Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., October 20, 2008 Tishrei 21, 5769 | | Israel Time: 16:39 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 01:32 15/10/2008 Festival of hatred By Meron Benvenisti Tags: Israel news, Acre  The fragments of glass have not yet been swept away and the demolished cars have not yet been towed off, but the main damage of the riots in Acre has already been identified: "The Fringe Theater Festival." What a disgrace: Several thousand discerning consumers of culture have been deprived of their pleasure. The pressured Mayor Shimon Lankri can cry out that "this is no time for celebrations," but the daytrippers and culture functionaries know better: "The cancellation will only widen the rift and it is a prize for violence. The performances are excellent and the hummus is as good as ever." What do they care what is happening in this wretched city? Advertisement The mayor knows the souls of his voters very well: They are hostile toward the Ashkenazis from north Tel Aviv and their ilk, who come for one day and enrich the merchants of the Old City. Canceling the festival will ruin the Arabs' earnings, and in any case Jewish voters are calling for a boycott of them. The elections are a month away and Lankri's decision will bring him votes, which proves that this has never been Acre's festival but rather an event planted artificially in a hardscrabble, conflicted town that is used for one week and then discarded. But not only the mayor is engaging in politics. Everyone is exploiting the events for their own needs: The Islamic Movement people are inciting in the mosques, Knesset members from the right are inciting in the Knesset, Jewish and Arab thugs are competing in vandalism, and all of them are attacking the usual suspects - the police. The Acre festival of violence and hatred is underway. This festival began with a classic inter-community incident: the incursion by someone from one of the communities into a homogenous space of the other community, an act that led to a violent reaction because in a mixed city the homogenous neighborhood answers a basic need to mingle with members of one's own community and for protection against a threat to one's way of life and culture. The more traditional the community, the greater this need is and the sharper the reaction to the incursion of outsiders. This, of course, creates a counter-reaction, and the inter-communal conflict ignites when its immediate manifestation is the intimidation of the "others" who dared to move into "our" neighborhood and their expulsion, usually by burning their homes. The strength of spatial segregation of ethnic communities is a reliable measure of the acuteness of inter-communal tension, and by this measure, in fact, Acre does not suffer from extreme tension. In the western "Mandatory" quarter, Jews and Arabs live in more-or-less equal numbers as neighbors, and there is no violent threat to this coexistence. If the problem was confined to inter-communal relations at the municipal level, it would be possible to relate to the events in Acre as a local matter of unavoidable friction, which prevails in a mixed city. However Acre, like other cities where large communities of Jews and Arabs live, is not simply a mixed town; it is a town that is split. In urban concentrations everywhere in the world, tensions prevail between ethnic and cultural groups, but in split towns, in addition to the local-municipal level there is also a macro-national level that goes beyond municipal boundaries. In Israel this is a derivative of the overarching Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The macro-national conflict infiltrates the urban fabric, and paints municipal services and physical infrastructures in nationalistic colors. The physical space is perceived as a battleground that must be won for "our side" and defended from invasion by "the other side." The government system represents the interests of the ruling national community and discriminates against the minority. Nationalist considerations are used to justify budgetary discrimination, and a sectoral system of incentives oppresses minority communities, which develop feelings of anger that are also fed by the historical memory of national catastrophes and expressed in religious radicalism. External elements, from both sides, enlist to fan the macro-national conflict. Consideration of the events in Acre must include the influence of this external stratum on the local-municipal tension, which makes it explosive. The friction between a Jewish population, in which many are new immigrants from distressed classes, and a population of Palestinian refugees, most of whom were forced to leave their homes in nearby villages, creates an easily realized potential for violence. Until not very long ago the Arab community was helpless, but over the years it has changed from a marginal group into a crystallized minority that realizes its own value and is able to act independently. This community is successfully defending itself in face of the challenge posed to it by the Jews, and the latter perceive this as rebellion, which necessitates a "suitable response." It is impossible to understand the Acre riots without understanding the complexity and volatility of a split city, or to hide behind slogans of "coexistence" and place the blame only on rabble- rousers. And it is definitely impossible to transform theatrical performances and "peace tabernacles" into a sweet coating of a bitter reality. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Saudi peace plan Barak says it may be time to pursue an overall peace deal for the region. Wiesel on Ahmadinejad Nobel laureate says president's U.N. speech shows world hasn't learned from Holocaust.   1.   Rant lost coherence with translation 09:33  |  Ilan 15/10/08   2.   Sounds like 1948 10:28  |  FOX 15/10/08   3.   To Ilan of Ariel 10:38  |  SonOfAcre 15/10/08   4.   in addition to #2 10:44  |  FOX 15/10/08   5.   SonOf..... a what? 11:52  |  Ilan 15/10/08   6.   Experience is the best teacher 12:23  |  Natallie Durson 15/10/08   7.   Only SEPARATION is the answer..... 12:35  |  Dagma 15/10/08   8.   Lucid analysis-kol ha Kahvot, Meron. But what`s next? 13:40  |  Rashon 15/10/08   9.   #2 and4 FOX-that `idiot` you speak of 13:45  |  rolf 15/10/08   10.   Must be hard for Benvenisti 14:42  |  Allon 15/10/08   11.   Hey Rolf, on the subject of humility #9 14:42  |  FOX 15/10/08   12.   Can`t we just all get along? 14:50  |  Rodney King 15/10/08   13.   The Complexity and Volatility of a Split City seems 15:41  |  Dagma 15/10/08   14.   Segregation is not a solution 17:16  |  Lily 15/10/08   15.   People Who Hate Each Other Need To... 18:02  |  Yosemite 15/10/08   16.   To Lily # 14 - Segregation the Only Solution..... 19:00  |  Dolly 15/10/08   17.   Benvenisti`s bitterness misplaced... 19:27  |  Esther 15/10/08   18.   The state is responsible for this mess 19:37  |  Danny 15/10/08   19.   Juvenile Delinquency and Theater Festivals 19:58  |  Mark Lincoln 15/10/08   20.   A bit of a festival, nevertheless.... 00:27  |  Esther 16/10/08   21.   What`s the deal ,,, really 01:35  |  BamBoo 16/10/08   22.   Meron Benvenisti is a danger to the Jewish People 02:16  |  Meir Weinstein 16/10/08   23.   Esther, I believe it wasn`t Meron`s intention to offer a solution 02:38  |  Dutch 16/10/08   24.   Acre is stolen land 03:27  |  Raed Kami 16/10/08   25.   When the truth is dumped .. 07:08  |  Akram Zekaria 16/10/08   26.   Clever and balanced view 08:48  |  Boris 16/10/08   27.   More self delusional leftist lies by Meron the Moron 16:01  |  Nir 20/10/08

Read & React Israel mulling non-aggression treaty with Lebanon Responses: 102 Akiva Eldar: We must be firm on dividing Jerusalem Responses: 25 Kadima supporters' website brands Pope Benedict with swastika Responses: 24 Saudi official presents new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan Responses: 26 Bradley Burston: Daniel Pearl, Gilad Shalit, and the exercise of power Responses: 22 More Headlines 10:03 Israel mulling non-aggression treaty with Lebanon 15:09 Peres grants Livni extra two weeks to form coalition 15:52 Police arrest 9 Jews over recent assaults on Arabs in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv 16:19 Saudi official presents new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan 12:36 Daniel Pearl, Gilad Shalit, and the exercise of power 15:14 Our man in Sanaa: Ex-Yemen president was once trainee rabbi 11:40 Kadima supporters' website brands Pope Benedict with Nazi swastika 13:38 Barak: If agreement isn't reached, it's Palestinians' fault 09:08 ANALYSIS / Shas leaders think Livni can't give them what they want 15:50 VIDEO / Ashdod man stabs ex-wife to death in front of witnesses 12:04 Holon man arrested after threatening life of Netanyahu and family 12:55 VIDEO / Abbas to Palestinians: Plant a million trees to foil settler attacks Previous Editions Select Day 19 oct 17 oct 16 oct 15 oct 14 oct 13 oct 12 oct 10 oct 09 oct 08 oct 07 oct 06 oct

Special Offers Advertisement Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Living in Israel Studying in English Click & Meet our students from all around the world Dial 013 for your long-distance calls and get all your money back US CITIZENS Vote for real change. Request your ballot today! Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Jewish Singles Personal Ads Find the love of your life on JDate.com Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved