A DISTURBING byproduct of recent Middle Eastern violence is the decline in critical thinking among Jews. Even political liberals are being swept up in a tribal "us-against-them" mentality, viewing Palestinians as aggressors and Jews as victims.
But in doing so, they ignore an uncomfortable reality: It is Israel that threatens the Palestinian state to be, not the other way around.
The Palestinian predicament is often obscured by Israel's popular media, which focus largely on the experiences of Jewish soldiers and settlers, rather than on Palestinians under Jewish control. Although reporters have covered Jewish casualties in great depth, they have not afforded Palestinians equal respect.
In the United States, Jewish leaders are closing ranks behind the Israeli government, believing Israel is, once again, under mortal threat. Like many diasporas located far from the conflict, however, American Jews are often more hard-line than their Israeli co-nationals.
As a result, few Jewish commentators here or in Israel are dispassionately examining the roots of Palestinian frustration, resorting instead to the stereotypes of Arab murderers and Jewish victims.
Although this reflex is understandable given Jewish history, it makes little sense in the context of today's Middle East. Palestinians are doing most of the dying, not Jews, and it is Ramallah that is besieged by tanks, not Tel Aviv. The West Bank and Gaza are vigorously patrolled by occupation troops, not Israel, and it is the Palestinian economy that is in tatters. Although terrorists have killed Jews, it is Palestine's national security, for the most part, that is under systematic threat.
Imagine that Palestinian and Israeli positions were reversed: Palestinian helicopter gun ships overflying Haifa, Palestinian tanks firing into Ramat Gan and Palestinian generals, backed by the United States, threatening to retaliate against Netanya if Jewish gunmen keep firing. Rather than engaging in such mental exercises, most Jewish commentators dwell on the irrationality and ill-will of Palestinian leaders.
Instead, it might be more useful to dispassionately consider Palestinian grievances. Although Jews are not obliged to accept all of the Palestinian claims, they should try to understand their opponents' views.
