Politics, anyone?

It is nearly impossible to come to a middle-eastern country, let alone to Israel, without considering the political situation here. Though the countries are small, the turmoil resulting in their various disagreements is felt throughout the world. For this reason, the organizers of the competition invited Colette Avital (former Member of the Knesset) to lead a discussion about Israel's current political situation.

A polished orator, Ms. Avital is clearly a veteran public speaker. Her experience comes from years in the diplomatic service as ambassador to Portugal and Consul General in New York City. She then entered the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) and served as vice-speaker. Now she has moved on to lecturing at the university level as a prominent member of the Israeli Labor Party.

Here is a paraphrase of her speech:

Israel is a country of paradoxes: It is a new state formed for an old people. It is currently experiencing a wealth of economic development, yet a quarter of its population lives under the poverty line. Israel was founded under egalitarian principles, yet social gaps seem to be expanding. Israel has one of the strongest military forces in the Middle-East, yet it constantly feels vulnerable and threatened. It has been seeking peace for 60 years, yet has constantly been at war.

The Middle East itself is filled with paradoxes. There are two emerging trends in the Arab world. In the first, people are becoming more moderate and pragmatic; many Arabs now accept Israel's existence and want peace. The second is a growing trend towards Islamic radicalism. Those groups of people who can't cope with modernity close themselves up in religious fanaticism. Many Arab countries and societies are torn between those two trends. Some countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia find a common cause with Israel in fighting terrorism. Other people have embraced radicalism, like in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon. Israel is frustrated in its efforts towards peace. It seems that every time a peace agreement is near, some fundamentalists blow up a bus and knock the fragile improvements off balance. It makes Israelis collectively feel like Sisyphus of Greek mythology, endlessly pushing a boulder up a mountain only to see it roll back down.

The biggest social problem facing Israel today is the general lack of political faith amongst the Middle Eastern peoples. 80-85% of the Palestinian population recognizes the two-state solution as the only way out, yet the same percentage doesn't believe it will ever come to be. This mentality is in stark contrast to that of the 1990's, especially during the Oslo Peace Process when hope in the Middle East was high. Now the region has entered a vicious cycle. Where there is violence, people become more extreme. To site an example, the Gaza Strip has been bombing southern Israel for the past seven years. A result of this can be seen in the politics of Israel - recent elections have seen a general move to the right of the political spectrum. This is mainly due to a general fear that Israel is running out of time, and that soon the West Bank will become like Gaza.

One of the major impediments to peace in Israel today is the over-democratisation of the government. Every group that can claim to represent 2% of the Israeli population has the right to a seat in the Knesset, which has 120 seats. Ten years ago, there were two main parties; Labor (center left) and Likud (center right). Today there are 14 to 18 parties. Before, the largest group of the Knesset could expect to win about 48 seats, and could then easily form a coalition with one or two partners. Today, the largest party only has 28 seats and is forced into coalition with many smaller parties in order to rule. Over the past 16 years, there have been seven prime ministers, and five governments. The past ten years have seen ten ministers of culture. With this sort of turn-around, it is impossible to form a persuasive policy, let alone to pursue it. Reform of the political system is greatly needed. This reform would bring stability to Israel, and only then can it be expected to function properly.

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Meeting with Ms. Avital forced us out of the comfortable bubble of the harp world into "other people's" reality. Too often I find that harpists are so closely knit that they seldom dare to venture far from the proverbial nest, even within the music world. Though not everyone agreed with Ms. Avital's views on the situation, just being forced to think about it was a worthwhile experience.