semitism.net

I’ve been awfully busy for the past week, and I’m only now getting to catch up on the news.  My mom messaged me, all excited when Amir Peretz won the labor primary.  "Um… who is that?" I asked.  Here’s the buzz on Peretz and I must say, it is pretty positive.  He’s a good old-fashioned socialist, a breed everyone thought had died out in Israel decades ago.  He wants to raise the minimum wage and re-build Israel’s social welfare system, which has eroded steadily under Likud leadership.  He  wants to move quickly to final status talks with the Palestinians.  And, with a solid political base in the working-class demographic that has been the backbone of the Likud, he might give Sharon a run for his money…

Peretz is Sephardic, or Mizrahi.  The Mizrahi Jews, nationalized to Israel from Arab states, tend to have lower incomes and educational levels than the Ashkenazi.  Their economic interests lie with Labor, but (not unlike blue-collar swing voters in the U.S.), they have voted consistently with Likud and the religious party Shas, who appeal to them on the basis of religion and values.  Peretz could change this dynamic.  From Isracast:

 It is the first time an ‘authentic’ Spheradi leader, an immigrant from Morocco, has really taken control of one of Israel’s two major parties. Not only that, but of left wing Labor… Peretz is now riding the wave of pent-up resentment among many low income or unemployed Spheradi Israelis who traditionally vote Likud. This has naturally sent shock waves through the ruling party.

 Robert Rosenberg reported last week on Ariga that, after Peretz’s victory in the primary, Labor’s standing rose significantly in the polls.  Forty percent of Israelis believe he could beat Sharon in a general election.

A Peretz government would definitely be a shot in the arm for the peace process.  More from Robert:

While much has been made in the last 24 hours about Peretz’s social(ist) agenda and how it is already making inroads into the traditional Likud and Shas electorate, it is Peretz’s dovish positions that could end up being the starkest difference between him and Sharon, who is already showing signs of adopting Peretz’s social agenda.

Peretz was one of the first members of Peace Now, helped found B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, is a signatory to the Geneva Accord, which is a draft peace treaty signed by non-official Israeli and Palestinian public figures, and most of all, he openly favors entering final status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

 Ariga is the blog to watch for political analysis from Israel.  Richard Silverstein also had some good information at Tikun Olam.  

One thing I like about Peretz already, in addition to his social democratic politics, is his understanding of the power of image and symbol. In that sense, he may have a little of Bill Clinton’s instictive awareness of the dramatic moment.

 Richard quotes Peretz reaching out to his rival in the primaries, Shimon Peres:

‘unlike others in the past when I say it, I mean it, I really need you, I really want you by my side, I want your advice. If not for me, for the party, and if not for the party, do it for the state, for our children.’

 One of the most interesting endorsements in the blogosphere came from Gilad Atzmon.  Atzmon, an Israeli jazz saxophonist, is somewhat of an enfant terrible in the Jewish world for his vehement anti-Zionism and his full-throttle attacks on our various sacred cows.  In view of Atzmon’s scathing moral criticism of Israel’s politicians, it’s striking that he sees in Peretz a new kind of leader.

It is a man like Peretz, himself an Arab, who can treat his neighbours with respect. Rather than Shimon Peres’s global dream of ‘new Middle East’ in which Israel delivers wealth to the ‘inferior’ Arabs, Amir Peretz’s message to the Israeli people is rather simple and far less pompous: once we address our social problems we will be ready to talk peace with our neighbours. This message is actually deeper than any other Israeli political manifesto I can think of. To start with, it is genuine. For the first time an Israeli politician considers peace as a meaningful signifier rather than an empty slogan.

 On peacepalestine, Mary generated a vigorous discussion with her post supporting Peretz:

We have heard for many years that Israel had “No one to talk to” (meaning Arafat). What seems to be the more realistic situation is that the Palestinians had no one to talk to, including those Palestinians who hold an Israeli passport. Perhaps for the first time in the history of Israel, Arabs have the chance of finding “Someone to talk to”. Peretz does not represent any of the supremacist aspects that have been the trademark of the domination of Israel by the Ashkenazis, culturally, politically and socially. It might be a chance, hopefully not the last, for common terrain, some kind of REAL dialogue, with mutual respect.

 As of this posting, she has 39 comments.  The question is whether there can be any peace between Zionists and Arab nationalists.   Mary bravely holds her ground against attacks from the left, the right and the lunatic fringe.

Labor Zionism, embraced by many in its early days as an expression of socialist ideals, has been largely discredited on the left because of Labor’s failure to deal justly with the Palestinians. It’s not a matter of who’s leading the party, the critique goes: Zionism is inherently imperialistic, and an obstacle to peace.

 I’m old enough to remember at least the tail end of the hopes that American Jewish leftists placed in Israel.  It would embody, we assumed naively, all of the egalitarian, communitarian values for which we fought as activists here.  Now - just when we had given up our pipe dream - along comes Peretz.

I don’t know if I’m ready to jump on the bandwagon quite yet - but I’ll be watching him with great interest.  If he really is what he seems, he deserves American Jewish support.  Maybe there is even a role for the blogosphere in the campaign.  Heck, it helped Howard Dean.