We still have Memorial Day, and we also have the custom of marking the anniversaries of various wars. On the other hand, we have no Peace Day. Who remembers the date of [former Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem and exactly when the peace treaty with Egypt was signed?”
In her new book, Dr. Dalia Gavriely-Nuri examines the concept of peace and how it manifests in Israeli language and culture.
Haaretz: The yearning for peace, purportedly one of the fundamental components of Israeli society and culture, takes several forms: prayer (“May He who makes peace in the supernal regions bestow peace upon us and upon all Israel”), Zionist statements (the Scroll of Independence), songs and more.
Yet when it comes to action, the pickings are slim and fairly tenuous. It was only in 1979 that Israel signed a peace treaty with one of its neighbors, Egypt, and 15 years later, in 1994, with Jordan. Although the peace treaties with both countries are honored, relations with those countries are described as a “cold peace,” which means, for all practical purposes, the absence of war. ………….
Yitzhak Rabin once said: ‘Our hand will always be extended in peace, but the fingers will always be on the trigger.’”
“As I see it, the concept of ‘peace’ is mainly the product of political and cultural constructions, far beyond its dictionary meaning. In my book, I investigated the various uses of that word in speeches by leaders and statements made in the Knesset. For example, the word is used a great deal in negative contexts such as ‘the torments of peace,’ ‘the price of peace’ or, as Abba Eban said: There is no peace without tears.”
………….. To a large extent, the purpose of using it is to give us a positive national image as a peace-loving people, while at the same time giving the speaker a positive image by demonstrating his sensitivity to one of the most important values for the international community: the value of peace.”
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Book Reviews, Israel, Middle East
Yitzhak Rabin once said: ‘Our hand will always be extended in peace, but the fingers will always be on the trigger.’
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Are you serious??? Israel made peace only in 1979 because until then no Arab state wanted a peace with Israel!
Rafiq, Rabin said that as a way to say “we want peace, but we will always be ready to protect ourselves”, he said that because Arafat was not a trusted partner. This is the truth, deal with it!
Regarding what Dafna wrote, of course we have a memorial day to remember those who died while protecting us! It’s the least we can do for them. The peace with Egypt is cold beacause the Egyptians want it to be cold – they boycott us! Why is there no peace day? I’m not sure, maybe because it’s a cold peace and the Arabs are still very hostile, maybe because we still don’t have peace with all the Arabs, I don’t know, but it doesn’t mean that we’re not peace seekers! We truly mean it when we pray for peace, we truly mean it when we sing for it, and we truly wish our kids will not have to go to army when they grow up! The “negative contexts”? they prove that we want it so much we ready to pay a heavy price for it! Oh my god, this is ridiculous!
By the way, what have Arabs done for peace?
Unfortunately the politicians in most countries do not see what an ordinary citizen can see. Ordinary citizen in every country is same-a peace loving individual who wishes to raise the family in peaceful environment.