Discovering Israel — Part 5

The General’s Son by Miko Peled

Another book I read through my Palestine book club. And another book I would highly recommend. It has taught me so much about knowledge. It had made me reflect on me, my life, my grandparents, and my education so much that I’m struggling to keep this article about the book and not about myself.

It starts with his grandmothers. One was a professional woman and the other a housewife. That’s not the fun part, the fun part is the importance of being thrifty. It made me laugh. First mistake his ‘professional’ grandmother made is to tell boys about being thrifty. That’s not the job of the ‘males’ — feel free to laugh, but this was normal in my home country especially after World War II. Girls were taught to be thrifty as a way of teaching them to be good mothers, wives and, ultimately, women. Men didn’t need to learn this because their job is to make money and bring it home. It was the job of the women to make that money go as far as possible. However, it had to be done without denying your family comfort.

There is no mention of his ‘housewife’ grandmother being thrifty, but I’m willing to bet that whenever she peeled anything (apple, potato, beetroot, anything) she knew how to peel it thin so there is no waste. She also probably turned off the water, the lights, and everything else whenever it wasn’t needed. If there was a fire on, I doubt she would have used a match to light something else. That would be a waste. You can use any old piece of wood to set that a light with the fire that’s already on, so that you don’t waste a match. Thrifty!

Ever wondered why kids in those days looked like they’re in uniforms? It’s because their mothers made the clothes and they’d get one huge piece of cloth, make all the outfits for like nine kids, that way there was very little material wasted, and it was cheaper, and easier to purchase. When it comes to economics, there is no match for these women. In Bosnia, even today we have foreigners wondering how a woman feeds her whole family with so little. One official from Europe even said that he would make one of these women in charge of the national budget.

I still have huge respect for those women. I don’t care what anyone says. Thrifty women made their husband’s lives a little easier, even though many didn’t respect it. Many didn’t even know about it. The women felt that was their contribution to their family. And I think we can learn a lot from them. I can’t stand it when someone leaves the light on in a room. I was raised that way. If you are no longer using the room, turn the f-ing light off. Yet I am far away from being thrifty. Their rule that no amount is too small is too hard. I find myself thinking ‘well, this is only a penny or two, not worth my time’. To them, every penny was worth their time. My mum will still writes her shopping list on an envelope that came through the letter box. Even though I’ve put a very pretty notepad, with roses and the word ‘blessed’ on it, on the fridge for her to use for shopping lists and notes. She refuses to. In fact, why did I waste £2 on the notepad? LOL!

Pic of the notepad. I’m the only one using it. My mum has not used one page of it. I even left two pens on it so it’s easy, but, no… It’s very nice and should be used for something ‘special’. I am working on it. I hope I can talk her into using it :)

Page 217: My brother-in-law was losing patience by the minute. “You don’t understand anything! Can’t you see it will lead to civil war? It will be another Kosovo or Lebanon and the bloodshed will be unstoppable.”

How am I supposed to keep myself out of it after a sentence like that? I’m not sure about Lebanon, but I can tell you about Kosovo. If it wasn’t for Serbia, the war in Kosovo wouldn’t have happened. In fact, the war in Kosovo ended when Serbia was finally bombed. Same goes for Bosnia. Except in Bosnia they made the Dayton Peace Agreement (I’ve written about it before, so I will not repeat much) and the Agreement has given Serbia and Croatia the right to invade Bosnia through politics. In Bosnia, war will NOT ever happen if Serbia and Croatia keep out. It will NOT happen. It is not possible for a war to happen in Bosnia without Serbia and/or Croatia invading. This is why we say that the war is still going on, just the military war has ended because Bosnian army proved themselves too much. Why would the US and the EU support losers, I don’t know, I’m guessing personal benefit is involved. If those leaders thought about their own countries, it is rational for them to be on the side of those who are better. We, Bosnians, are better. Simple fact. But we are now facing political hell of explaining the basics to the world. Especially when they make demands that Bosnia fixes something that the EU or the US messed up in the first place, and the problem is in their guy not one of ours.

So, his brother-in-law is wrong, and the author, Miko, is right.

“…We have to change the paradigm from Zionist one that says Jews must have their own state to a paradigm that sees both Jews and Palestinians as equals living together in a state that is neither Jewish or Arab, and governed by an elected government that represents everyone.” Also page 217.

And this is the solution. One good thing about Palestine/Israel is that they don’t have neighbours who want to delete them off the map. That makes peace much easier there than in Bosnia. The problem in Bosnia is that Serbia and Croatia want to delete Bosnia and take the territory for themselves. If it wasn’t for this, we would NOT have had a war. Sorry to repeat, but this is 100% true.

There are other similarities. Provocations! We have representatives of Serbia and Croatia in our government. Their objective is NOT to make Bosnia into a good country. Never has been, never will be. But with the power they have, they can and do create problems, and then blame the other side. Oh and the shit they come up with is just shocking. Yet many officials in the EU and the US seem to trust Serb/Croat shit more than rational, reasonable thinking. It seems Palestine/Israel has the same problem.

Fear of language! Hebrew and Arabic are the source of all evil just like Cyrillic alphabet. It’s just nuts. It’s an alphabet. Croats in Bosnia especially have a fear of the Cyrillic alphabet and try to remove it from road signs. You’d think the letters jumped out and murdered. Again, in Palestine/Israel neither Hebrew nor Arabic are a problem, and no one should fear either language.

I’ve mentioned before that in Bosnia we have two alphabets, now I’m thinking we should revive the ancient alphabet of Bosnia, Bosancica, and have third one as well. Why not? Israelis revived Hebrew as a language, which I admire, by the way. Why can’t we revive just the lost alphabet, and add it to the two that we use already? Can be done! I am hopeful.

The story of Palestinian struggle in this book is lovingly told by a former enemy. It’s personal, real, and true. Many of us already know about the struggles, but it is worth reading again how most Palestinians are forced to live. How their loved ones are killed, or kidnapped, or imprisoned, humiliated on regular basis, how they lose their property, how they don’t have freedom of movement, or freedom to just be human beings; to attend funerals in peace, for example. At the same time their persistent fight for life is amazing. There is a story from prison you have to read.

The idea that Palestinians can’t organise themselves is not true. They might have their own ways, but if it works, why would anyone object.

Miko also tells us about failures of the Israeli army, his disappointment, but (to be honest) one story made me laugh. It was about a protest where one side asked the other side (read the story for details) if they could stop the protest so that he can go home for dinner.

But, I think when it comes to what kind of soldiers Israelis really are, it’s not in the Miko’s description of them that we learn the truth, but in this sentence:

Page 90: “Unlike military training, where the aim is to break you down and then turn you into a killer, Sensei Dan wanted to build us up and develop us as confident and compassionate people.”

For me, that’s the difference between a killer and a soldier. You should never depend on a killer for your safety. I might be wrong, but after years of speaking with military men (and women) in Bosnia, who fought in the war, I am pretty sure that strong compassion will win over heartless murder any day of the week.

Lessons in this book are impossible to put into an article. This story seems real and surreal, possible and impossible at the same time. You go from nodding at a page in agreement, to frowning in confusion in seconds. Numerous statements made no sense to me.

During our meeting we thought Miko Peled sounded like Zionist royalty, if there was such a thing. The title doesn’t do it justice. Matti (Miko’s father) was more than just a general.

“My father’s generation, the bright, young officers who won the war of 1948 for us and then went on to become the generals of the 1967 war, were iconic, and my father’s role in the building to the Six-Day War reached almost mythical proportions.” (page 71)

But also there were other members of his family; his uncle’s portrait is on money, on 200 shekel bill (page 25).

I was a bit surprised that he called it the war of 1948 the first time I read it, but by page 71 it becomes like a pattern.

“My grandfather lost his chance to be a member of the first independent Jewish government in more than 2000 years.” Page 23

“He and his comrades who, as young officers made the victory of 1948 possible, were now the generals who led the victory of 1967 and the complete return of the historic Eretz Yisrael after 2000 years to Jewish hands.” Page 48

“She (his mother) taught me to be a Zionist, but not by being dogmatic. She did it by imparting her love for everyone — family members and those outside our family — who played an important role in the revival of the Jewish national home.” Page 26

“While he was home, in the fall of 1947, hostilities erupted — a war that would later be called Israel’s War of Independence had begun.” Page 33

Jewish government in more than 2000 years? Return to the Jewish hands after more than 2000 years? Revival of Jewish national home? Israel fought for independence before it was established? None of these make any sense to me. But it has taught me a great deal about the mind and knowledge of an ordinary Israeli. To them, Israel is different to what I know, especially now after some research.

Jewish national home? I’ve made UK my national home after 32 years of living here, well less than that, I don’t know exactly, but I’ve been here for 32 years and I do think of UK as my national home, I’m just not sure when I started to feel that way. And I’m a Muslim. Bosnia doesn’t have a religion. And we want to keep it that way. But people of Bosnia have different religions, and if it wasn’t for Dayton, we’d have a normal system where Jews would have rights like any other religion. I’ve voted for a Christian in Bosnia, I’m sure I would vote for a Jew as well if I thought they were the best candidate. i.e. I hope Jews in Bosnia feel like Bosnia is their national home. God knows they suffered with us, they’ve sacrificed, and they have certainly proved their loyalty to our country. And I do like to think of Bosnia (and the UK) as ‘our country’. My point being that my religion and my nationality are very separate in my mind. I can be in religious majority or religious minority and I have no problem with either. Both experiences have their faults and virtues. So when I see Jewish (or any religion) national home, it sounds to me like that religion is a nationality more than a religion. In Bosnia, this has caused huge problems. I’ve spoken about how Orthodox Christians became Serbs and Catholics became Croats in Bosnia. We are still suffering the consequences of that. However, I will put that aside and try to understand Israel. Even though, for me, Israel and the Jewish state is the very opposite of what I consider a safe territory for a certain group of people who are defined by religion.

A lot has changed since the ‘promise of the land’. ‘The promise’ was before Jesus, so before Christianity let alone Islam. Countries did not exist, yet Roman Empire did. So, in practical terms, what does the ‘Jewish land’ mean now?

Page 32: “Fighting the British, who occupied Palestine at the time, and demanding Jewish independence was the premise under which the Palmach had been created. By the mid-1940s, my father had grown disillusioned with the Palmach. He thought they weren’t doing enough to fight off the British and if they were not going to fight, he saw no point in staying… He quite Palmach and went to school.”

Page 38: “Moderates and liberal-leaning people within Israeli society who viewed Sharett as ‘the last bastion of moderation’ were furious, but Ben-Gurion’s decision was irreversible.

In 1956, with Sharett out of the way, Ben-Gurion signed a secret pact with France and Britain to attack Egypt.”

Who was fighting who? How did they go from being enemies to making a ‘secret pact to attack’ another country within a decade or so?

Before the Brits, Palestine was occupied by the Ottomans, Turks. But Zionists felt it was the Brits that they had to fight, the same Brits that gave them the right to return to the land? And then they exchange military training with the Brits, and make a secret pact to attack Egypt with the Brits and the French??? This sounds like somebody is being manipulated, but I am honestly not sure who. The whole thing sounds so fishy. I think it’s worth reminding that every group of people have their own traitors (people within that group who will act against their own group intentionally), as well as manipulative enemies. I’m not sure what we’re talking about here, but I feel like that reminder is well placed.

Page 57: “I think it angered people that he did not go along with the established thinking, which always placed Israel on the right side and the Arabs on the wrong side.”

This established thinking will make any negotiations with Israel a waste of time. Yet negotiations are regular. So there is large scale manipulation going on. I’m not here to say who is manipulating who, but I can say that ordinary people will pay the price if the shenanigans are not stopped.

Page 82: “We, the Jewish people, deserved our own state in our historical homeland and the state needed an army to protect its people.”

A state truly needs an army to protect its people, that part is 100% clear. But for the life in me I cannot figure out the ‘our historic homeland’ bit and the right to it.

Page 72: “My father had no tolerance for religion or religious ceremonies.”

Fair enough! I accept that. In Bosnia, we have this sort of thing in all religions. Muslims who are not religious at all, but will sacrifice to rebuild a mosque because it was demolished during the war. Or Catholics and Orthodox Christians who’ve never been to a church, but when it comes to Croats/Serbs, they will claim their religion is the most important thing in their lives. It doesn’t make any sense, but I accept it. However, it doesn’t sound like that’s what’s going on with the ‘Jewish historic homeland’. It doesn’t seem to be the same thing.

For starters, Miko’s father, Matti Peled does not sound like the sort of person who would confuse religion and nationality. In fact, during our book club meeting we thought the book might have been like a love token to his father. And his father was a smart and principled man.

Page 51: “He did not believe that one should choose work for money or position. “One’s work,” he used to say, “should be determined by principles, by the ability to contribute, or by one’s own interests in life.”

For him, building an army for the Jewish state was based on principle. Becoming a scholar of Arabic literature fulfilled his interests. Being involved in politics and being an advocate for Palestinian rights was his contribution to the moral fiber of the state he fought to establish for the Jewish people.”

It would be amazing to know how and why Matti Peled thought about Israel the way he did. I get the feeling that he had the right intentions for Israel:

Page 68: “One point he came back to often was that the best thing America could do for Israel was to stop selling it weapons and giving it free money.”

I see wisdom in this. Weapon manufacturers are all about profit. If you’re the one making them profit, you are the one losing. Weapons can’t be used for anything but destruction. The only time we need them is when someone else decides they want to use our land to make profits from weapon-manufacturers. And even then, it’s to stop the stupidity. Plus, there is no such thing as free money. Especially when it’s huge amounts.

Page 57: “Terrorism,” he (his father) would reply, “is a terrible thing. But the fact remains that when a small nation is ruled by a larger power, terror is the only means at their disposal. This has always been true, and I fear this will always be the case. If we want to end terrorism, we must end the occupation and make peace.”

Page 85: “He later supported soldiers who refused to go to Lebanon and participate in the war. He said over and over again that Israel’s bombing and siege of Beirut was a war crime in which no Israeli soldier should consent to participate.”

Matti Peled’s turning point was seeing how Israel lied to the people of Gaza after 1967 war. I have a feeling he felt he was lied to as well. That must have been extremely hard. Which makes his response to the hardship all the more amazing. But, read the book yourself and let me know what you thought.

As for me, you know how I like to wonder about the alternatives… Let’s assume that Palestine naturally became majority Jewish over time. I.e. there was no ethnic cleansing of 1948, none of the wars since then, Jews simply chose to go and live in Palestine among Palestinians. Let’s say it took 100 years, so from 1900 to 2000 (remove both of the world wars so that the Jews who were killed are still alive, we need numbers in this assumption), and in 2000 we had a referendum in Palestine and people there chose to change the name of the country to Israel. Would that be return of Jews to their homeland?

What if it never became majority Jewish, but Jews had full rights to go and live in Palestine, obviously not in Palestinian homes, but they would be provided for and they would have equal rights? Would that be fulfilment of the ‘promised land’?

After reading this book I am hopeful. Miko’s niece was killed by a suicide bomber and he learned about it from a TV report. It’s the sort of experience that’s in the ‘God forbid, and wouldn’t wish this on anyone’, category. Her parents chose to ask why rather than how to exercise vengeance and revenge. We know Palestinians are also not the revengeful kind. That’s all a nation needs to make it. So yes, I believe in peace in the Middle East. I believe a happy life is possible for the good people, as soon as we liberate them from those who have bad, evil intentions. We have to keep raising our voice, keep pushing. It will happen.

Miko talks about how those who lose someone are treated with extra care, he calls it being a member of the ‘holy order’. I thought about Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish. After a loss like that, I believe in the ‘holy order’ treatment for all, and hope that both sides find peace. Holy order or not, nothing brings back those young girls. But we should strive to be the ‘strong, compassionate’ kind rather than the heartless murderers kind.

I think the biggest lesson in this book is on page 121

“I was fully convinced that with my background I knew more than anyone else about this aspect of the conflict and that what Majeed was saying made no sense. In a way it even dishonoured the story of the creation of the Jewish state, a story in which the few defeating the many is a crucial element. If what he said was true, then it de-glorified much of the story.

That could easily have been my breaking point. I could not explain why Majeed would be perpetuating this insane notion that Israel was not a ‘David’ defending itself against the Arab ‘Goliath,’ but I wasn’t ready to dismiss him as a liar.

I could not dismiss him because by now trust had been built between us. This trust allowed me to let go of the safe comfort of ‘knowing’ so that I could explore the unknown territory of the ‘other’. This was very difficult, but I felt that even if what he said was not the truth that I knew, I would have to explore it.”

This part sums it up. Miko started by working on himself. He did not ignore others, even when they were saying something contrary to what he believed and knew, he didn’t run and hide from things that hurt and caused discomfort, and he showed respect. This is the key. If we could all do this, humanity will find peace.