be no debate about Jews in Jericho if there is to be peace. It must be a foregone and accepted conclusion that they will be there and that they will, like their Israeli Arab counterparts, be full and active citizens.

Why can the Israelis have a cheeseburger debate when they face a challenge like this?

Because they know that they have the national character to withstand the best that the terrorists have to throw at them. They know that no matter the battlefield, whether physical or philosophical, they are currently far better equipped than the Palestinians. They don't fear the Palestinians. They don't fear the terrorists.

They pity them. They want to help them. They reach out to them with open arms and unreciprocated concessions.

Each of which only serves to enrage the Palestinians. Their self-image can't accept the pain of actually accepting the help of the Israelis. They can't stand the idea that their way, the Palestinian way, may not be the best way. There inability to process critical thought prevents them from being able to rationalize their pain; it prevents them from understanding the concept of "no pain, no gain."

Cheeseburgers vs. Jews in Jericho.

Never underestimate the power of the cheeseburger.