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Why Israel's left has disappeared
By Carlo Strenger
Tags: israel news, camp david, oslo 
The left has failed to provide a realistic picture of the conflict with the Palestinians.

Israel's left has disappeared; it has nearly no parliamentary representation and remarkably little public presence. At first glance, this is a paradox, because the left's program has, in many ways, won, as Yossi Sarid said when he left the Knesset for good. The idea of a Palestinian state, anathema in Israeli society a few decades ago, is now accepted by the mainstream.

The left has dissipated because it has failed to provide a realistic picture of the conflict with the Palestinians. Its ideological foundation was based on a simple prediction: If we offer the Palestinians a state in the territories occupied in 1967, there will be "peace now."

Then things started to go wrong. After the Oslo process began, the newly formed Palestinian Authority educated its children with violently anti-Israeli and often straightforwardly anti-Semitic textbooks. The suicide bombings of 1996 were not prevented by Arafat (some say they were supported). What brought the left down completely were the failures of Camp David in 2000 and Taba in 2001, as well as the onset of the second intifada.
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On the face of it, Israel's left should have said "we were wrong in our predictions. We underestimated the complexity of the situation. We didn't see that the Palestinians were not ready to renounce the right of return and we underestimated how much murderous rage there was against Israel. We still believe that we need to end the occupation as quickly as possible, but we need to face reality."

Instead of admitting that it had been partially wrong, the left tried to explain away all the facts that didn't square with its theory by putting the onus of responsibility for Palestinian actions exclusively on Israel's policies. The left argued that the bombings in 1996 happened because the Oslo process was too slow and the Palestinians wanted to avenge the targeted killing of Yihye Ayash; Camp David failed because prime minister Ehud Barak's offers were insufficient. The second intifada started because of Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount in September 2000. Hamas came to power because we turned Fatah into collaborators with the Zionists, and so on.

The Israeli left's thinking is governed by what I call SLES (Standard Left Explanatory System). This intellectual construct gained popularity in Europe and the United States in the 1960s after the demise of European colonialism. The basic principle of SLES is simple: Always support the underdog, particularly when non-Western, and always accuse Western powers, preferably the United States and its allies, for what the underdog does. Anything aggressive or destructive a non-Western group says or does must be explained by Western dominance or oppression. This ranges from the emergence of Al-Qaida, which is blamed on the United States' dropping of its support for the Mujahideen in Afghanistan after the Soviets were expelled, to corruption and violence in Africa, which is blamed on the aftereffects of European colonialism.

SLES is built on very questionable psychology: It assumes that if you are nice to people, all conflicts will disappear. It simply disregards the human desire for dominance, power and a belief system that gives them self-respect. As a result, SLES, under the guise of humanitarianism, assumes that non-Western groups don't have a will of their own; that all they do, feel or want is purely reactive to the West. It is also devoid of respect for non-Western groups: It assumes that they are not responsible for their deeds, and that all they do must be explained by victimization by the West.

If you listen to the left's explanations of Palestinian behavior, you might easily conclude that Israel is omnipotent and that Palestinians have no self will. In conversations with Palestinians I have heard more than once that they feel that the right wing respects them more than the left because the left always presumes to know what the Palestinians really want.

I want to make one thing very clear. I completely endorse Yeshayahu Leibowitz's famous saying that he is not sure whether Israel's policies since 1967 are evil stupidity or stupidly evil, and I continue to think that the occupation must end as quickly as possible. But I believe that Israel's stupidity is matched by the Palestinians making every conceivable mistake along the way, and I think the left should give them the respect of holding them responsible for their actions rather than talking about them as if they were abused children, as SLES prescribes.

Israel's most urgent problem is ending the conflict with the Palestinians, and the left will not gain popularity by turning greener or more socialist. If Israel's left wants to regain some credibility and convince voters that it has a role to play, it needs to give the Israeli public a reasonable picture of reality. And it needs a plan of action that is more intelligent than the right's tactic of trying (unsuccessfully) to explain to the world that the conflict cannot be solved but only managed.

The writer teaches at the psychology department of Tel Aviv University and is a member of the Permanent Monitoring Panel on Terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists.
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IN PICTURES / Did Prime Minster Netanyahu risk his life for a photo op?
  1.   True, but sometimes even a paranoid is being hunted 04:17  |  AA 14/08/09
  2.   Memo 2 Strenger: Israel has never offered a state, only bantustan 04:20  |  peaeclover 14/08/09
  3.   dishonest about Israel`s action after Oslo 05:28  |  steve 14/08/09
  4.   Israel never gave up the right to return... 05:41  |  BBSNews 14/08/09
  5.   to # 2, EVEN IF TRUE, BETTER WHAT OFFERED BY PALESTINIANS 05:45  |  Jorge 14/08/09
  6.   Israel`s left has disappeared for the same reason 06:24  |  Mark Lincoln 14/08/09
  7.   Peace? 06:27  |  Bruce 14/08/09
  8.   The missing Left 06:30  |  JW 14/08/09
  9.   You can date that to Sbarro 06:53  |  J Doanld 14/08/09
  10.   To #2: Memo2stranger 07:00  |  i-care 14/08/09
  11.   .. that is to say, if there EVER WAS a left in Israel 07:20  |  Kris Lazar 14/08/09
  12.   The Left is gone because it has failed to understand that the... 07:34  |  Amihai 14/08/09
  13.   What`s left? 07:41  |  sh 14/08/09
  14.   israeli left dissapeared? 08:33  |  dani.a 14/08/09
  15.   Left takes wrong turn 08:35  |  noel 14/08/09
  16.   Missing left 08:38  |  Edan 14/08/09
  17.   excellent analysis 08:41  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 14/08/09
  18.   Brillant, thank you Mr Carlo Strenger 09:45  |  maurice 14/08/09
  19.   disappeared left 10:33  |  Riva Regina 14/08/09
  20.   The didn`t disappear, they just changed their stripes 10:50  |  Natallie Durson 14/08/09
  21.   Very good, BUT Israel must put its own house in order FIRST 11:00  |  Ivar 14/08/09
  22.   Israeli left is a contradiction in terms 11:09  |  Mike Friedman 14/08/09
  23.   Arabs feel time+numbers are on their side 11:15  |  Sam 14/08/09
  24.   # 7 Peace Partner? 13:00  |  Nahman Umani 14/08/09
  25.   "..nice to people.." 13:08  |  Stuart 14/08/09
  26.   Author is wrong 14:55  |  Ibrahim 14/08/09
  27.   The reason 15:13  |  Arieka 14/08/09
  28.   Mr. Strenger does not realize 15:13  |  Gene 14/08/09
  29.   He Is Simply Wrong 15:45  |  Yaakov Sullivan 14/08/09
  30.   Lincoln`s Adolescent View of the Left 16:43  |  FOX 14/08/09
  31.   Israel`s left 17:07  |  shoshana 14/08/09
  32.   Could it be that . . . 17:16  |  Zev Davis 14/08/09
  33.   The Left 17:33  |  Danite 14/08/09
  34.   Well put! 18:00  |  Michael 14/08/09
  35.   A Modern Parable of Sorts 18:16  |  FOX 14/08/09
  36.   SLES and the Left provide better explanations than Strenger 18:44  |  Roo 14/08/09
  37.   This article has already been discussed and dismantled 18:53  |  H50 14/08/09
  38.   SLES and the Left provide better explanations than Strenger 19:23  |  Roo 14/08/09
  39.   "Left:" had an economic theory at is core 19:23  |  RfaelMoshe 14/08/09
  40.   BSNews being a simpleton 19:23  |  SDHD 14/08/09
  41.   Doesn`t go anywhere near far enough 19:24  |  Gee 14/08/09
  42.   #17 Cipora, one of your best, the key factor 19:43  |  Ardi 14/08/09
  43.   Peacelover -- flat-out wrong 19:51  |  SDHD 14/08/09
  44.   The Left blames Israel for everything 20:01  |  Abdul Murphy 14/08/09
  45.   peacelover - If you read Clinton`s My Life 20:30  |  David israel 14/08/09
  46.   Not disappeared, just lost an election 20:44  |  Realist 14/08/09
  47.   SLES and the Left provide better explanations than Strenger 21:01  |  Roo 14/08/09
  48.   jesusalen 21:11  |  jesusalen 14/08/09
  49.   It`s the economy stupid! 21:21  |  S 14/08/09
  50.   Strenger, what is known as PPPAS 21:50  |  Dolphin 14/08/09
  51.   Roo full of quotes but nothing to say 22:28  |  Peter Williams 14/08/09
  52.   Lack of Vision and Leadership Killed the Left 00:17  |  Jane 15/08/09
  53.   More to the story 00:26  |  The Wise Bard 15/08/09
  54.   The thinking of the right: BTIS 00:46  |  Lisa Kosowski 15/08/09
  55.   vanity in search of acronyms 00:50  |  bernard ross 15/08/09
  56.   The Crisis of Left-Wing Zionism 04:05  |  Binyamin 15/08/09
  57.   Why? Just read Gideon Levy for the reason 05:37  |  Joe Sittizen 15/08/09
  58.   #37, Ardi, "what is needed are real statesmen" 06:20  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/08/09
  59.   #44, S 06:27  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/08/09
  60.   Hey, Hey #52 Joe Sittizen....what are you talking about? 06:40  |  Smadar 15/08/09
  61.   Why Israel`s left has disappeared? 06:42  |  Colin Wright 15/08/09
  62.   to CJ Kohn #17 07:32  |  zeev 15/08/09
  63.   #48 Peter Williams - I fully agree with you 08:37  |  S 15/08/09
  64.   #56, zeev 09:58  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/08/09
  65.   The gist of this fine scholarly thesis: 09:59  |  Esther 15/08/09
  66.   But most of the "left" in Israel DID blame the Palestinians !! 13:18  |  OCCMAG 15/08/09
  67.   S talking of old `dinosaurs` 13:25  |  Roo 15/08/09
  68.   OCCMAG What planet do you live on? 15:28  |  Realist 15/08/09
  69.   #65 I agree, from the bottom of my heart ! 15:51  |  Ardi 15/08/09
  70.   Why did they disappear? Well, they move back to HELL! 16:13  |  Ami Israel Goldman 15/08/09
  71.   Cipora #57 I certainly agree that the Left is not monolithic 2nd 16:21  |  S 15/08/09
  72.   left overs for dinner, again 16:27  |  peter ruggill 15/08/09
  73.   Cipora #62... bias obstructs your erudition... 16:36  |  Esther 15/08/09
  74.   Colonizers have always used the same refrain 16:45  |  dana 15/08/09
  75.   Roo the apologist of Chavez and Castro and vilifier of the US 17:20  |  S 15/08/09
  76.   more useless academic leftist clap-trap 17:21  |  Rami 15/08/09
  77.   67~ Rami you are King ! 18:04  |  Akram Zekaria 15/08/09
  78.   Quit the crap... 18:27  |  Victor 15/08/09
  79.   Mr. Stringer totally ignores Rabin`s assasination. Incredible! 20:27  |  DICKERSON3870 15/08/09
  80.   Carlo it is too late for that 07:50  |  Muhammed Rabinovitch 16/08/09
  81.   Smadar the armchair analyst from Toronto 07:54  |  Joe Sittizen 16/08/09
  82.   S, vilifier of the poor-champion of Goldman Sachs 00:39  |  Roo 17/08/09
  83.   S, vilifier of the poor-champion of Goldman Sachs 00:39  |  Roo 17/08/09
  84.   S, vilifier of the poor-champion of Goldman Sachs 01:08  |  Roo 17/08/09
  85.   to CJ Kohn #64 (5th try) 09:55  |  zeev 17/08/09
  86.   to Esther #65 (3rd try) 09:59  |  zeev 17/08/09
  87.   Excellent post Zeev 11:35  |  J.S 17/08/09
  88.   A simpler explanaition. 13:58  |  FG storks 19/11/09
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