Amos Oz slams West Bank 'occupation'

[LeftishBrit]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4085481,00.html


Author Amos Oz spoke Tuesday at the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem and criticized the peace process with the Palestinians.


Oz said he believes the "ongoing occupation" of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the construction in settlements is in general immoral, as well as bad for Israel's interests.



The author, who received intermittent applause as well as a good deal of booing, added that the "expulsion of Palestinians" from their homes in Jerusalem and their "replacement" with settlers is also bad for Israel. "I am saying this as a man who loves the state," he added.

Oz also claimed Europeans tend to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of Hollywood-style good versus evil....

[Lithos]

1. Good summary

Especially agree with the Hollywood-style stereotyping.

L-

[Violet_Crumble]

2. Surely he means Americans, not Europeans?

Oz also claimed Europeans tend to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of Hollywood-style good versus evil.

It just doesn't make sense if he's aiming that at Europeans rather than Americans. The urge to paint the conflict in terms of good guys vs bad guys, Team Awesome vs Team Evil runs strong in the US media and it seems amongst the general population who show any interest in the conflict...

[oberliner]

3. EU poll: "Israel poses biggest threat to world peace" (2003)

Israel has been described as the top threat to world peace, ahead of North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran, by an unpublished European Commission poll of 7,500 Europeans, sparking an international row.

The survey, conducted in October, of 500 people from each of the EU's member nations included a list of 15 countries with the question, 'tell me if in your opinion it presents or not a threat to peace in the world'. Israel was reportedly picked by 59 per cent of those interviewed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/nov/02/israel.eu

[Violet_Crumble]

4. That's not even a poll about the conflict, so how is that US-style black & white?

Also, do you think that there's a tendency in the US media and amongst the US population to view the conflict in a very one-sided good vs evil sort of way?

[oberliner]

5. I think it supports Amos Oz's remarks about Europe vis-a-vis Israel

I think he was saying that Europeans tend to view the conflict like a Hollywood movie with Israelis as the powerful and aggressive antagonists threatening to do greater and greater harm to the innocent, underdog Palestinians.

He notes that this is not a conflict between right and wrong but rather one that is often between right and right or wrong and wrong.

I think he was saying that Europeans often see it along more black and white terms (Israel is the biggest threat to peace in the world, while the Palestinians are sympathetic and virtuous victims) rather than the more complex view that Oz seems to be ascribing to the conflict - namely that both sides share the blame for the lack of peace in the region.

Haven't seen a full transcript of his remarks, though, so I am just speculating based on the snippets I have seen.

[Violet_Crumble]

6. I don't think it does at all...

For a start, the poll wasn't about the conflict, and it's the conflict that Oz was referring to....

Also, why would he single out Europeans, and not even mention Americans, who do the one-sided black and white thing far more thoroughly than Europeans would? That didn't make sense to me, as I agree with much else of what he said, but felt he totally blew it with that particular part of it.

So, do you think that there's a tendency in the US media and amongst the US population to view the conflict in a very one-sided good vs evil sort of way? I see an awful lot of that, and a good example of it is some of the stuff that comes out of the US Congress...

[oberliner]

7. Ok then

The poll isn't about the conflict per se but is about general perceptions of Israel among Europeans which I think is relevant to his point. I will see if I can find a poll that more directly reflects European perceptions of the conflict itself.

Not sure that he did not mention Americans - have you seen a transcript of his speech? I have not been able to find one. Perhaps there is some context that would explain why he spoke of Europeans in that particular comment. Maybe he said something else equally (or more) critical of Americans.

I certainly do think the US has a tendency to see things along similar terms as the Europeans, except that, unlike Europeans, a hefty number of Americans view Israel as the virtuous underdog and the Palestinians as part of some nefarious Arab collective that aims to destroy Israel and kill all the Jews.

[Violet_Crumble]

8. No, I haven't seen a transcript of the speech...

If you do find it, would you mind posting a link to it, coz I wouldn't mind reading it. I'm kind of suspecting that what you said is the case, and he could have possibly mentioned Americans in the actual speech or it'd give context as to why he referred to Europeans only...